Simbari people

"Sambia" redirects here. Not to be confused with Sambians or Zambians.
Simbari
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Simbari
Religion
Christianity and traditional religion

The Simbari people (also known as the Simbari Anga,[1] called Sambia by Herdt[2]) are a mountain-dwelling, hunting and horticultural tribal people who inhabit the fringes of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.[3] The Sambia – a pseudonym created by anthropologist Gilbert Herdt – are known by cultural anthropologists for their acts of "ritualised homosexuality" and semen ingestion practices among pubescent boys. The practice occurs due to Sambari belief that semen is necessary for male growth.

Scholars note that Sambari practice does not appear to affect male sexual orientation. Nearly all males are happy to move on to relationships with women once permitted.[4] A small minority of males remain bachelors and continue to engage in homosexual relations, and are considered unusual and ridiculed by other tribesmen. Bailey has suggested that this minority are homosexual.[5]

The Simbari people speak Simbari,[2]: 37  a Trans-New Guinea language belonging to the Angan branch.[6]

  1. ^ Strathern, Andrew. (1993). Great-men, leaders, big-men: the link of ritual power. Journal de la Société des Océanistes Année (1993) 97: 145-158.
  2. ^ a b Murray, Stephen O (2002), Pacific Homosexualities, Writers Club Press, ISBN 0-595-22785-6
  3. ^ Herdt, Gilbert H. (1981). Guardians of the Flutes: Idioms of Masculinity. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  4. ^ LeVay, Simon (2017). Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation. Oxford University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-19-029737-4. OL 26246092M – via Open Library.
  5. ^ Bailey J (April 2003). The Man Who Would Be Queen. Joseph Henry Press. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-0-309-08418-5. Archived from the original on 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  6. ^ Fiske, Alan Page. Sambia notes.