The people on this remote Indonesian island still practice blood sacrifice

On Sumba, a remote island in the Indonesian archipelago, natives continue to celebrate their most ancient traditions. The most important of these is the Pasola, an annual festival to celebrate the harvest.

The Pasola festival is a brutal war ritual that pits two neighboring tribes against each other. Men of age ride on horseback throwing spears, with a deadly intent to spill blood onto the soil. Without blood, the Sumbanese believe, the harvest will be bad.

Photographer James Morgan recently traveled to Sumba to document the festival. He has shared some of his photos with us here, but you can check out the rest at his website.

Editor's Warning: Images in this slideshow may be considered graphic by some readers.