For thousands of years, other nationalities have died out or evolved one after another, but the Nuer nationality still retains the ancient social structure and traditional customs, and is called "the living fossil of African humanities". Cattle raising is the most important industry of Nuer nationality. There are hundreds of complicated words in their national language to describe the different colors and patterns of cattle, while the total vocabulary of this primitive language is only over 30 thousand. Nuer people don't like to do business unless they buy cattle. There has been a local story that the Arab caravan sweeping the whole African trade route is the only way, because the only thing they can sell is cattle, and the way to attract them to talk about business is to sell them more cattle. The most incredible thing about the Nuer people is that although their family has gone through thousands of years, it can survive intact and continue to modern times. What is the secret? According to the custom of the Nuer people, the blood chain of each family must be passed down from generation to generation and cannot be interrupted. Only in this way can property, mainly cattle, be guaranteed to stay at home forever.
Therefore, the marriage custom of the Nuer people is very strange: if a man leaves his wife and leaves no descendants after his death, then his younger brother is obliged to marry a widowed wife, and the children born will be under the name of the deceased younger brother and inherit all the cows before his death; If both husband and wife die unfortunately, the elders in the clan have the obligation to appoint a teenager to inherit their cattle. Therefore, teenagers must sever all relations with their biological parents and recognize the deceased as the "father". What is even more incredible is that women can also "marry". In fact, this is because they try their best to continue the family customs, although their practice is almost unscrupulous to outsiders-if all the male members of a family die unfortunately, only one female member remains, no matter whether she is the widowed daughter-in-law or the unmarried sister or daughter of the deceased, she has the right to "marry" in order to inherit property. The wedding is presided over by the elders in the clan, and the married "wife" must call this woman "husband" and treat her like a real husband. Since the female "husband" can't have children with his wife, he will be assigned to live with a suitable male relative at the wedding until he gives birth to a son. A son born must call his daughter "husband" as "father" and "father's surname" from an early age, and inherit all the property, status and obligations of the "father" family when he grows up.
Mauritania is a very interesting name, which means "Moorish country" and "Moorish land", because the main ethnic group in this country is Moorish, accounting for about three-fifths of the national population. Moors are typical nomadic people, mainly living in the relatively flat open areas of the Sahara desert. Moors' weddings naturally reflect the unique rugged atmosphere in the desert, and their colorful cultural characteristics can also be seen from the interesting customs and wedding ceremonies in the countryside.
For a long time, Moors have followed a strange habit. The daughter's marriage is decided by the mother, and the father shall not interfere. Have you ever seen what young men call a beautiful woman with a big mouth? If you like watching movies, you may think of Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts, but if you compare her with the beautiful mouth of the Mursi people, it can be said that it is dwarfed. Mursi is one of the most primitive tribes in the world, and now there are about 5000 people. They live in Omo Valley in southwest Ethiopia. Fly from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to the town of Albamenchi in the south, then rent a good off-road jeep and wade over 200 kilometers to reach the tribal location where the Mursi people are almost isolated from the world. Mursey woman's mouth is big enough to put down a plate with a diameter of more than ten centimeters. Mursey woman 10 years old began to practice putting plates in her mouth. Different types of plates are made of clay or wood blocks, usually put in the mouth and taken off when eating and drinking. Before you start putting the plate in your mouth, you should have a minor operation. Cut a hole between the lower lip and the gum with a knife to separate the lower lip from the root.
Then, put a small dish to open your mouth so that it won't grow back. In the future, gradually replace the small plate with the large plate. Naturally, the lips grow bigger and bigger, and the largest lips can be turned over to cover the face. Mursi people are proud of their big mouths. Anthropologists have concluded that there are three explanations for this tradition: first, in ancient times, people deliberately dressed up their girls in a scary way to prevent foreign invaders or slave owners from taking a fancy to their girls and protect their purity; The second is to prevent the devil from entering the body from the mouth; The third is the symbol of female beauty.
Psychologists explain that human beings have an instinct of self-mutilation, and the more primitive the nation, the more obvious it is. The subconscious mind of self-harm is to show its existence and uniqueness and protect itself from being lost in history. The bigger the plate in your mouth, the higher the girl's worth. The Mursi people don't eat much beef, because the cow is the treasure of the town house, and they only use it as a meal when they are hungry to death, or use it as a bride price when their children get married. If the girl's plate belongs to the biggest one, then her parents can receive a bride price of 50 cows and become rich at once-a daughter with a big mouth can actually be a means to get rich. A girl, her mother proposed to her mother with a gift. If the girl's mother agrees, she decides to get married on the spot and agrees on the specific date of the wedding. In Moors' eyes, the symbol to measure the beauty of a bride is not based on her appearance and height, nor on jewelry and clothes, but on whether the muscles of all parts of her body are developed. Brides with thick waist, short neck, protruding hips and towering breasts will be recognized as "beauties". Needless to say, the groom is proud, and his family feels it is a great honor, and his relatives also feel that there is light on their faces. Those tall and thin men are always eager to marry a fat wife. In their view, a fat wife is a symbol of wealth. If a young man marries a fat wife, the wedding of this family will be extremely grand, and many people will take pains to come to congratulate and see the bride. In Mauritania, in order to make their daughters become the "brides" of their ancestors, mothers are always scrambling to study the way of obesity. Rich girls have been trained by their parents to gain weight since they were seven or eight years old. Maids put grease on their bodies every day, eat goat's milk and greasy food rich in fat, and never take part in outdoor work or do strenuous exercise. In order to reach the standard of beauty, the daughters of ordinary herders have been drinking a lot of camel milk every day since they were a few years old, just under the arrangement of their parents. In the long run, the girl's physical development is obvious.