The First Hunt

The First Hunt is a coming of age ceremony of the Krios culture made to introduce young boys to the hunting expedition that take place once a year.
The importance for this expediton for Krios people is not only for finding a type of food different from the fruity fish, but it is important especially for animal skin and fur that are the only ressource available to the Krios for making heavy colothing and survive in the cold.
At the age of 16, the Krios are considered adults, hence they are allowed to join the expedition with the older Krios. For this occasion, a ceremony is carried on the day before the departure.

Execution

The ceremony is composed by three phases: The first is the phase of purification, the young Krios are gathered in the temple of the hunting god and they are asked to kneel on the ground facing south and pray to the god for casting away bad luck. During the prayer, a priest walk behind the young Krios and with a wooden stick touch gently the youngs' heads one by one. After the ritual is completed, the young Krios are asked to stand up and exit the temple and pass to the second phase, the delivery of bow and arrow, during which the older Krios consign the hunting equipment to the young and tell to them "may this year be your best hunt". After the delivery, the ceremony follow with the eldest of the Krios give a speech to welcome the young Krios after which, a dinner served with the hunt of the previous year is served to the young. The dinner does not take long, as the next day the hunting company must depart early in the morning.