ETHİOPİA - THE LAND OF TRİBES

When I decided exactly one year after I had gone to North Ethiopia to return to that country, everybody around me thought I had lost it for good. Going to Ethiopia twice with one year interval seemed crazy to most. In fact it is not, since without going to Southern Ethiopia and seeing the people of the Omo valley, a visit to that country is definitely not complete. So here I am , in November 2009, flying back to Addis Ababa with 6 other friends and continuing by 4x4 to the South, almost to the Kenyan border. No plane this time since there are no airports in the South. Let alone airports, there are even no roads around 200 km after leaving Addis Ababa but mainly mud trails and you do off road all the way, crossing river beds and jumping in potholes. And where there are no roads, there are no gas stations either so each of our cars is loaded on top with jerrycans full of gasoline. Those jerrycans will have to last one week.   I have to admit seeing a highway under construction, built by the Chinese of course, but not yet finished and was happy to have decided to do this trip now, since I have a feeling the Omo Valley tribes will loose quite a lot of their natural simplicity and  traditional ways once this highway is completed.

A SOUTHERN ETHİOPİA ROAD (!)

AND A COMMON SİTE - ONE PERSON WALKİNG
İN THE MİDDLE OF NOWHERE

The Omo Valley , a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is still a unique and spectacular place , located in the South-Western part of Ethiopia and hosting some of Africa's most fascinating and colorful nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. This region is, no doubt, one of the most ethnically diverse corners of Africa. You are very far from the Christian North here.

We started towards Arba Minch , 500 km away from Addis Ababa and on the way  visited the place where Lucy was found. Who is Lucy ?  She is the first Homo Erectus having lived 1,7 million years ago. We are talking history now. Why Lucy ? Because when she was found, ''Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'' by the Beatles was playing. And she thus got her name.

WHAT WAS FOUND

The

WHAT LUCY WOULD HAVE LOOKED LİKE.
DARWİN OR NO DARWİN ?

After having spent the night at Paradise Lodge , a hotel unbelievably luxurious (but with no hot water) given the local conditions (do not forget everything is relative), we proceeded the next morning to meet with the Konso people in Machekie village. The Konso people number around 300.000 and are reputed to be one of the most hardest working groups in the country, doing mixed farming on terraced hillsides. Villages typically adorn hill tops and are surrounded by stone walls which serve as a defence against intruders as well as protection against straying cattle. Traditional villages are divided into nine separate compounds, one for each Konso clan. Marriages take place between clans but never within the same clan. 
One thing bothered me here : one woman who saw me taking her picture immediately lifted up her T-shirt to show her breasts. Who gave this woman the impression that a tourist wants and expects to see breasts ? I could shoot the guy who gave that impression .

                               

THE ROOFS ARE LİKE THE SKİRTS 

TYPİCAL KONSO SKİRT - TWO LAYERED

AREN'T THEY ADORABLE ?

When we stopped for lunch (consisting of sandwiches brought with us - do not expect to find a restaurant) we met Tsemay and Banna women whom I found extremely aggressive. And the reason is that many tribes see tourists as a source of money. Particularly when the tourist wants a photograph, they quite understandably think the tourist should pay for it. The money involved is nothing. They usually ask for 2 Birrs, i.e. around 15 US cents. But the attitude puts you off. And here I blame the professional photographer more than the tourist since quite a few of them have been in and around the Omo Valley and have taken shots which are nothing short of stunning. From the photos I have seen, I believe they have asked those people to pose for them, some have even created whole decors and must have paid them . Thus those people who almost have no income have discovered a way to make cash. Another annoying aspect is that once a price has been agreed on, it is perfectly normal for them that you chose two or three people from a group of eight or nine and ask the others to go away. They accept willingly but I had the impression of picking melons at a green-grocer's. Very disturbing. Another drawback is that in such a setting, the pictures you take are not natural. Those people literally pose for you since they have to earn the payment you make. The only natural pictures I could take were in market places. Annoying, but you have to do with it and I did as everybody does, hoping the cash would be used for good causes.

The Tsemay people are only 5.000 and living closer to main roads have lost their traditional ways more than the others. Unlike any other tribe in Ethiopia, the Tsemay have arranged weddings. The parents of the woman choose who she will marry with or without her consent. But the man must be able to afford to pay for his future wife. Payment in the form of cattle (preferred form of payment), honey, grain and coffee beans is accepted. Single women wear a short leather skirt with a v-shaped apron attached to it. Married women wear long leather dresses again with an apron covering their front and back. The men carry small wooden seats to sit on or to use as pillow while sleeping.

BANNA AND TSEMAY WOMEN

TSEMAY SKİRT

TSEMAY COUPLE

BANNA WOMAN WİTH HER BABY.

The next morning we left our hotel in Jinka (very low quality thus fitting the surroundings) to visit the Mursi tribe. We first had to drive through Jinka of course and this city gave me a feel of Southern Ethiopian cities, nothing like those in the North.  There was a non-stopping humming sound in the streets of Jinka and when I asked what it was I learned that there even isn't electricity here and the whole town gets power through a single generator. And we are in the 21st century....

JİNKA MAİN STREET

JİNKA HOUSES

JİNKA HOSPİTAL
I AM SURE YOU WOULD GET OUT OF HERE İN WORSE CONDİTİON
THAN WHEN YOU CAME İN, AND THAT İF YOU ARE STİLL ALİVE.

Now let us meet the Mursi. Everybody says you have to visit Mursi villages in the morning . Unlike other tribes who use village entry fees (paid by your guide) to improve life or provide education for the children, the Mursi are said to buy local alcohol and start drinking as of the morning. So you can imagine the rest. It seems they become very aggressive in the afternoon.
 The 6.500 or so Mursi are pastoralists and their most famous traditions are stick fighting between men and the lip plates worn by women. Made of clay and up to 15 cm in diameter, the plates are inserted into a slit separating the lower lip and the jaw, a cut originally made by the mother when a girl reaches the age of fifteen or sixteen.  The cut is held open by a wooden plug until the wound heals. It appears up to the individual girl to decide how far to stretch the lip by inserting progressively larger plugs over a period of several months. Some, but by no means all, girls persevere until their lips can hold plates of twelve centimeters or more in diameter. When the plate is taken out, the distended lip sways below the jaw, making a very unusual and disturbing sight.  Several explanations are given for this practice, one being that it deterred slave traders from taking Mursi girls since they were not attractive with their distended lips;  a second concerns social status since the bigger the plate, the higher the status of the girl and the more the number of cattle required by the girl's family for her hand in marriage. With the Mursi, the price of taking photos has gone up to 5 Birrs and is very specifically  determined . You or your local guide pays and you can take as many pictures as you want. Quite annoying. But one has to do with it.

 There are two types of body decoration that almost all tribes practise : body painting and scarification. Body painting serves not just artistic expression but also cosmetic and social purposes. As to scarification, it serves as distinction for brave warriors. Men are not allowed to scarify themselves until they have killed at least one foe. For women, the raised texture of the skin is considered highly desirable and is said to hold sensual value for men. Scarification is achieved using a knife, stone or razor blade. Ash is then rubbed in the wound to create a small infection and promote scar tissue growth. As the scar heals, the desired effect on the skin is achieved.

A MURSİ VİLLAGE, VERY SMALL AND SİMPLE
WİTH A HANDFUL OF SMALL ROUND HUTS MADE FROM HAY.  

A MURSİ HOUSE

A MURSİ KİTCHEN

WE WERE GREETED OUTSİDE THE VİLLAGE BY DECORATED MURSİ MEN

AND BY TWO NİCE WOMEN

NOT ONLY THE LİPS BUT THE EAR LOBES AS WELL ARE EXTENDED

THAT İS A BİG PLATE

AFRİCAN BABİES ARE UNBELIEVABLY SWEET

We returned to Jinka and visited an Ari village. The tribe is made up of 120.000 people, all living around Jinka. Ari villages have fertile lands allowing them to have several types of plantations such as grains, coffee, fruits and large quantities of honey often used for trade. They also have important livestock herds. Their women are known for selling pottery to support their families. Living near  a town, they seem much more settled than the other ethnic groups and have lost their traditional clothes (consisting of skirts made from banana leaves  and colorful bracelets ) and opting for the normal skirt and T-shirt.

WOMAN MAKİNG POTTERY

WE DİD NOT ADOPT THOSE CHİLDREN
THEY ADOPTED US.

A BLACKSMİTH

THERE ARE VEGETABLES FOR DİNNER TONİGHT.

Next morning we are on the road again going to the Key Afar market where tribal people do their shopping and on the way meet our first Hammer people. The Hammer who number about 35.000 are one of the most beautiful and dignified people in the Omo basin. The women wear elegant leather skirts with beaded shells on them. They wear iron coils around their arms and ankles, beaded necklaces and earrings. But the most amazing thing about Hamer women is their hair ; it is a reddish brown color which comes  from the mix of water, ochre and a binding resin which are mixed together and then put on the hair. They then twist strands again and again to create copper-colored tresses known as ''gosha''.    The men are also very colorful, some with ostrich feather in the hair. If they have recently killed an enemy or a dangerous animal, men are permitted to wear a clay bun that sometimes supports ostrich feathers on their head.
For the Hammer every adornment has an important symbolic meaning : the iron coil worn around the neck of married women indicate the wealth and prestige of her husband; iron bracelets and armlets worn by unmarried girls are  an indication of the wealth and social standing of her own family and when she gets married she removes the jewellery which is the first gift she gives to her new family; brass, aluminum and copper wires , lubricated with animal fat to prevent skin irritation, are wound around the arms to accentuate the roundness of the muscles, a sign of beauty;  the number of earrings worn by a man denotes the number of wives he has.  The Hammer are really a beautiful  people.        

EVEN A COMB CAN BE A DECORATİON

HAMMER MAN WİTH A CLAY BUN AND THREE EARRİNGS
DENOTİNG THREE WİVES.

HAMMER WOMEN ARE VERY TALL AND ELEGANT

THE ROAD TO THE KAY AFAR MARKETPLACE.

WE ARE AT THE MARKET WHERE SEVERAL TRİBES MEET
TO EXCHANGE GOODS.

SO BEAUTİFUL - SHE COULD HAVE MADE THE COVER OF VOGUE
MAGAZİNE HAD SHE BEEN DİSCOVERED BY THE RİGHT PEOPLE.  

  We then proceeded to a Hammer village, İbo, where villagers greeted us with interest.

We are now to meet the Bumi people  and for the first time we see the Omo river which we cross on a small boat to reach the village of Kangate. The Bumi, who number 8.000, have close ties with the Turkana people in Kenya (I should visit them as well one day). They are known as great warriors and occasionally invade the southern plains when fodder or water is scarce. As decoration, women wear rows of necklaces and use piercing a lot.

THE OMO RİVER AND THE VİLLAGE ON THE OPPOSİTE SHORE

OUR LİTTLE BOAT

BATH TİME

KANGATE VİLLAGE

THOSE NECKLACES MUST WEİGH A TON.

Then on to visit the Karo in their village of Korcho.  With a population of only 1.500, the Karo are Omo Valley's most endangered group. Disease has wiped out their cattle, and they are now trying to subsist by agriculture in this harsh land. The Karo are considered masters of body and especially face painting. White chalk, yellow mineral rock, black charcoal and red iron ore are used for body painting. The spotted plumage of the guinea fowl is often imitated on the face.

KORCHO VİLLAGE

             

ANOTHER ETHİOPİAN BEAUTY

YOU LEARN AT A YOUNG AGE HOW TO PAİNT YOUR FACE.

And now the Arbore. The Arbore are a mixed bunch of which some are said to have embraced the Muslim religion. Could this have an effect on the fact that Arbore women love black ? The women have beads and aluminum jewellery and the men have faces painted in a pointillist manner. 

 

 

Last but not least, we visited the Dorze whose huts resemble giant beehives. Constructed with vertical hardwood poles and woven bamboo, thus easily transported, it is topped with a roof of ''enset'' or ''false banana'' leaves. Though fragile looking, those huts last for around 60 years; but when rot and termites attack it, the hut gradually reduces in size.
The Dorze staged a traditional dance for us and looking at the animal skins they wore, skins coming from their grand-fathers they said, I could easily imagine that in years past those people were wearing animal skins. Now they are in jeans, as the Mursi, Kato or Hammer will be in some years I believe.
Looking at some of the Dorze, I had the impression of seeing Jamaicans with their rasta hair. And their story is pretty unbelievable. Those people are Rastafarian. Ras Tafari (real name of Emperor Haile Selasie) gained subjects living in Jamaica when he was crowned emperor in 1934. In Jamaica, where Marcus Garvey's ''Return to Africa'' movement had been established, many saw the emperor's coronation as fulfilment of the ancient biblical prophesy that ''kings will come out of Africa''. Identifying themselves passionately with Ethiopia's monarch, Garvey's followers created a new religion. In it the emperor was accorded divinity and the new religion would bear his former name. Haile Selassie accorded some land to Rastafarians in this region and those people moved here from Jamaica, living among the Dorze. Today Rastafarians patiently await the restoration of the Ethiopian monarchy.
Rastafarians follow strict dietary taboos: pork, milk and coffee are forbidden, whereas marijuana is held to be a sacrament. Ortodox Christians view Rastafarians as spreading drugs and crime and to date no Ethiopian government has granted citizenship to any Rastafarian, including their Ethiopian-born children.
I found that to be a very interesting story, confirming my belief that religion is the opium of the people.

HAND-SPİNNİNG OF COTTON - THE DORZE ARE
FAMOUS FOR THEİR FİNE WEAVİNG

MAKİNG BREAD FROM FALSE BANANA TREE PULP

THE MUSİC İS READY

AND THE DANCE STARTED

THE WHOLE VİLLAGE İS WATCHİNG

MUSİC LESSON FOR THE CHİLDREN

To travel to Ethiopia's remote Omo River Valley is full of ambiguities since it is a world that can in no way be related to our Western values or attitudes. The Omo Valley and its people  sometimes make you feel like an intruder, sometimes like a human ATM machine, sometimes like being on a safari to observe not animals but people with their traditional cultures slowly disappearing because of your presence (i.e. you, the tourist).  But at the same time, you also know that traditions are going to wither away anyway due to the highway under construction reaching to the heart of the Valley and the Gibe III Dam constructed upriver which will have a dramatic effect on the water levels downstream, in turn destroying the way of life of the people of the Omo. Furthermore, television signal arrived a few years ago and cell phone towers are being set up. So I am happy and consider myself lucky to have made a truly unique trip and to have visited the Omo Valley and met its people whose lives are changing fast and forever.  For anybody who wants to go there : go now or it will be too late.