A group of beautiful and Happy-looking ethnic Hamer girls from Dimeka in Omo River Valley area of Ethiopia in their traditional animal skin
A
group of beautiful and Happy-looking ethnic Hamer girls from Dimeka in Omo
River Valley area of Ethiopia in their traditional animal skin (leather)
embroidery dress with bands on their head. Hamer also well known as the hamar
or hammer are one of the most known tribes inSouthwestern Ethiopia. They
inhabit the territory east of the Omo River and have villages in Turmi and
Dimeka. They are a semi-nomadic, pastoral people, numbering about 42 000.
Honey
collection is their major activity and their cattle is the meaning of their
life. They will stay for a few months wherever there is enough grass for
grazing, putting up their round huts. When the grass is finished, they will
move on to new pasture grounds. This is the way they have been living for
generations.Once they hunted, but the wild pigs and small antelope have almost
disappeared from the lands in which they live; and until 20 years ago, all
ploughing was done by hand with digging sticks.
The land isn’t owned by
individuals; it’s free for cultivation and grazing, just as fruit and berries
are free for whoever collects them. The Hamar move on when the land is
exhausted or overwhelmed by weeds.
