Alison's World & Adrianism: Tribal Markets of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia

The lower Omo River valley in southwest Ethiopia is one of the last unspoiled wilderness regions in Africa. Isolated by the 4500m-high Ethiopian mountain range to the north, the impenetrable swamplands of the Nile to the west and the desert of northern Kenya to the south, the valley is mainly fed by the Omo River which bisects Ethiopia’s largest and most inaccessible parks: the Omo National Park which lies on its west bank and Mago National Park on its east Bank. The valley is also rich in paleo-anthropological fossils; the latest hominid remains to be discovered date back over four million years.

The lower valley of the Omo unlike any other place on Earth has the largest diversity of ethnically different groups in the whole of Ethiopia and possibly in Africa.In an area of less than 15,000 square kilometers more than ten different languages are spoken (excluding dialects ) .Experts believe that for thousands of years it was a crossroads of a wide assortment of cultures where early humans of many different ethnicities passed as they migrated from and to lands in every direction. To this day, the cultures and people of the Lower Valley of the Omo are focus of study for their incredible diversity.

The entire Omo region is inhabited by ethino-cultural groups pertaining to two important linguistic lines: Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic. The Nilo-Saharan linguistic line includes Bume, Mursi ,and Surma while The Afro-Asiatic line is comprised of Karo,Banna,Bashada,Hamar,and Dizi who are Omotic and Dassanech, Erbore, Tsamako who are Eastern Cushitic .

In general, Omo valley people are structured by the Age-system.This is a system exclusively associated with men, who must pass through several stages from birth to adulthood. The rites and ceremonies determine the progress each male makes with in his group. Child, Youth and Adult are the three main stages of life. Each of these stages brings with it a series of social obligations towards the family and the group, as well as certain advantages or rights.

The fact that the majority of the peoples are herdsmen is a typical characteristic of the Lower Omo region. Livestock not only has economic value, but also social value. It is strongly connected to a network of social relationships that comprises their culture. It is the source of food, clothing, an expression of wealth and Prestige, and also play great roles in an individual’s stages of life like initiation, weddings, etc….

Although, the nomadic ways of life of the region do not allow the development of advanced material culture, it is largely compensated by the exceptional ornamental and symbolic wealth of their decorated bodies. A wide and varied aesthetic culture is reflected on their bodies as an expression of beauty and as a demonstration of messages and signals expressed through scarification paintings, ornamentation, and hairstyles.

We spent a few days based in a Hamer Village in Turmi and although the locals were very friendly, poor Adrian was totally hysterical when we visited the local market. They were used to seeing blacks, they were used to seeing whites, but obviously had never seen brown folk. Hence, everyone was trying to run their fingers through his hair and touch his skin.