- Ritual
- Bato／Naluan
- Region and community
- バヌアツ・Malakula島南東部Burbar
- Age at the cultural rite
- Variable or not confirmed in the source
- Transition conditions
- Community initiation
- Legal age of majority
- VanuatuGeneral civil age of majority remains unidentified · The voting age is 18. Marriage is subject to separate age and consent rules. The general civil age of majority remains unidentified.Vanuatu · Law and supporting sources 1 · Law and supporting sources 2
About the rite
In Burbar, on south-eastern Malakula in Vanuatu, the male initiations Bato and Naluan were performed again in January 2022 after a break of almost a century. Their return followed a community-led cultural revival that had been under way since the 1970s.
In the final days, preparations led to a closing ceremony of songs, dances, sacrifices, and the unveiling of ritual images. The young initiates then rejoined the community as men. An anthropologist and the Vanuatu Cultural Centre video unit documented the event; the film was published in 2023. It is unclear whether the ceremonies have taken place annually since their revival.
Related rites
