Photographer Trevor Cole is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this travel photography. These images are from his project ‘Ethiopia – Tribal Lands‘. To see Trevor’s galleries click on any image.
Suri Tribe
The Hamar, Kara, Mursi and Suri all use body paint derived from clays, which are found in the tropical soils. They paint themselves as a form of camouflage when hunting, or as decoration at special ceremonies, festivals and when outsiders visit. They also wear very distinctive beads and jewelry made from recycled materials – batteries, watch chains, bottle tops are but some of the examples.
Ethnic minorities on the edge. These tribes live in the remote South West of Ethiopia. They are nomadic pastoralists living their lives in a relatively lush savanna region close to the border with Sudan. The Omo valley is well known for its diversity of tribal peoples and they do get substantial numbers of tourists each year bringing change and perhaps bringing to an end the sustainable existence they have had for Millennia.
The women of the Mursi and Suri have very distinctive lip plates and several tribes use butter and ochre on their hair as a form of adornment.
The tribes have many similarities but they also have distinctive differences. Young men of the Hamar tribe, for example, have to jump a number of bulls to ‘come of age’, while the Suri and Mursi tribes compete through stick fighting.
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By Trevor Cole
