Mursi people
The Mursi ( proper name Mun ) are an ethnic group in southwestern Ethiopia with less than 10,000 members. They live in the lower Omo Valley in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. Today their territory lies partly in the Mago National Park.
The language of the Mursi is one of the surmischen languages , a subgroup of the ostsudanischen languages within the Nilo-Saharan language family.
Economy
The Mursi are traditionally Hack farmers and cattle breeders. The most important product is growing sorghum, in addition they grow maize, beans, and chickpeas to. In October and November will be planted along the banks of the Omo and Mago, after there has decreased the water. The harvest takes place in January and February, the farmland on the river bank is the most important resource for the agriculture of the Mursi. After commencement of the rainy season, the country will continue planted away from the rivers in March and April, where it is harvested in June and July. However, the rainfall can vary greatly in terms of quantity and locally, which increases the risk of crop failure. For such cases, the cattle provides a certain protection because it provides milk, meat and blood as a protein- rich food and can be exchanged from the highlands against grain. In the culture of Mursi cattle play an important role.
Body modifications
The Mursi are known for the lip plates the women mentioned in the Mursi dhebi. To use this, is cut lower lip in girls at the end of puberty, and two of the lower incisors are knocked out. The clay plates are molded and fired by the girls themselves. More and larger specimens are used to gradually stretch the bottom lip. The earlobes are often decorated in the same way.
It is often claimed that the size of the lip plate is related to the amount of the bride price, and thus the status of women. Against this assumption, however, says that most marriages and thus also the amount to be paid bride price, to be paid by the groom's family, already agreed in advance. Indeed, it seems rather to be a rite of growing up.
Nowadays, the tradition is also a source of money, because Mursifrauen can be against payment of tourists take photos with their lip plates. In everyday life, a Mursifrau carries the lip plate rare. It will be appreciated if the woman when serving coffee carries her plate.
The photo tourism is controversial since the groups of tourists often travel to the Mursi villages, take some photos quickly and pay the photographed to travel farther and again, without dwelling on the Mursi and their culture. Some Mursi and Foreign critics see this as degrading. The income from tourism allow one hand, zuzukaufen grain in times of drought or to pay for the health care of the cattle, on the other hand they now serve also for the purchase of alcohol.
Today want girls who live in more influenced by the outdoor world or one of the as yet were able to visit a few schools in the area, do not wear more lip plate part. Others prefer plate with a hole in the middle, which are easier to carry.
Also other extensive body ornaments are common, consisting of geometric attached scars ( scarification ). For men, you can find white paintings mainly in rituals and in the presence of tourists.
Research and Movies
- GEO 12/2006: The body artist in the Omo Valley
- David Turton: a lot of literature and ethnographic films
- Shauna LaTosky: currently researching on site
- Rudolf Kuzner: Africa's Forgotten Peoples - The Mursi and Hamar in southern Ethiopia