Top 10 Most Unusual Tribes Around the World

The Sentinelese tribe, living on the northern part of Sentinel Island in India, numbers only about 500 people. Despite the world’s progress, they have preserved their unique identity. They live in crude huts, are mostly naked, and sustain themselves through hunting, gathering, and fishing—yet they rarely use fire. The tribe is known for aggressively defending their territory, killing any outsiders who attempt to enter their land. As a result, little is known about their language and customs.

The Yanomami tribe, deep within the Amazon rainforest, follows a ritual of consuming the ashes of the deceased after cremation, as a way to honor the departed. The ashes are mixed into a banana soup, and the tribe believes that by eating them, the dead person's spirit merges with the living, granting the deceased’s soul strength and power to endure the trials on their journey to the afterlife.

Meet the Bajau people, often referred to as 'sea nomads.' The Bajau tribe lives on small boats, drifting on the ocean, with fishing as their primary means of survival. Children in this tribe begin learning to swim, dive, and fish by the age of 8, earning them the title of 'real mermaids.' They do not live in centralized communities but are dispersed across many locations, building their floating villages in coral-rich areas.

The Zulu tribe, from the Kwazulu region of South Africa, places great importance on virginity—not just for women, but for men as well. Young men in this tribe must undergo a rigorous virginity test, where the height of their urine stream is measured. Interestingly, those whose urine stream reaches or surpasses the height of their head are considered to be 'virgins.'

This unique tribe, the Surma, lives in the southwestern region of Ethiopia. For generations, they have practiced the tradition of drinking fresh cow's blood to quench their thirst. The tribe believes this act has deep spiritual significance, enhancing vitality and strength, especially for the men. The men typically choose the strongest and most robust cows to slaughter and drink their blood.

The Mustang people, who believe in a flat Earth and attribute illness to evil spirits, have a peculiar custom where brothers in the same family share a wife. This strange tradition stems from their deep respect for ancient Tibetan customs and the harsh, infertile land they inhabit. If each brother were to marry his own wife, there wouldn’t be enough land to sustain the family, leading to even greater poverty. Today, the Mustang tribe, which numbers about 7,000 people spread across nearly 2,000 square kilometers in the Kali Gandaki River valley, continues this practice. The belief is that sharing a wife helps keep the family united and prevents the division of limited land. Mustang culture is considered one of the last surviving examples of traditional Tibetan culture.

For the Surma and Mursi women in the Omo River Valley, the tradition of piercing their lower lips and inserting clay discs has been a long-standing custom. The women believe that this practice enhances their beauty and, with the lip deformation, prevents them from being kidnapped into slavery. Additionally, the larger the clay disc, the more dowry they will receive from their husbands' families. Archaeological evidence suggests that this lip-disc tradition dates back to at least 1896. Girls between the ages of 15 and 18 have their two lower front teeth removed to elongate their lips, with older women assisting by piercing holes in their lips.

The Mang tebu tribe believes that the longer a person's head, the more beautiful they are, and that it signifies nobility and intelligence beyond the ordinary. They also believe that elongating their heads pleases the gods, bringing prosperity and blessings to the tribe. To achieve this, tribe members purposely stretch their heads, aiming to tilt them backward to a 45-degree angle, considering this the ideal form of beauty.