A Rite of Passage
From the !Kung series
by John Marshall
(study guide available)
color, 14 min, 1972
institutional price includes public performance rights
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This film, shot in 1952-53, documents the scarification ceremony called "marking" which was traditionally held for Ju/'hoan boys after they had killed their first large animal. Here, /Ti!kay, a boy of thirteen, shoots his first wildebeest with an arrow. /Ti!kay's father, Kan//a, and Crooked /Qui help the young hunter track, skin, and butcher the animal. After the meat is brought back to the village, a scarification ceremony takes place, symbolizing the importance of hunting and /Ti!kay's passage into social manhood. He is now considered an acceptable son-in-law by the parents of the girl to whom he has long been betrothed.
Study Guide (PDF)
A Rite of Passage Study Guide in PDF
This film is also available as part of the !Kung Short Films 2-disc set.
Other films in the series:
An Argument about Marriage
Baobab Play
Bitter Melons
Children Throw Toy Assegais
A Curing Ceremony
Debe's Tantrum
First Film
A Group of Women
The Hunters
A Joking Relationship
A Kalahari Family
!Kung Bushmen Hunting Equipment
The !Kung San: Traditional Life
The !Kung San: Resettlement
Lion Game
The Meat Fight
The Melon Tossing Game
Men Bathing
N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman
N/um Tchai: the Ceremonial Dance of the !Kung Bushmen
Playing with Scorpions
Pull Ourselves Up or Die Out
To Hold Our Own Ground: A Field Report
Tug-Of-War, Bushmen
The Wasp Nest