High in the mountains of Papua New Guinea live the Sambia people, a war- like tribe whose secret rituals of initiation are aimed at making their warriors courageous and bold. It is a society where the roles of men and women are sharply delineated. Male children live with their mothers until they are old enough to become men. They undergo a severe initiation. Each is assigned an older guardian who accompanies him during this process. They are thrashed, deprived of food and sleep and have ginger root rubbed into their wounds. The most secret part of the initiation are the sexual rites, which are described by several initiates. Guardians of the Flutes is a fascinating look at a society shaped by the ritualized distinction between male and female roles. It teaches us about different meanings of sexual acts, concepts of masculinity and femininity and the relation between rites the passages and the cultural context people live in.