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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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Up to a year before his circumcision,a Samburu boy will style his hair in a distinctive 'pudding bowl' shape and often rub charcoal and fat into it.Uncircumcised boys are considered children whatever their age. They have no standing in the tribe and do not belong to an age-set.
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An old Kikuyu lady picks coffee.Taken in the 1960's,this photograph depicts a traditional form of dress and ear ornaments among Kikuyu women,which has completely disappeared.
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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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Crafts for sale at the souvenir shop of the Pataxo Indian people at the Reserva Indigena da Jaqueira near Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil, South America
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Kenya,Kajiado,lpartimaro. Two Maasai warriors in full regalia. The headress of the man on the left is made from the mane of a lion while the one on the right is fringed with black ostrich feathers. Their traditional weaponry includes long-bladed spears and shields are made of buffalo hide.
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A young married Pokot woman wearing the traditional beaded ornaments of her tribe which denote her married status. The Pokot are pastoralists speaking a Southern Nilotic language.
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A Turkana woman wears all the finery of her tribe: brass lip plug,beaded collar decorated with bleached shells of the African land snail,leaf-like ear ornaments and metal earrings from which hang tiny rings of goat horn.
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An Afar girl from the Sultanate of Tadjoura wears exotic gold jewellery for marriage and other important celebrations. Although some of this jewellery will be made locally,other pieces will have been bought in Arabia,Ethiopia and the Indian sub-continent.
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Maasai warriors take enormous trouble over their appearance especially their long hair,which is braided,Ochred and decorated with beaded ornaments. This singular hairstyle sets them apart from the rest of their community.
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A Samburu warrior resplendent with long,braided,Ochred hair. The braids at the front have been fashioned in a protruding fringe rather like a sunshade. The cloth on top keeps the braids in place. The round ear ornaments of the warriors are made of ivory. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance.
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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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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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Young Maasai girls decorate their faces with ochre and clay in preparation for a dance.
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Mali,Douentza. A Bella woman with braided hair wearing gold ear rings in her village near Douentza. The Bella are predominantly pastoral people and were once the slaves of the Tuareg of Northern Mali.
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A Samburu warrior resplendent with long braids of Ochred hair. His round ear ornaments are made of ivory. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. They use ochre extensively; it is a natural earth containing ferric oxide which is mixed with animal fat to the consistency of greasepaint. By tradition,warriors always used to carry two spears.
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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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Karo men excel in body art. They decorate their faces and torsos elaborately using local white chalk, pulverised rock and other natural pigments. Their braided hairstyles are typical of young men from the tribe.The Karo are a small tribe living in three main villages along the lower reaches of the Omo River in southwest Ethiopia.
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A Maasai warrior with his long braids and body coated with red ochre mixed with animal fat. He has put ochre dust round his eyes to enhance his appearance ready for a dance. The singular hairstyles of Maasai warriors sets them apart from other members of their society.
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During an eunoto ceremony when Maasai warriors become junior elders,their heads are shaved and they daub themselves with white clay.
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A Samburu warrior talks to children about the bush on a Cheli & Peacock family safari.
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A young Karo girl in the doorway of her hut in the village of Duss. 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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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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A young Dassanech boy silhouetted against the evening sky at his settlement alongside the Omo River. 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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Strings of colourful beads are laid out for sale at the resort town of Mancora in northern Peru.
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A Turkana woman,typically wearing many layers of bead necklaces and a series of hooped earrings with an pair of leaf-shaped earrrings at the front,sits in the entrance to her hut.
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A young Samburu man leads a donkey carrying the basic structure of a temporary home. The curved sticks will be tied together in a dome and covered with hides and woven mats to form a temporary shelter in a stock camp. Donkeys are widely used by the Samburu as beasts of burden.
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Bonda tribeswoman wearing traditional bead costume with beaded cap, large earrings and metal necklaces at weekly market, Rayagader, Orissa, India, Asia
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A Maasai warrior blows a trumpet fashioned from the horn of a Greater Kudu. The strap is decorated with cowrie shells. Kudu-horn trumpets are only sounded to call men to arms or on ceremonial occasions.
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Close up view of a hand crafted necklace at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, Southcentral Alaska, Summer/n
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An old Datoga woman. Her traditional attire includes a beautifully tanned and decorated leather dress . 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 Turkana girl's necklaces are well-oiled with animal fat and glisten in the sun. The use of red ochre has been copied from their Samburu neighbours and is not widespread. Occasionally,a girl will put on so many necklaces that her vertebrae stretch and her neck muscles gradually weaken. The partially shaven head is typical of Turkana women and girls.
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A Maasai warrior with his hair styled in a most unusual way. His long braids have been wrapped tightly in leather,decorated with beads and tied in an arch over his head. A colobus monkey tail sets this singular hairstyle apart from the more traditional warrior styles.
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A young Pokot girl in traditional attire. Girls wear leather skirts and capes made from home-tanned goatskins. Her broad necklaces are made from small segments of sedge grass. Her ears have already been pierced in four places,ready to insert the large brass earrings she will acquire after marriage.
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Pokot women wearing traditional beaded ornaments and brass earrings denoting their married status. celebrate an Atelo ceremony. The Pokot are pastoralists speaking a Southern Nilotic language.
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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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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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A Maasai elder in traditional attire. Red has always been the preferred Maasai colour. Bell-shaped brass earrings are typically worn by the elders of the tribe.
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Mali,Douentza. A Bella woman wearing gold jewellery in her village near Douentza. The Bella are predominantly pastoral people and were once the slaves of the Tuareg of Northern Mali.
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Kenya, Samburu District. Young Samburu girl in traditional beaded necklaces.
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Female tourist at jewellery stall,Central Medina / Souq,Tunis,Tunisia,North Africa
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An old Turkana woman,typically wearing many layers of bead necklaces and a series of hooped earrings with an pair of leaf-shaped earrings at the front.
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An old Dassanech man wearing a traditional metal lip ornament and metal earrings. His broad ivory armbands and his ivory tobacco container hanging round his neck, are uncommon because elephants no longer frequent the Omo Delta.The Dassanech people live in the Omo Delta of southwest Ethiopia, one of the largest inland deltas in the world.
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Karo men excel in body art. Before a dance, they will decorate their faces and torsos elaborately using local white chalk, pulverised rock and other natural pigments. While older men style their hair with clay, young men prefer to braid theirs.Every man carries a wooden stool, which doubles as a pillow at night.The Karo are a small tribe living in three main villages along the lower reaches of the
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A Maasai warrior,his face and body decorated with red ochre and clay,wears an ostrich feather headdress. This singular adornment was once worn by warriors going into battle and was likely designed to frighten an enemy.
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A Mursi woman wearing a large wooden lip plate. Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so. The size of the lip plate often determines the quantum of the bride price. They live in a remote area of southwest Ethiopia along the Omo River.
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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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Maasai beadwork at the Predator Compensation Fund Pay Day, Mbirikani Group Ranch, Amboseli-Tsavo eco-system, Kenya, East Africa, Africa
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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 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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Bonda tribeswoman wearing traditional bead costume with beaded cap, large earrings and metal necklaces at weekly market, Rayagader, Orissa, India, Asia
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When a Turkana woman gives birth,four goats will be slaughtered in a twenty-four-hour period to celebrate the occasion. The skin of the first goat will be made into a pouch for carrying the baby on its mother's back. The small wooden balls on the back of this pouch are charms to ward off evil spirits. The baby is wearing a bracelet of ostrich eggshell beads.
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A Datoga young man in traditional attire.His braids are embellished with beads and aluminium can openers.Many of his white plastic bracelets are beautifully decorated with abstract and geometrical designs; long ago these bracelets would have been made of ivory.
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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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Two Samburu warriors converse,their long braids of Ochred hair distinguishing them from other members of their society. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. An ostrich feather pompom decorates the top of a spear.
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Karo men excel in body art. They decorate their faces and torsos elaborately using local white chalk, pulverised rock and other natural pigments. Their braided hairstyles are typical of young men from the tribe.The Karo are a small tribe living in three main villages along the lower reaches of the Omo River in southwest Ethiopia.
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Shaded from the hot sun, a Karo woman grinds sorghum using large flat stones.It is customary for females of the tribe when in their teens to make a small hole in the flesh below their lower lips into which they put an ornament, this woman has used a small nail. Numerous heavy metal bracelets are worn by married womenThe Karo are a small tribe living in three main villages along the lower reaches o
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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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A young married Pokot woman wearing the traditional beaded ornaments of her tribe which denote her married status. The Pokot are pastoralists speaking a Southern Nilotic language. Kenya
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A young Maasai girl keeps the holes in her pierced ears from closing with grass and rolled leaves. She will gradually stretch her earlobes by inserting progressively larger wooden plugs. By tradition,both Maasai men and women pierce and elongate their earlobes for decorative purposes.
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A Wa-Arusha warrior carries home a yoke. His brown necklace is made from aromatic wood. The Wa-Arusha are closely related to the Maasai and speak the same maa language. Unlike the Maasai,however,they till the land. In the past,this has brought them into conflict with their pastoral neighbors who disdained cultivation.
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A Datoga woman in traditional attire, which includes beautifully tanned and decorated leather dresses and coiled brass necklaces and ear ornaments.Extensive scarification of the face with raised circular patterns is not uncommon among women and girls.
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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 Samburu moran teaches children the skills of being a warrior during a Cheli & Peacock family mobile safari.
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An attractive Oromo girl in the medieval walled city of Harar. Her beaded jewellery sets her apart from Harari residents.Once an independent city state dating back to the early 16th century, Harar was incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire in 1887.
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A Maasai warrior in full regalia. He has stuck a porcupine quill in his beaded headband to add to his other decorations. His long,Ochred plaits have been drawn forward from the crown of his head and tied in three bunches.
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A Samburu warrior resplendent with his long braids of Ochred hair. His round ear ornaments are made of ivory. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. They use ochre extensively; it is a natural earth containing ferric oxide which is mixed with animal fat to the consistency of greasepaint.
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A young Turkana girl has had the rims of her ears pierced in seven places and keeps the holes open with small wooden sticks. After marriage,she will hang leaf-shaped metal pendants from each hole.
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Kenya, Samburu District, South Horr, Samburu District, Kenya. A ritual helper of a Samburu boy makes him new sandals the day before he is circumcised which he will wear for a month and then discard.
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A Samburu woman wearing a mporro necklace, which denotes her married status. These necklaces were once made of hair from giraffe tails but nowadays, the fibres of doum palm fronds, Hyphaene coriacea, are used instead.The red beads after which the necklace is named are wound glass beads made in Venice c.1850.
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