Bush Meat, Chat Chewing, Hynea feeding Man, The Mursi and Cow Jumping – Ethiopian Journey – Blog Post No – 61.

The last post (blog post no - 61) got mixed reactions from the readers, some liked it but many found it unpalatable. But as a chronicler of history it is my duty to report facts as they are and not cloud or colour the same in any fashion. Let us discuss some facts, stranger than fiction!

1) Bush Meat: In many African countries, wild animal meat is eaten. It is so common that it is referred to as bush meat. It is the seller’s very polite way of saying "I don't know the animal whose meat I am selling. Buy it, if you want".

2) Chewing Chat Leaves: In Ethiopia Khat (chat) leaves are eaten, rather chewed. The khat plant is known by a variety of names, such as qat and gat in Yemen, qaat and jaad in Somalia, and chat in Ethiopia. It is also known as jimaa in the Oromo language. Khat has been grown for use as a mild stimulant for centuries in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia) and the Arabian Peninsula. Chat leaf is a psychotropic (affecting mental state) leaf that has amphetamine (a potent central nervous system stimulant) like effects.

In Bahirdar, Chat was legal and chat leaves would be sold and bought like vegetables. We could get a small packet of chat leaves for 10 birr and it was quite common to see people slowly chewing chat leaves in public transport. There was also a talk that students also chewed chat during examination times to keep themselves awake.

3) Hyena feeding Man: In eastern Ethiopia a magical city called Harar beckons the visitors. Harar is the walled city of Ethiopia and is the holist of the cities for the Muslims.  Islamic culture and practices are on display in Harar.

Harar also has another name to fame. It is the home town of Hyena feeding man - Abbas Yusuf who feeds the Hyenas right from his mouth. Many of us would recoil in horror! Abbas Yusuf and his family, have fed the hyenas for more than 50 years and this had kept the neighbourhood safe.

Abbas Yusuf has learned to feed the hyenas from his father, Yusuf Mume Salleh, who fed them for 45 years before passing the job to his son 14 years ago. We can say that Hyena feeding is a gimmick that is played out for fawning tourist every night. But there are layers and layers of intrigue in this hyena feeding incident.

First of all, Abbas’s family feeds the hyenas so that they don’t bother anyone in Harar. Secondly, it shows the trust and bondage that Abbas has built with the hyenas, with which he feeds without fear the snarling, fighting wild animals that too animals that are universally disliked and which are generally viewed as demons of death.

Finally, and most importantly of all it shows the intelligence of Hyenas which have adapted to this peculiar feeding pattern and have made peace with the people of Harar. Reportedly the hyenas do not harm anyone and have a quid-pro-quo with the people of Harar – ‘You feed us and we will not harm you’.  

4) The Mun tribe of Ethiopia: The Mursi (or Mun as they call themselves) are a pastoralist ethnic tribe in Ethiopia. They reside in the Debub Omo Zone close to the South Sudan border. There are very few Mursi left (around 7,500).  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.

Visit to the Mun or the Mursi is one that is on the itinerary of all the foreign visitors. All of whom want to sample how life was lived millions of years ago. They all want to see a paradise lost and take a little bit of history along with them when they return back to their mundane materialism fuelled life.

That is where the problem lies. The Mursi live a life that is sadly and savagely buffeted by two worlds. One is their traditional world where they have fixed rules and regulations and another world filled with attractions that they have not experienced before including the lucre of birr! The magical piece of paper that can buy them products that are difficult to find in their own world.

Tribal brewed alcohol is not very potent and it is difficult to prepare. So the Mun would have their tribal alcohol only on select occasions. But the advent of tourism has changed it all. The Mursi have understood that their play acting, dancing, mock fights and their unique face painting and their life styles are a source of attraction to the snaps taking/’record the moment’ crazed tourists. With the money they get from tourists the Mun can have alcohol, whenever they want! Worst case scenario of easy supply of wrong products.

So it is quite jarring to see traditionally dressed Mursi standing cheek in jowl with the trigger happy (snaps/photo clicking) tourists. What is he doing? He is counting the number of clicks. Each click is one birr! So sad to see a million-year-old tribe come down to counting number of camera clicks.

When this was told to me by an Ethiopian, I was shell shocked. But the teacher in me kicked in and I asked “that was fine with traditional cameras which made an audible sound when clicked. What about the digital cameras and mobile phones?”

“Don’t you worry sir” came the answer “The Mursi are very smart. They would stand next to the person and count the number of times the screen of the camera freezes for a micro second. They understood that the micro second freeze meant a snap being taken. Now they count the number of Micros freezes and demand equivalent birrs”. I was left speechless. The Mursi are marketing their unique millions of years old culture. They have turned market savvy! Should we be happy? Oh no, the incident depressed me for a long time.

5) Bull jumping ceremony - Hamer Tribe, Omo, Ethiopia: Seeing my stunned expression, my colleague went on to recite another unbelievable fact. The Hamer tribe of Omo have a ceremony that is blood curdling. The coming of age for the young men of Hamer is the Bull Jumping ceremony.

The youngsters who want to pass the rites of passage to youth hood have to jump over the backs of a line of cattle. That too when he is stark naked. If he manages to run across the backs of a line of cattle, he becomes known as a Maza or the accomplished one and is entitled to take the first of several brides as his wives.  If he fails, he must return to his village and wait a year to try again. 

I have never heard of a stranger way of showing off machismo. In most places growing manly beards or riding Royal Enfield (bullet)/Harley Davidson motorcycle is a show of manliness. But to jump over a line of cattle that too in front of milling, jeering, yelling, cheering crowds is unimaginable. And also waiting with bated anticipation are the young women of the tribe, all awaiting to be the wife of the jumper of jumpers!