Making the "afro" hairstyle, curl by curl, it takes hours!
Every eight years under a full moon, a tribe of Karrayyu priests gather in the Methara region, south of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, for a ceremony to transfer power, this ceremony is named Gada. Five families share and govern the power.

In two days, 10,000 people come, mainly by foot to help with the running of the ceremony. Absolutely no tourists are allowed in the proximity. After weeks of negotiation with the tribe’s leader, I managed to obtain access to help at the ceremony. Throughout the entire negotiation process, it was never a matter of money, as is often the case with tribes, it was simply that the ceremony has never been open to foreigners.

The chiefs finally accepted, the Karrayyus are living in particularly difficult times and their position is precarious. They want to make the world aware of their predicament ; the drought killing off their livestock and the government selling their fertile land to Saudi-Arabia, India and South Korea.
Their former tribal wars with their neighbours, the Afars and the Sidamos, are beginning again. The number of young fighters wearing an ostrich feather in the hair acts of a badge of having killed another man, this acts as evidence of renewed conflict.

The ceremony takes place in the desert with hundreds of temporary houses having been constructed specially for the Gadda. In front of each house there is cow fencing, the cow being a sacred animal, each one being named like one of their children.
A mound of dry cow pat decorated with yellow fruit draws the boundary and the limit that nobody will dare to pass.
Inside the house, each family has brought their bugée mataas, a strip of artistically, studded leather, their only valuable object.
In front of the fences, the home owner waits for the ritual gifts that the visitors have come to offer them : milk, butter, sorghum …
An accurate list of what has been offered is kept by a sort of official or clerk.


As night falls, les Karrayuus who have not managed to find the friends begin to shout their names, walking up and down in front of the houses. Some send texts from the mobiles, the only infringement of tradition.
At midnight, the tribal danses begin, the mass circle forms, the warriors, the Qondallas with their afro hair style leap up and down to show their power. The desert is no longer just an immense dust cloud.

At the same time, a group of other men look for the daughter of the future chief. She hides and they must find her, they are fortunate enough to have help, a full moon. Everybody else waits. All of a sudden at 3am, the women who were sleeping using their dresses as duvets leap to their feet and start singing : the chief’s daughter has been found !
The presents are then bought into the houses and the monstrous feast begins.

In the early hours of the morning, one hundred cows are sacrificed. Their throats cut by the Gille, a long traditional blade. The Karrayuus smear blood on the foreheads of the children as a sign of protection.

Later on towards midday, all of the men of power including the chief shave the heads meanwhile the women pierce their ears with acacia thornes. Dozens of cows are again sacrificed, and once again the hot blood is smeared on the mens’ freshly shaven heads, even babies have their heads smeared.
At this point, women are allowed to leave the camp.

Then comes the solemn, formal moment of the ceremony, the two families face one another. Each holding blades of wildgrass, irrechas and symbols of power. In a mad scramble, the exchange takes place in just a few seconds. The new chief declares power and disappears immediately !
The former chief leaves with tears in his eyes, the warriors pump themselves up in every sense. Drunk with happiness, the chants and songs start again. Everyone agrees to repeat the ceremony, in just 8 years time.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Tags:   7746 gada gadda gadaa etiópia tribo Αιθιοπία эфиопия 埃塞俄比亚 埃塞俄比亞 이디오피아 エチオピア Äthiopien Etiopía 種族 Ethiopië Etiopia 에티오피아 Etiopien Etiopija Етиопија Etiyopya אתיופיה 衣索匹亚 衣索匹亞 ethiopie guns kalachnikov hair hairstyle oromo oromia Kereyu kararyu karrayyu karrayu borana karrayu borana tribe tribal tribu tribes ethnic ethnology ethnie culture tradition

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Gada ceremony near Metahara, in Ethiopia.
The guests bring food, milk, and gifts for the families who welcomes them.A man writes in a book everything.
In the center: some fruits are put on cow dungs. it is the virtual door to the cow fence. Nobody can walk on it.

Every eight years under a full moon, a tribe of Karrayyu priests gather in the Methara region, south of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, for a ceremony to transfer power, this ceremony is named Gada. Five families share and govern the power.

In two days, 10,000 people come, mainly by foot to help with the running of the ceremony. Absolutely no tourists are allowed in the proximity. After weeks of negotiation with the tribe’s leader, I managed to obtain access to help at the ceremony. Throughout the entire negotiation process, it was never a matter of money, as is often the case with tribes, it was simply that the ceremony has never been open to foreigners.

The chiefs finally accepted, the Karrayyus are living in particularly difficult times and their position is precarious. They want to make the world aware of their predicament ; the drought killing off their livestock and the government selling their fertile land to Saudi-Arabia, India and South Korea.
Their former tribal wars with their neighbours, the Afars and the Sidamos, are beginning again. The number of young fighters wearing an ostrich feather in the hair acts of a badge of having killed another man, this acts as evidence of renewed conflict.

The ceremony takes place in the desert with hundreds of temporary houses having been constructed specially for the Gadda. In front of each house there is cow fencing, the cow being a sacred animal, each one being named like one of their children.
A mound of dry cow pat decorated with yellow fruit draws the boundary and the limit that nobody will dare to pass.
Inside the house, each family has brought their bugée mataas, a strip of artistically, studded leather, their only valuable object.
In front of the fences, the home owner waits for the ritual gifts that the visitors have come to offer them : milk, butter, sorghum …
An accurate list of what has been offered is kept by a sort of official or clerk.


As night falls, les Karrayuus who have not managed to find the friends begin to shout their names, walking up and down in front of the houses. Some send texts from the mobiles, the only infringement of tradition.
At midnight, the tribal danses begin, the mass circle forms, the warriors, the Qondallas with their afro hair style leap up and down to show their power. The desert is no longer just an immense dust cloud.

At the same time, a group of other men look for the daughter of the future chief. She hides and they must find her, they are fortunate enough to have help, a full moon. Everybody else waits. All of a sudden at 3am, the women who were sleeping using their dresses as duvets leap to their feet and start singing : the chief’s daughter has been found !
The presents are then bought into the houses and the monstrous feast begins.

In the early hours of the morning, one hundred cows are sacrificed. Their throats cut by the Gille, a long traditional blade. The Karrayuus smear blood on the foreheads of the children as a sign of protection.

Later on towards midday, all of the men of power including the chief shave the heads meanwhile the women pierce their ears with acacia thornes. Dozens of cows are again sacrificed, and once again the hot blood is smeared on the mens’ freshly shaven heads, even babies have their heads smeared.
At this point, women are allowed to leave the camp.

Then comes the solemn, formal moment of the ceremony, the two families face one another. Each holding blades of wildgrass, irrechas and symbols of power. In a mad scramble, the exchange takes place in just a few seconds. The new chief declares power and disappears immediately !
The former chief leaves with tears in his eyes, the warriors pump themselves up in every sense. Drunk with happiness, the chants and songs start again. Everyone agrees to repeat the ceremony, in just 8 years time.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Tags:   7919 tribe tribo tribal etiópia Αιθιοπία эфиопия 埃塞俄比亚 埃塞俄比亞 이디오피아 エチオピア Äthiopien Etiopía 種族 Ethiopië Etiopia 에티오피아 Etiopien Etiopija Етиопија Etiyopya אתיופיה 衣索匹亚 衣索匹亞 ethiopie tribu tribes ethnic ethnology ethnie culture gada gadda tradition gadaa oromo oromia Kereyu kararyu karrayyu karrayu borana karrayu borana

© All Rights Reserved

Every eight years under a full moon, a tribe of Karrayyu priests gather in the Methara region, south of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, for a ceremony to transfer power, this ceremony is named Gada. Five families share and govern the power.

In two days, 10,000 people come, mainly by foot to help with the running of the ceremony. Absolutely no tourists are allowed in the proximity. After weeks of negotiation with the tribe’s leader, I managed to obtain access to help at the ceremony. Throughout the entire negotiation process, it was never a matter of money, as is often the case with tribes, it was simply that the ceremony has never been open to foreigners.

The chiefs finally accepted, the Karrayyus are living in particularly difficult times and their position is precarious. They want to make the world aware of their predicament ; the drought killing off their livestock and the government selling their fertile land to Saudi-Arabia, India and South Korea.
Their former tribal wars with their neighbours, the Afars and the Sidamos, are beginning again. The number of young fighters wearing an ostrich feather in the hair acts of a badge of having killed another man, this acts as evidence of renewed conflict.

The ceremony takes place in the desert with hundreds of temporary houses having been constructed specially for the Gadda. In front of each house there is cow fencing, the cow being a sacred animal, each one being named like one of their children.
A mound of dry cow pat decorated with yellow fruit draws the boundary and the limit that nobody will dare to pass.
Inside the house, each family has brought their bugée mataas, a strip of artistically, studded leather, their only valuable object.
In front of the fences, the home owner waits for the ritual gifts that the visitors have come to offer them : milk, butter, sorghum …
An accurate list of what has been offered is kept by a sort of official or clerk.


As night falls, les Karrayuus who have not managed to find the friends begin to shout their names, walking up and down in front of the houses. Some send texts from the mobiles, the only infringement of tradition.
At midnight, the tribal danses begin, the mass circle forms, the warriors, the Qondallas with their afro hair style leap up and down to show their power. The desert is no longer just an immense dust cloud.

At the same time, a group of other men look for the daughter of the future chief. She hides and they must find her, they are fortunate enough to have help, a full moon. Everybody else waits. All of a sudden at 3am, the women who were sleeping using their dresses as duvets leap to their feet and start singing : the chief’s daughter has been found !
The presents are then bought into the houses and the monstrous feast begins.

In the early hours of the morning, one hundred cows are sacrificed. Their throats cut by the Gille, a long traditional blade. The Karrayuus smear blood on the foreheads of the children as a sign of protection.

Later on towards midday, all of the men of power including the chief shave the heads meanwhile the women pierce their ears with acacia thornes. Dozens of cows are again sacrificed, and once again the hot blood is smeared on the mens’ freshly shaven heads, even babies have their heads smeared.
At this point, women are allowed to leave the camp.

Then comes the solemn, formal moment of the ceremony, the two families face one another. Each holding blades of wildgrass, irrechas and symbols of power. In a mad scramble, the exchange takes place in just a few seconds. The new chief declares power and disappears immediately !
The former chief leaves with tears in his eyes, the warriors pump themselves up in every sense. Drunk with happiness, the chants and songs start again. Everyone agrees to repeat the ceremony, in just 8 years time.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Tags:   5564 tribe tribo tribal etiópia Αιθιοπία эфиопия 埃塞俄比亚 埃塞俄比亞 이디오피아 エチオピア Äthiopien Etiopía 種族 Ethiopië Etiopia 에티오피아 Etiopien Etiopija Етиопија Etiyopya אתיופיה 衣索匹亚 衣索匹亞 ethiopie tribu tribes ethnic ethnology ethnie culture gada gadda tradition veiled beauty face portrait profile Kereyu kararyu karrayyu oromo karrayu borana karrayu oromia borana

© All Rights Reserved

Every eight years under a full moon, a tribe of Karrayyu priests gather in the Methara region, south of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, for a ceremony to transfer power, this ceremony is named Gada. Five families share and govern the power.

In two days, 10,000 people come, mainly by foot to help with the running of the ceremony. Absolutely no tourists are allowed in the proximity. After weeks of negotiation with the tribe’s leader, I managed to obtain access to help at the ceremony. Throughout the entire negotiation process, it was never a matter of money, as is often the case with tribes, it was simply that the ceremony has never been open to foreigners.

The chiefs finally accepted, the Karrayyus are living in particularly difficult times and their position is precarious. They want to make the world aware of their predicament ; the drought killing off their livestock and the government selling their fertile land to Saudi-Arabia, India and South Korea.
Their former tribal wars with their neighbours, the Afars and the Sidamos, are beginning again. The number of young fighters wearing an ostrich feather in the hair acts of a badge of having killed another man, this acts as evidence of renewed conflict.

The ceremony takes place in the desert with hundreds of temporary houses having been constructed specially for the Gadda. In front of each house there is cow fencing, the cow being a sacred animal, each one being named like one of their children.
A mound of dry cow pat decorated with yellow fruit draws the boundary and the limit that nobody will dare to pass.
Inside the house, each family has brought their bugée mataas, a strip of artistically, studded leather, their only valuable object.
In front of the fences, the home owner waits for the ritual gifts that the visitors have come to offer them : milk, butter, sorghum …
An accurate list of what has been offered is kept by a sort of official or clerk.


As night falls, les Karrayuus who have not managed to find the friends begin to shout their names, walking up and down in front of the houses. Some send texts from the mobiles, the only infringement of tradition.
At midnight, the tribal danses begin, the mass circle forms, the warriors, the Qondallas with their afro hair style leap up and down to show their power. The desert is no longer just an immense dust cloud.

At the same time, a group of other men look for the daughter of the future chief. She hides and they must find her, they are fortunate enough to have help, a full moon. Everybody else waits. All of a sudden at 3am, the women who were sleeping using their dresses as duvets leap to their feet and start singing : the chief’s daughter has been found !
The presents are then bought into the houses and the monstrous feast begins.

In the early hours of the morning, one hundred cows are sacrificed. Their throats cut by the Gille, a long traditional blade. The Karrayuus smear blood on the foreheads of the children as a sign of protection.

Later on towards midday, all of the men of power including the chief shave the heads meanwhile the women pierce their ears with acacia thornes. Dozens of cows are again sacrificed, and once again the hot blood is smeared on the mens’ freshly shaven heads, even babies have their heads smeared.
At this point, women are allowed to leave the camp.

Then comes the solemn, formal moment of the ceremony, the two families face one another. Each holding blades of wildgrass, irrechas and symbols of power. In a mad scramble, the exchange takes place in just a few seconds. The new chief declares power and disappears immediately !
The former chief leaves with tears in his eyes, the warriors pump themselves up in every sense. Drunk with happiness, the chants and songs start again. Everyone agrees to repeat the ceremony, in just 8 years time.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Tags:   8068 tribe tribo tribal etiópia Αιθιοπία эфиопия 埃塞俄比亚 埃塞俄比亞 이디오피아 エチオピア Äthiopien Etiopía 種族 Ethiopië Etiopia 에티오피아 Etiopien Etiopija Етиопија Etiyopya אתיופיה 衣索匹亚 衣索匹亞 ethiopie tribu tribes ethnic ethnology ethnie culture gada gadda tradition hair hairstyle men dark flash night gadaa Kereyu kararyu karrayyu oromo karrayu borana karrayu oromia borana

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The Karrayyu are a pastoralist tribe from Ethiopia living in the Awash Valley, around the volcano of Mount Fentale and the Metehara Plain. They belong to the larger ethnic group of the Oromos, who represent the majority (32%) of the ethiopian population. It is said the Karrayyu arrived in the area 200 hundreds years ago, during the so called « great expansion », of the Oromo, during which Oromo settled in different parts of Ethiopia,. This led to cultural diversification. In spite of local differences between those subgroups, they share the same Cushistic language (Afaan Oromo) religion (Waaqeffata) and governance system (Gada). The Karrayyu are one of the last Oromo ethnic subgroups to follow these rules and to preserve the original Oromo lifestyle and culture, and its pastoralist way of life.
There are only 10 000 to 55 000 Karrayyus (because of their nomadic lifestyle it is difficult to have precise figures) whereas they used to be 200 000 at the beginning of the 20th century. Karrayyu are on the verge of instinction. Such a drop was due to the persecutions the Oromos, including the Karrayyu people had to face during Menelik’s II reign (1889-1913). This emperor, from the Amhara ethnic group led the unification of Ethiopia, and imposed the Amhara rule to the Oromos. Later, during the 20th century, the Karrayyu were deprived of most of their lands because of the establishment of national parks and modern farms. In the last four decades, Karrayyu’s were dispossed from 70 per cent of their land, including their shrines, by the government to make sugar and cotton plantations.
Struggle for grazing lands and water resources is a constant and daily challenge for the Karrayyus. This results in conflicts with neighbouring tribes such as the Afar or the Argoba, but also with some other Oromos ethnic subgroups such as the Arsi Oromo. Clashes between herders from these tribes are pretty common, and sometimes people even get shot. Incidents occur about the possession or when some herders raid the cattle from another tribe. Last years these conflicts have intensified as the number of available grazing lands has cut down. Indeed, overgrazing (involved by the recent of growth of the area’s population) leads to soil erosion. The degradation of the rangelands intensifies the pratice of cattle raiding which is already deeply rooted in the culture of the tribes in this area. Some grazing lands have even been abandoned by the Karrayyus in fear of violent conflicts.
Unfortunately the Karrayyu are also famous for the female genital cutting the women have to face and suffer from. According to the 2005 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey, more than 74 per cent of women between the age of 15 and 49 have undergone some form of genital mutilation and cutting.. Parents believe this practice guarantees their young daughter’s virginity, which is a prerequisite for an honourable marriage.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Tags:   5652 etiópia tribo Αιθιοπία эфиопия 埃塞俄比亚 埃塞俄比亞 이디오피아 エチオピア Äthiopien Etiopía 種族 Ethiopië Etiopia 에티오피아 Etiopien Etiopija Етиопија Etiyopya אתיופיה 衣索匹亚 衣索匹亞 ethiopie tribe tribal tribu tribes ethnic ethnology ethnie culture tradition beauty cute woman toothbrush veil veiled Kereyu kararyu karrayyu oromo karrayu borana karrayu oromia borana

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