COMPILED BY BETELHEM BEDLU
Mursi, or Mursu or Mun as they refer to themselves, are a Nilotic pastoralist ethnic group in Ethiopia. Their territory of around 2,000 km2 lies in the South Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ State (SNNPS), roughly between the Rivers Omo (Warr) and Mago (Mako), close to the border with South Sudan.
Surrounded by mountains between the Omo River and its tributary the Mago, the home of the Mursi is one of the most isolated regions of the country. Due to the climate, they move twice a year between the winter and summer months. They herd cattle and grow crops along the banks of the Omo River.
The cattle are the source of life for Mursi people and they believe in the superpower of animals and the sky.
Their neighbors include the Banna, the Bodi, the Karo, the Kwegu, the Nyangatom and the Suri. They speak the Mursi language as a mother tongue and it is classified as Surmic, which is a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Ceremonial duelling (thagine), a form of ritualized male violence, is a highly valued and popular activity of Mursi men, especially unmarried men, and a key marker of Mursi identity.
Age sets are an important political feature, where men are formed into named “age sets” and pass through a number of “age grades” during the course of their lives; married women have the same age grade status as their husbands.
The men practice light scarification on their shoulders after killing an enemy, and shave geometric patterns on their head. During dances and ceremonies they adorn literally every part of their body with white chalk paint. Young unmarried men practice group stick fights. The winner is carried on top of poles to girls waiting beside the arena, who decide among themselves which of them will ask his hand in marriage.
When a young Mursi girl reaches the age of 15 or 16, her lower lip is pierced so she can wear a lip plate. The larger the lip plate she can tolerate, the more cattle her bride price will bring for her father. The unique “ornament” of the face which they use, is absolutely unusual, even for wild people. The matter is that the lower lip of this tribe’s girls is cut in an early age. They begin to put into the lip the billets of wood, every time with the bigger and bigger diameter.
Traditionally, Mursi uses goatskin for clothing. Nevertheless, not long ago they started to have more contact with modern civilization. This opened the path to cotton and the creation of new types of outfits for the tribe. Today Mursi warriors wear colorful fabric around their hips whereas women still use skins.
Men of the Mursi also use white paint for their bodies and faces. Just like any other ethnic tribe in the lower valley, the men must pass a test before they can get married. A Mursi man is given a stick called a Donga and must face one opponent. The men then battle it out, beating each other with the sticks. The first fighter to submit loses and the winner is taken by a group of women to determine who he will marry. Men of the tribe also practice scarification. Like other tribes, this is the marking of an enemy killed by him.
Those fights are dangerous and oftentimes lead to broken bones, damaged eyes, and sometimes to a fatal end. However, for the Mursi the scars from donga stick fights symbol the coming to an age of manhood as well as strengthen the bond between each village warriors.
Life for the Mursi is often arduous and sometimes dangerous. But they have learnt to live well and there is much time for relaxation, chatting, music and gossip. They have a rich oral tradition through which they preserve and transmit their history, philosophical knowledge and moral stories. Religion and healing are very much interconnected for the Mursi.
Quite a few people of the Mursi Tribe live in Mago National Park, where they live in very simple grass covered huts. The Mursi are famous for the women stretching up their under lip to fit a large terracotta disk. Several villages in the park can be visited. Mursi women are recognized by their stretched perforated lips.
Mursi is well-known for its women with massive lip plates. It is hard to say when this tradition started, but it is believed that originates from ancient times of slave trading. Mursi has decided to pierce the lips of their women to make them less attractive for traders. Today Mursi women cut the lower lip of all 15-16 years old girls and place a small wooden stick. Gradually the hole is forcefully stretched, and clay is placed inside instead of the wooden stick. The local custom is that women are bought by the exchange of cattle. The bigger the clay plate, the more cattle the father of the girl can get.
Knowledge of illness and of the divine emerges from people’s experiences of the natural and social world. Priests provide the context for a healthy community and it is the priest as well as members of other lesser ritual families who are sought out to treat epidemics, drought, and crop pests. The Mursi also have a healing tradition based around the powers of women healers. The religion of the Mursi people is classified as Animism, although there is a Serving in Mission Station in the northeastern corner of Mursiland, which provides education and basic medical care.
Perhaps the most significant early step in this direction came in the 1960s with the establishment of the Omo National Park. Improved transportation has also drawn the Mursi further into the market economy, where trade in cattle and increasing numbers of tourists provide money which the Mursi use to buy cloth, medicine, coffee, spices and agricultural tools.
The Ethiopian Herald August 7/2021
