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Mursi Metal
With a heavy headdress of braided twine, metal rings and warthog tusks, a young Mursi male boldly meets the visitor’s gaze.
The Mursi people of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley have been called “one of the most fascinating tribes in Africa.”
A pastoralist group originating in the Nile Valley, the roughly 7,500 Nilo-Saharan Mursi live in an isolated corner of southwestern Ethiopia, close to the border with South Sudan. Even today with improved roadways, their villages are remote: I was on a Piper Mackay photographic tour with a small group of photo-enthusiasts under the direction of photographer Ben McRae, and we had climbed into our Toyota Land Cruisers before dawn to undertake the bumpy two-hour drive from the nearest market town of Jinka, across Mago National Park, and into Mursi lands.
This remoteness probably helps the Mursi maintain their Animist religion and traditional rites of passage. Mursi women are among the few remaining tribes to continue to wear lip plates: I’ve shared pictures of these before (see: Meet the Mursi). According to accounts, Mursi men engage in ritualised violence in the form of ceremonial stick fighting (thagine).
We did not observe the stick fighting, but we were invited to participate in a young man’s first blood-letting: a dramatic ceremonial piercing of a cow’s neck artery so that the blood can be drunk. The injury is plugged up again after a bowl of blood has been taken, and the cow takes off – relatively unharmed – as soon as it is released.
“Pay-for-click” tourism has been an integral part of visiting the Omo Valley for many years, and in a way it encourages the tribes to maintain some of their traditional trappings. But it also makes the experience of visiting villages purely transactional, rather than friendly and mutually curious. I’ve commented before about how confronting I found the whole concept of bartering for every photograph, and the Mursi people have a reputation for being particularly “aggressive”. Still, this was our last day in the tribal regions, and I had a bundle of money and a “cloak of confidence” that made me proof against extortion: if you are not careful, the price-per-photograph can double in the course of a session!
Fortunately, I managed to avoid the arguments that happen regularly between villagers and visitors, and more importantly, managed to not get shot by one of the automatic weapons that are everywhere and seem to be tossed around rather cavalierly. I was not afraid of being an intentional target, but I am surprised that accidents don’t happen more often!
Come meet the men of the Mursi – all of them proud warriors.
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Man with a Gun
Tribal law rules these lands: this is frontier territory, on the border with South Sudan, from whence cattle raiders will cross to try and take your prized livestock. Revenge killings are not uncommon, and young men earn their scarification “stripes” by killing their enemies.
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Mursi Man
The Mursi are a tall, proud people with “an aggressive reputation”; I never felt at risk, but I didn’t manage to raise many smiles.
The dry, dusty climate makes for a lot of sore eyes.
Nilla Headdress
These headdresses – made of two warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) tusks joined with iron fittings to a leather headpiece – are popular among men and women, and are even made to decorate cattle.
Mursi Man in a Nilla Headdress
Young Man in Headdress
All the elements of the headdress look heavy …
Metal and Leather
… and I never succeeded in getting an explanation (if there is one, outside of ornamentation) of the different components.
Men with a Staff and a Gun
I found the casual way with which weapon were handled rather alarming. Fortunately, it would seem many of them are not loaded; guns are cheap but bullets are expensive!
Mursi Man in Tusks
Close Shave
Razors are a valuable commodity as many men (and women) shave intricate designs into their hair.
Young Mursi Man
There is an intensity in these young men …
Young Mursi Man
… that is palpable even before you see the extensive scarification.
Off to the Blood-Lettting
We’d only been in the village just over two hours, and it was still mid-morning. But the sun was high: pulsating light and radiating heat. Following the men to the cattle pens made for a nice diversion, even though I felt anticipatory dread over what was to come.
To Catch a Cow
First, a cow who hasn’t been bled recently …
To Restrain a Cow
… must be caught and restrained.
Mark a Spot
The bowman palpates an artery on the cows neck for piercing.
Spurting Blood
Catching the Blood
The spurting fresh blood is caught in a gourd …
Plugging the Hole
… before the hole in the neck is plugged …
Drinking the Blood
… and the blood is drunk by the participants.
First Time
I don’t think the young lad enjoyed it much!
Warrior
The elder, however, sits tall with pride.
Post Blood-Letting
The men who have shared the cow’s blood rest after their exertion. The cattle must be used to this treatment – once let loose, they are unfazed.
Mursi Man and his Weapon
We returned to our vehicles, where – against a black cloth and with a soft box – I make another Mursi warrior portrait.
It is certainly not an easy life!
I was pleased to have had a glimpse into a very foreign world, but I won’t pretend I even begin to understand it.
Until next time,
Happy Travels!
Photos: 23October2018
[…] have posted some of the pictures I “bought” in this Mursi village (see: The Mursi and Mursi Men). One of the biggest problems I had was the transactional nature of the exchanges, and the fact […]