In spite of the new world we live in today, some weird tribes around the globe still embrace and practice their peculiar cultures.
A lot of these tribes live a secluded life, they have no interest in the rest of the world, and that is probably how they manage to keep their centuries old traditions from extension.
Nonetheless, the rest of the world find such weird tribes so fascinating that it cannot leave them alone, and that is how we have learned about them.
So let’s take a look at some of the weird tribes that still practice their tribal lifestyle in the 21st century.
The Sentinelese
The Sentinelese, one of the world’s last uncontacted peoples, reject all forms of communication with the outside world.They have the entire island to themselves, so they can maintain their privacy. They are residents of North Sentinel Island, one of India’s Andaman Islands.
All attempts to make contact with the inhabitants resulted in them using arrows and spears to assault the approaching ships. The Sentinelese are regarded as a sovereign nation by the Indian government, with the right to trespassers to be attacked or even killed.
The yali
How about cannibal tribes if strange cultures are your thing?
The title Yali does not refer to the tribe or its cultural identity; it simply means the people from the east. The Yali are a significant tribal group in Papua, Indonesia, who live to the east of the Baliem Valley in the Papuan highlands.
The fact that the Yali’s lands are mostly secluded due to difficult geography has played a crucial role in helping them maintain their tribal way of life. Only after spending hours trekking across difficult terrain can one reach their villages. They lived in a largely autonomous zone that was governed by Indonesia until the 1960s and had no interaction at all with the outside world.
Most people’s only knowledge of the Yali is that they are cannibals. Nonetheless, cannibalism was used as a means of intimidation against rival tribes. The majority of Yali are vegetarians; they only eat pigs to celebrate. Yet, they continued to assault their rival tribes in the past and take hostages. The captives were later sliced up and served during celebrations. Later, to frighten the enemy tribe, the bones of those prisoners would be ground, combined with dust, and thrown into their valley.
The Surma people
Ethiopia’s Upper Omo Valley is home to the Surma people. The Suri tribe and the Mursi tribe make up the Surma tribes. They undoubtedly qualify as odd tribes when one considers the ways in which they choose to alter their bodies.
The Suri people take great pride in their heritage and way of life. When a boy reaches manhood or a man wishes to wed, they must demonstrate their prowess in the martial art of saginé. Essentially, it is ceremonial dueling or stick combat.
On the other side, when a female reaches marriageable age, her lower teeth are frequently knocked out with a rock. The lower lip is then cut with a razor, and it is stretched with a wooden plate.
the Chukchi
Native to the Chukchi Peninsula and the beaches of the Chukchi Sea in the Russian Federation, the Chukchi people are a people of the land. They are substantially faithful to their traditional way of life where they reside, in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
The Chukchi homeland typically turns away outsiders, just like the majority of ethnic communities who were able to preserve their way of life. The climate in Chukotka, which is near the tip of Siberia, is extremely harsh, with winter temperatures occasionally falling as low as –54° C and summer temperatures typically hovering around 10° C. Much of the area is made up of treeless cold grasslands.Native to the Chukchi Peninsula and the beaches of the Chukchi Sea in the Russian Federation, the Chukchi people are a people of the land. They are substantially faithful to their traditional way of life where they reside, in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
yao people
In the southern end of Lake Malawi, there is an ethnic and linguistic group known as the Wayao or Yao people. This community, which numbers around 2 million people, is dispersed among Tanzania, Mozambique, and Malawi.
“WaYao” means “hill people” or “those from the hills” in Chinese. The Yao use a matrilineal system, and the majority of their village societies are based on sorority organizations. These fraternities go by the name Mbumba.
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Yao villages have a wealth of information about native medicinal herbs since they do not place much faith in western medicine, and their chosen healers travel far and wide to gather effective plants and ingredients to prepare their medications.