Tuwi asonai man

Much of the activities in the Sawi culture revolve around their tradition of tuwi asonai man, especially for the young warriors. Directly translated, the phrase means to fatten a pig with friendship for the slaughter. It mandates that a warrior befriend another man, with the purpose of killing and butchering him at a later time. The longer and more convincing the friendship, the more prized the kill. The first man the reader meets, Yae, becomes a victim of this tradition.

Such violence breeds a chain reaction to killing that lasts for generations in the Sawi culture. Richardson observes that their isolation from one another is the only thing that saves the culture from extinction. He also hypothesizes that, over the centuries, regular murder grew mundane. The natives sought ways to raise the excitement. The tradition serves as an example of human depravity, when left unchecked.

Kani...