The kankurang is a tradition intended to scare people. It's to do with the initiation rites when boys (usually around 15 years old) get circumcised. During the day he is just a man dressed up who goes around the neighbourhood scaring people. He carries two machetes which he bangs together and shouts loudly and menacingly.
They say that at night he can fly to the top of trees, duplicate himself and makes himself invisible. The purpose of this is to attack witches and evil spirits.
Needless to say I keep a distance when I hear them coming but sometimes I can't avoid them like when I ran into them a couple of weeks ago.
As a white woman alone in the car I was a prime target!
There were around 150-200 boys following them. I had to stop driving and eventually the car was surrounded by young men, posturing and shouting.
One man stuck his head in the window (it was WAY too hot to close the windows, I'd have died of suffocation) and asked if I was ok. This was my only opportunity to get them off my car.
"Tell them to get off my car or I'll take their machetes and circumcise them AGAIN!"
I used to be such a nice person. Don't know what happened to me.
Crikey Janet - that scenario, to me, seems pretty scary - you very brave or stupid?! - i'll go with brave!
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