Mingi

Mingi is a term defined as the state of being impure or "ritually polluted"^[1] in certain African tribes, including the Omotic speaking Karo and Hamar tribes of Southern Ethiopia. In some tribes, a person, often a child, who is considered mingi is killed by forced permanent separation from the tribe by being left alone in the jungle or by drowning in the river.^[2][3][4] Reasons for being declared impure include birth out of wedlock, the birth of twins, the eruption of teeth in the upper jaw before the lower jaw, and chipping a tooth in childhood.^[5][6] Some who were separated have been reported to shadow the tribe at a distance until eventually succumbing to hunger or predators.^[2]

A feature story in 2011 points out that there has been a dearth of academic scholarship on the subject, but "some observers have speculated that it might have started many generations ago as a way to purge people who are more likely to become a burden or who cannot contribute to the propagation of their people."^[4]

1. ^ Do the Hamar have a Concept of Honor?, Ivo Strecker, University of Mainz, http://www.uni-mainz.de/Organisationen/SORC/fileadmin/texts/Do%20the%20Hamar%20have%20a%20Concept%20of%20Honor.pdf
2. ^ ^{a b} The Hamar and Karo Tribes: The Search for Mingi http://ffh.films.com/id/1572/The_Hamar_and_Karo_Tribes_The_Search_for_Mingi.htm
3. ^ Taboo, Episode 2: Skin Deep, National Geographic
4. ^ ^{a b} Is the tide turning against the killing of 'cursed' infants in Ethiopia? http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/05/world/africa/mingi-ethiopia/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
5. ^ [The Hamar] believe that evil and bad luck (mingi) exists in certain unholy or impure things. Twins, a child born out of wedlock, a child born with a cleft lip or palate, and children, whose upper milk teeth come before their lower ones, are considered to possess 'mingi and for this reason, they are thrown into the forest to die. http://southtourethiopia.com/Tribal%20Ring.html
6. ^ http://ebenezerethiopia.blogspot.com/2010/01/emnets-story.html