Shipping
Fascinated by the atypical "Glances of the World", I have always been admiring the work of certain photographers who can make us discover little-known peoples in the four corners of the world and when we look at an image, very often the latter gives off an emotion and when the artistic part mixes with this emotion, then we can only be troubled ...
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In early 2013, I undertook a first trip to Ethiopia to discover ethnic groups, tribes, authentic peoples of the Omo Valley.
After a 7h30 flight from Paris, I arrived in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, located at an altitude of 2,400 m in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia has common borders with Eritrea , the Somalia , Sudan , South Sudan, Kenya and the Republic of Djibouti .
Before heading by car to the southwest of the country, I decide to do some sightseeing in the city and visit the National Museum of Ethiopia which contains both works of art and archaeological finds such as hominid fossils , the most famous of which is Lucy , an Australopithecus skeleton, discovered in 1974 at the Hadar site. Lucy is the first relatively complete fossil to be discovered for such an ancient period, and revolutionized our perception of human origins, showing that the acquisition of bipedalism was at least 3.2 million years old, and had largely preceded the process of increasing endocranial volume.
For the record, Lucy was nicknamed that because researchers listened to the Beatles song " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds " at night in the tent, listing the bones they had found. It is called Dinqnesh in Amharic (Ethiopia), which means "you are wonderful"
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My curiosity then drove me to go to Mount Entoto, it is a summit located northeast of Addis Ababa in the mountains at 3200m.
As I progress towards the southwest, I discover the coffee plantations, the first strain of Arabica coffee of which was identified in the 6th century in Abyssinia, present-day Ethiopia and not in Yemen as it is usually thought. .
A shepherd would have noticed a particular agitation of his goats following the ingestion of red berries of the coffee tree. Noting the next day that these goats had not been poisoned, he tried the experiment himself and then disseminated its use.
During this period the Ethiopians chewed grains and leaves, cooked them or mixed the ground grains with animal fat.
The shepherd reportedly related the facts to Islamic clerics in his region, the Sufis.
They would have made an infusion from the fruits of the tree, a stimulating infusion that kept them awake during the night service and on the eve.
Sufi monks exported the culture to Yemen before it reached Europe and then other parts of the world.
It was not until the 15th century that the beans extracted from their shells were regularly roasted and ground to give the drink we know today.
There are several varieties of coffee, all of the Arabica type and take their name from the region of cultivation: Jimma, Limu, Sidamo, Yirgacheffe… in the west of the country and Harar, in the east, bordering Somalia.
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As the days go by, I arrive in the Omo valley, to meet these peoples known to be tribes of farmers and semi-nomadic herders: the Hamers, the Mursis, the Turkanas, the Karos, the Suri (Surma), the Bumes, the Galebas, the Dassanetchs, the Bodis, the Nyangatoms, etc.
These populations perpetuate ancestral customs in a semi-arid region where living conditions are difficult. Body modifications as well as body painting, scarification and vegetable headdresses are common practices of these tribes.
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My first meeting trusts me to discover the Mursi tribe, cousin of the Suri tribe (Surma) that I would relate in the second part of my travel journal:
The Mursis are semi-nomadic inhabitants of southern Ethiopia , living on the western outskirts of Mago National Park , bordering the Omo River. They form one of the last peoples of Africa whose women wear labial ( labret ) and ear ornaments in the form of flat discs, hence their name of " women on a plateau ".
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Set up from the age of 10, they follow a whole ritual for this:
● We start with the extraction of the lower incisors,
● We pierce the lip and insert a wooden peg,
● The orifice is widened from year to year by the introduction of larger and larger cylinders,
● Finally, when the opening is large enough, you can install the large clay disc decorated with engravings.
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Like their cousins Suri (Surma) it is a sign of beauty in their culture: the larger the labial plateau, the more beautiful the woman. The tray is also worn by young unmarried girls. It can also be a sign of wealth, depending on the number of beasts given for the bride. The labial trays are made of wood, or terracotta.
Each woman makes her own tray and decorates it.
The Karo , the only fully-fledged sedentary people in the region, mostly gather in the village of Douss.
For generations, they have remained protected from the intrusion of the outside world by the mountains, the savannah and the fact that Ethiopia is the only African nation that Europeans have never colonized. They are very few today since there are a few hundred.
Raising cattle is important in their way of life. They draw blood, milk, meat and leather from it. Cattle are also used as currency to justify social status and claim to be able to marry.
Clothing and body ornaments
The beauty of the body is of great importance to the karo as it is to many peoples of Africa.
The women wear numerous tin necklaces and bracelets encircling their wrists, ankles and arms. The necklace of the first wife is made of a metallic circle surmounted by a second circle of leather and metal. The chin is pierced below the lower lip to insert a pin.
Men paint themselves with chalk, ocher or charcoal on special occasions, ceremonies and dances.
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The Hamer people
The Hamers are semi-nomadic pastoralists; they live in one of the most arid regions of the southern savanna of southwest Ethiopia, between the fertile lands of the east and the banks of the Omo.
The Hamers travel in groups, with their herds of cattle, following a precise route established by their ancestors on the first morning of the world. Among them, young armed men ensure the security of the group. Taking advantage of the long stages which punctuate their movement, they cultivate sorghum; once the water resources are exhausted, they abandon the fields and search for a new fertile area. They live in ogival huts of cleverly interwoven branches that resist strong sand winds.
Cattle are the socio-economic and cultural backbone of the Hamers; the fortune and social rank of a man are assessed by the abundance of his livestock. Animals are pampered: to enhance the elegance of the animal and to protect it from bad luck, the superstitious pastors draw decorative patterns on the coat with a razor. Preferred cattle even have the outer pavilion of the ears chiseled like a garland. At birth, children receive, in addition to their baptismal name, a bovine name.
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The Hamers, women and men alike, have a very keen sense of aesthetics and spend many hours daily beautifying themselves. The women anoint their bodies with oil and clay. Naked to the waist, they cover their hips with cowhide encrusted with colored beads. They coat their hair with butter and clay and adorn themselves with numerous pewter bracelets, voluminous necklaces set with shells and other tin ornaments. Over their skillfully braided hairstyles, some tie pewter visors or beaded headbands.
Apart from pearl necklaces and earrings, men prefer hairstyle: the bravest, those who have defeated the enemy or slaughtered a ferocious animal, coat their hair with clay which, when dried, forms a rigid cap above which is planted, on a small wooden support, an ostrich feather. The others braid their hair in a mosaic pattern.
They proudly display their naked torso adorned with scarifications inflicted during age-class passage rituals. The most important ritual for young Hamer men is that which enshrines the passage from childhood to middle age: the Ukuli
After a series of ceremonies that extend over several days, during which many goats are swallowed, the novices face a row of several cows held tightly, side to side, by young men who have recently passed the test. , but who are still too young to get married. Under the watchful eye of their elders, the candidates must take their turn to gain momentum, jump on the back of the first bull and travel without tripping the row of thirty backs, then repeat the feat in the opposite direction.
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To succeed in the initiation rite, they must complete four consecutive courses without falling. Once the test is successful, the boys are carried in triumph by their elders and acclaimed by the village. If they stumble once, we don't hold it against them, they start the ordeal again. On the other hand, if they fail again, they suffer the ultimate humiliation: they are publicly flogged and beaten by the women of their family. Considered the outcasts of the village, they fall prey to mockery and mockery from the whole community for the rest of their existence.
Animist rites: Through certain religious acts, man, or certain men, can enter into a particular link with the divine forces which direct nature to solicit the blessings of the gods or to remove the misfortune of the community. Often assimilated to magic, these rites, prayers and cults are generally distinguished by their collective character and their permanence; magic is a technique, a manipulation by which an individual claims to chain cosmic forces and the supernatural world to respond to requests of private interest using formulas or objects charged with force.
In some communities, healers ("white magic") use their knowledge of nature for therapeutic purposes, for the betterment of others. But there are also the "wizards" ("black magic") who act in secret and threaten the order of things: "soul eaters", "spellcasters", ... who are feared for their potential ability. nuisance. The major rites are also those of the initiation of age groups, in particular to show one's strength, agility and value.
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Back in France, I only want to go back to Ethiopia to meet a very little known tribe, the Suri ( Surma ) only a handful of adventurous photographer specializing in ethnic photos make us discover them at the great day some time ago.
It is decided, my expedition will take place in the last quarter of 2013, the time for me to get in touch with a team in Addis Ababa, at that time, I find very few people who can mount an expedition for me. in these very remote lands, an agency catches my attention, because it insists on knowledge of the place and especially on the security level, I submit to them my desire to go to Surma Country (Suri), we exchanged and elaborated for weeks the different stages to set up this expedition not far from the border of South Sudan.
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A 4x4 vehicle with its driver knowing a little about the place, a cook and a guide. From Addis Ababa we need two days of driving + a day on the trail to get there, three days in the capital which completely isolates me from modern civilization and above all from all communication. For your information, in 2013, the Gilgel Gibe III dam which separates the two banks of the Omo river was not yet finished, it was put into service in 2016, which considerably lengthened our journey.
Finally the meeting! After three days of adventurous 4x4, we arrived west of the Omo River, far inland on the borders of South Sudan and Kenya.
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In the first days, bivouac in a first village, which allows me to discover another world, another civilization and to discover myself alone in the middle of nowhere, very quickly curiosity wins on both sides, a desire irresistible to go towards each other, to discover our differences.
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In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
After a while we decide, my guide and I, to go to a bigger village where security will be a little more optimal; we go deeper for a few more hours in a 4x4 to return to this new village where I find the faces of the Suri (surma) as I was able to admire them on the sites of ethnic photographers. New bivouac which becomes a base camp and every day we visit the surrounding villages.
Suri way of life (Surma)
The men take care of the household tasks, the defense of the territory, take care of the herds which are parked in enclosures near the villages, hunt small and large animals.
These people are pastoralists, not having cows is very crippling. Each suri has an average of 30 to 50 cows, some much more. To get married the man has to pay a payment of about 60 cows to find his bride.
The women cultivate the fields, take care of the household chores, do the work of leather, of terracotta pottery for domestic use, the surplus of which is sold or exchanged for basic necessities. With the harvested seeds that they pound in a mortar, they make a flour. The fermented seeds will make an alcoholic drink, thick in the mouth resembling a kind of beer. It is consumed by everyone every day.
Children before the harvest have the task of chasing birds and insects from the harvest.
The young before the passage to adulthood watch the herds.
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An extraordinary encounter with children
Curious as usual, they came to our bivouac to train me to the river to show me their talent ...
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The paintings on the faces of the Suri ethnic group are not simple masks, but an art form requiring real craftsmanship. These works very often remain ephemeral because as soon as they are made, they can, according to the wishes of their creator, be destroyed in a few seconds in the water of the river. Clay mixed with liquid butter, dung dust, wood ash, woven leaves, feathers, bunches of berries, pieces of gourds… everything is useful for creating jewelry and adornments.
The main thing here is not to be meticulous or too precise, but to create quickly, very quickly. Speed of execution is essential. One minute should be enough to seduce.
The simplest patterns are done with the fingers, the finest lines or details, with nails or a piece of wood, flowers as stencils are used for the body patterns.
The pigments used come from the region's minerals: red ocher, white limestone, yellow sulfur and anthracite ash. The dilution of these very pure materials makes it possible to play on the intensity of the colors. To spice up and embellish these creations, children make incredible vegetable headwear.
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In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
It was a real pleasure to spend the afternoons with them by the river, in addition in the morning I left with my guide and a Ranger (from the ethnic group) appointed by the authorities, with pants, a military jacket and an AK-47 (Kalashnikov) to survey the surrounding villages in complete safety (although we were not the only ones to have a Kalach…!)
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The suri have as enemy neighbor people "the booms" who were able to obtain weapons during the civil war in neighboring Sudan. The latter used it at their ease on the suri and conflicts are frequent between the two groups.
Guns upset the balance of what was a stable and balanced society. The AK 47 has become essential for the younger generations who are increasingly escaping the control of the wisdom of the elders.
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Since 2016, the suri like other peoples have been affected by the Gilgel Gibe III dam which is built on the Omo river, which facilitates access to these ethnic groups whose traditional way of life could be strongly compromised by the arrival of mass tourism.
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© Jean-Yves JUGUET ®
These photos are certainly those which have totaled the greatest number of views of my expeditions through other countries and which prompted me today to share with you, in general terms, this travel diary.
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