Claitus, at 81, is the oldest man living in Kaningara village. He is also the oldest cutter in the village, and these days he mentors younger men in the arts of skin carving. When the village was occupied by the Japanese during WWII, Claitus had just completed his initiation. Amazingly, he endured the “traditional” 2-year seclusion in the Spirit House before being cut! Obviously, times have changed and so has the tool used to make the skin-cuts. Back in the day, Claitus told me, “we used bamboo knifes instead of razor blades to make the cuts. You can make a very sharp knife-blade with bamboo, and we used to reuse these blades when we cut young men. But now, we only use disposable razor blades because of the risk of spreading disease.”