Omo Valley South Ethiopia

The Omo Valley is the area around the Omo River in southern Ethiopia near the borders of Kenya and Sudan. The area is divided into East and West on both sides of the Omo River.

 

OMO VALLEY LANDSCAPE

The landscape of the Omo Valley is very diverse: vast savannah with mountains on the horizon, beautiful views, the arid semi-desert, acacia bushes, hills and forests on the banks of the Omo River. Then the Omo river itself with its deep canyons and rapids, dense vegetation on the banks where monkeys, colorful birds, crocodiles and hippos reside. This is a beautiful river for wild water rafting.

In the Omo Valley are the Mago and Omo National Park which are separated by the Omo River.

TRIBES IN THE OMO VALLEY

In the Omo Valley are more than 20 tribes in their own centuries-old traditional manner. Regardless of the modern technology they go around their own territories with their cattles as nomadic or semi-nomads, with only a few goods like a spear (or gun), knife and small wooden stool, the Burkito, which is also a pillow. Each of the Omo Valley tribe has its own unique costumes, hairstyle, body tattoo or painting, jewelry, dance, music and social structure: a paradise for anthropologists research and study. In several places like Jinka in the Omo Valley, Key Afer, Turmi Dimeka and you can visit the colorful local markets where you can find the locals people with their handicrafts, dairy products, cereals, etc. for sale.

In the Omo Valley an external influence is increasingly becoming felt. Although the elders in these tribes still have much power and they are the closest to their own people, the central government tries to influence these people. More and more schools are built and the government is trying in many ways to convince people that it is necessary to send their children to school. Because children from their childhood have to stay in a fixed location to learn at school and have to adapt to a new situation and develop and new fixed work patron, such things for the tribes in the Omo Valley are not simple to accept as an obvious mater. Because they are concerned if the young people educated, they will easily dispose their age-old traditional culture and identity, truly this fear is not unfounded. Young people who are educated are often in conflict with themselves and their tribe because of the new values and understanding of life style; they will no longer follow easily the traditional values of their tribe way of life anymore. Thus, it is a great task to the government, nongovernment organizations and other people who has to deal with the development work to overcome this challenge smoothly and lead it in a good direction.

 

Another problem in the Omo Valley are the tribal wars, the motives of ware are due to looting of cattle’s and agricultural land. This kind of ware among the different tribes for example between the hammer and Dassanech, and Nyangatom, Mursi and Surma has been going on for centuries.

IMPACT OF TOURISM IN THE OMO VALLEY

Though tourists usually respect the value and traditional lifestyle of the various tribes in the Omo valley, the tourists have to learn about the manners and customs of different tribes, but tourism has also a negative side effect. In several villages in the Omo valley often visited by tourists, the population more and more are becoming commercially oriented and they see coming of a white tourist to their village, just as someone from whom something to be earned, especially by charging fees for making pictures. In such village’s tourist entry often are overwhelmed by many residents who stand to be photographed. Especially the Mursi in the tourist towns may behave quite intrusive and sometimes even aggressive. To avoid this kind of behaviour, a tourist when you inter the village in the Omo Valley it is better to put the (video) camera in your bag, take some more time in the village, first walking around with a local guide and try to make contact with the people and when everyone is accustomed to your presence here, ask the local guide to take few photos, let the guide negotiate the price per photo with the residents. If possible it is better to go to somewhat more remote villages in the Omo Valley, where often not visited by tourists. We advise our guests to go the Hamer area with a local guide on foot a couple of little villages that are inaccessible to the land cruisers with tourists. Mursi: we take our guests to more distant villages where they can spent one or more nights and evenings, make camping there with residents in an informal way. In this way you make the people in the Omo Valley closer and are in their normal norms.

SOME OF THE TRIBES IN OR NEAR THE OMO VALLEY

The Konso people who are northeast of the Omo Valley life and especially known for their wooden tombs, the Waga's. They live in a very dry mountainous area where they maintain the scarce fertile land by making terraces on which they sow sorghum, maize, beans and plant coffee.
They try to get more from their land as much as possible by sowing alternating crops, using animal manure and hard work. Their orderly villages with beautiful huts built very close together and their fields are surrounded by stonewalls to protect against erosion and floods, wild animals and enemies. Each village is divided into different communities (neighbourhoods), each have their own community, the boys from 12 years old sleep until they get married in a communal house. This is done from the time that the Konso people often been attacked by neighbouring tribes and the young men were always ready to fight. Near by the town of Konso there are several lodges and campsites.

The Tsemai people:  (about 5000) sorghum and corn growing on the area at the east of Weita River of the Omo Valley. They are cattle owners, in this area and everywhere around this area you see hanging beehives for honey production. Their language is related to the Cushitic language of the Konso and that is because their ancestor Asasa about 200 years ago came to the surrounding area of the river Weito from Konso. They also have much in common with their neighbours Arebore people.

Marriages between members of the Hamer tribe and Tsemai takes place regularly. In the village Weito there is a simple bamboo bedroom hotel and camping facilities.

The Arebore people live in the southeast of the Omo valley tribes and the Tsemai from the Konso. Through intermarriage, they are also closely associated with Hammer and even Borena. These make them quite multicultural and are often intermediaries in trade and conflicts between different tribes. On Saturday Arebore colourful market you will see not only people of this tribe but also the Arebore Hamar, Tsemai and Borena. It is possible to camp near the village Arebore.

 

The Hammer people (about 35,000) live in the centre of the Omo Valley and have a remarkable hair and body painting. The women are gorgeous with metal straps around upper arms and ankles, various colourful necklaces, leather skirts decorated with shells and beads and capsules made from red clay. When a wild animal or a man-slain enemy, as his hair decorated with a medal kleikap painted in various colours and adorned with an ostrich feather. Also known is the bull-jumping ceremony where a young man must prove that he has reached marriageable age. A young man, 4 times on the backs of bulls jump without falling. If he falls and the test is unsuccessful, he will be beaten and ridiculed by the girls and he may try again after one year. This ceremony usually takes place between late February and early April or mid-August and September and is attended by tourists. Known as the "Evangadi dance" early in the evening the young people dance and where there is a possibility of funding a young girl that suits by the young boy. Nearby Turmi there are several campsites and a lodge.

Dassanech people ("Dassanech means "people of the Delta") These people live in the delta of the Omo River where it flows into Lake Turkana in the south of the Omo Valley. Their main property is their cattle. When a man loses cattle by drought, disease and raids by other tribes, he and his family are now in the "Dies" it meaning is  "poor people". The Dies live on the shores of Lake Turkana, where they fish and hunt crocodiles; they are considered to be as outcasts by the Dassanech. In times of famine share their fish and crocodile meat with the rest of the tribe.

 

 

The Karo people ( about 1500 ), the smallest of the Omo Valley live near the Omo River in the southwest. They are related to the Hammer and like them, specialists in body painting for special celebrations. They use mostly white chalk and then paint it their face and body and if they use some white feathers as a headdress, it is in deed a special appearance to see such people.
There is a campsite near the village of Karo Kolcho so you have the opportunity to see the everyday life around. The Murill lodge / camp is also close to this area.

 

The Nyangatom people (about 6000) which have the nickname "Bume" live mainly in the southwest side of the Omo Valley, near the Omo river, though they also roam with their livestock in search of pasture. They are formidable warriors who regularly make war with the Hamer, Karo and Mursi. They speak a Nilotic language and are closely related to the Kenyan Turkana tribe. They make incisions in their bodies to enhance their beauty and fighting spirit, and as identification of the tribe.

The Mursi people (about 7000) are renowned for the large clay discs that the women in their Mursi woman and child earlobe and lip wear and whose origin and purpose are not clear. Probably it is just a way to differentiate themselves from other tribes. The widespread idea that the size of the dish indicates how big the bride price must be for the woman is proved to be wrong because a girl is married often before stretching her lip and insertion of a dish begins (around the 20^th years old). The stick fighting between large groups of men are known and serve as the bull-jumping among the Hammer people, as a test of manhood. The Mursi people live in the northwest of the Omo valley, partly in Mago NP.

The Ari people (morethan100, 000) inhabit a large area around Jinka in an elevated area north of the Omo Valley and speak a language closely related to South Omotic the language of the Hammer. They grow cereals, coffee; keep livestock and beehives for honey production. In the smaller villages in the countryside you see the women are traditionally dressed in skirts made of leaves and Koisha Enset and colourful bracelets on their upper arms.

The Banna People (around 45.000) are a friendly people and they look fantastic, especially the women with their many decorations but also the proud men with a clay or braided hair style as they get when they honour a slain enemy or wild animal. They live mostly on agriculture in upland areas to the east of the Omo Valley, adjacent to the area of Ari and Tsemai. On Monday the famous market in Key Afer in the heart of the area Banna you can best meet them there.

The Surma people (about 25,000) speak a Nilotic language and life on the west side of the Omo River on the borders of the Omo NP. They paint their bodies with white paint (made from a certain kind of clay) in fantastic patterns, making them look like a ghosts look. The main purpose is to intimidate enemies. Regularly, wedge war against the Nyangatom giving priority to conquer territory and steal cattle. Also in this tribe the women wear clay plates in their lower lip and a young man to prove that he is worth of marriage he has to win a Donga stick fighting. It is still not possible to cross with land-cruiser by the Omo River between Mago and Omo NP. To visit  Surma and other tribes west of the Omo River in the valley is only possible through western Ethiopia.