Finger Amputation- A Shocking Cultural Practice

Culture is influenced by two factors- the environment and family traditions. For instance, your culture as a university student may be to eat ramen every day, hire an assignment help online for complex projects and wear sweat pants religiously. These practice become a part of your life because they are affordable and are assumed to be effective.
Hence, different areas over the world have distinct cultural practises. In fact, some regions of the world engage in shocking traditions such as self-mutilation as an expression of grief.

Reserved for the females
It’s not uncommon for most tribes to reserve painful traditions for the women in the family. In Thailand, women are expected to wear neck rings which loosens the muscle control in the neck region, whereas the women in some parts of Africa wear lip discs to make their lips appear bigger. However, while women in the tribes mentioned above endure the pain in the name of beauty, the women in the Dani tribe put themselves through physical pain to express their grief.

The philosophy of interconnectedness
The women in Dani tribe, found in Papa New Guinea, cut off their fingers when a family member dies. This is done for two reasons. It is believed in the Dani tribe that physical pain can be an expression of emotional pain and suffering. Hence, by cutting off the fingers, the elderly women honour the dead by expressing their pain. The Dani tribe believes, "each finger of the hand is related to life, the universe, and each other." Hence, just like when a single finger is hurt, the ability of other fingers is also affected, which makes it difficult to pick an object. Similarly, if one member of the family is affected, all members suffer the consequences. This deep grief is then expressed in the form of physical affliction.

Keeping the spirits away
Additionally, it is also perceived that the members of the Dani tribe are powerful in life, thus when they die, they become stronger than ever. The tribes believe that if the spirits of the dead stayed in the village, they would bring nothing but turmoil and suffering to the alive community. So, to keep the restless spirits away, the women of the tribe amputate their fingers as an offering to please the deceased.

The use of a sharpened stone
The process of amputation requires the participants to tie a string around their finger at least half an hour before the process. The objective of this is to cut off blood flow, to induce numbness in the area. Sharpened rocks are often used to cut the upper region of the finger. Once the upper segment of the finger is extracted, the wound is cauterised using a heating tool.
However, some members of the tribe replace using the stone method by chewing their knuckles to weaken them. Following this, a rope is tied around the finger to make the process less painful.

Burned to ashes
Once the finger is removed, it is added to the funeral fire so it could be turned into ashes. The ashes of the finger are then placed in the woman's house to send away the powerful spirits of the loved one who has passed away. Additionally, there are also occasions in which the ashes are buried.

Female infants have their fingers bitten off
Although this custom is found mainly in older women, the younger generation isn’t exempt from it either. Mothers often bite off the fingers of their female infants as an act of love. This practise originated during the time when the infant death rate was at its peak. Hence, the reason behind this deed may be the mother’s attempt to create a difference between the current child and the one who died before, to save this one from suffering the same fate of encountering an early death.

The Amputation of ears
Sometimes, cutting off the fingers isn’t adequate. When the tribe feels that the grief isn’t reflected sufficiently by this isolated act, some female and male individuals are designated to cut off their ears or to lather themselves in river sludge and avoid bathing for weeks at a time.

It’s still practised in today’s advanced world
While the tradition is slowly dying out as it has been considered illegal in some areas of Papa New Guinea, some groups still perform it secretly.

The culture of a particular group is considered valuable, regardless of the harm it has caused. Hence, a debate has been started between communities which either support the ban of this practice or oppose the ban as it is forbidding cultural values. Which perspective do you support?