SURI TRIBE

• Location: Live in Southwest Ethiopia (near Omo Valley) and have traditional rivalries with neighbouring tribes.

SURI TRIBE

PEOPLE

“sedentary pastoral tribe, tradition of ritualised violence”

•They breed their cattle, mostly cows for milk and blood.

•The more cattle a tribesmen has, the wealthier they are.

•Men are not allowed to marry until they own 60 cows.

•Stick-fighting is a rite of passage for the Suri tribe of Ethiopia.

•The Suri are very much like the Muris tribe and practice the same traditions

The young men learn the are of donga,

or stick fighting.

Donga in action….

Dongas get young men used to the bloodshed they'll face from tribes, and provide the schooling a young man needs to fight for his

tribe's survival.

At a young age, most women of the Suri tribe have their bottom teeth removed and their bottom lips pierced and stretched, in order

to insert a clay lip plate. The bigger the plate, the more cattle she is worth when it's time to get married.

Girls mark their bodies permanently

by scarification.

A woman carefully cuts decorative patterns on the arm of her friend while a boy looks on apprehensively. The skin is lifted with a

thorn and then sliced with razor blades, leaving a flap of skin which will eventually scar. Scarification is a form of beautification for

most of the tribes that inhabit the Omo Valley, a practice unchanged by the passing of hundreds of years.

In urban culture…

Compiled by,R V Purusothaman

HODFFD – 5

NIFT New Delhi