Arbore women cover their heads with a black cloth and perform many ritualistic dances in the belief this will drive away negativity. | Tribes of the Omo Valley

Tribes of the Omo Valley

Arbore women cover their heads with a black cloth and perform many ritualistic dances in the belief this will drive away negativity.

Arbore women cover their heads with a black cloth and perform many ritualistic dances in the belief this will drive away negativity.

Almost all Mursi women wear intricate headdresses of a difficult design made from branches, marsh mollusks, or dried fruit.

Most young Mursi girls have their bottom lip pierced, then stretched to allow the insertion of a clay or wood lip plate.

The Daasanach Tribe style of dress is created from collected scraps and objects traded with other tribes, then turned into works of art.

Arbore women cover their heads with a black cloth and perform many ritualistic dances in the belief this will drive away negativity.

These two young boys from the Arbore Tribe have white spots painted on their faces that represent the markings of the guinea fowl.

The Mursi are considered some of the most feared warriors in the Omo Valley.

This Mursi woman is wearing a head adornment made from marsh mollusks.

Three Mursi children trying to stay worm during a foggy morning with cool rain.

This Hamer woman possesses the experience and dignity which younger women follow.

Mursi children are sometimes painted with white clay.

The Daasanach Tribe are a semi-nomadic group numbering approximately 50,000.

A growing number of Mursi girls are refraining from wearing lip plates.

A young Mursi child with a head adornment made from dried fruit.

The Arbore are pastoralists whose wealth is measured by the number of cattle they own.

Two young Mursi boys on the road leading to their village.

Two young Daasanach girls who live in a village that borders the Omo River.

A portrait of a young man in a Hamer village in the early morning light.

Arbore girls shave their heads to indicate virginity.

Daasanach girls and children are a closely knit tribe on the Omo River.

Donga stick fighting is a martial art that is an important part in the life of men.

The Daasanach survive by cultivating crops when the Omo River floods.

A Mursi boy walks confidently down the road that leads to his village.

The Daasanach use cocoa butter on their skin, which makes it shine.

These scars indicate that he is a killer of rival tribesmen or big game.

Scarification is popular among most of the peoples of the lower Omo Valley.

For Hamer boys to become men, a bull jumping ceremony is required.

Dried fruit is often used in creative ways to adorn the body by the Mursi Tribe.

A Mursi child wearing dried fruit while standing in a light rain.

Portrait of Mursi child #1

A Mursi child with a head adornment made from dried fruit.