Nyirokere

Nyirokere refers to a Kenyan cultural practice of scarification, where individuals undergo the removal of a part of their body, typically the arm or leg, as a mark of spiritual, cultural or social rite of passage.

The practice is observed by the Pokomo people, an ethnic group inhabiting the coastal region of Kenya. Scarification is believed to increase the person's physical strength, vitality, and spiritual power, enabling them to withstand hardships and(or) a certain level of pain during tests of passage or persecution/violence.

Nyirokere is a masculinized concept but can also be applicable to females. In both cases the motivation is distinct: Individuals are encouraged to undergo scarification to demonstrate their ability to withstand suffering, and to acquire spiritual power that supposedly would protect and provide overarching safety that is necessary to perform masculine and feminine roles in Pokomo society.

The exact origin and cultural context of Nyirokere are unclear, however, researchers have noted that scarification might have been practiced in various human cultures across different regions.