I had met Mursis 2 years ago, and the meeting was let's say, very
chaotic with all the tribe hanging me to get a picture..to receive
money! They then ask for 30 euros for the..parking! In the middle of
the bush!
But this is the game. You know it before, and they are on their land!
This time, the people were quiet, cool, and many had a lot of
imagination to attract my attention!
The Mursi (also called Murzu) is the most popular tribe in the
southwestern Ethiopia lower Omo Valley, 100 km north of Kenyan. They
are estimated to 10 000 people and live in the Mago National Park,
established in 1979. Due to the climate, they move twice a year
between the winter and summer months. They herd cattle and grow crops
along the banks of the Omo River. The Mursi are sedentary rather than
nomadic. Their language belongs to the Nilo-Saharan linguistic
family.Very few Mursi people speak Amharic, the official Ethiopian
language. Although a small percentage of the Mursi tribe are
Christians, most still practice animism. Mursi women wear giant lip
plate, a sign of beauty, like in Suri tribe, and also a prime
attraction for tourists which help to sustain a view of them, in
guidebooks and travel articles, as an untouched people, living in one
of the last wildernesses of Africa. When they are ready to marry,
teenagers start to make a hole in the lower lip with a wood stick.
It will be kept for one night, and is removed to put a bigger one.
This is very painful at this time. Few months after, the lip plate has
its full size, and the girl is seen as beautiful by the men. The lip
plate is made of wood or terracotta. They have to remove the lower
incisors to let some space for the disc. Sometimes the lip is broken
by the pressure of the plate. This is a big problem for the girl
because men will consider her as ugly, she won't be able to marry
anyone in the tribe apart the old men or the sick people. Women and
men are shaved because they hate hairiness. Both like to make
scarifications on their bodies. Women as a beauty sign, men after
killing animals or ennemies as competition for grazing land has led to
tribal conflicts.
The Mursi men have a reputation for being aggressive and are famous
for their stick fighting ceremony called donga. The winner of the
donga will be able to select the girl of his choice to have relations
with if she agrees. Similar to the Surma tribe, the Mursi tribe
commonly drink a mixture of blood and milk. Over the past few decades
they and their neighbours have faced growing threats to their
livelihoods cause the Ethiopian government officials have been
actively evicting Mursi people from the Omo National Park, without any
compensation to rent their land to foreign investors. Drought has made
it difficult for many families to feed themselves by means of their
traditional mix of subsistence activities. The establishment of
hunting concessions has added to the pressure on scarce ressources.
© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com
1982Chris911 (Thank you 1.250.000 Times), and 292 other people added this photo to their favorites.
View 20 more comments
Sinkha63 23 months ago | reply
La lumière est superbe et son regard indéfinissable...
Thunderbolt_TW 23 months ago | reply
top notch ~~~
Vinod Kumar M. 23 months ago | reply
Great one !!!
Vasilis Amir 23 months ago | reply
perfect:)
This brilliant work deserves an Award
in Amir _ أمير group
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jraa1 23 months ago | reply
Winner shot......damn cool!!
ka7oe 23 months ago | reply
beautiful face..
bug eye :) Thailand 22 months ago | reply
Great work !
swwann 21 months ago | reply
Eric, tu fotografia es muy especial para mi. Enhorabuena por tu trabajo TAN MARAVILLOSO !!!
a_thirsty_fish 21 months ago | reply
most amazing
Foto Studio Garrick 21 months ago | reply
Remarkable. You did well to go.
reginald_dlani 19 months ago | reply
impressive travel photo and portrait
Kombizz 18 months ago | reply
good one
nruechel 18 months ago | reply
firstly, you SHOULD pay them. instead of going there, smiling and TAKING shit from them like every other arrogant European white boy photographer.
eLaboureur 18 months ago | reply
Dear Flickr member,
1. What do you know about the behavior of Eric when he is taking pictures. May be northing.
2. TAKING shit is not appropriate. His shot are not shit. These words are just insulting.
3. You are not supposed to insult people in Flickr.
4. You could probably find an other way to deliver your aggressivity, but not in Flickr.
Have a nice day.
One more shot Rog 17 months ago | reply
Great Shot Eric! I intend to visit Etheopia some day - not sure which route to take through the Omo valley I suppose?
pixellesley 5 months ago | reply
superb!
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kate053 5 months ago | reply
Excellent!
Congrats my friend, marvelous photography !!!
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Threadweavle 5 months ago | reply
Congrats my friend, marvelous photography !!!
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bardaxi 5 months ago | reply
Wonderful and stunning photo !!!
Congrats and many thanks for your sharing !!!
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cuma 2013 5 months ago | reply
Congrats and many thanks for your sharing !
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