Top 10 eth­nol­o­gy facts

Ainu. The Ainu are an indigenous people in Japan, today almost completely assimilated by the Japanese. The Ainu women tattooed their mouths, starting at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip, gradually increasing with size. When they reached age 15–16, their tattoos were completed. Thus were they qualified for marriage.

Australian Aborigines were one of the only groups of people in the world not to wear any type of clothing. Both men and women were naked. Today, of course, things have changed considerably and Aboriginals dress the same as Australians.

Samoa. Fa'afafine are a commonly well-accepted third-gender people of Samoa. They are male at birth, and explicitly embody both masculine and feminine gender traits. In Samoa, there is very seldom ridicule or displeasure towards a biologically male child who states that they are a girl.

Cherokee. According to the 2000 census, 281,069 U.S. citizens self-identify as Cherokee. These numbers are closely followed by Navajo (269,202). Other tribal groups are considerably smaller, only Sioux (108,272) and Chippewa (105,907) exceed 100,000.

Samoa. The tattoo of a Samoan man testifies his courage - the traditional way of applying is very painful. A Samoan without a tattoo, or with incomplete work, is exposed to mockery. The English word "tattoo" is probably derived from the Polynesian tau tau.

Samoa, Pacific Ocean. The warrior carries a weapon called Nifo'oti, typical to the area. It's a mixture of a traditional weapon used in Oceania with an agricultural tool imported by Europeans.

In Japan. The Ainu are an indigenous people who lived in the Northern Island of Japan, Hokkaido, and Sakhalin Island. They are now almost completely assimilated by the Japanese. Once considered to be Caucasian, based on their appearance; but DNA testing has disproven this. The Ainu language is an isolate with no known relatives.

Maasai warriors are well known for, and often photographed during, their competitive "jumping dance". A circle is formed by the warriors, and one or two at a time will enter the center to begin jumping while maintaining a narrow posture, never letting their heels touch the ground.

Taiwan. Han Chinese settling in Taiwan started in the 13th century, and today aborigines form only 2% of the population. The Aboriginal languages of Taiwan show much greater diversity than the rest of Austronesian put together, leading linguists propose Taiwan as the source of all aborigines.

Brown. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus didn’t look different from an ordinary Jewish man of His time. (No, they do not. Jesus was descended from the Galilean Mary.) Any other color of eyes than brown would have been surely noted down. In the 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ, Jesus was portrayed by Jim Caviezel who had his blue eyes digitally changed to brown.