Ethiopia

The Mursi Woman (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Mursi are a Nilotic pastoralist ethnic group that inhabits southwestern Ethiopia deep inside the Tama Wildlife Reserve. Surrounded by mountains between the Omo River and its tributary the Mago, the home of the Mursi is one of the most isolated regions of the country.

Dassanech Tribe Elder from Omorate (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Omo Valley, situated in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, is home to an estimated 200,000 indigenous peoples who have lived there for millennia. The 20,000-strong Dassanech (meaning ‘People from the Delta”) inhabit the southernmost region of the valley, where the Omo River Delta enters Lake Turkana.

The Mursi Child (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Mursi Young (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

I am Mingi

Many of the tribes of the remote Omo Valley in Southwest Ethiopia live a peaceful and pastoral lifestyle. However, fear and superstition still exist in the valley. Some of the tribes believe evil spirits or a “curse” will bring ill fortune (drought, famine, disease and death) to their villages if Mingi children are not killed. Because tribal elders believe Mingi children’s presence on the land curses the tribe, they have mandated the killing of all Mingi children. The practice was recently ended in the Kara tribe, due in large part to the efforts of Lale Labuko and OMO CHILD. Unfortunately, Mingi is still practiced by the Hamer tribe. A child can be declared Mingi for the following reasons — Teeth Mingi, Girl Mingi, Woman Mingi and Twin Mingi. Being declared Mingi almost always means death of the child. The tribe will leave the child alone in the bush without food and water or will drown the child in the river. I invite you to read more about Omo Child at: http://omochild.org/

The Children of Jinka (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Children of Jinka (Omo Valley, Ethiopia 2014)

The Children of Jinka (Omo Valley, Ethiopia 2014)

Higher Ground

As we drove from Jinka to Turmi, we came across this trio on stilts.

The Mursi Mother (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Kara Warrior from Kolcho (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Mursi Warrior (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Mursi Elder (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Karo Girl from Kolcho (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Karo tribe living along the borders of the Lower Omo River incorporate rich, cultural symbolism into their rituals by using ornate body art, intricate headdresses, and body scarification to express beauty and significance within their community. This lively tribe of around 2000 people is the main sedentary agriculturalist group in the Lower Omo Valley area of southern Ethiopia.

Headdress in Omorate (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

Pilgrimage to Bete Giyorgis (Lalibela, Ethiopia)

Mursi Boys (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

Young Hamer Woman at the Keske river crossing (Turmi, Ethiopia)

The Kara Brothers from Kolcho (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Arbore Elders (Omo Valley, Ethiopia)

The Arbore tribe is a small tribe that lives in the southwest region of the Omo Valley. They have ancestral and cultural links to the Konso people and perform many ritual dances while singing. The Tsemay people are their neighboring tribe. Arbore people are pastoralists (livestock farmers). They believe that their singing and dancing eliminates negative energy and with the negative energy gone, the tribe will prosper. #Ethiopia #Arbore #OmoValley #Abyssinia #portrait #travel #nationalgeographicexpeditions #ngex #intelligenttravel