The Amazons of Africa

Alright. So, you're probably thinking from the title, "You know the Amazon is in SOUTH AMERICA...right? Like, a completely separate continent...right?"

Yes, yes, I know this.

But there is a cool little bit of Beninese history that involves that long-running European tradition of naming things after completely unrelated things from different continents. *cough* Columbus *cough*

Back in the days when much of present-day Benin was the Kingdom of Dahomey (1600-1900), the King decided he wanted a band of elephant hunters. As you can imagine, it is no small feat to take down an elephant (at least, without a modern rifle), so these warriors must have been pretty tough. The kicker? The group consisted entirely of women.

This group went through a few revisions before becoming an elite militia unit, known as N'Nonmiton ("our mothers") to the men of the Dahomey army. These women were lethal warriors; most were recruited as children, trained to be ruthless, and were known to behead their fallen enemies. At one time, there were as many of 6,000 N'Nonmiton warriors; about 1/3 of the total Dahomey military force. They were revered and feared, and often considered more effective than their male counterparts.

Their motto was, "If soldiers go to war they should conquer or die." I'm getting a bit of a Klingon vibe. The Europeans at the time got a Amazon warrior princess vibe, however, and the women became known to the rest of the world as the "Dahomey Amazons."

Note the decapitated heads adorning the walls. Lovely.

Eventually, after several wars with France, the Dahomey fell and the N'Nonmiton with them. It is believed the last of their number died in 1979. Below is one of the most recent pictures of the retired warriors from 1908.

In Other News...

I got jabbed today (twice!) to get my vaccinations up to date...and to make sure I don't have Tuberculosis. So far, so good. :)

My finances are more or less in order, I'm just waiting on final approval from Mercy Ships to be able to go ahead and purchase my plane tickets. Once that's done, I can finalize most of my paperwork and get it submitted and out of the way!

'Til next week,
-D