The Walk About Ritual

 The "Walk About" ritual is an Aboriginal coming of age ceremony.  It is long and difficult to complete; only males practice this ceremony. The ceremony is one that is highly physical. A boy, who is showing the first signs of puberty and going to be soon seen as an adult in the eyes of everyone, will embark on a six month journey. The ritual itself isn't hard to explain. The boy who is entering manhood has to survive with no human contact as he walks about the land for six months. He must do this before he can return to the tribe. This means he will have to find his own water, hunt his own food, and make his own shelter. He leaves with a loin cloth, his knowledge, and spiritual chants. He is suppose to sing these chants as he walks to connect with the spirits that are to guide him. After going through all this after six months, proves that he is strong enough and is eligible to become a man. Showing that can he survive on his own is the whole ritual. If I were to guess the reasoning behind this, I would say that the guy has to have knowledge not as a boy, but as a person of experience because he uses the challenges, thus proving that he does not in fact, need the tribe at all. It is then seen as a privilege to the other members of the tribe to have him in the community because he has proved he can stand on his own. But, that is just speculation.