Land Diving Ritual, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

For boys, land diving is a rite of passage. After the boys are circumcised at the age of around seven to eight, the boys can participate in the ritual. When a boy is ready to become a man, he land dives in the presence of his elders. His mother holds a favourite childhood item, for example, a piece of cloth. After completing the dive, the item is thrown away, demonstrating that the boy has become a man.
Modern history
In the mid-nineteenth century, missionaries came to the area and persuaded the natives to stop land diving. In the 1970s, anti-colonialism caused land diving to be seen in a new light as way to demonstrate their cultural identity. After the independence from colonial powers in 1980, the ritual was revived by Christian locals from neighbouring areas. In 1995, the people of Pentecost Island, with the support of Vanuatu’s attorney-general, declared that they would endeavor to get royalties from bungee jumping enterprises because they viewed the tradition as stolen.