Suri/Surma Tribe/People Cultural Tour and Travel Guide, Upper Omo Valley Tribes in Ethiopia
Meet the Suri Tribe, arguably the most beautifully decorated and renowned for their incredibly ornate decoration of themselves, which they achieve through painting, scarification, and adornment with flowers and other natural objects. Due to their remoteness, the Suri Tribe is one of the least visited of the Omo Valley tribes in Ethiopia.
The Surma People (also spelled Suri) are a community inhabiting the fertile part of the Omo Valley area of southwestern Ethiopia, very near the border with South Sudan, from where scholars believe they originated. Suri(Surma) is a collective name for three ethnic groups (Chai, Timaga, and Baale) mainly living in Suri woreda, in southwestern Ethiopia. They share many similarities politically, territorially and culturally, economically but speak different languages. They all speak Southeast Surmic languages within the Nilo-Saharan language family, which includes the Mun, Majang, and Me'en people's languages.
Economy of the Suri(Surma):
The economy of Suri is based on livestock herding and agriculture. They keep cattle and goats, the main source of wealth. Crops planted are sorghum, maize, cassava, cabbage, beans, yams, spice plants, and some tobacco. During the dry season, the Surma also collects honey. The Surma pan gold in nearby streams, which they sell for cash to highland traders.
Suri women also used to make earthenware pots and sell them to neighbors, like the Dizi, and they also sold produce for game hunting, but these activities have sharply declined in the past decades. They now also produce local beer (gèso) for sale. The average married male in the Suri tribe owns somewhere between 30 and 40 cows.
These cows are not killed unless needed for ceremonial purposes. Every young male has a "favorite cattle" name, or nickname: his friends will call him by the name of his favorite cow. Cows are very important to the Surma - economically, socially, symbolically - and at times they risk death to protect their herd.
Suri men are also judged by how much cattle they own. Men are not able to marry until they have a sufficient number to pay the dowry to the bride's family. Cows are given to his prospective wife’s family during and after the initial wedding ceremony. To praise their cattle or mourn their deaths, the Surma sing songs for them.
Suri People History:
According to Suri oral tradition, they came from the Boma Plateau, Omo Valley, and Gobi of Maji Plateau to their present territory about 200 years ago. First, they came to the Akobo (eastwards from the Blue Nile); then they moved in four directions, to the lower part of Kidhoa Bo of Mewun to the Boma Mountain and the upper part from Gobi maji Plateau and the Omo valley of the Omo River to the mountain Shologoy.
These migrants also absorbed local groups. Since the late 1890s, the Ethiopian imperial troops and northern settlers harassed the Suri. As a result of this politico-economically driven harassment, numerous Suri went to the Boma Plateau in South Sudan, especially after 1925. In the 1980s the Suri people smuggled automatic weapons from Sudan.
Culture of the Suri:
Piercing lips and lobes and inserting lip plates are a strong part of the Suri culture. Only the women have lip plates. At puberty most young women have their lower teeth removed to get their lower lip pierced. Once the lip is pierced, it is then stretched and lip plates of increasing size are then placed in the hole of the piercing.
Having a lip plate is a sign of female beauty and appropriateness; a common thought is that the bigger the plate, the more cattle the woman is "worth" for her bride price, or dowry, though this is denied by some. Some rumors say that this custom began with some taboo related to oral sex. More and more young girls are trying to resist this custom but many men find women more attractive with lip plates.
Some scholars say that this custom began as an effort to make women less desirable to slave traders. The lip plates are generally made from clay or wood, but if you look closely at our photos, you will see one woman using a plastic blue bucket as a lip plate. Out of curiosity, we offered a CD to one woman to use as a lip plate and she seemed to be very pleased, as was her male friend.
The Suri pride themselves on their scars and how many they carry. Women perform decorative scarification by slicing their skin with a razor blade after lifting it with a thorn. After the skin is sliced the piece of skin left over is left to eventually scar. On the other hand, the men used to traditionally scar their bodies after they killed someone from an enemy group. Together with stick-dueling, such a custom, which is quite painful, is said by some observers to be a way of getting the younger Surma used to see blood and feeling pain.
The Suri groups share a similar culture and show social and historical kinship with the Mursi and Me'en groups. Their homeland is relatively remote, located in semi-arid plains, valleys, and foothills.
Each household in the Suri village is mostly managed by a married woman. The women prepare the food, take care of the children, and cultivate their fields and gardens. They are allowed to use their profits however they wish. There are also male age grades.
Young men (Tegay) are not known as warriors and are unmarried. They are mainly responsible for herding and defending the cattle. Junior elders (Rora) are the dominant decision-making age-grade and entrance is gained in an initiation ritual that is held every 20 to 30 years. During this initiation, the young men to be "promoted" are tried and tested by elders, and are sometimes starved and whipped until they bleed.
Men in an assembly make decisions in the Suri community. Women are not allowed to voice their opinions during these debates but are allowed to do so before or after the debates take place. These debates are closed and summed up by the community's ritual chief known as the 'komoru'.
Suri Stick fighting or "Donga":
This is a sport and ritual the Suri take very seriously ceremonial duelling with sticks. Each "team" is comprised of exclusively unmarried men who hope to gain respect from their families and community by proving their bravery, but it is also a nuptial ritual. The fights usually take place between two villages during harvest time, draw large audiences, and start with 20 to 30 representatives of each side, all of whom get a chance to duel against someone from the other side.
During these fights, there are referees present to make sure the rules are being followed. The young men of each village come to the special Donga site each with a group of young unmarried women "cheerleaders". As the winner of a combat from one village has the right to choose one of the "cheerleaders" from the opposing village.
Each team member is therefore actually wagering his sisters and female cousins. This is very much a nuptial ritual allowing the young to "hook up" with unmarried youths from other villages. It is not uncommon for stick fights to end within the first couple of hits, (if one of the combatants falls to the ground he is defeated ) but at the same time, the violence can be extraordinary and deaths are not unheard of, especially from hits to the stomach.
The closest hospital is generally at least 170 kilometers away depending on the location of the villages. As the injuries can be very serious, and the fact that deaths are not rare, the Donga was "officially" at least declared illegal in 2010 but the practice still exists.
Religion and beliefs:
Around 97% of the Suri people are animists. The Suri have a sky god named Tumu (alternatively spelled Tuma). The Suri also believe in spirits and take recourse to (female) "diviners" as well. Another belief of the Suri is in rainmaking. This skill is passed down through heredity and is only given to one male in specific clans.
When his services are needed, the men collect chips from a specific tree. These chips are then masticated and the remaining juice is then mixed with clay. This combination is poured and smeared over the man's body. After this process, rain is expected to fall.
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