SOUTH ETHIOPIA

THE MURSI >>The Donga of Surma and Mursi people

The Mursi are believed to have evolved in to a new group from the source Surmic people sharing some common culture like the ritual dueling of stick fight which is an art that allows young boys to win the honor among the community and hearts of young girls for marriage.

The duel is conducted with a purpose of showing strength and masculinity with out a serious risk of death as a result of the fight. In fact, if the duelist, either knowingly or by mistakes, happens to kill his competitor there will always be a serious consequences like property confiscation ,being banished from the village, and giving their daughters as compensation for the deceased family or close relatives.

On the day the duel is to be conducted , many people from the society including the relatives of the competitors will gather together in a specially prepared forest clearing. The duelists ,painting their faces with the intention of intimidating their opponent with their fierce look, approach the area chanting and covering their susceptible body parts meticulously with cotton clothing and holding ,high in the air, a six feet tall stick on their hands. Small hand and elbow protection shields will be worn by the combatants. The fighting stick, which is the only weapon used on the duel, will always have a kind of phallus carving at its tip signifying masculinity.

Holding the stick with their both hands at its base they begin kicking one another fiercely until on of the duelist is unable to continue the fight. It is possible that both of the fighters might sustain a sever injuries but killing one another is strongly forbidden-the only rule of the game .The referee might intervene if he believes an opponent might deliver a fatal blow.

On a single stick fight ceremony day as many as forty duelists might participate and each one of them should compete at least once. Winners will continue to fight with other winners until a final victor emerges. But losers are expected to accept their defeat gracefully and withdraw from the field. The final victor will be carried up on a platform of poles and taken to a group of unmarried young girls, one of whom will choose him as her future husband.

Donga stick fight is conducted every year at the end of a successful harvest. The ceremony begins at the end of the rainy season and continues for three months(November-January).