An introduction to the Arbore ethnic group
An Omo Valley tribe full of smiles, pretty girls, inquisitive boys and wise elders!
The Arbore tribe children all have shaved heads, with the young Arbore tribe girls often using a black cloth to drape over their heads
The Arbore tribe live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region of Ethiopia
Depending on recent rains and road conditions there is one road but two ways (from different directions) that you can take to visit the Arbore tribe in Southern Ethiopia. Living in the area of Lake Chew Bahir the drive to visit the Arbore is spectacular as you drive through the most southern point of Ethiopias Great Rift Valley. One road is quite a lot rougher and more isolated so some drivers prefer to take one road rather than the other, although most times the road taken would depend on your itinerary and where you are driving from (Turmi or Jinka/Konso areas).
The Elders mostly use a white cloth wrap on their heads. The tall, surrounding mountains can be seen in the distance.
The four villages of the Arbore can be cut off from the surrounding areas during or shortly after their rainy season so they are not always accessible. Living on the border of the South Omo Zone of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region they are one of the many tribes in Ethiopias Omo Valley. However, there have been talks in the last years about the possible benefits (politically for this small ethnic group) of rezoning the Arbore as they are next to the border of Oromia.
What is their language?
They speak their own language “Arbore” which is from the Omotic language family. Having ancestral links to the Konso people while also sharing some similar traditions as the Dassanech tribe. They do sometimes have conflict with other tribes that live nearby such as the Hamer. Fortunately mostly they are in peace.
Arbore Tribe Traditions and Cultures
Like the Dassanech tribe both girls and boys of the Arbore are circumcised. The Arbore men can have mutliple wives, with his first wife chosen by his father (with the marriage agreed to by the brides parents). All Arbore tribe children have shaved heads with the older girls often wearing a black or patterned cloth draped over their heads to protect them from the sun as well as a visual traditional to indicate they are unmarried virgins. Once they are married they grow their hear in braids parted down the centre and mostly kept just above their shoulders.
Like many of the tribes in Southern Ethiopia on special occasions they use natural resources (chalk/clay) to practise body painting.
They believe in a supreme being and are known to be very spiritual - dancing away negative energy.
The meaning of Arbore and Lake Chew Bahir
Their main source of water is from the Weyto (also spelt Weito/Waito) River, as the water from Lake Chew Bahir is a salt lake. In Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia) Lake Chew Bahir means “salt sea”. Arbore means “land of the bulls”. Cattle have great importance in many of the Omo Valley tribes and when an Arbore woman is married she is given a new name. Her new name will be the same as her new husbands favourite cattle.
TRAVEL WITH ME ON AN Omo Valley PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR AND VISIT THE ARBORE TRIBE
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