Before the boys of the Etoro tribe of Papua New Guinea can be called adults, they must consume the semen of their elders!

Cultures around the world have many different traditions, some that are similar to those in the western world and some that are very different. In the Trans-Fly river region of southern New Guinea, the Etoro tribe consists of 400 people. They live by hunting for food and practicing small-scale farming.

The Etoro people believe that, in order for boys to become adults, they must drink the semen of the elder men in the tribe. They hold that every individual has a vital force and that the strongest concentration of this force is found in semen.

This powerful force is transmitted via sex throughout the tribe. The boys are assigned a partner in this transition to adulthood. Women of the tribe are viewed as squandering the power of the semen if they do not become pregnant.