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A young Amhara lady weaves a traditional food basket from dried grasses. These large colourful baskets are used for serving injera,a fermented,bread-type pancake,which is the country's national dish.She is wearing the national dress of Ethiopia - a shamma. This garment is made of homespun cotton with a finely woven and often brightly coloured border.
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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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A Dassanech woman winnows grain by pouring it from her metal tin and letting it fall onto a calfskin. 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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A young mother and child of the Arsi-Oromo people west of Aje. Both have unusual hairstyles. The braids falling from the crown of the mother's head have been attractively woven with wool to make a colourful fringe.
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A Nyangatom woman grinds sorghum using a flat stone.The Nyangatom are one of the largest tribes and arguably the most warlike people living along the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia.They form a part of the Ateger speaking people a cluster of seven eastern Nilotic tribes to which the Turkana of Northern Kenya and the Karamajong of Eastern Uganda belong.
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A Nyangatom woman dries sorghum and other corn in the vicinity of her elevated grain stores, which prevent loss when the Omo River bursts its banks.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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A pregnant Nyangatom woman in traditional attire outside her neatly thatched home.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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A Karo woman with her face painted in preparation for a dance 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. She is wearing a goatskin apron and carries a leather belt decorated with cowrie shells
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A Karo women stands in the doorway to 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. In addition to painting her face she has decorated her body with whorls of goat hair tied by leather co
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A Nyangatom woman wears multiple layers of beads in necklaces, an elaborately beaded calfskin skirt and metal bracelets, amulets and anklets. She is standing beside a temporary beehive construction of sticks, grass and leaves built to provide shade for her goats. The Nyangatom or Bume are a Nilotic tribe of semi-nomadic pastoralists who live along the banks of the Omo River in south western Ethio
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An old Oromo woman wears a brass necklace and pendant, and a silver pendant made from a Maria Theresa thaler, an old silver coin minted in Austria, which was widely used as currency in northern Ethiopia and Arabia until the end of World War II. With a bright red headscarf, She was on her way to Senbete, an important weekly market close to the western scarp of the Abyssinian Rift.
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A woman at Senbete market wears old silver and brass jewellery.Her two pendants are made from Maria Theresa thalers, old silver coins minted in Austria, which were widely used as currency in northern Ethiopia and Arabia until the end of World War II.Other silver coins have been strung on her necklace.
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An Oromo old woman wears a necklace and a pendant made from a Maria Theresa thaler, an old silver coin minted in Austria, which was widely used as currency in northern Ethiopia and Arabia until the end of World War II. She was on her way to Senbete, an important weekly market close to the western scarp of the Abyssinian Rift.Afar nomads from the low lying arid regions of Eastern Ethiopia trek long
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A woman in a colourful dress and matching headscarf wears round her neck a Maria Theresa thaler an old silver coin minted in Austria, which was widely used as currency in northern Ethiopia and Arabia until the end of World War II.
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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 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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A Karo woman wears an elaborate headdress made from the wing-cases of beetles and a cape of calf skin fringed with cowrie shells. 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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A Karo woman wears an elaborate headdress made from the wing-cases of beetles and a cape of calf skin fringed with cowrie shells. 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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A Karo woman sits with child. 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. Typically for a Karo woman,the mother has ochred her hair in tight ringlets and has a ring through her bottom lip.
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A Dassanech woman milks a cow by hand collecting the milk in a gourd at a 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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A young Dassanech girl wears a beautiful array of beaded necklaces,some secured at the back by metal rings,and a beaded headband. Her ears are pierced several times,the holes are kept open by small wooden plugs. 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 young Dassanech girl wears a beautiful array of beaded necklaces. 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 young Dassanech girl wears a leather skirt,metal bracelets and amulets and layers of bead necklaces. 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 young Dassanech girl wears a leather skirt,metal bracelets and amulets and layers of bead necklaces. A long leather strap decorated with cowrie shells hangs down her back. 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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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 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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An Afar woman adjusts the load on her camel as her young child sits on top. Proud and fiercely independent,the nomadic Afar people live in the low-lying deserts of Eastern Ethiopia. Camels are valuable in these harsh conditions; they carry house structures and personal possessions,enabling families to follow the seasonal pattern of rain and grazing.
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An elder of the Karo tribe sits with his wife and child. 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. This man also has a clay hairdo typical of tribal elders. Like most adult males he carries a rifle.
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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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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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A Swahili woman in Lamu makes makuti, a coconut palm thatch used extensively as a roofing material on houses all along the East African Coast.Situated 150 miles north northeast of Mombasa, Lamu town dates from the 15th century AD.
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A Nyangatom woman milks her familys cows early in the morning. It is the sole responsibility of women and children to milk cows, Nyangatom men will never do so.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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A Hamar woman dances around cattle while she blows a tin trumpet at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochred hair mop fashion.The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a rite of passage for young men.
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Hamar women dance at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochred hair mop fashion. The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a rite of passage for young men.After the ceremony, the initiate attains full manhood and is permitted to marry.
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Hamar women dance around cattle at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony as a rainbow gives colour to a threatening sky overhead.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochre hair mop fashion.The phallic protrusion of the women's chokers denote they are their husbands first wives.The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a ri
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A group of Hamar women at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochred hair mop fashion.The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a rite of passage for young men.
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A Hamar woman blows a tin trumpet at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochred hair mop fashion.The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a rite of passage for young men.
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A Hamar woman blows a tin trumpet at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochred hair mop fashion.The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a rite of passage for young men.
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A Hamar woman at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochred hair mop fashion.The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a rite of passage for young men.
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A Hamar woman blows a tin trumpet at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony.The Hamar are semi nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress and style their red ochred hair mop fashion.The Jumping of the Bull ceremony is a rite of passage for young men.
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A young Nyangatom woman carries her baby on her hip in an elaborately braided papoose. Her hair has been reddened with a mixture of ochre and animal fat. Typical of her tribe, she wears a 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
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A Nyangatom woman stands with her baby on her hip beside her grass hut in his temporary camp. Nyangatom married women wear elaborately beaded skirts which reach the ground at the back and often have panels of different coloured calkfskin sewn into the tail 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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Ethiopia, Harerge Province, Harar.An Harari girl in wedding attire.Unlike Muslims elsewhere, Harari women love bright clothes and are seen in public without face veils.The beautifully embroidered silk dress can be turned inside out, where it is black, and worn at funerals.
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A woman sells yellow daisies by the side of the road in the outskirts of Addis Abeda,Ethiopia's capital city.These daisies (Bidens sp.) are known by Ethiopians as Meskal daisies because they flower in September at the time of the Orthodox Christian Festival of Meskal,or the Finding of the True Cross celebration.
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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 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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A Mursi woman wearing a large clay 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, the country's largest river.
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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 Mursi woman wearing a large clay lip plate and ear ornaments to match.Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so while some of her teeth will be removed for the plate to fit snugly. The size of the lip plate often determines the quantum of the bride price. The reason for this singular practice is not fully understood but Mursi women
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An old Dassanech woman prepares her fields beside the Omo River with a digging stick in readiness to plant sorghum. This crude form of agricultural implement is in common use in this remote part of Ethiopia.
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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 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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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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A Nyangatom girl churns butter in a gourd suspended in the entrance to her hut. Typical of her tribe,she is wearing multiple layers of beads in necklaces,and an elaborately beaded calfskin skirt. 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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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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A Samburu bride waits pensively outside her new home until she is enticed in with promises of cattle.Her wedding gown is made of three goatskins, which are well oiled and covered in red ochre.She carries on her back a gourd full of milk and a small wooden jar containing butter.She now wears the mporro necklace of married women.
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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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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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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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A Mursi girl dressed in finely decorated leather garments with a beautifully made basket over one shoulder. Her partially shaven head is the typical hairstyle of her tribe.The Mursi speak a Nilotic language and have affinities with the Shilluk and Anuak of eastern Sudan. They live in a remote area of southwest Ethiopia along the Omo River, the country's largest river.
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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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A Samburu woman singing. The strings of black and white beads hanging from her ears signify that she has two grown-up sons who are warriors of the tribe. Note: the traditional horn snuff container hanging from her neck.
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A Samburu woman wearing a mporro necklace,which signifies her married status.These necklaces,once made of hair from giraffe tails,are now made from fibres of doum palm fronds (Hyphaene coriacea). The beads are mid-19th century Venetian glass beads,which were introduced to Samburuland by early hunters and traders.
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A Turkana woman sitting in the doorway of her hut. Her heavy mporro braided necklace identifies her as a married woman. Typical of her tribe,she wears many layers of bead necklaces and a beaded headband.
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A Turkana woman sitting in the doorway of her hut. Her heavy mporro braided necklace identifies her as a married woman. Typical of her tribe,she wears many layers of bead necklaces and a beaded headband.
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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 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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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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A Samburu blacksmith fashions a spear from an iron rod. Blacksmiths have their own special clan within the tribe and are not allowed to marry girls from other clans. Their skills are handed down from father to son. This man will take two days to make a spear for which he will be paid a goat.
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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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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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This old Samburu woman was about ninety years old when the picture was taken. Frail and partially blind,she had never had a day's illness in her strenuous life.
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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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A young Ethiopian girl with unusual braided hair; the crown of her head has been smeared with a greenish substance. Her two pendants are made from Maria Theresa thalers old silver coins minted in Austria,which were widely used as currency in northern Ethiopia and Arabia until the end of World War II.
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A young Dorze boy winds cotton onto a bobin for his father. Dorze men are synonymous with weaving the best cotton cloth in Ethiopia.
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A Hadza hunter wearing a baboon skin returns to camp with a haunch of impala over his shoulder. He killed the antelope with a metal tipped arrow that had been dipped in a fast acting vegetable poison extracted from the desert rose.
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A Mursi woman wearing a large clay lip plate and ear ornaments to match.Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so while some of her teeth will be removed for the plate to fit snugly.The size of the lip plate often determines the quantum of the bride price. The reason for this singular practice is not fully understood but Mursi women
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A Mursi woman wearing a large clay lip plate and ear ornaments to match.Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so while some of her teeth will be removed for the plate to fit snugly.The size of the lip plate often determines the quantum of the bride price. The reason for this singular practice is not fully understood but Mursi women
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A Mursi woman wearing a large clay lip plate and ear ornaments to match.Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so while some of her teeth will be removed for the plate to fit snugly.The size of the lip plate often determines the quantum of the bride price. The reason for this singular practice is not fully understood but Mursi women
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A Mursi woman wearing a large clay lip plate and ear ornaments to match.Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so while some of her teeth will be removed for the plate to fit snugly. The size of the lip plate often determines the quantum of the bride price. The reason for this singular practice is not fully understood but Mursi women
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A Mursi woman with decorated face and body scarification wears a large clay lip plate. Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so while some of her teeth will be removed for the plate to fit snugly.The size of the lip plate often determines the quantum of the bride price.The reason for this singular practice is not fully understood but
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A lively Nyangatom dance is enjoyed by villagers in the late afternoon.The elevated houses in the background are both homes and granaries, which have been built to withstand flooding when the Omo River bursts its banks 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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A Nyangatom woman wears numerous strands of beads made from wood.The Nyangatom are one of the largest tribes and arguably the most warlike people living along the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia. They form a part of the Ateger speaking people a cluster of seven eastern Nilotic tribes to which the Turkana of Northern Kenya and the Karamajong of Eastern Uganda belong.
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A Nyangatom woman wears numerous strands of beads made from wood.The Nyangatom are one of the largest tribes and arguably the most warlike people living along the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia. They form a part of the Ateger speaking people a cluster of seven eastern Nilotic tribes to which the Turkana of Northern Kenya and the Karamajong of Eastern Uganda belong.
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A Nyangatom woman wears numerous strands of beads made from wood.The Nyangatom are one of the largest tribes and arguably the most warlike people living along the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia. They form a part of the Ateger speaking people a cluster of seven eastern Nilotic tribes to which the Turkana of Northern Kenya and the Karamajong of Eastern Uganda belong.
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A Nyangatom woman wears numerous strands of beads made from wood.The Nyangatom are one of the largest tribes and arguably the most warlike people living along the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia. They form a part of the Ateger speaking people a cluster of seven eastern Nilotic tribes to which the Turkana of Northern Kenya and the Karamajong of Eastern Uganda belong.
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