A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a person's social or sexual status. The term was popularised by the French ethnographer Arnold van Gennep (1873-1957), in the early part of the twentieth century.
Prescribed forms of ceremony used to mark and celebrate significant events in the life stages of an individual; birth, puberty, marriage, ordination of a special role, death, etc.
Rites of passage are ritual events that mark a person's progress from one status to another.
Captain Cook couldn't wait to show the Tahitian Cheif's daughter how well he could Navigate the Windward Passage, before a Ziffon and setting sail for Australia.