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Young Samburu girls dance during a wedding celebration. By arching their backs and thrusting out their chests,they flick their beaded necklaces up and down while dancing silently to the songs of the warriors. Their bodies and necklaces have been smeared with red ochre.
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Portrait of girl carrying sandals on her head, near Gaoua, Poni Province, Burkina Faso
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A young Samburu girl dances during a wedding celebration. By arching her back and thrusting out her chest,she flicks her beaded necklaces up and down while dancing silently to the songs of the warriors. Her body and necklace have been smeared with red ochre,and her eyebrows blackened with charcoal dust mixed with animal fat.
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Mother holding child in arms while nursing, black and yellow patterns, Gaoua, Poni Province, Burkina Faso
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Portrait of Himba woman, showing hairstyle of Himba women, Kaokoveld, Namibia, Africa
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An Afar girl has tribal scarification on her cheeks. Scarification is practiced in only a few sections of her tribe. Proud and fiercely independent,the nomadic Afar people live in the low-lying deserts of Eastern Ethiopia.
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A pretty young Turkana girl has already had the flesh below her lower lip pierced in readiness for a brass ornament after her marriage. The rims of her ears have also been pierced and the holes kept open with small wooden sticks.
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A pretty Borana girl at Mega in southern Ethiopia wears brightly coloured cotton cloth and numerous strings of beads. The pastoral Borana live either side of the southern Ethiopian/northern Kenya border and form a large and important group of the Oromo-speaking cluster of tribes.
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A Turkana girl in all her finery. Among the Turkana,cicatrization is a common form of beautification. She wears a crucifix given to her by a missionary; they are popular ornaments despite not necessarily being associated with Christianity.
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A Giriama girl from Kenya's Coast Province carrying a gourd full of water on her head. Her small skirt is made from strips of printed cotton material.
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Red Ochre (or ocher stone) pigment used by Himba to create a reddish tint, Kaokoveld, Namibia, Africa
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A Dassanech girl braids her sister's hair at her village in the Omo Delta. Much the largest of the tribes in the Omo Valley numbering around 50,000,the Dassanech (also known as the Galeb,Changila or Merille) and Nilotic pastoralists and agriculturalists.
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An attractive girl from the Kediyo tribe carries a large,beautifully made umbrella. Its wooden frame is covered with the dried leaves of ensete,the false banana plant (seen growing in the background). Widely cultivated in southern Ethiopia,ensete roots and stems,which are rich in carbohydrates,are either cooked and eaten as a porridge or made into bread.
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A pretty tousle-haired girl of the nomadic Afar tribe wears bright colours in stark contrast to the drab,windswept surroundings of Lake Abbe.
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A young Turkana girl adorned with necklaces of a style the Southern Turkana prefer to wear.
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A Turkana woman makes the final ties to the dome-shaped framework of her home. In wet weather,hides will be laid on top and secured with leather thongs.
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Maasai girls gather to celebrate a wedding. Their broad beaded necklaces with predominantly white glass beads mark then as Kisongo Maasai,the largest clan group of the tribe which lives either side of the Kenya-Tanzania border.
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A Samburu woman resplendent in her beaded necklaces and numerous bracelets makes best use of a large rainwater pond to wash herself. Water is scarce in much of Samburuland.
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Two Turkana girls set off to fetch water from a nearby Waterhole. Their water containers are made of wood by the women of the tribe. Their 'V' shaped aprons are made of goatskin and have been edged with hundreds and hundreds of round discs fashioned out of ostrich eggshells.
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A young Datoga man tends his family's livestock on the plains east of Lake Manyara in Northern Tanzania.The Datoga (known to their Maasai neighbours as the Mang'ati and to the Iraqw as Babaraig) live in northern Tanzania and are primarily pastoralists..
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A young Pokot girl wears large necklaces made from the stems of sedge grass,which are then plastered with a mixture of animal fat and red ochre before being decorated with buttons and beads.
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A Turkana girl with a large gourd-like container used as a receptacle for water or milk. In the absence of gourds,the Turkana carve their containers from soft wood,such as that from the common commiphora species,which thrives in semi-arid country.
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A young Afar girl at Filwoha in the Awash National Park. Filwoha in the Afar language means 'hot water'. The beautiful springs are surrounded by doum palms and rise from deep underground at about 96.8 degrees F.
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A Maasai girl in traditional attire. The predominant white colour of her beadwork and the circular scar on her cheek denote that she is from the Kisongo section of the Maasai,the largest clan group,which lives either side of the border in Kenya and Tanzania.
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A Maasai girl from the Kisongo clan wearing an attractive beaded headband.
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Two young Karo girls stand in front of the massive trunk of a fig tree. A small Omotic tribe related to the Hamar,who live along the banks of the Omo River in southwestern Ethiopia,the Karo are renowned for their elaborate body painting using white chalk,crushed rock and other natural pigments.
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Samburu girls are given strings of beads by their fathers when they are still young. As soon as they are old enough to have lovers from the warrior age set, they regularly receive gifts from them.Over a period of years, their necklaces can smother them up to their necks.
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In the semi-arid terrain of Turkanaland,women have to travel great distances to collect firewood. Like other Nilotic people,Turkana women balance heavy loads on their heads with graceful carriage and poise. The attire of this woman is typical of married women in the tribe.
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A Maasai woman wearing a very fine beaded necklace. The predominant white colour of her glass beadwork marks her as a Kisingo Maasai,the largest clan group of her tribe living either side of the Kenya-Tanzania border.
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Childhood is brief in nomadic communities. From an early age,Turkana girls help their mothers with the household chores and look after their younger brothers and sisters during the day. The baby has wooden charms round her neck to ward off evil spirits.
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Two Giriama girls pound corn outside their home using a large wooden mortar and pestles. Their small skirts are made from strips of printed cotton material - a traditional dress of Giriama women and children.
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An Afar girl with braided hair has very noticeable scarification on her cheeks. Scarification is practiced in only a few sections of her tribe. Proud and fiercely independent,the nomadic Afar people live in the low-lying deserts of Eastern Ethiopia.
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Pokot women and girls dancing to celebrate an Atelo ceremony. The Pokot are pastoralists speaking a Southern Nilotic language.
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Young Maasai girls decorate their faces with ochre and clay in preparation for a dance.
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During Samburu wedding celebrations,married women congregate apart from the warriors and young girls to sing in praise of the couple and to dance.
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An attractive Dassanech girl holds a puppy.Her adornment is typical of the girls of her tribe.Since the Omo Delta is one of the least accessible and least developed parts of East Africa the culture, social organization, customs and values of the people have changed less than elsewhere.
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Song is an art form ingrained in Turkana culture. At the end of a dance session,the participants invariably enjoy the Song of the Bulls. Each young man will take centre-stage to extol the praises of his favourite ox. He will explain how it came into his possession,its distinguishing traits and with outstretched arms,imitate the shape of its horns.
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The fetching hairstyle of a young Afar girl. Proud and fiercely independent,the nomadic Afar people live in the low-lying deserts of Eastern Ethiopia.
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A young Pokot girl wearing a traditional broad necklace made of hollow reed grass that denotes her uninitiated status. The Pokot are pastoralists speaking a Southern Nilotic language.
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A young Maasai girl in all her finery pauses at the entrance to her mother's home. The wall and roof of the house are plastered with a mixture of cow dung and soil.
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A young Dassanech girl holds her little brother. She wears a leather skirt with an elaborate fringe of wooden and metal tassles. Much the largest of the tribes in the Omo Valley numbering around 50,000,the Dassanech (also known as the Galeb,Changila or Merille) are Nilotic pastoralists and agriculturalists.
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A Nyangatom woman grinds sorghum using two stones. Typical of her tribe,she wears a heavily beaded calfskin skirt,multiple layers of bead necklaces and metal bracelets and amulets. The Nyangatom or Bume are a Nilotic tribe of semi-nomadic pastoralists who live along the banks of the Omo River in south-western Ethiopia.
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Turkana girls return home from a Waterhole with water containers made of wood. Their cloaks are goatskin embellished with glass beads.
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An Afar girl has her attractive hairstyle embellished with buttons and beads,which is typical of the young girls of her tribe. Proud and fiercely independent,the nomadic Afar people live in the low-lying deserts of Eastern Ethiopia.
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Two jovial Pokot girls set off with leather bags in search of edible berries. Pokot girls and women traditionally wore leather skirts and capes made from home-tanned goatskins. The necklaces of young girls are made from small segments of sedge grass.
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A jovial group of Turkana girls in traditional attire. Their aprons are made of goatskin,either beaded or cut into thin strips before braiding. The two girls in the middle have already had the flesh below their lower lips pierced in readiness for a brass ornament after marriage.
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In the early morning,young Samburu girls take kids to their mothers. They will then milk the nanny goats leaving half the milk for the kids. Only women and children milk goats although every member of the family will drink the milk.
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Pokot women and girls dancing to celebrate an Atelo ceremony. The Pokot are pastoralists speaking a Southern Nilotic language.
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A Nyangatom girl weaves a grass basket. The Nyangatom or Bume are a Nilotic tribe of semi-nomadic pastoralists who live along the banks of the Omo River in south-western Ethiopia.
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Kenya, Samburu District. Young Samburu girl in traditional beaded necklaces.
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During Samburu wedding celebrations,married women congregate apart from the warriors and young girls to sing in praise of the couple and to dance.
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A young Maasai girl wears a headband decorated with chains and cowrie shells that signifies her recent circumcision. Clitodectomy was commonly practiced by the Maasai but it is now gradually dying out.
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A close-up of a Pokot woman's earrings,hairstyle and beaded ornaments. Only married women wear brass earrings and glass-beaded collars. The band over her head supports the weight of her heavy earrings.
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A Maasai girl from the Kisongo clan wearing an attractive beaded headband and necklace.
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Gabbra women sing and dance to celebrate a wedding. The traditional metal ornamentation on their heads is called malmal.
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A Hadza girl wearing a beaded headband and necklaces.The Hadzabe are a thousand-strong community of hunter-gatherers who have lived in the Lake Eyasi basin for centuries. They are one of only four or five societies in the world that still earn a living primarily from wild resources.
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In the early morning,a young Samburu girl takes a kid to its mother. She will then milk the nanny goat leaving half the milk for the kid. Only women and children milk goats although every member of the family will drink the milk.
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The decorated leather apron or skirt of a young Nyangatom girl. The numerous white discs woven into the strands of braided leather are made of ostrich shell.The Nyangatom are one of the largest tribes and arguably the most warlike people living along the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia.
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Song is an art form ingrained in Turkana culture. After months of separation,young men and girls gather together during the rains when grass is abundant and life is relatively easy for a while. The Turkana have a rich repertoire of at least twenty dances,most of which are quite energetic.
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A young Maasai girl wears face paint and numerous beaded ornaments in preparation for a dance with warriors.
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The Pokot have a small ceremony called Koyogho when a man pays his in-laws the balance of the agreed dowry for his wife. At the conclusion of the ritual, his wife is given a large gourd of milk which she carries home on her back with her youngest child.
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A proud Turkana father and his young daughter. Both their hairstyles are typical of tribal custom in the west of Turkanaland.
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A young Maasai girl wearing a wooden plug in her pierced ear to elongate the earlobe. It has been a tradition of the Maasai for both men and women to pierce their ears and elongate their lobes for decorative purposes. Her two lower incisors have been removed - a common practice that may have resulted from an outbreak of lockjaw a long time ago.
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A young Daasanech girl beside the Omo River. Her hairstyle, necklaces and metal armbands are typical of her tribe.The Dassanech people live in the Omo Delta of southwest Ethiopia, one of the largest inland deltas in the world.
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A young married woman of the Pokot tribe. Her married status is denoted by her large brass earrings and broad beaded collars and necklaces that are smeared with animal fat to glisten in the sun.
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A Mursi girl, accompanied by her dog, carries a large clay pot to collect water from the Omo River. Her earlobes are already pierced and extended, and decorated with round clay discs.She is dressed in skins, attractively decorated with thin stripes.The culture, social organisation, customs and values of the people have changed little.
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Gabbra women sing and dance to celebrate a wedding. The traditional metal ornamentation on their heads is called malmal.
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A Hamar girl in traditional attire.The Hamar are an attractive people with striking styles and clothes. Skins are widely used for clothing and cowrie shells are popular adornments yet the sea is 500 miles from their home.
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A Datoga woman relaxes outside her thatched house.The traditional attire of Datoga women includes beautifully tanned and decorated leather dresses and coiled brass armulets and necklaces.The Datoga live in northern Tanzania and are primarily pastoralists.
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Samburu girls are given strings of beads by their fathers when they are still young. As soon as they are old enough to have lovers from the warrior age-set,they regularly receive gifts from them. Over a period of years,their necklaces can smother them up to their necks. The metal cross-like ornament hanging from the girl's headband has no religious significance.
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During Samburu wedding celebrations,warriors resplendent with long Ochred braids dance with young girls who have put on all their finery for the occasion. Both warriors and girls smear their faces,necks and shoulders with red ochre mixed with animal fat to enhance their appearance. Two spears are tipped with ostrich-feather pompoms.
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People with faces painted white,Matemo Island,Quirimbas archipielago,Mozambique
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Maasai girls in all their finery and with bells tied round their legs wait at the entrance to a house before dancing with warriors.
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A Hadza woman digs for edible tubers with a digging stick.The Hadzabe are a thousand-strong community of hunter-gatherers who have lived in the Lake Eyasi basin for centuries. They are one of only four or five societies in the world that still earn a living primarily from wild resources.
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A Nyangatom mother and young daughter in typical dress. Rugged skin clothing is still widely used.The Nyangatom are one of the largest tribes and arguably the most warlike people living along the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia.
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