The Mursi Tribe

I wanted to do some more tribal research to help me decide on my final design. I found a tribe in Ethipoia called The Mursi Tribe.

This is a photo of a mother and baby in the Mursi tribe. The mother has white clay smeared across her face and the baby has it all over his face, head and body. The mother also has a lot of accessories on too, including a necklace and a large headpiece made from shells. The baby is also wearing a small bracelet. As it is a black and white image, the clothing is very hard to see, but it looks like the mother is wearing a piece of material strapped over one shoulder with one breast out.

This is a photo of a teen from the Mursi tribe. She has a very different look to the others as she has a horn on either side of her head. She is also wearing a lot of necklaces and pieces of rope around her neck. She has a small piece of material wrapped around her like a sash, leaving both breasts on show. Her face has a white clay design on which is very different to the mother and baby above. I believe that this shows strength and leadership.

This is a photo of two women from the tribe. Their look is very interesting as they have smothered their whole bodies in white clay. It looks like they have run their fingers through it, giving it a lined effect. The lady on the left is wearing a blue blanket pulled around her connecting at one shoulder only leaving one breast out. She is also holding what appears to be a watermelon on her head, as this is the easiest way for them to carry heavy objects around. The necklace and bracelts that she is wearing looks like they are made of beads and string. The lady on the right is not wearing any clothing leaving both her breasts out. She is wearing a headpiece that looks to be made out of shells and has a beaded necklace on. She has a round piece in her mouth which is stretching her lips out. This is very popular in this tribe.

Here is another mother and baby from the tribe, except this time, the baby is sitting in the back of her dress. She is holding a bowl above her head which most likely contains food or water. She has bangles on her wrist and elbows that aremade of material and beads. The headpiece she is wearing is very unusual and looks similar to the piece designed by Manish Arora. It looks like it is made of beads, material and shells. This lady also has a mouth piece stretching her lips out, yet hers has a deisgn painted onto it. Her dress is bigger compared to the others, covering up her body a bit more, yet still leaving her breasts on show. She also has white face paint smeared across her face.

This is a photo of three women from the tribe. This is my favourite photo as i love their head and hair pieces. They are made of material, beads, feathers and shells and look very detailed with different colours and deisgns. They are all wearing a small beaded necklace and have bangles up their arms. They have white clay designs on their faces and arms and have the round lip stretchers in their mouths. Again, these are of a different design to the above photos. They all have a small amount of material wrapped around them and have their breasts out. It seems that within this tribe they are all very close and do not have much privacy.

This is a child from the Mursi tribe. The face and body painting is incredible as they only use their hands, clay and mud. It appears that she has painted egg shapes all over her chest and stomach and spirals around her breasts. Her face has a design on it which reminds me of fireworks. She also has large stretchers in both ears which also have a painted deisgn on them. Her necklace is a variety of coloured strings all put together, which is simple, yet looks very effective. Something that all of these photos have in common is their hair. The majority of the tribe have shaven heads. This could be that it is much easier having very short hair and they can also paint designs into it too.

This is another photo of a mother and baby. What i found perculiar about this photo was that she has stretched her ears, but does not have ear stretchers in. She also has a beautifully deisgned bowl on her head to help hold food and water. Her lip stretcher has been painted black with with spots which is a very popular pattern within this tribe.

This is a young woman in the Mursi tribe. She has a beautifully decorated head piece that looks like it has been sewn with different colours of cotton and material. She also has a simple small beaded necklace around her neck. What i found the most shocking, was that a girl of her age is holding a rifle. I always thought that it was the men in tribes that shot animals and protected the land.

This is a very unusual looking man from the Mursi tribe. He is wearing some sort of hat made out of material. I believe that this is to protect his head so that he can carry items on it. He is also wearing a headpiece that has long beads hanging down over his face looking like spider legs. These beads blend in with his face paint slightly as he has white clay smeared all over his face. He is another member of the tribe that has stretched ears but without the actual stretchers in. He has ablue and black piece dangling from his ears, decorating them. His mouth stretcher is also painted black with white spots. Although he is a man, he is still wearing a red beaded necklace like the women.