ABSTRACT
Initiations in Melanesia, where they were practised, were once large-scale collective events that mobilised everyone in the community and sometimes beyond, and required months of preparation. The description and analysis of Melanesian initiations were significant in transforming the way gender relations and personhood were understood by anthropologists of the region. It is also the case that what are referred to as initiations by anthropologists are part and parcel of wider life-cycle rituals, including mortuary rites. Today in most regions initiations have undergone important modifications, when they have not disappeared altogether.
