- Ritual
- Sutim nus
- Region and community
- パプアニューギニア・シンバイ／カラム
- Age at the cultural rite
- Variable or not confirmed in the source
- Transition conditions
- Community initiation
- Legal age of majority
- Papua New Guinea18, according to published legal-system materialsPapua New Guinea · Individual statutes may specify different thresholds. · Law and supporting sources 1 · Law and supporting sources 2
About the rite
Sutim nus is a Kalam boys’ initiation in Simbai, Papua New Guinea, centered on piercing the nasal septum. Elders teach participants community knowledge and the conduct expected of adult men. Feasting, singing and dancing follow, allowing the community to recognize that the boys have entered adulthood.
Public accounts say that the ceremony is held at intervals of several years and has also been incorporated into the Kalam Cultural Festival. An airline cultural magazine in 2007 and a local travel account in 2011 described festival occasions that included initiation. A 2025 event announcement again advertised sutim nus, but no post-event record was located, so 2011 is retained as the latest confirmed occurrence.
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