1

The Hamar Tribe Culture Ethnography

Graydon Tanis
Intro to Anthropology
Tiffany Collins
March 25, 2023
 2

Introduction

The ethnographic group that I chose to observe was the Hamar Tribe of Ethiopia. My

expectations of the observation was that I would be taken aback by the practices and rituals of

this culture. However, the more that I observed the Hamar Tribe, the more that I realized that

they are not so different from my own culture. I also realized that a lot of the things that we do in

my culture, might seem outlandish to the people of the Hamar, as it is different from the ways

that they do things. I experienced some culture shock in regards to just how much stuff we have

in my culture, compared to the people of the Hamar Tribe. They have much less material

possessions than people of my culture have, but still seem to be content with what they have.

One of the most shocking parts of their culture that I experienced was the attitude towards the

men beating their spouses. In my culture this is seen as domestic violence and is heavily frowned

upon, while it is welcomed in the eyes of the Hamar Tribe.

Literature Review
In the following paragraphs I hope to provide some insight into the observations of the

Hamar Tribe of Ethiopia. The people of this culture have a few distinctive factors that have been

researched and studied by others, and their thoughts and observations recorded. In the following

paragraphs I will summarize some of the findings of others in regards to the people of the Hamar

Tribe located in Ethiopia.

According to “Reflections on a Journey Through the Southern Omo Valley, Ethiopia.” the

Hamar people displayed a symbiotic relationship with one of their neighboring tribes, the Kara

tribe. Hamar families will look after Kara families' livestock, in return the Hamar family keeps
 3

most of the milk produced by the livestock. Occasionally this relationship can lead to small scale

conflict that is usually resolved by the elders. (Reflections on a Journey Through the Southern

Omo Valley, Ethiopia. 2015, 18). Another ritual that the people of Hamar partake in is the

bull-jumping ceremony. The bull-jumping ceremony is undertaken by a young male as a coming

of age ritual in order to earn the right to own property or marry. Cows are lined up in a row, and

the young male runs across the backs of the bullvine. If cows that are too small are taken, the

young man's courage is questioned. If the cows are too large, he may not be able to complete the

running, and he will have to try again next year. (Reflections on a Journey Through the Southern

Omo Valley, Ethiopia. 2015, 19).

Another interesting part of the Hamar tribes’ culture is how the relationship between

women and men exists in this culture. It is common and often sought after by women of the

Hamar tribe to be whipped by the men of the village willingly. They view the act of being

whipped by a potential partner as being submissive to the men and they find great honor in it. If a

woman is trying to get whipped by a man that is in direct relation to her, the elders stop them and

tell them which man they can be whipped by as he is not a relative to her. “Eh, eh! This maz is

your relative, she should not hit you. The one who may hit you is this one, he is your tsangaza,

the one whom you can marry” (Ivo Strencker, 1979).

A final cultural ritual that the Hamar tribe takes place in is the act of Mingi. “Mingi in the

religion of the Hamar a related tribes is the state of being impure or “ritually polluted”. A person

often a child who is considered Mingi is killed by forced permanent separation from the tribe by

being left alone in the jungle or by drowning in the river.” (Lale Labuko, 2020). There are

multiple ways that a child can be considered Mingi. The first way that a child can be considered

Mingi is if their top teeth develop before their bottom teeth. Secondly, a child is considered
 4

Mingi if they are the result of a pregnancy or marriage that was not approved by tribal elders,

this also extends to children born out of wedlock. Finally, if a child is born with a twin, the

children are considered Mingi and will be abandoned to die.

These are some of the findings that I have found from multiple sources concerning the

Hamar tribe of Ethiopia. They participate in bull-running as a coming of age ceremony, the

women are often beaten as a showing of submission to the men they wish to marry, and the act of

Mingi is followed in order to prevent misfortune befalling the people. While they share some

similarities with the rest of the world, they have distinct rituals they participate in that set them

apart from the rest of the world.

Methods
Since I was unable to physically travel to Ethiopia, I observed the Hamar Tribe through a

collection of video recordings. The total number of hours of observation was around 10 hours. I

was unable to perform interviews, however there were some interviews included in the video

footage that I watched that were greatly helpful.

Body
Subsistence
One of the many challenges of The Hamar Tribe of Ethiopia, just like most other cultures,

is subsistence. Location and consumption of food has a tendency to shape a culture in and of

itself depending on the geographical region and what resources are available. The people of the

Hamar Tribe have a unique way of growing food that is sustainable for the area that they reside

in. They are also very creative in the way that they prepare their meals out of only a couple base

ingredients in unique ways. Out of the four types of subsistence practices I believe that the
 5

Hamar are a mix of pastoralism and horticulture. I will explain this in detail in the following

paragraphs along with the subsistence practices of my own cultural group in comparison.

The main source of sustenance of the Hamar Tribe is made from the sorghum plant. This

is a plant that is grown by the women of the Hamar Tribe and is harvested in order to make

various types of food. It is a grain that seems to share many properties of wheat which is what I

am used to in my own culture. The sorghum is harvested and ground into flour by the use of

grinding stones. This is a long and tedious task that is performed by the women and young girls

of the Hamar Tribe. After it is ground into flour it is then prepared in a variety of ways. One of

the ways that I observed sorghum being prepared is referred to as balasha. Balasha is similar to

what I would call a pancake in my culture. The sorghum flour is mixed with water and then put

on to a hot stone to cook, the underside of the flour has water spread over it so that it will not

stick to the rock that it is cooking on. Butter is also applied to the stone to add some flavor and

prevent sticking. After one side is cooked the disk is then flipped onto the other side and water

spread over it to keep it moist. Another way that sorghum is prepared is in the form known as

muna. Muna are sausage-like rolls of ground sorghum that are boiled in a gord. The older women

take on this task since it is incredibly difficult to get the mixture of water and flour right so that

the rolls do not just fall apart. The younger girl's responsibility is to find twigs that are picked

from the barathaph tree that is used to make a sort of grill for the muna to rest on as it cooks. The

dough is mixed with water to get the correct consistency and then lightly shaken in the hand in

order to create a roll of dough that can then be cooked. If the consistency is wrong then the muna

will not hold its shape and form and will just crumble apart. The last type of food that I observed

being made by the Hamar Tribe is what is known as derbada. Derbada is most similar to a

crumble in our culture. It is made of flour which is cooked in boiling water. Shortly after the
 6

flour is put into boiling water the water is strained out. Then the water is whisked thoroughly to

get rid of any clumps of flour. After the water is whisked it is poured back into the cooking pot

little by little with the mixture being stirred constantly. The derbada must be taken out of the pot

at just the right time or else the dish will be ruined. After the derbada is removed from the pot

butter is added being stirred into the now cooked dough. These are all of the ways that I have

observed sorghum being used as sustenance and the fact that it is grown every year in the fields

by the women of the Hamar Tribe leads me to believe that they are using the horticulture method

of subsistence, where they are growing food for themselves using non-mechanical tools and no

chemicals for fertilizer or pesticide.

The actions of the Hamar that lead me to believe that they also take part in the

pastoralism category of subsistence is that the men tend to livestock such as goats and cattle that

are used for their milk. While they also use these animals for trade and marriage rights, the milk

that they provide is vital for nutritional sustenance amongst the Hamar. The men own and tend to

the cattle and goats but it is the women that milk them. The women are also known to milk the

animals into their hands and drink some of the milk throughout the day. Once the milk is

gathered it is stored in gords that have been purified with smoke. While the smoke rids the

gourds of bacteria and impurities it also gives the milk a strange flavor. This does not seem to

affect the rate at which the milk is consumed by the Hamar however. The milk that is gathered

from the cows and goats is also utilized to make butter. The process of how they do this was not

shown to me however, they do have ways and practices of making butter out of milk as it is often

used in the cooking of the sorghum flour.

While the Hamar Tribe does partake in trading at the markets, food is not one of the

things that they tend to trade. They will trade livestock for things such as rifles and decorative
 7

rings, but the milk itself and the sorghum flour are not traded at the market. These are things that

the Hamar uses purely as a food source and is not factored into the wealth of a family in this

culture.

Unlike my own culture where work is performed in exchange for money, and the money

is given in exchange for food and subsistence, the Hamar make and consume all of their own

food through the growth of the sorghum plant and the milking of livestock. Food in my culture is

sold for a profit from agriculturists and is bought at a market place or a store for money. While

this can offer more variety of foods for consumption there is something to be said for being able

to be self-sufficient in the gathering of resources such as food, just like the Hamar are. However,

something that is similar to my own culture of subsistence is that grains are consumed after they

are ground into flour and cooked, just like the Hamar’s practices. Milk is also an integral part of

dietary consumption in my culture just as it is in the Hamar Tribes. Another way that my culture

differs from the Hamar is that the women are not expected to grow their own grains in the fields

and milk the cows that provide our milk. While some women of my culture are still expected to

gather resources and perform the cooking and preparation of the meals, they are not expected to

gather and refine these resources directly from the animals and plants.

These are the many subsistence practices of the Hamar Tribe and how they relate to my

own culture. From the cultivation and preparation of the sorghum flour, to the raising and

milking of the livestock. The Hamar show signs of being both practitioners of horticulture and

pastoralism subsistence methods, growing their own food and raising their own livestock. They

do not have a tendency to buy foods from markets and would rather sustain themselves on what

they grow and raise. This differs drastically from my own culture where almost all of our food is

bought exclusively, and there is not much self-sufficiency in our subsistence culture.
 8

Economics

The Hamar Tribe has many distinctive economic systems that range widely. Trading and

bartering are something that is used quite frequently by the people of the Hamar Tribe and the

surrounding cultures. They also tend to practice general reciprocity using various items such as

time, food, and the animals that they raise. The culture has a few distinct differences from the

culture in which I was raised, one being the lack of needing money to buy anything that I might

need or want. I will elaborate further on these topics in the following paragraphs. One of the

most apparent examples that I experienced of the Hamar Tribe trading was how they will trade

marriage rights. Oftentimes a young girl is traded to another family in exchange for cows and

goats. This is what is known as marriage rights and is an excellent example for how the Hamar’s

culture and my own are different. In today's day and age in my culture, it would be considered

offensive, or as a joke depending on who was on the receiving end, if I were to offer cows or

goats or any livestock for that matter in order to buy the marriage rights of a woman. While the

Hamar view this as a trading of objects, my culture does not share the same viewpoint.

Oftentimes they will haggle the price of the woman and if the debt is not paid, in extreme

circumstances, violence will be used against the offending party.

My observation of the Hamar Tribe also showed the Hamar people trading with other

tribes for metal rings that are worn as decoration. The Hamar people will also use livestock to

trade for these in the market, and in more recent years have been known to use money to acquire

some of the things that they need to survive. The most apparent use of money to acquire goods

seemed to be when the Hamar people were buying guns and ammunition. The Hamar people do

not appear to engage in wage work as most of the work that they participate in is in order to feed
 9

themselves. They do not work in the fields to get paid in money but instead eat the crops that

they have grown for themselves. I never witnessed it and the videos that I observed made very

little mention of it but I believe that occasionally they will trade their crop of Sorghum for things

at a market.

The way that I experienced general reciprocity in the Hamar Tribe was that if someone

came over to help you with your work, it was expected for you to feed them and host them as

guests afterwards. How strict of an understanding this is was unclear to me however it was pretty

obvious that when someone was giving them their time and their energy in helping them with

their field work, they were in exchange given sustenance at the cost of the field and home

owner.Gift giving was not something that was explicitly shown but the few times that it was

discussed it was under the assumption that a gift in similar but not exact value was given back.

Most of these gifts were things such as metal rings that are used for decoration, or shell

necklaces and other decorative things that incorporate shells into their appearance.

The Hamar’s practices differ greatly from my own cultures' practices. However, One of

the things that the Hamar practices is similar to that of my own. If a gift is given to you, it is only

polite to give a gift back. My culture, like the Hamar’s, practices general reciprocity. While a

close ledger of the debts owed are not kept, it is in general understanding that the value of

something that is given to you should match the value of what is given back. If this is not

followed then ill-feelings, that can sometimes affect more than just your personal life, are

typically held even if they are not openly discussed. What is different from my own culture that

is considered normal in the Hamar’s culture is the exchanging of cattle and other livestock for

women. In my culture this is something that is considered outdated and offensive in most cases.

Another reason that the Hamar's economic system differs from my own is that trading is not
 10

centered solely around money. If I walked into a store and offered them a goat for a television,

they would laugh in my face. However, trading livestock and crops is completely normal to the

Hamar and the surrounding people. Wealth in the Hamar’s perspective is measured in the amount

of livestock that a man owns. In my culture wealth is measured in dollars and cents. In both

places wealth is still determined by buying power but instead of having a centralized currency

that is made out of paper, the Hamar have buying power that is found in the living, breathing,

livestock that they tend to. These are the findings from my observation of the Hamar Tribe in

regards to their economic systems and how they compare to my own in similarities and

differences. Women are bought for livestock, trading in the market rarely involves money until

more recently, and general reciprocity is generally the expectation. Wealth is measured in a

different sense than my own culture, even though it still exists, and the Hamar do not participate

in wage work, but will consume the products that they work for.

Sex, Marriage, and Family

The Hamar Tribe of Ethiopia have some practices in regard to sex, marriage, and family

that are different from that of my own culture. They also have some practices that are relatively

similar to our culture. The probably most shocking thing that the Hamar do that we do not in our

culture is the support of beating their wives and wives to be. Marriage partners are decided by

the parents of the bride and groom. It is, in a sense, a sort of arranged marriage. More is

expected of the women coming into the man's family than that which is expected of the man,

especially in terms of habitation practices. The parenting responsibilities fall primarily on the

women of the household. In terms of which marriage system that the Hamar participate in, it can
 11

range from monogamy to polygamy depending on the household. As far as I have been shown,

divorce is really not something that the Hamar participate in.

The way that the marriages are arranged is that the boy and girl are promised to each

other by their parents to be married when they are older, often times when the time of the

wedding arrives a bridewealth is paid to the woman's parents as they are taking a set of working

hands away from them that are useful for harvesting, cooking, and cleaning. Once married, the

woman is expected to uproot herself from her fathers and mothers house and go and live with the

husband's family, wherever that may be. The groom and bride are not allowed to interact, talk,

or sleep with each other until they are actually married and this can take several months of the

woman being with the man's family doing work for her mother-in-law to be. Oftentimes when

the two are joined in marriage they know very little to nothing about each other and often

wonder what their partner to be is like. The man will have exclusive sexual rights to his wife

when they are married, however it seems that the wife does not always have exclusive sexual

access to the man.

The marriage practices in terms of monogamy and polygamy differ between households

in the Hamar Tribe. Some couples choose to be monogamous to each other while some wives

want their husband to take on a second wife to help them with the chores and other

responsibilities that the women have. It is not a good thing for a woman to be a second wife as

the first wife always takes priority and runs the household when the man is not around. The man

has sexual access to both partners and will oftentimes father children with both of the women. If

a woman is widowed, it is common for her to then go and live with the brother of her late

husband. In terms of exogamy and endogamy, it appears that the Hamar Tribe prefers to

participate in exogamy, requiring spouses to be from different households that are often spread
 12

very far apart from each other. When the women are provoking the men into being whipped, if a

woman is provoking a man that is too close to her in relation, the elders will split them up. It is

taboo for the Hamar to marry a brother, sister, or cousin. It is also taboo to marry a parent.

The symbols that are used to proclaim marriage in the Hamar Tribe were not clear to me

however, it seems that iron bands worn around the arms can symbolize if a woman is married or

not. This was never explicitly stated but it seemed like a common theme during my observation.

This is similar to a wedding ring that we wear in my own culture, however, it is worn around the

arms instead of around a finger.

There are a lot of ways that the Hamar Tribes marriage practices differ from my own. For

instance, in my culture, spouses are often left up to the two people that want to get married to

choose. While parents may have a significant say in who is chosen, the decision is ultimately up

to the groom and the bride. My culture also often participates in cohabitation before marriage,

and even without ever getting married. The men and women often sleep together before they are

joined in marriage and will sometimes sire children outside of wedlock. In terms of exclusivity it

is really dependent on the two people that are involved in the relationship. Some couples in my

culture prefer monogamy while some prefer polygamy. However, in terms of legal status, you

can only be married to one person at a time unlike the Hamar Tribe. Another difference is the

attitude towards divorce in my culture. It is becoming more and more unshocking for people to

become divorced, sometimes several times, in my culture. Whereas the Hamar Tribe seemed to

have no such practice as divorce. There are also similarities between my culture and that of the

Hamar Tribe.

One of the most noticeable similarities between my culture and that of the Hamar Tribe is

being unable to marry people that are in close relation to you or your family. You cannot marry
 13

brothers, sisters, cousins, parents, or parents siblings in both cultures. We practice what is known

as exogamy just like the Hamar Tribe. It is less common for you to marry someone from the

town or even state that you are raised in with my culture just as it is with the Hamar Tribe.

Another similarity rests in the women raising the children while the men go out and work. While

this is becoming less prevalent in my culture every year, it is still a fundamental part of the

culture.

These are the sex, marriage, and family practices of the Hamar tribe and how they relate

to my own. As you can see there are some similarities and some stark contrasts to my own

culture. Most of the similarities reside in the raising and rearing of the family and who you can

and cannot marry. The differences lay in how couples are chosen, cohabitation, and how many

people that you are allowed to marry. While the differences can be vast, the similarities also help

you understand that even with things that are different, we still share some things with the people

of the Hamar Tribe.

Gender

The gender and sexuality practices of the Hamar Tribe seem to be relatively similar to that of my

own. My observations did not show any out right claims about gender and sexuality aside from

gender roles. The Hamar Tribe seem to have two gender roles that are not openly deviated from.

These are the man and the woman. With these gender roles come specific things that are

expected of both, especially the women. They dress differently and they have different ways of

communicating with each other. I will further elaborate on all of the previously listed differences

in the following paragraphs.

 14

The two gender roles that I observed of the Hamar Tribe were man and woman. Both of

these roles have specific things that are expected of them in their society. For instance, the

women are expected to tend the sorghum fields. On top of this the women are also expected to

look after the children, cook the meals, and sweep the cattle dung. The men are expected to tend

to the livestock as well as beating their wives. The women are expected to receive the beatings

and it has become something that is actually celebrated in their culture.

In terms of communication, the women that are married are not open communicators with

their husbands and tend to talk mostly about what the man wants to talk about. The men also

tend to not share their thoughts openly with the women. The presentation of the women and men

differs in the sense that the women often will adorn themselves with shells as a decorative

statement while the men do not. There seemed to be very little difference in the clothes that the

men and the women wear aside from the decorations.

Some of the practices of the Hamar Tribe are the same as my own culture while some are

different. In my culture, there are two gender roles, men and women. This is the same as the

Hamar Tribe. However, my culture differs in the duties that these gender roles take on. In my

experience it is the man that goes to work and the woman that stays home to clean, cook, and

tend to the children. Unlike the Hamar Tribe, there are products in my culture that are marketed

specifically to the gender roles, even if the ingredients or product is not in reality that different.

Men and women also dress differently in my culture. Some colors are seen more often on

womens clothes than mens and vice versa as well as the sizing is different for both. Types of

fonts for text on the clothing are also separated between men and women. Women also wear

makeup while it is unmasculine for men to do the same. In terms of communication between the

genders in my culture, the communication is pretty open. There are certain things that are still
 15

thought of as women talk or men talk but it is becoming less common. It is apparent that in my

culture typically men and women use different modes and styles of communication, men tend to

be more direct while women tend to use more indirect communication.

These are the gender practices of the Hamar Tribe and how they relate to my own. They

have two genders, man and woman, and each has a specific set of duties assigned to them. The

way that they dress has some differences in regard to decoration but is very similar between the

genders. The communication between the men and women is not one that is typically open.

There are things that my culture shares with, and that it does not in regard to those of the Hamar

Tribe.

Political Organization

The political organization of the Hamar Tribe seems to be one that is more unofficial than

official. From my observations it seems that the most power is given to the men of the tribe and

to the elders. There are some rules that are followed with little deviation, and it seems that the

rules have been passed down throughout the years as a part of their culture. It is unclear who

decided the rules and how they were chosen. The decisions of the Hamar Tribe seem to be made

by the men of the household and are more on a house by house basis rather than as a community.

This is in contrast to the political organization of my culture as usually we have firm rules and

laws that are decided by the majority's opinion, in most cases. We also have official leaders in

my culture that are elected by the people.

The most predominant rule of the Hamar Tribe that I observed was that the women of the

household always submit to the man of the household. The man decides everything and if the

woman is in disagreement, it is disregarded. It is also an unspoken rule that the men can beat the
 16

women as they feel and face no repercussions for it, and the behavior is actually supported even

by the women of the Hamar Tribe. It is apparent that the men are the ones that are making the

decisions and deciding the rules in this culture. When and where this started or came from we are

unsure of but it is something that has been passed down throughout the years as a part of their

culture. While this seems to be the unofficial political organization of the Hamar Tribe, I did not

observe that they have a official selection of leaders.

The closest thing to official leadership in the Hamar Tribe would be the elders. As the

people are married and their children have children, they are then considered elders. One of the

most predominant ways that this is shown is the relationship between the mother-in-law and the

daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law to be, before the marriage is given to the mother-in-law to

be and she serves under her before and during the marriage. It is commonly thought amongst the

women of the Hamar Tribe that life is easier when your son gets married, as the mother-in-law

does the easier tasks and the daughter-in-law is given the more strenuous tasks.

The political organization of the Hamar Tribe contrasts my own in the way that we have

official leadership that presides over our people that are elected into power by the culture. We

also have rules and laws that are decided by the population of the territories, that if broken, can

result in criminal or civil liabilities. We also have a clear cut structure when it comes to the chain

of command between the states and the federal government, something that the Hamar Tribe is

lacking.

This is the political organization of the Hamar Tribe and how it relates to that of my own.

From unofficial leadership structure, to the rules and laws of the different cultures. It is unclear

where their rules came from aside from the fact that it is the way they have always done things.

The men are predominantly in charge, while the women are expected to be subservient to them.
 17

Race and Ethnicity

The race and ethnicity of the Hamar Tribe was not something that I have observed a lot of

from the observations I collected. However, it does not to be something that is of as great of a

significance as race in my own culture. It does not seem that members need to be a certain race

or ethnicity to participate in the culture of the Hamar Tribe. If for no other reason than local

demographic, it does seem that a certain ethnicity of people belong to the Hamar Tribe, however,

it does not seem that being from a different ethnicity or race excludes anyone from participating

in the rituals and culture of the Hamar Tribe.

From my observations I did not see my examples of the Hamar Tribe mentioning or using

race or ethnicity in any importance. It did not seem to be something that held much weight or

had much impact on the group itself. Aside from the general demographic of their immediate

area making up almost all of the people that I observed, it did not seem to be important to them,

or as a prerequisite to be a part of their group. There are even examples from the videos that I

watched of the Hamar Tribe openly accepting anthropologists from another ethnicity into their

village and homes. They even expressed great joy upon the arrival of the anthropologists after

they had been gone for several years. I never observed the ethnicity of the anthropologists being

brought up among the people of the Hamar Tribe, and this leads me to believe that it is of little

importance to their culture. The population of the Hamar Tribe seemed to be primarily black, this

did not seem to be an intentional happening, that is just the demographic of people that were

around the area.

This differs from my own culture in the way that statistically it is easier for white men to

get jobs, housing, positions of power, and other things. It is harder for people of color in my
 18

culture to get the things listed previously. This is different from the Hamar Tribe as even if it is

subconscious, it still exists in my culture today. In the past, race and ethnicity was used to

separate people into groups in my culture. For example, there were separate drinking fountains

for white people and colored people. While this is wrong, it was a part of my culture a long time

ago. Nothing seemed to be segregated by race in the Hamar Tribes culture. There did not seem to

be many similarities between my own culture and that of the Hamar Tribes.

This is the way that the Hamar Tribe views race and ethnicity and how it affects their

everyday lives. The way that race and ethnicity is viewed by the Hamar Tribe differs from that of

my own culture, especially in the past. While there does not seem to be much attention paid to

race and ethnicity from the Hamar Tribe themselves, there is a certain demographic that seems to

be a part of their group or culture. I believe this is just the people that are mainly around the area

of which the Hamar Tribe resides, and that it is not enforced or created by the will of the cultures

members.

Health and Medicine

The health and medicine practices of the Hamar differ greatly from my own. During the

time that I observed them, I did not see any direct forms of medicine, and it seemed that if

someone gets sick in that culture that it is blamed on bad fortune or favor. It seemed to be unclear

whether the bad fortune was blamed on other people, or a deity of some type. It differs from my

own culture in the way that there are not hospitals that you can go to when you get sick, and

there is not a great significance on preventative measures for one's health, I will elaborate in the
 19

following paragraphs. Along with the other mentioned differences, there seems to be an

abundance of people who are not overweight.

One of the practices of the Hamar Tribe that distinctly stood out to me in terms of

medicine was the use of smoke. The Hamar Tribe uses smoke as a form of traditional medicine.

They light aromatic herbs and blow smoke over the affected body parts to drive away evil spirits

and cure illnesses. Oftentimes you would see the people of the Hamar Tribe also using this

smoke as a blessing of sorts, blowing it on individuals that were not sick as a display of giving

them good fortune. There was also some use of herbs that had been gathered from around the

living area of some of the villagers as medicine.

Another thing that caught my attention was the lack of regard for one's physical

appearance in terms of body weight. During my observations I did not witness any people of the

Hamar Tribe that were overweight, and it did not seem to be an immediate concern to them what

their bodies looked like aesthetically as long as they were healthy. Being underweight seems like

it would be much more of a concern in this culture than being overweight as food has a tendency

to be less abundant than in my own culture.

One thing that was similar to my own culture as the Hamar Tribe’s culture was that they

have someone that they revere as being a healer, or a doctor. While their methods differ greatly

from the ones that I am used to, the job seems to relatively fill the same role as a doctor. The

healers of the Hamar Tribe do not rely on medicine, but instead rely on rituals, chants, and herbal

remedies to help cure illnesses and disease. Aside from the low amounts of similarities that I

found between the culture of the Hamar Tribe and my own, there seems to be a lot more

differences.
 20

For instance, in my culture, some people choose to participate in preventative

maintenance for their health, such as trying to eat healthier and less processed foods, exercise,

and regular check-ups from their doctor. Diseases are blamed on viruses, bacteria, and genetics

rather than bad fortune or evil spirits. Obesity is also rampant in my culture, which differs greatly

from the Hamar Tribe as my culture has more processed food that is of lower quality. We also do

not believe in using smoke for healing properties or blessings.

According to my observations, this appears to be the health and medicine practices of the

Hamar Tribe. While they mostly differ from the health and medicine practices of my own

culture, there is also at least one similarity that I was able to find. They do not use typical

pharmaceutical drugs but rather use herbs and smoke from said herbs to heal their sickness. They

do not seem to have to worry about obesity or being overweight. They believe that their source

of sickness is from evil spirits or bad fortune, and they do not seem to follow the same methods

of preventative health care as we do in my own culture. I am sure that there is much more to

learn in regards to the practices of the Hamar Tribe in terms of health and medicine, but these

were the findings from what I observed.

Conclusion

These were my observations and findings on the Hamar Tribe of Ethiopia. This

observation helped me understand that while cultures around the world may be different from

our own, if we can move past the culture shock, we will see that they also share similarities. It

also helped me understand that just because we do it a certain way in my own culture, does not

make the way that we do things the best or only way. At the beginning of this assignment I feel

that I had a larger sense of ethnocentrism that has since been shattered, leading me to have a
 21

more open mind about the practices of other cultures. If there was anything that I could have

changed about how I chose to complete this assignment, I would change doing observations on

videos, to actually going out and interacting with the people of the culture that I was studying as

it seems like it could be really enjoyable, and that I could potentially learn more about them and

their cultures practices.

 22

References

"Reflections on a Journey Through the Southern Omo Valley, Ethiopia."

Https://Eds-p-ebscohost-com.Libprox1.Slcc.Edu/Eds/Pdfviewer/Pdfviewer?Vid=4&Sid=

Afcf307d-dcae-4342-b31c-298c6a272ad0%40redis. April 1, 2015.

https://doi.org/https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vi

d=4&sid=afcf307d-dcae-4342-b31c-298c6a272ad0%40redis.

“Hamar — Mursi Online,” n.d.

1979. https://www.mursi.org/neighbours/hamar.

“Lale Labuko, Founder of OMO Child Ethiopia.”

Blackhistory247, April 17, 2020. Accessed January 26, 2023.
https://blackhistory247.wordpress.com/2020/04/17/lale-labuko-founder-of-omo-child-eth
iopia/.