Gloria Ssali Art Collections

Dinka Warrior - South Sudan

Each member of the Dinka nation needs to know his or her ancestry because clan members living in the same region can not marry. Ancestry also plays an important role in the initiation of boys to warriors. The initiation is done around the harvest time when boys are 10 to 16 years old. Before the initiation boys' hair has to be shaven. The boy being initiated is called a parapool � �one who has stopped milking�. This means that he does not have to do milking, gathering dung and similar jobs. During the initiation itself tribal marks of several parallel lines or V-shaped marks are made as small cuts onto the boy's forehead. By becoming a warrior he protects village from predators and enemies