Ethiopia
The Dassenech, also known as the people of the Delta, populate the modest islands near Lake Turkana, a place where barren land confronts the largest inland lake in Africa. Being secluded from the contemporary world has allowed them to preserve the traditions that have since vanished from the cultures of many other tribes in East Africa. I was blessed enough to do my part in the preservation of this culture by instilling it in the four corners of a photograph. The practices of the Dassenech people remain relatively untouched, acting as a window into the extreme lifestyle once adopted by most tribes within the region.
On one of my visits to this tribe, I was granted the privilege of bearing witness to the extraordinary ‘Dimi’ ceremony, a coming-of-age formality that celebrates fathers and daughters who progress together to the next stage of their lives. To simply get to the village in which the ceremony was held we undertook an hours-long journey by boat, being constantly overlooked by the scorching African sun. Along the way, we passed under towering wild fig trees, with fruit hanging over our heads, beckoning. Also sighted on our way there was a float of crocodiles sunbathing in the hot sun, unphased by our presence but also maintaining their threatening stature. There was a sense of tranquility coupled with the raw wildness.
Ethiopia
2018/2019/2022
The ceremony itself told of the notion that only fathers blessed with daughters are afforded the right to proceed into the stage of life known as ‘elderhood’, whilst their daughters prepare for a future of marriage. Painted in dusty yellow ochre, wrapped in leopard skins, and decorated with ornate headdresses made of ostrich feathers and bells, the fathers proudly presented their daughters. The mothers, who I observed to be less involved in the ceremony, wore sweeping monkey capes, long leather skirts, and adorned themselves with yellow and red necklaces. They were pillars of elegance and sophistication.
It was an honour to have been able to witness this remarkable ceremony that carries so much weight and meaning within their culture. It was beautiful to watch how, in a world where customs develop so rapidly, there are still pockets of culture that remain unscathed.
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