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If you ever find yourself needing to part with a part of your body, the finger could be the least problematic. You still have nine others, the risk of fatal bleeding is minimal compared to losing a limb like a foot or arm, and it’s a practice that has been around for 20,000 years. In certain cultures, it’s still quite common.
10. A Symbol of Grief
The Dugum Dani people of New Guinea perform finger sacrifices from young girls when loved ones pass away. It's believed that if they don’t offer enough little girl fingers to the spirits of deceased warriors, the town will be haunted. Ghost kings, in particular, are thought to bring terrible misfortune. In the past, every girl in the tribe would contribute a finger when the king died. Some older Dani women have only their thumbs left.
This may seem excruciating, but the Dani devised a ingenious numbing method. They discovered that striking the “funny bone” could temporarily paralyze the ulnar nerve, which controls sensation in the ring and pinkie fingers, causing numbness. Before amputating, the Dani would hit the girl’s ulnar nerve with a rock as forcefully as possible. Once she’s distracted and numb, they swiftly remove a finger using a stone adze. Dani funerals certainly offer more thrills than Western ones.
9. Treating Impotence
In West Africa, if a man dies without leaving behind children, certain tribes cut off one of his pinky fingers and place it inside his rectum. The spirit, supposedly humiliated by this disembodied finger being used as a suppository, will return to the world as a fertile woman.
This ritual guarantees the tribe will have enough women capable of bearing children to ensure the survival of future generations. It likely also encourages men to make sure they leave behind heirs, knowing their relatives will soon be dealing with their body in such an awkward way. While less traumatic than the Dani’s practices, given that death itself provides effective numbness, this procedure must still be uncomfortable for the person performing it.
8. Fishing Rituals
As a demonstration of commitment to their craft, Aboriginal fishing women wrap coarse spider webs tightly around their pinkies until the upper joints become necrotic and fall off due to lack of blood flow. After the finger dies from the web acting as a tourniquet, the woman rows out to sea and casts the finger into the water, allowing it to be consumed by the fish.
The Aborigines believe there is a mystical connection between the consumed finger and the hand it originated from. The finger, now inside the fish, longs to reunite with its original hand and brings the fish along with it. This magic was thought to be potent enough to infuse fish-magnetism into fishing lines crafted by women who have lost their pinkies. These women, having sacrificed their fingers for their livelihood, are revered, and their finger stumps are seen as a mark of social status.
7. Enhancing Vision
The Shambaa are a native group living in the Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania. Historically, when Shambaa mothers had children with impaired vision, they would amputate one of the child’s fingers and let the blood from the severed digit drip into the child’s eyes. The belief was that the blood infusion would enhance vision and cure various eye conditions.
But eye treatments practiced by the Shambaa don’t end there. They also have knowledge of a plant believed to reverse blindness. According to their traditions, the plant loses its effectiveness if touched by human hands, so healers gather it by using only their mouths before spitting it into a cloth, which is then squeezed into the eyes of those in need.
6. Seeking Forgiveness
The Japanese Yakuza is one of the most powerful, ancient, and feared criminal organizations in the world. When a member of the Yakuza makes a mistake, he shows his remorse by severing one of his fingers at the joint, wrapping it in silk, and presenting it to his superior. More serious errors require additional finger joints, which can be taken from the same finger or different fingers.
This act is called yubitsume, and it serves as a quick way for Yakuza bosses to assess a member’s loyalty. Trust is apparently scarce within the Yakuza ranks—about 42 percent of Yakuza members are missing at least one finger joint. Even gambling debts can be repaid with fingers.
This ritual may stem from feudal Japan, where losing a little finger made it difficult to wield a weapon, thus forcing the individual to depend more heavily on their feudal lord. It’s important to note that offering finger joints as a form of apology may not be effective outside of criminal circles and could be considered highly disrespectful in some cultures, especially if the fingers come from someone else.
5. Reducing Infant Mortality
The Ashanti tribe in Ghana believes in a ghostly realm that mirrors the physical world. When a baby is born, it’s impossible to tell whether the baby is human or a ghost. If the baby survives for eight days, it’s likely human. If it dies, it is believed to be a wandering spirit sent from the ghost world by a ghost mother to torment the living. The dead infant’s fingers are amputated, the body is disfigured, and the corpse is buried among the village’s refuse. The baby’s family pretends to celebrate the death in order to discourage the ghost mother from sending more spirit children.
The BaBoyes also hold the belief that infant deaths are caused by malevolent spirits. Once a spirit is responsible for a child's death, it is said to remain at the burial site, continuing to kill other infants. To protect subsequent children, parents amputate a finger from each new baby. These fingers are then buried in the first child’s grave, allowing the spirit to consume the tasty baby fingers, hopefully preventing it from coming after the other children.
4. Consumption
Speaking of tasty fingers, several people have consumed their own digits as part of auto-cannibalism experiments. One man, after his finger was severely damaged in a car accident and had to be amputated, requested to keep it. He took the finger home, boiled it with salt, and ate it.
One man became fixated on cannibalism, so he decided to sever his fingers and cook them. After preparing one finger, he planned to do the same with the others, but he had a change of heart and sought medical help instead. Although some criticized his actions, since he only consumed his own fingers, no crime was committed.
A man from Serbia named Zoran Bulatovic used a hacksaw to remove his own finger and ate it as a protest against his inability to buy food, caused by the Serbian government’s refusal to compensate textile workers. He remarked, unsurprisingly, that “it hurt like hell.”
3. Treating Bed-Wetting
Members of the South African Xhosa tribe perform a ritual known as ingqithi, in which a child’s little finger is sacrificed to appease the spirits of ancestors. The Xhosa believe this sacrifice prevents bed-wetting and promotes good health. Before the procedure, the child is bound and blindfolded, and then either the pinkie or ring finger is amputated. The wound is sealed using dirt from a molehill, and fresh cow dung is applied to it to aid healing.
Ingqithi is still performed today, and those who practice it urge people not to pass judgment on the ritual without first gaining an understanding of Xhosa culture. After all, many Westerners have paid others to pierce their ears, eyebrows, or nipples to insert decorative metal pieces, and plenty of us will be engaging in symbolic ritualistic cannibalism in church this Sunday. When something seems strange, it often comes down to perspective.
2. Demonstrating Through Protest
Protesters often go to extreme lengths to make a statement, and cutting off a finger is one dramatic method. An Australian serial killer, imprisoned for his crimes, amputated his finger and attempted to mail it to the Australian High Court to protest the conditions of his incarceration. The commissioner of corrective services wasn't moved, commenting, “He probably couldn’t count to 10, anyway.”
In South Korea, a mother and her son were so enraged by a territorial dispute over a small rocky islet between Korea and Japan that they publicly amputated their fingers. In another instance, 20 South Koreans cut off their fingers to protest Japanese politicians who visited war memorials honoring Japanese World War II soldiers. A Chinese artist also severed his fingers in Tiananmen Square to protest the Chinese government and then buried them in a porcelain flowerpot.
This practice has even made its way to the United States, where a pro-gun activist and city councilman amputated his trigger finger and persuaded a friend to deliver it to state legislators during a debate on a gun control bill. However, the legislators were not swayed by his dramatic protest.
1. Marriage Proposals
In the West, couples preparing for marriage often exchange expensive rings to represent their emotional commitment through financial means, showcasing a devotion so strong that it disregards even child labor exploitation. But wedding rings can be lost, stolen, or even sold to fund a writer’s Cheetos addiction. On the other hand, a finger amputated in the name of commitment is permanent.
The Khoikhoi people have a unique custom of cutting off the fingers of engaged couples as a symbol of their unbreakable bond. If one partner passes away, the surviving spouse may remarry, but they must sever another finger to release the spiritual ties to the deceased. It’s no surprise that divorce is a rare occurrence among the Khoikhoi.
