First wife Hamar woman Ethiopia - a photo on Flickriver

This is a Hamer woman .Some Hamer still have a cruel tradition: women can have babies before being married, to test their fertility...Once they have the baby, some forgive him. This tradition tends to disapear but NGO still save abandonned new borns.
On the neck of the woman, you can see 3 necklaces. the biggest one at the top means she is First Wife. This is important, as her statut is the higher one in Hamer society. But as she has 2 more simple necklaces around her neck, it means her husband took 2 more wifes... The Hamer women who are not First Wife have to live a hard life , as they are more slaves than wifes...

The Hamar is a catlle herder tribe which lives on the Eastern side of the Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia. Honey collection is their major activity and their cattle is the meaning of their life. There are at least 27 words for the subtle variations of colours and textures of a cattle ! And each man has three names: a human, a goat and a cow name.
The Hamar have very unique rituals such as a bull-leaping ceremony, that a young men has to succeed in order to get married. The cow jumping is an initiation rite of passage for boys coming of age in Hamar tribe. Cows are lined up in a row. The initiate, naked, has to leap on the back of the first cow, then from one bull to another, until he finally reaches the end of the row. He must not fall of the row and must repeat successfully the test four times to have the right to become a husband. While the boys walk on cows, Hamar women accompany him: they jump and sing. Totally committed to their initiated sons, the mothers are whipped to blood, in order to prove their courage and accompany their sons during the test.
The Hamar are very preoccupied with their beauty. They have at times spectular haidresses.
Men use a wooden head rest which prevents the hair from touching the ground. You can see them walking with it everywhere ! It is used as head rest to protect the clay wig that some do on the top of the head, but it is also usefulas a seat ! Even if there is a chair close to them, they prefer to use the head rest !
Women know many ways to do their hair. The most famous hair style is when their hair is in short tufts rolled in ochre and fat or in long twisted strands. These coppery coloured strands are called "goscha", it's a sign of health and welfare.
They also wear bead necklaces, iron bracelets around their arms, and decorate their breast with lots of cowry shells, like a natural bra.
Around married women's necks, you can see "esente": torques made of iron wrapped in leather. These are engagement presents; they are worn for life and indicate their husband's wealth. One of the necklaces catch more especially the attention: it is called the "bignere". It's also an iron and leather ring, which has a phallic-shape end. But this jewelry can only be worn by a man's first wife.
I remember a woman I have met. On her neck, there were three necklaces. According to what I just explained about the bignere, the biggest one at the top means she was "First Wife". This is important, as her statut is the higher one in Hamer society. But as she has two more simple necklaces around her neck: that means her husband took two more wives... The Hamar women who are not first wife have a really hard life and they are more slaves than wives... During my trip, I could see some of these women, working like slaves for the men: their skin were covered with clay, butter and animal fat... So they were a little scary ! Another thing to know about these women: the more scars one has on her back, the higher is her status.
The young unmarried girls, for their part, wear a kind of oval shape plate, in metal. It is used like a sunshield, but it tends to be rare in the tribe. Some of them have fund their future husband, but have to wait in their house until the so-called prentender can provide all the money for the ceremony: he has to pay for all the cows the bride-to-be's family asks for. These girls are called "Uta" and have to wait three months, entirely covered with red clay... And no right to take baths or showers ! They cannot go out of the house, let alone the village.That's why it is very rare to see or take a photo of a Uta. A cruel tradition still has currency for some Hamar: unmarried women can have babies to test their fertility, but some of them are just abandonned in the bush. This tradition tends to disapear but NGO still save abandonned new borns. Abandonments are all the more frequent than some Hamar believe that a child born out of formal marriages has "mingi", as to say something abnormal and unclean. For them, it is the expression of the devil, which may cause disasters such as epidemics or drought in the village. So, illegitimate children are abandoned. This kind of beliefs can also be observed in other Ethiopan tribes: many parents prefer to sacrifice their own child rather than risk being affected by the evil eye.
Something left me a really strong impression in Africa: football is of the highest importance, even in the most remote places !
I remember a boy, who was living several days-walk from the Turmi market. But as most of the young Hamar, he came there to watch football on television ! This guy was wearing a Chelsea tee-shirt, but still had to jump over ten bulls to be able to marry a girl in his tribe: a real culture shock! They are all really into Chelsea, Arsenal... such as many Ethiopians, who are just crazy about English football, because the national TV brodcasts every single match ! So, while I was in deep South Ethiopia, I still could ask “did Arsenal win?”, and always had an accurate answer: the score, the name of the scorers, etc...Strange, but true ! Meantime, the world economic crisis was at its high ! Even if you do not speak their language, you can exchange with those guys with few words like “Ribery, Thierry Henry, Drogba", etc. ! Of course, all the tribes do not go into this village, and only the ones who are not too far have this passion.
Other special feature in these tribes: their relation to the photos. I remember a day, in a restaurant in Dimeka -not to say the only one around there. I made a polaroid of a Hamar couple. The man was angry because, as he said, "the colors were not good" ; he threw the picture away. But the lady finally let him go, and took the picture with her ! It' was not the first time those people, from remote areas, do not have any pictures of themselves and so are very demanding about the quality of the picture they are on! For instance, the Mursi do not understand why the picture do not have their own real size !
Besides, it is not so easy to get smiles in this area. First, because people work really hard and second, because it is very difficult to share anything with them as we are seen as walking wallet with cameras !

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Taken in: Ethiopia / Southern Nations Nationalities and People's Region / Debub Omo (show map)

Taken on: October 27, 2008

Tags:

4355

hamer

hammer

hammar

tribe

tribu

lafforgue

ethiopia

africa

omo

necklace

woman

femme

beauty

beaute

collier

black

african

africaine

Etiópia

tribo

Αιθιοπία

эфиопия

埃塞俄比亚

埃塞俄比亞

이디오피아

エチオピア

Äthiopien

Etiopía

種族

face

portrait

explore

binyere

indigenous

indigenous people

tribal girl

tribal girls

Ethiopië

Etiopia

에티오피아

Etiopien

Etiopija

Етиопија

Etiyopya

אתיופיה

衣索匹亚

衣索匹亞

ethiopie

canonfrance

dam

barrage

Gibe III dam

Gibe 3 dam

Salini Costruttori

Bienvenue dans ma tribu

peoples of the omo valley

اتیوپی

nomadic people

artistic

pigments

rite

body painting

adornment

East Africa

ornament « less

Sets appears in: • Omo Valley Ethiopia • Black & white more » • Girls girls girls • Most Interesting 2 U • Seen in Explore « less

Groups appears in: • Black and White • BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO HEAVEN! more » • B&W • canon photography • blackpeople • DoF • People of the World • visit the world - the travel guide • Ethiopia • Everything B&W • Bonjour Tristesse • eyes < o > < o > • Ethnic • Black & white portraits • PEOPLEPIX • Black & White Pictures • Dramatic • Black and White Portraits • Ethnic Jewellery / Bijoux ethniques • BLACK GIRLS' BEAUTY • BEST in B&W photography • Indígenas / Indigenous people • BLACK & WHITE DIGITAL PICTURES GROUPE • Black and Beautyfull • Travel portraits of local people (geotagged) • BLUELIST - The Best of Lonely Planet • Horn of Africa • Digital Black and White (2 per day: no nudity: no colour) • East Africa: People & Landscapes • ImagePoetry-ImagePoésie / Admin Invite • Portrait Award (Invited only, please give 2 awards :) • Monochromia • Ethiopie • Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III • "The Living Face" • A "Quality Only" Club -Admin Invite+Moderated Post • Our Memories, Our Times • Áfrikan Eve • Portraits du monde * Post 1 , Comment 2 * Sweeper is running • Six Million Years of Tinkering • Corne De L'Afrique • Portrait★Faces★Open Minded • Tribute to Raymond Depardon • Human Faces: Fascinating Just the Way We Are • Masterpieces of Portrait Art • IMAGICLAND - Invite Only - 50+ Faves (Post 1,Comment and Fave 1) • Committee of Artists • Curated by JA2 (Invitation Only) • Flickr Hive Mind Group / Administration • foto-galería de arte en b/n • Reportage people • Pefection • FROZEN LIFE MOMENTS - Post1/Comment2 • Fotografías en blanco y negro ( post 1/award 3 ) • Being themselves; The Portrait Group • Master Portraiture (Invite Only) • Vermeer Pearls.. an invite only group (P1/A2) • ►DRAMA*- High Contrast Group (P1-A2) • Low key portraits • Elegant Portrait • Canon France • The Art of Quality (P1/ C2) • Photo Infos • FLOOR primus (post 1,award 4) • !Best Black-and-White Images Ever (P1/A2) • All People worldwide • · TRACE IN FACE · • through the light of *Black and White • Tronches d'ici et d'ailleurs Ø Portrait Ø • Monochrome Dedication • IMAGE &POETRY « less

Stats: 29,481 views / 170 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: