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Before Dutch colonialism, Pasola was a truly free ritual war, in which 
no one was held responsible for the eventual wounds or killings that occurred during the fight. Today, because of the increasing numbers of participants and viewers, the local authorities send in special troops ready to break the crowd in case of mass fights. However, the shamans still hold the highest authority in beginning and ending the Pasola. RNS photo by Alexandra Radu

Kit Doyle

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