Tour Guide, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Southern Omo Valley Tribe
There are more than 53 tribes inhabiting the southern Omo valley, most of them residing by the river banks of the Omo river. The tribes may have some physical posture to share in common, but they are distant culturally and linguistically. Some of them categorized under the Nilo-Saharan linguistic family, and some of them under the Nilo Omotic linguistic family.
These tribes are able to preserve and maintain their ancestrally inherited communal way of living. They can still be seen practicing those ancient lifestyles and traditions. Mostly they perform some initiations annually, and different ceremonial parties in regard to some maturity transition. The bull jumping is practiced by the Hamar, Bana, Beshada, and Karo people, to symbolize a man who has reached attained adulthood and is now ready for a marriage proposal. And the stick fighting based on songs is practiced by the Mursi and Surma peoples. These are among the other ceremonies being performed.