Tribes living by the Omo riverside

Hamar people

Tribe or ethnical group:	Hamari
Location:	Left Omo riverside / Ethiopia
Estimated population:	40.000
Language:	Hamar language
Religion:	Animism, Paganism

The Hamar people are the largest and ethnologically strongest group living by the Omo riverside. The most interesting part of their culture is the initiation ceremony for young boys called “bull jumping”. I myself was a spectator of numerous of these ceremonies and each and every time I was surprised, how so many unmarried girls would willingly take part in these ceremonies. The unmarried boys in these ceremonies whip the unmarried girls, if they wish it, on their backs and blood just comes pouring out like in fountains. The boys just stand there and watch them, without even a liny blink of an eye. Unbelievable...

  Mursi people

Tribe or ethnical group:	Mursi people
Location:	Mostly the left Omo riverside / Ethiopia
Estimated population:	7000
Language:	Mursi language
Religion:	: Animism, Paganism

The Mursi people are said to be the most feisty and even most wild Omo riverside population. But even the feistiness of these people won’t help, when the river will be much drier, thanks to the newly build hydroelectric power plants and cotton fields that will occupy most of the water supplies of their river. They don’t even suspect, what awaits them. The Mursi people still look from above when they see visitors and tourist, even though these became their main and only serious source of income. But how long will this last?  

    Arbore people

Tribe or ethnical group:	Arbore people
Location:	Left Omo riverside / Ethiopia
Estimated population:	5500
Language:	Arbore language
Religion:	Animism, Paganism

The small Arbore people live on an equally very small-scaled region, some kilometers away from the Omo River, which makes them fare more water independent than most of the other living cultures in this region. Even now, they are used to heavy droughts and rely on underwater water supplies from wells. But with the drastic sinking of the Omo River water supply, even the underwater supplies of the life giving river will become much scarcer.

  Written by Arne Hodalič, photo Arne Hodalič and Katja Bidovec