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Young Hamar Woman
The Hamar women of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley are made immediately recognisable by their ochre-coated hair. This young woman is a high-ranking first wife, which we know from the heavy leather and metal necklace with the large cylindrical detail on the front that she is wearing. Her husband also has a second wife, which is indicated by the second plain metal bangle on her neck.
The Hamar captivated me.
A tall, good-looking people who are mostly relaxed and unselfconscious in front of a camera, the Hamar are a delight to visit and photograph. They are possibly the most distinctive of the many ethnic groups living in the far reaches of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, near the border with South Sudan.
There are about 50,000 pastural semi-nomadic Hamar (or Hamer) tribal people in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. Although they skirmish with their neighbours – necessitating the regular carriage of Kalashnikovs – they have been left mostly untouched by modern society and maintain a traditional lifestyle with generations-old cultural practices.
Cattle are central to Hamar life, playing a role in rites of passage and tribal rituals (more about their unique cattle-jumping ceremony some other day). Wealth and status is measured by how many head a family has, and any man who loses a family’s cattle herd will have his reputation ruined – hence the AK-47s. Men marry when they are in their mid-thirties, with the number of brides they can have determined by the ‘bride wealth’ their family can afford to pay to the young women’s families in cattle, goats, and guns.
To the visitor, it is the Hamar’s unique body decorations and clothing that stand out. Traditionally, women and girls wear soft leather smocks richly decorated with beads and cowrie shells, and coat their tightly dread-locked plaits with ochre. Both men and women cover their arms in copper bracelets, and sport liberal beads and scarification (more about that another time). Young men tend towards intricately braided hairstyles, and warriors add elaborate clay caps to their hairdos.
I was lucky enough to make several visits to a large village not far from my accommodation in the market town of Turmi (see: Hamar Village and Hamar Faces). I was travelling with photographer Ben McRae as part of a small-group Piper Mackay Photo-Tour, and we were all contributing to the local economy through the “pay-per-click” photo-tourism prevalent in the Omo Valley. It is only fair that these tribal people should trade on their distinctive appearances, but I couldn’t help but wonder about those who might be considered ‘less attractive’, and therefore earn less supplemental tourist-income.
Join me on a visit to a Hamar village – it is like a journey to another world.
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Hamar Village
The Hamar are pastural semi-nomadic people living in villages of simple huts in the hills on the eastern side of the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia.
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Shells and Beads
Even the young unmarried women have a poise and elegance that is admirable. As girls marry at around age seventeen, I assume that this young woman is younger than that.
Mother and Child
Very young girls also sport the characteristic ochre-coated hair, copper bracelets, beads, and cowrie-shell trimmed smocks.
Elder Women
This woman caught my attention on every one of my visits to this village.
Hamar Warrior
This man with his regal bearing was another of the villagers that I photographed on more than one occasion.
Clay Cap
Traditionally, men who have proven their courage by killing an enemy or a dangerous animal fashion a mud-clay cap into the back of their hair and decorate it with precious feathers. This cap can last for many months.
Girl in a Kraal Doorway
Young Hamar Girl
Those eyes! And perfect poise. These children are completely unphased by the visitors in their midst.
Milking the Cows
Getting candid shots in a pay-per-click village has its challenges! This man was worried about me photographing his cows over the fence around the enclosure until I assured him I was intending to pay him appropriately. Each cow costs extra!
Milking the Cows
Cows are central to Hamar economy. The men are responsible for them, and their futures depend on the herd: unless their family has enough cattle, the young men can’t negotiate for a good wife.
Earrings and Braids
As he turns back back to his milking, I can admire his beautiful tight braids and copper bracelets.
Beads and Braids
Both men and women value their appearance in Hamar society. Hair grooming is an essential part of this: this young man’s beading and braiding clearly have taken a lot of time.
Bird in a Bush
This village is in a beautiful pastoral setting. I think this is a superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus).
Grandmother in a Hut
The only light in the small and dark Hamar huts is from the low doorway …
Family in a Hut
.. and from the chinks in the walls.
Woman outside her Home
As is the case with most traditional societies, Hamar people divide tasks according to age and gender.
Hamar Woman
Older women – even second wives like this one – have a role and status in the community. Because women marry much younger than men, they are often left widowed, but they maintain some familial control over their husband’s younger brothers and the family livestock.
Young Adolescent
This young girl, barely into her teens, was one of the more popular subjects in the village.
Young Woman in Saffron
That Direct Gaze!
Backs and Beads
Two young girls proudly show off their back scarring that they have acquired at a cow-jumping ritual.
Beads and Blankets
One of these young women has embellished her pink sunglasses with pink flower. We get a good view of her decorative midriff scarring.
Layered in Beads
Another pair of friends, layered in their best beads, present themselves to the camera.
Youthful Smile
It is the clear-eyed smiles that I love the most.
It is another world.
But, the road network in the region is improving, local towns are expanding, and land is being grabbed for hydroelectric dams and water-guzzling plantations.
At least some modernisation is inevitable, but the Hamar are confident they can preserved their cultural values and traditions.
I do hope they are right!
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Photos: 18October2018
[…] part of a small-group Piper Mackay Photo-Tour. After a morning spent in a Hamar village (see: Hama Village Portraits), we were visiting a Daasanach settlement not far out of the market town of […]
[…] Over the next days, we visited Hamar (e.g.: Visit to a Hamar Village, Face in a Hamar Village; Hamar Village Portraits; and Morning Portraits), Daasanach (see: A Visit to the Daasanach) and Arbore (e.g.: Portraits in […]