Besedilo in fotografije: Mare Lakovič

Izgubljeni svet doline rekeOmo

Etiopija

Spust iz obljudenega etiopskega višavja proti jugu in spodnjemu toku reke Omo se zdi kot nekakšno nadrealistično potovanje v nek

neresničen svet, izgubljen v času in prostoru. Ko se iz suhe akacijeve savane kot nekakšni prividi pojavijo popolnoma goli, skoraj dva metra visoki pripadniki plemena Suri ali Mursi ter sumničavo gledajo redke, nadležne prišleke, je kalašnikovka AK-47 v rokah ponosnih bojevnikov edina sled zunanjega sveta.

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{ Etiopija }

V spodnjem toku reke Omo na tromeji med Sudanom, Etiopijo in Kenijo še vedno obstaja taka nedotaknjena divjina, ki daje zatočišče zadnjim tradicionalnim plemenskim kulturam

Afrike. Poleg zanimive geološke preteklosti je Etiopija tudi zgodovinski prostor, kjer so cvetele civilizacije od starodavnega Aksuma do skrivno-stne arhaične krščanske cerkve s tisočletno tradicijo državnosti, ki ji v Afri-ki ni primerjave. Kljub temu da v Etiopiji prevladujejo ljudstva semitskega izvora, kot so krščanski Amhari in Tigrejci, oziroma večinski, kušitsko go-voreči Oromi, so se globoko na jugu v porečju reke Omo ohranile plemen-ske kulture, ki so se zaradi svoje izoliranosti ohranile skoraj nedotaknjene.

Spodnji tok doline reke Omo je svet neznosno vroče depresije Turkana, kjer poleg surovih klimatskih pogojev pustošijo malarija, rumena mrzlica in smrtonosne muhe cece. Ta prvinska divjina je obvarovala ta brezčasni prostor in sliko Afrike, kakršna je bila v svojem prvobitnem predkolonial-nem obdobju. V spodnjem toku porečja reke Omo se je ohranilo približno dvajset plemenskih, pretežno nilotskih skupin ljudstev, kot so: Hamer, Arbore, Bana, Karo, Dasanech, Bodi, Nygatom, in še prvobitnejših skupin, kot so ljudstva plemenske skupine Surma, ki združuje sorodne Surije, Mursije in Meene. Etiopske oblasti so se spodnjemu toku reke Omo zave-stno izogibale in rasno ter kulturno drugačna, animistična ljudstva juga puščale v osami vse do sedemdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja, ko so ta od-ročni svet in prvinske plemenske kulture odkrili zahodni antropologi. Ple-menske skupine porečja reke Omo je zaznamovala tudi državljanska vojna v sosednjem Sudanu, kjer že desetletja trajajo spopadi med vladnimi sila-mi muslimanskega severa in animističnimi oziroma krščanskimi plemen-skimi skupinami črnih, nilotskih skupin juga, kot so Nube, Nuerji, Šiluki, Anuaki in drugi. Ta vojna je na žalost prinesla orožje in rasni antagonizem tudi ljudstvom porečja reke Omo v Etiopiji, ki se med seboj srdito borijo za ozemlja in dostope do negotovih vodnih virov. Pred kakšnimi tremi de-setletji so prišle v svet slike znamenitih razširjenih spodnjih ustnic z vsta-vljenimi glinenimi ploščami; te krasijo odrasle ženske Surijev in Mursijev, ki še zmeraj vztrajajo pri tradicionalnih idealih lepote. Podobne primere transformacije spodnjih ustnic najdemo samo pri nekaterih plemenih amazonskih Indijancev, ki sledijo podobnemu kultu lepote.

V zgornjem toku reke Omo se že gradijo megalomanski jezovi, ki bodo prepolovili pretok reke Omo kot edini vodni vir skrajnega juga Etiopije. To soočenje z zunanjim svetom bo za plemenske skupine doline reke Omo nedvomno pogubno, saj se je proces razpadanja tradicionalnega življenja in plemenskih vrednot že začel. Kulture, ki so preživele stoletja plemen-skih bojev, pomanjkanja in krutih klimatskih razmer, nimajo nobenih možnosti proti mednarodnemu kapitalu, hordam turistov, vladnim ura-dnikom, misijonarjem, alkoholu in vrednotam, ki so jim popolnoma tuje. Z izginotjem teh tradicionalnih plemenskih skupin človeštvo ne izgublja le svojih korenin in dela našega genskega zapisa oziroma odgovorov naši evoluciji, temveč tudi starodavna vedenja in lepoto neke arhaične dobe, ujete v sodobnem svetu, ki pa je obsojena na izumrtje, še preden smo jo sploh spoznali.

Negotova prihodnostPrihodnost ljudstev porečja reke Omo je negotova, saj se z etiopskega

višavja proti Turkani že gradi megalomanska cesta, ki odpira prosto pot kapitalu in tujim, zlasti kitajskim koncesionarjem, ki hlepijo po surovinah in nedavno odkriti nafti na plemenskem ozemlju ljudstva Hamer. Ple-menske skupine porečja reke Omo so z denarnim sistemom države, ki ji pripadajo, praktično prišle v stik šele pred dobrim desetletjem s prihodom turistov, ki so začeli plačevati to eksotiko in njihovo prvinsko zunanjost. Plemena še danes nimajo nobenega občutka pripadnosti državi, ki so ji bili dodeljeni, oziroma političnim mejam, ki delijo njihova plemenska ob-močja. Naravnost groteskni so prizori, ko megalomanski delovni stroji ob prisotnosti popolnoma golih Surijev kot pošasti iz nekega drugega sveta prodirajo v pusto akacijevo savano. Prizori so podobni tistim v amazon-skem pragozdu, kjer indijanska ljudstva lahko le nemo opazujejo, kako izginja deževni pragozd, ki jih je stoletja varoval pred zunanjim svetom.

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{ Ethiopia }

{ Ethiopia }

The Lost World of the Omo River ValleyText and photography: Mare Lakovič

Descending from the populated highlands of Ethiopia towards the south and the lower course of the Omo River feels like a surreal trip to a world that simply isn’t real, lost in

time and space. When Suri and Mursi tribesmen, completely naked and nearly two-metres in height, appear out of the Acacia savannah like phantoms and cast suspicious glances at the few bothersome newcom-ers who venture into their world, the AK-47 assault rifles in the hands of the proud warriors are the only vestiges of the outside world.

The lower course of the Omo River on the triple border between Su-dan, Ethiopia and Kenya is home to an untouched wilderness that pro-vides shelter to the last remaining traditional tribal cultures of Africa. Besides having an interesting geological past, Ethiopia is also a histori-cal space where civilizations once flourished, from the ancient Aksum culture to a secretive archaic Christian church with a thousand-year tradition of statehood unparalleled elsewhere in Africa. Although peo-ples of Semitic origin like the Christian Amhara and Tigrayans and the majority Cushitic-speaking Oromo make up the majority of the popula-tion of Ethiopia, deep in the south of the country, in the Omo River re-gion, tribal cultures have been preserved and, owing to their isolation, remain almost completely untouched.

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{ Ethiopia }

{ Ethiopia }

The lower course of the Omo River Valley is the world of the unbear-ably hot Turkana depression, which, besides inhuman climatic condi-tions, is exposed to the ravages of malaria, yellow fever and the deadly tsetse fly. This primitive wilderness has shielded a place seemingly unaffected by the passage of time and has preserved a picture of Africa as it was in its aboriginal, pre-colonial period. In the lower course of the Omo River, about twenty tribal groups, most of them Nilotic, are still in existence:the Hamer, Arbore, Bana, Chara, Daasanach, Bodi, Nyangatom and other even more primitive groups like the Surma tribal group, which includes the neighbouring Suri, Mursi and Me’en tribes. The Ethiopian authorities consciously avoided the lower course of the Omo River and left the racially and culturally different animistic peo-ples of the south to themselves until the 1970s, when this distant world and its primitive tribal cultures were discovered by Western anthropol-

ogists. The tribal groups of the Omo River region were also marked by the civil war in neighbouring Sudan, where conflicts between the gov-ernment forces of the Muslim north and animistic or Christian groups of black Nilotic peoples in the south such as the Nuba, Nuer, Shilluk and Anuak have been raging for decades. Sadly, the war also brought weapons and racial antagonism to the peoples of the Omo River region in Ethiopia, who are engaged in a fierce struggle for territory and access to ever-scarce sources of water. Some thirty years ago images of women with their lower lips stretched through the use of a clay lip plate made their way around the world; the lip plate is an important part of the bodily decoration of grown Suri and Mursi women who still adhere to traditional ideals of beauty. Similar examples of the transformation of the lower lip are found only among certain Amazon Indian tribes who follow a similar cult of beauty.

An uncertain futureThe future of the peoples of the Omo River region is uncertain; a mas-

sive road extending from the Ethiopian highlands in the direction of Turkana is being built. It is clearing a path for capital and foreign, in particular Chinese, investors hungry for raw materials and the oil that was recently discovered in the tribal territory of the Hamer people. It wasn’t until a little over ten years ago that the tribal groups of the Omo River region came into contact with the monetary system of the country to which they belong; it was at this time that tourists began paying for this exotic experience and the tribesmen’s primitive appearance. Still today, the tribes have no sense of belonging to the country to which they have been assigned, and are unaware of the political borders that cut across their tribal territories. Scenes of enormous construction ma-chinery tearing into the Acacia savannah like monsters from another world as completely naked Suri tribesmen look on can only be described as grotesque. One is reminded of similar images from the Amazon rain-forest, where Indian peoples can but look on in silence as the rainforest that has shielded them from the outside world for centuries disappears. In the upper course of the Omo River, giant dams that will reduce by half the flow of the Omo River, the only source of water in the far south of Ethiopia, are already under construction. This encounter with the outside world will no doubt be catastrophic for the tribal groups of the Omo River Valley, as the process of the erosion of the traditional way of life and tribal values is already underway. Cultures that have survived centuries of intertribal conflict, resource shortages and harsh climatic conditions do not stand a chance against global capital, hordes of tour-ists, government officials, missionaries, alcohol and the values of a cul-ture completely foreign to their own. With the disappearance of these traditional tribal groups, mankind will not only be losing its roots and part of its genetic record, and with it vital clues in the puzzle of human evolution; it will also lose a way of life from a distant past and the beau-ty of an archaic age trapped in the modern world. The tribal world of the lower course of the Omo River is doomed to become extinct before we’ve even had a chance to get to know it. A

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