Kilonga

Omo valley, Ethiopia

Exactly two months after the death, the mourning period ends, and all the surrounding villages gather to celebrate the last ceremony, the Kilonga.

At the village of Lilya, in southwestern Ethiopia, the Suri still maintain their ancient traditions. The men sitting on one side, drinking the local beer and eating raw meat, the women sitting on the other side and eating boiled meat instead, then they will bury the bones remained to commemorate the deceased. By mid-afternoon the ceremony, announced by the sound of a horn and drums, kicks off. They start singing and wild dancing, whilst the shaman goes back and forth, frantically moving his stick and singing a prayer in a low voice.

At the end of the ceremony, the herd, preceded by a stroke of Kalashnikov, enters for the first time in the enclosure where a new barn was built. The cows in this case are the symbol of rebirth after death. They will breathe life into a new place where they can procreate, where there will be new life.

Tagiso is the Shaman of the Lilya village, and today he will direct the ceremony. He has just taken the place of the Shaman who died, and he inherited the leopard skin from him
Men have just finished eating grilled meat, and they sit down, before the dances begin
At the sound of the horn, the dances begin, and immediately everyone begins to go wild
Traditionally, men are always sitting on the opposite side of the village from where women sit
A woman who smokes local tobacco with a traditional pipe. This is a very frequent habit among women
The women bring the meat in pairs, as a sign of friendship, respect for each other and to learn to share everything in their possession
The Shaman moves continuously, dances, jumps and gestures frantically with its stick. Almost in a trance, he recites prayers, sometimes in a low voice, while others almost shout
All men always have a stick with them. It can be used to defend against enemies or dangerous animals, but they also use it to lean on to rest after long walks along the savannah to graze their herds
Before the storm arrives, everyone protects themselves under the newly constructed shed. The shed will be the new shelter for cows
As soon as the storm ends, the sound of the horn calls everyone to the dance again
The women, sitting on their side of the village, eat boiled meat, unlike the men who eat uncooked meat or cooked on the grill
An elderly lady who has carried the labial plate for so many years. Now the lower lip has completely deformed
While the dances continue to the rhythm of horn and drum, people build a new hut, the typical Tukul
When the herd finally enters the newly built fence for the first time to give it shelter, three kalasnikov blows are fired
A young mother who rushes into her Tukul, to shelter from the sudden rain, with her baby
The shepherds who have accompanied the herds inside the enclosure, join the last dance before dark