dassanech tribe

dassanech woman wearing wig made of bottle caps & watch parts photographed by eric lafforgue 

dassanech tribe animal skin skirt, omorate, omo valley, ethiopia, photographed by eric lafforgue

dassanech woman wearing wig made of bottle caps & watch parts photographed by eric lafforgue 

balo, daasanach tribe, lower omo valley, ethiopia photographed by joey l.

dassanech women

dassanech man in headdress (the clay headdress can indicate the killing of an enemy or dangerous animal) photographed by eric lafforgue

dassanech huts

toudaio, dassanech girl photographed by mario gerth

dassanech tribe, woman with plastic sun shade, photographed by ngaire lawson

dassanech man with his tribal scarification

dassanech woman photographed by eric lafforgue

dassanech fashion photographed by eric lafforgue

the dassanech or geleb tribe live in ethiopia on the shore of lake turkana & along the omo river. the name dassanech means "people of the delta".  traditionally, the dassanech are divided into 8 territorial sections: the shirr (largest), inkoria, narich, elele, riele, oro, randal & kuoro.  furthermore, they are divided into 8 exogamous & non-territorial clans: turinyerim, fargar, galbur, turat, ili, mur, edze & tiyeme. 

the dassanech tribe is not strictly defined by ethnicity. anyone, man or woman, will be admitted, as long as they agree to be circumcised. each of the 8 clans has its own identity & customs, its own responsibilities towards the rest of the tribe, & is linked to a particular territory. 

the largest clan, the galbur is known as the water & crocodile clan. they believe its members have the power over both water & crocodiles & are responsible for dealing with diseases of the glands. the turat are responsible for dealing with burns from fire. they also have powers to keep away snakes, to cure many diseases & the ability to keep away enemies from their animals. the turnyerim have powers over drought & they pray for rains during dry periods. they can also cure snakebites by spitting on the wound. other clans have healing powers over eye infections, scorpion bites, muscular problems and so on. members of the same clan are forbidden from marrying or even dancing with each other.

the dassanech were originally nomadic pastoralists & today are predominantly agro-pastoralists who complement their income from livestock production with cultivation of crops on the flooded banks of the omo river & fishing. they also raise sheep, donkeys & in some parts, camels. sorghum is the staple food crop in addition to maize & beans.

the tribes trade with each other for beads, food, cattle & cloths. more recently they have begun trading guns & bullets as well as other goods such as beer.

they are surrounded by four ethnic groups: the turkana, the gabra, the nyangatom & the hamar, who are considered as enemies. the turkana & gabra are located in kenya, while the nyangatom & hamar are ethiopians.

they are governed by an age-set system, one of the oldest political institutions in africa, which divides people into age categories for the purpose of political, economic & social structure.  power is in the hands of a group of about 30 elders called 'bulls' (ara).

although it is a male dominated society, having a girl also gives a social status among peers & is therefore celebrated.dassanech girls are circumcised young, at around age 10 or 12. if they aren't circumcised she cannot marry & her father won't receive her bride-price. until they are circumcised, girls are called 'wild animals' or 'men' to tease them - the idea is that their clitoris has to be removed before they act like women. once they go through the ritual of circumcision they are given sour milk to drink & a necklace by her mother. from then on, she is allowed to wear a leather skirt to show that she is now considered an adult. marriage follows soon after.

the biggest ceremony in a man's life is called dimi or dime. a dassanech man blesses his daughter's fertility & future marriage. once he has gone through dimi, a man becomes an elder. about 10 cattle & 30 smaller animals are slaughtered & other stock is traded for coffee. both men & women dress in fur capes to feast & dance & the leaders of the village bless the girl. after the ceremony, the participants are upgraded to 'great men' and may now engage in politics.

omo valley tribes

omo valley girl, photograph by hans silvester

surma boy, photograph by hans silvester

photograph by hans silvester

photograph by hans silvester

suri warrior in the omo valley, photograph by eric lafforgue

photograph by hans silvester

mursi tribe, portrait of nadogomi & bardomoye, photograph by joey lawrence

photograph by hans silvester

photograph by hans silvester

photograph by hans silvester

photograph by hans silvester

mursi child, omo valley, photograph by hans silvester

from people of the surman & mursi tribes of the omo valley, photograph by hans silvester

 a kalachnikov armed karo tribal warrier, omo valley,  karo tribe, ethiopia, photograph by ngaire lawson.

the wearing of a grey & ochre clad headdress indicates the killing of an enemy or dangerous animal

hamar woman, ethiopia, photograph by pascal mannaerts

photograph by hans silvester

arbore tribe, debub omo zone, photograph by joey lawrence

a friend posted the first image of the girl with flowers in her earlobes on my facebook page & i was instantly intrigued.  after hours of research i have discovered that she is from the omo valley in ethiopia. 

the lower omo river in south west ethiopia is home to eight different tribes whose population is around 200,000. 

the lower valley of the omo is unlike any other place on earth in that so many different types of people have inhabited such a small area of land over many millennia. it is believed that is was the crossroads of a wide assortment of cultures where early humans of many different ethnicities passed as they migrated to and from lands in every direction. as a result, the lower valley of the omo, which is a prehistoric site near lake turkana, is renowned the world over. 

the discovery of many fossils there, especially of homo gracilis, has been of fundamental importance in the study of human evolution. evidence of the oldest known humanoid technological activity has been found in this region, as well as stone objects attesting to an encampment of prehistroric human beings that is among the oldest known today.

although the omo valley tribes have lived there for centuries, the future of these tribes is up in the air.

access to the omo river is being blocked as the government continues to clear land & build roads to the sugar cane plantations, which are part of the state run kuraz sugar project. the sugar plantations are reported to be irrigated with water from the controversial gibe III hydro-electric dam project (funded in part by china's largest bank, the industrial & commercial bank of china).

the government is also leasing large tracts of tribal land to national & foreign investors. to the west of the omo national park, the suri are protesting against a malaysian company which is planting oil palm on some of their best cattle grazing land. hunger is being used against them-  by destroying their crops they are attempting to force them to move off their land into designated resettlement areas.

most tribes now carry rifles & ak47's to hunt & protect themselves.

the omo valley has been a popular tourist attraction although recently some tour companies have suspended their trips over concerns of exploitation. the area has been heavily visited with tourists lured in by the tribes body art & in particular their lip plates.  many tribal people see the tourists as a source of money & think the tourists should pay to take photographs. sadly, local culture has been degraded by the droves of visiting foreigners.  

mascho-piro

members of the mascho-piro tribe photographed through a telescope by spanish explorer diego cortijo

uncontacted mascho-piro indian woman spotted from the air, s.e. peru, 2007

uncontacted mascho-piro indians spotted from the air, s.e.peru, 2007

new images of an uncontacted peruvian tribe, the mascho-piro indians, reveal a small band of people, clad in beads & bands of fabric. for a millenia, they have carved an existence from the peruvian rainforest, untouched by civilization. the photographs were released by advocacy group survival international & are the closest glimpse of the indians ever caught on camera, according to the organization. 

the tribe descends from a group that was attacked & displaced in 1894, when rubber baron carlos fermin fitzcarrald encroached on their ancestral lands. now their days of isolation are numbered. illegal loggers are encroaching nearer to their ancestral homeland.

the family in the main photo were chanced upon by diego cortijo, an indigenous peruvian exploring the alto madre de dios river four days on foot from the remote jungle town of puerto maldonado. holding his camera lens against a telescope, he captured one of the most detailed pictures of an uncontacted tribe ever taken. 

"first contact" with the outside world can prove fatal for a tribe & usually results in the death of between 50 and 80 % of its members, who have no immunity to diseases common elsewhere. it can also be tragic for those who discover them. weeks ago, a close friend of mr. cortijo - nicolás "shaco" flores - was killed by an arrow on the outskirts of the park while trying to leave gifts of food & clothes.

it's so mind boggling that these indigenous tribes still exist un-touched by technology & the outside world. hopefully they will continue to thrive without our interference.