PEOPLE OF THE OMO VALLEY
Extraordinary cultural integrity, that there is more than a smattering of truth in the assertion that as recently as 50 years ago the people of South Omo were scarcely aware that such an entity as Ethiopia existed. .
HAMMER
The Hamer is a tribal people in southwestern Ethiopia. They live in Hamer Bena woreda (or district), a fertile part of the Omo River valley, in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR).
KONSO
named after the Konso people, is known for its religious traditions, waga sculptures, and nearby fossil beds (the latter an archaeological site of early hominids). The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List on September 30, 1997 and registered on 2011 due to its purported universal cultural significance of terracing agricultural practice.
MURSI
The Mursi are a nomadic cattle herder ethnic group located in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region in Ethiopia, close to the Sudanese border. According to the 2007 national census, there number is estimated 7,500. The Mursi people are the most popular in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley.
ARBORE TRIBES
The Arbore tribe is a small tribe that lives in the southwest region of the Omo Valley. They have ancestral and cultural associations with Borenna and Konso peoples and perform many ritual dances while singing. The Tsemay people are their neighboring tribe. Arbore people are pastoralists (livestock farmers).
RIFT VALLEY LAKES
The Great Rift Valley is the single largest geographical feature on the African continent, and was the only such feature visible to the first astronauts to reach the moon. The process of rifting started some 20 million years ago along a 4,000km-long fault line that stretches from the Red Sea south to Mozambique’s Zambezi Valley.