http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/tags/surma/ Sat, 11 May 2013 01:28:07 -0700 Sat, 11 May 2013 01:28:07 -0700 http://www.flickr.com/ http://farm1.staticflickr.com/38/buddyicons/41622708@N00.jpg?1174311512#41622708@N00 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/tags/surma/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8728332954/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8728332954/" title="Shepherd From Suri Tribe Receiving Help To Decorate His Body With Camouflage Paintings Before Leaving The Village, Tulgit, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7413/8728332954_bfb3620213_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Shepherd From Suri Tribe Receiving Help To Decorate His Body With Camouflage Paintings Before Leaving The Village, Tulgit, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>When the Surma shepherds leave their village, they paint their bodies like for a camouflage;<br /> Like their neighbours, the Surma, living in Omo valley, Ethiopia, paint their bodies; They create a variety of designs on their naked bodies using their fingertips, which helps exposing their dark skins and aims at beautifying themselves and frightenning their opponents; Surma men, generally believed to be expert artists, also paint the girls;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Itâs quite common to see men and women carrying Kalashnikovs, which are part of the daily life; Their land has always been a place of traditional rivalries amoung neighbouring tribes such as the Bume (Nyangatom) or the Toposa from Sudan who regularly team up to raid on their cattle; These fights have become quite bloody since automatic firearms have become available during in the Sudanese Civil War;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;<br /> The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Sat, 11 May 2013 01:28:07 -0700 2012-07-02T15:34:15-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8728332954 Shepherd From Suri Tribe Receiving Help To Decorate His Body With Camouflage Paintings Before Leaving The Village, Tulgit, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>When the Surma shepherds leave their village, they paint their bodies like for a camouflage;<br /> Like their neighbours, the Surma, living in Omo valley, Ethiopia, paint their bodies; They create a variety of designs on their naked bodies using their fingertips, which helps exposing their dark skins and aims at beautifying themselves and frightenning their opponents; Surma men, generally believed to be expert artists, also paint the girls;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Itâs quite common to see men and women carrying Kalashnikovs, which are part of the daily life; Their land has always been a place of traditional rivalries amoung neighbouring tribes such as the Bume (Nyangatom) or the Toposa from Sudan who regularly team up to raid on their cattle; These fights have become quite bloody since automatic firearms have become available during in the Sudanese Civil War;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;<br /> The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa shirtless people color tree grass horizontal proud naked outside leaving photography interesting community colorful day village mud symbol outdoor shepherd traditional bald jewelry tribal bodypaint celebration ornament camouflage intriguing omovalley ritual bodypainting tradition ethiopia tribe pastoral hiding shavedhead ethnic discovery groupofpeople surma bodymodification jewel confidence hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica suri realpeople colorimage lookingatcamera beautify waistup africanethnicity pastoralist img1480 pastoralism snnpr bodytransformation tulgit southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion ethiopianethnicity http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8636151027/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8636151027/" title="Suri Tribe Woman Cutting Hair With A Blade, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8532/8636151027_88ccf11ac8_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Suri Tribe Woman Cutting Hair With A Blade, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:07:55 -0700 2012-07-02T13:41:10-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8636151027 Suri Tribe Woman Cutting Hair With A Blade, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people woman haircut color horizontal hair outside photography colorful day outdoor head jewelry tribal ornament shaving omovalley bangle blade ethiopia tribe pastoral ethnic hairstyle groupofpeople surma bodymodification razorblade jewel hornofafrica individuality ethnology omo eastafrica suri twowomen realpeople colorimage beautify waistup africanethnicity pastoralist twoyoungwomen pastoralism kibish img1279 snnpr bodytransformation southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion kibbish ethiopianethnicity twoteenages http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8636151231/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8636151231/" title="Shepherd From Suri Tribe Receiving Help To Decorate His Body With Camouflage Paintings Before Leaving The Village, Tulgit, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8546/8636151231_de64c32055_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Shepherd From Suri Tribe Receiving Help To Decorate His Body With Camouflage Paintings Before Leaving The Village, Tulgit, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>When the Surma shepherds leave their village, they paint their bodies like for a camouflage;<br /> Like their neighbours, the Surma, living in Omo valley, Ethiopia, paint their bodies; They create a variety of designs on their naked bodies using their fingertips, which helps exposing their dark skins and aims at beautifying themselves and frightenning their opponents; Surma men, generally believed to be expert artists, also paint the girls;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Itâs quite common to see men and women carrying Kalashnikovs, which are part of the daily life; Their land has always been a place of traditional rivalries amoung neighbouring tribes such as the Bume (Nyangatom) or the Toposa from Sudan who regularly team up to raid on their cattle; These fights have become quite bloody since automatic firearms have become available during in the Sudanese Civil War;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;<br /> The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:07:57 -0700 2012-07-02T15:35:29-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8636151231 Shepherd From Suri Tribe Receiving Help To Decorate His Body With Camouflage Paintings Before Leaving The Village, Tulgit, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>When the Surma shepherds leave their village, they paint their bodies like for a camouflage;<br /> Like their neighbours, the Surma, living in Omo valley, Ethiopia, paint their bodies; They create a variety of designs on their naked bodies using their fingertips, which helps exposing their dark skins and aims at beautifying themselves and frightenning their opponents; Surma men, generally believed to be expert artists, also paint the girls;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Itâs quite common to see men and women carrying Kalashnikovs, which are part of the daily life; Their land has always been a place of traditional rivalries amoung neighbouring tribes such as the Bume (Nyangatom) or the Toposa from Sudan who regularly team up to raid on their cattle; These fights have become quite bloody since automatic firearms have become available during in the Sudanese Civil War;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;<br /> The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa shirtless people blackandwhite tree grass horizontal proud outside leaving photography interesting community day village mud symbol outdoor shepherd traditional bald jewelry tribal bodypaint celebration ornament camouflage intriguing omovalley ritual bodypainting tradition ethiopia tribe pastoral hiding shavedhead ethnic discovery groupofpeople surma bodymodification jewel confidence hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica suri realpeople lookingatcamera beautify waistup lowangleview africanethnicity img1498 pastoralist pastoralism snnpr bodytransformation tulgit southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion ethiopianethnicity http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8613007694/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8613007694/" title="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8613007694_848e542ff6_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:07:50 -0700 2010-07-04T14:57:53-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8613007694 Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people man colour male men horizontal outside outdoors person togetherness sticks competition together barefoot violence omovalley ritual warriors fighters ethiopia tribe ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing rituel hommes homme afrique virility bluescarf tribu dehors omo eastafrica donga suri abyssinia batons ethiopie combattants exterieur traditionalclothes piedsnus guerriers vueexterieure coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe etrehumain virilite habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo tribudessuri suritribe tribudessurma peuplesuri peuplesurma colouredpicture combatdebatons sagenai combatdebaton ethiopia1897 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8613008356/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8613008356/" title="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8613008356_a21e36ae7b_m.jpg" width="240" height="240" alt="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:07:57 -0700 2010-07-04T16:09:23-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8613008356 Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people colour horizontal naked nude outside outdoors person togetherness nu competition together barefoot omovalley ritual warriors fighters ethiopia protectors ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing nakedness rituel afrique hitting virility bluescarf dehors omo eastafrica donga padding suri carre abyssinia ethiopie combattants exterieur traditionalclothes frapper piedsnus squarepicture guerriers protections nudite vueexterieure rembourrage coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe etrehumain virilite habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople imagecarree peuplesdelavalleedelomo suritribe colouredpicture combatdebatons sagenai ethiopia2404 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8596427667/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8596427667/" title="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8518/8596427667_96f50f8097_m.jpg" width="170" height="240" alt="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:11:26 -0700 2010-07-04T14:39:49-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8596427667 Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people colour vertical closeup outside outdoors person togetherness competition together barefoot omovalley ritual warriors fighters ethiopia hairstyle ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing rituel coiffure afrique hitting grosplan virility dehors hairdress omo eastafrica donga suri abyssinia ethiopie combattants exterieur traditionalclothes frapper piedsnus guerriers vueexterieure coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe etrehumain virilite habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo suritribe colouredpicture combatdebatons sagenai ethiopia1789 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8597532746/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8597532746/" title="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8505/8597532746_088af36aca_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:11:56 -0700 2010-07-04T14:17:46-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8597532746 Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people colour horizontal clouds naked nude person togetherness nu competition together barefoot omovalley ritual warriors fighters ethiopia nuages ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing nakedness rituel afrique hitting virility omo eastafrica donga suri abyssinia ethiopie combattants traditionalclothes frapper piedsnus guerriers nudite coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe etrehumain virilite habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo suritribe colouredpicture combatdebatons sagenai combatdebaton ethiopia933 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8597533582/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8597533582/" title="Suri Women With Stretched Lip, Kibbish Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8248/8597533582_d053f93427_m.jpg" width="170" height="240" alt="Suri Women With Stretched Lip, Kibbish Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>© Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:11:38 -0700 2010-07-05T12:22:25-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8597533582 Suri Women With Stretched Lip, Kibbish Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>© Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people woman colour vertical female outside outdoors person women artistic femme ornament omovalley bodypainting ethiopia tribe rite surma personne humanbeing femmes contemplation adornment afrique pigments tribu dehors omo eastafrica suri abyssinia ethiopie exterieur lookingatcamera traditionalclothes waistup abyssinie vueexterieure coloredpicture photocouleur kibish afriquedelest nomadicpeople surmatribe alataille etrehumain habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade regardantlobjectif kibbish peoplesoftheomovalley surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo tribudessuri suritribe tribudessurma peuplesuri peuplesurma colouredpicture cadragealataille villageofkibish villageofkibbish villagedekibish villagedekibbish peupledepasteurs pastoralistpeople ethiopia3075 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8596427523/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8596427523/" title="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8596427523_f442374f35_m.jpg" width="240" height="240" alt="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:11:41 -0700 2010-07-04T14:28:36-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8596427523 Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people colour naked nude person togetherness nu competition together barefoot omovalley ritual warriors fighters ethiopia ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing nakedness rituel afrique hitting virility omo eastafrica donga suri carre abyssinia ethiopie combattants traditionalclothes frapper piedsnus squarepicture guerriers nudite coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe etrehumain virilite habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople imagecarree peuplesdelavalleedelomo suritribe colouredpicture combatdebatons sagenai ethiopia1658 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8408125066/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8408125066/" title="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8507/8408125066_41fee2dda2_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:40:18 -0800 2010-07-04T16:02:28-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8408125066 Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people colour horizontal naked nude outside outdoors person togetherness nu competition together barefoot omovalley ritual warriors fighters ethiopia protectors ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing nakedness rituel afrique hitting virility dehors omo eastafrica donga padding suri abyssinia ethiopie combattants exterieur traditionalclothes frapper piedsnus waistup guerriers protections nudite vueexterieure rembourrage coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe alataille etrehumain virilite habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo suritribe colouredpicture cadragealataille combatdebatons sagenai ethiopia2314 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407029693/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407029693/" title="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8407029693_f5333e472e_m.jpg" width="170" height="240" alt="Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:40:17 -0800 2010-07-04T16:23:15-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8407029693 Donga Stick Fighting Ritual, Surma Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people colour vertical horizontal naked nude person togetherness nu competition together barefoot omovalley ritual shield warriors fighters ethiopia protectors ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing nakedness rituel afrique hitting virility eastafrica donga padding suri bouclier abyssinia ethiopie combattants traditionalclothes frapper piedsnus guerriers protections nudite rembourrage coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe etrehumain virilite stringsofbeads habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo suritribe colouredpicture combatdebatons sagenai ficellesdeperles filsdeperles ethiopia2615 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407039059/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407039059/" title="Suri Tribe Women At A Ceremony Organized By The Government With Enlarged Earlobes And Lip, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8376/8407039059_1a96bfddb8_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Suri Tribe Women At A Ceremony Organized By The Government With Enlarged Earlobes And Lip, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:40:22 -0800 2012-07-01T15:59:53-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8407039059 Suri Tribe Women At A Ceremony Organized By The Government With Enlarged Earlobes And Lip, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people woman color horizontal outside photography togetherness dance kid fight interesting community colorful day sad serious outdoor crowd performance ceremony earring culture jewelry tribal celebration ornament tired bracelet intriguing conflict omovalley lip tradition ethiopia tribe pastoral ethnic groupofpeople surma impressive threat struggle scarification bodymodification jewel hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica suri hardship realpeople colorimage governement lookingatcamera beautify waistup africanethnicity pastoralist pastoralism pacify stretchedlip kibish snnpr bodytransformation landgrabbing southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion kibbish ethiopianethnicity enlargedearlobe enlargedlip eth6907 hidingherself http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8408134064/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8408134064/" title="Stylish Haircut On A Suri Tribe Man Or Woman, Kibish At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8408134064_a04a5f78b2_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Stylish Haircut On A Suri Tribe Man Or Woman, Kibish At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:40:21 -0800 2012-07-01T15:31:29-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8408134064 Stylish Haircut On A Suri Tribe Man Or Woman, Kibish At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people haircut color mobile horizontal outside photography togetherness colorful day outdoor ceremony culture jewelry tribal celebration ornament mobilephone conflict omovalley tradition ethiopia tribe pastoral ethnic hairstyle groupofpeople filming surma recording youngman struggle bodymodification jewel hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica oneman suri realpeople colorimage mohawkhaircut governement beautify waistup oneyoungman africanethnicity pastoralist pastoralism mohawkhairstyle pacify kibish snnpr unrecognizableperson bodytransformation landgrabbing southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion kibbish ethiopianethnicity eth6729 surihaircut http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407038735/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407038735/" title="Singers At A Suri Tribe Ceremony Organized By The Government, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8407038735_7c0b02cd21_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Singers At A Suri Tribe Ceremony Organized By The Government, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:40:24 -0800 2012-07-01T16:01:29-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8407038735 Singers At A Suri Tribe Ceremony Organized By The Government, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p><br /> © Eric Lafforgue <br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people music mountain color horizontal outside photography dance fight community colorful day outdoor crowd performance piano ceremony culture tribal celebration conflict omovalley tradition ethiopia tribe pastoral ethnic groupofpeople surma threat struggle hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica suri hardship realpeople colorimage governement speeker waistup img0923 africanethnicity pastoralist pastoralism pacify kibish snnpr landgrabbing southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion kibbish ethiopianethnicity http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407030733/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8407030733/" title="Surma Women And Children Watching A Dong Stick Fighting Session, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8407030733_3a43d8bf5b_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Surma Women And Children Watching A Dong Stick Fighting Session, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:39:16 -0800 2010-07-04T14:58:43-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8407030733 Surma Women And Children Watching A Dong Stick Fighting Session, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>One of the main Surma / Suri customs is stick fighting. This ritual and sport is called Donga or Sagenai (Saginay). Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick, whereas sagenai is the name of the stick-fighting session. Stick fighting is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fighting is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women. The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi, also practice these traditional fights. The day before the sagenai, fighters have to purge themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Sagenai, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight. They decorate themselves by sliding the fingers full of clay on the warrior’s bodies. This dressing up and decoration is meant to show their beauty and virility and thus catch the women’s attention. The phallic shape ending the sticks contributes to that virile demonstration. Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man,dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colourful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative coloured beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their genitals are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot. All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddendly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Sagenai consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left. It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life. For the other locals, especially teenagers, sagenai is a great outing. Girls watch the fights, but it is also the occasion to check out the men, and to meet in order to chat or even gossip. At the end of the fights, the winners point their phallic sticks in direction of the girls they want to date with, if the girl put a necklace around the stick, it means she is willing to date the champion.<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people colour horizontal person togetherness sticks together violence omovalley ritual warriors fighters ethiopia tribe ensemble stickfight stickfighting surma personne humanbeing rituel afrique tribu eastafrica donga suri abyssinia batons ethiopie combattants traditionalclothes guerriers coloredpicture photocouleur surmatribe etrehumain habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade peoplesoftheomovalley saginay surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo tribudessuri suritribe tribudessurma peuplesuri peuplesurma colouredpicture combatdebatons sagenai combatdebaton ethiopia1900 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8390812097/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8390812097/" title="Suri Tribe Women At A Ceremony Organized By The Government With Enlarged Earlobes And Lip, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8469/8390812097_e1954e35a9_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Suri Tribe Women At A Ceremony Organized By The Government With Enlarged Earlobes And Lip, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:57:43 -0800 2012-07-01T15:59:53-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8390812097 Suri Tribe Women At A Ceremony Organized By The Government With Enlarged Earlobes And Lip, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people woman color horizontal outside photography togetherness dance kid fight interesting community colorful day sad serious outdoor crowd performance ceremony earring culture jewelry tribal celebration ornament tired bracelet intriguing conflict omovalley lip tradition ethiopia tribe pastoral ethnic groupofpeople surma impressive threat struggle scarification bodymodification jewel hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica suri hardship realpeople colorimage governement lookingatcamera beautify waistup africanethnicity pastoralist pastoralism pacify stretchedlip kibish snnpr bodytransformation landgrabbing southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion kibbish ethiopianethnicity enlargedearlobe enlargedlip eth6907 hidingherself http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8285000772/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8285000772/" title="Suri Tribe Woman With An Enlarged Lip, Kibish At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8358/8285000772_83429a9df8_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Suri Tribe Woman With An Enlarged Lip, Kibish At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>Ceremony organized by the government to try to pacify the situation in the region; The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:43:38 -0800 2012-07-01T16:08:39-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8285000772 Suri Tribe Woman With An Enlarged Lip, Kibish At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>Ceremony organized by the government to try to pacify the situation in the region; The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people;<br /> <br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people woman mountain haircut color mobile horizontal outside photography dance bucket fight community colorful day phone outdoor crowd performance ceremony happiness jewelry tribal celebration ornament mobilephone bracelet conflict omovalley ethiopia tribe pastoral waving ethnic hairstyle groupofpeople filming surma recording threat struggle bodymodification jewel hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica suri hardship realpeople colorimage governement lookingatcamera beautify waistup headandshoulder africanethnicity pastoralist pastoralism redbasket pacify kibish snnpr bodytransformation landgrabbing southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion kibbish ethiopianethnicity enlargedlip eth7073 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8276222911/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8276222911/" title="Suri Tribe Man Dancing At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8212/8276222911_c1162e0ff6_m.jpg" width="170" height="240" alt="Suri Tribe Man Dancing At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>Ceremony organized by the government to try to pacify the situation in the region; The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people<br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a>;</p> Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:22:33 -0800 2012-07-01T15:54:34-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8276222911 Suri Tribe Man Dancing At A Ceremony Organized By The Government, Kibish, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>Ceremony organized by the government to try to pacify the situation in the region; The land of the Suri, in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, is being stolen by the Ethiopian government to be rented to foreign companies; They are then rented out for 1 euro per hectare and per year;<br /> Surma or Suri is a sedentary pastoral tribe living in south west Ethiopia, in Omo Valley on the western bank of the Omo River, in Kibish and Tulgit areas;<br /> Only few Surma are familiar with Amharic, Ethiopiaâs official language, and the literacy level is very low; Lip plate and Donga stick fights are the two typical distinctive features of these people, shared with the neighbouring Mursi people<br /> © Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a>;</p> Eric Lafforgue africa people haircut color vertical outside photography dance fight colorful day outdoor performance ceremony culture jewelry tribal celebration ornament singer conflict omovalley tradition ethiopia tribe pastoral waving calling ethnic hairstyle groupofpeople surma threat struggle bodymodification jewel hornofafrica ethnology omo eastafrica suri hardship realpeople colorimage governement beautify waistup africanethnicity pastoralist pastoralism pacify img0890 kibish snnpr bodytransformation landgrabbing southernnationsnationalitiesandpeoplesregion kibbish ethiopianethnicity http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8391896318/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8391896318/" title="Suri Man Pressing On The Cow S Wound To Stop The Bleeding, Turgit Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8391896318_a06ab51370_m.jpg" width="240" height="170" alt="Suri Man Pressing On The Cow S Wound To Stop The Bleeding, Turgit Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:58:21 -0800 2010-07-05T16:50:48-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8391896318 Suri Man Pressing On The Cow S Wound To Stop The Bleeding, Turgit Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue africa people man colour male horizontal outside outdoors person cow blood omovalley ritual ethiopia tribe sang surma personne humanbeing rituel homme vache afrique tribu dehors omo eastafrica suri abyssinia ethiopie exterieur traditionalclothes abyssinie vueexterieure coloredpicture photocouleur afriquedelest bloodmeal surmatribe etrehumain habittraditionnel suripeople valleedelomo peuplenomade turgit peoplesoftheomovalley surmapeople peuplesdelavalleedelomo villageofturgit villagedeturgit tribudessuri suritribe tribudessurma peuplesuri peuplesurma colouredpicture ethiopia3429 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8391896420/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mytripsmypics/">Eric Lafforgue</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/8391896420/" title="Surma Warrior With Clay Body Paintings, Turgit Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8324/8391896420_ce110e3ec6_m.jpg" width="240" height="240" alt="Surma Warrior With Clay Body Paintings, Turgit Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia" /></a></p> <p>© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:58:18 -0800 2010-07-06T10:08:50-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8391896420 Surma Warrior With Clay Body Paintings, Turgit Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia <p>© Eric Lafforgue<br /> <a href="http://www.ericlafforgue.com" rel="nofollow">www.ericlafforgue.com</a></p> Eric Lafforgue man painting warrior ethiopia tribe surma tribo äthiopien etiopia ethiopie etiopía 3946 エチオピア etiopija ethiopië 埃塞俄比亚 etiopien etiópia 埃塞俄比亞 etiyopya אתיופיה эфиопия 에티오피아 αιθιοπία 이디오피아 種族 етиопија 衣索匹亚 衣索匹亞