Matis Tribe Children

The Mariwin Ceremony is often used to teach the Matis children discipline. Children that have misbehaved recently are punished during the ceremony. However, the children are frightened more than physically punished. The Mariwin spirits never speak. Instead they make eerie sounds that frighten the children, encouraging them to behave. To the Matis, the masked beings are nonhuman, yet are called ancestral spirits by them. There are even two types of Mariwin spirits, red versus black. The red Mariwin spirits apply red-colored clay to their bodies instead of black-colored charcoal, giving them a reddish appearance.

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