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Hamer Tribe
(Hammer
People or Hamar Tribe)
The Hamer tribe (sometimes
called the Hammer People or Hamar tribe) live in the Hamer Bena Woreda
District of the Omo River Valley in southwestern Ethiopia. The Hamer are
primarily pastoralists, tending cattle, around which their society bases
their existence. In addition, the Hamer people are famous for their "bull
jumping ceremony" in which young men are required to jump over a line of
bulls in order to be accepted as adult members of Hamer society. Officially
the Hamer tribe is Muslim. However, in practice they are animists, believing
that plants, animals, and even inanimate objects have spirits that can
supernatural powers over human beings. Many of the more traditional African
tribes practice animism similar to the Hamer tribe. The population of the
Hamar tribe is approximately 43,000 people. However, this is a relatively
small percentage of the total population of Ethiopia which numbers over 54
million individuals. Consequently, the political power of the Hamer tribe is
extremely limited and very few Hamar can read and write. In fact, only a
hand-full of Hamer tribesmen have ever completed secondary education. The
language of the Hamer people is Hamer-Banna which is in the Afro-Asiatic
language family. Hamer-Banna is an Omotic language and is primarly spoken in
the Omo River Valley of Ethiopia by the Hamer tribe. The Hamer-Banna
language has also been called Amer, Amar, Ammar, Amarcocche, Bana, Banna,
Hamer, Hammer, and Hammercoche. As mentioned, one of the important Hamar
tribe rituals is the jumping of the bulls ceremony. During this rite of
passage, Hamer men leap over the bulls while naked. However the risk is
minimal as the bulls are lined up and kept in place by other men. Once
completing the ceremony, he becomes a member of the "Maza" or male elders of Hamer society. One interesting part of the ceremony is the whipping of the
female relatives of the individual undergoing the bull-jumping test. The
Hamer women are whipped on their bare backs, resulting in open wounds and
later scars. This African tribe tradition tends to reinforce family ties as
the sister or female relative of the man who participated in the man's
bull-jumping ceremony will be cared for in times of need by that individual.
Therefore, the women are willing participants and are even eager to
participate in the ceremony. The Hamer bull jumping ceremony also includes
several days of drinking sorghum beer and feasting during which traditional
jumping dances are performed.
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