The Hamer (or Hamar) people of southwestern Ethiopia are pastoralists, less war-like than their Surma, Karo, Mursi, and Nyangatom neighbors to the west, much more friendly and casual towards outsiders.
The Hamer women weave their hair in braids and paint them with an red ocher and butter mixture and then weave beautiful beaded jewelry and ornaments into them. They are still, to this day dressed in goat skin skirts decorated with beads and cowrie shells.
They practice elaborate traditional rituals, shun assimilation, and despite increasing exposure to outside influences, only marry within the tribe.
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A Donga stick fight among the Suri (or Surma) tribesmen who inhabit the areas west of the Omo River. Ritualistic yet serious; men are injured during the fighting and sometimes even killed.
