BUMI

Also known as the Nyangatom or the Bume, the Bumi live South of Omo national park and occasionally migrate in to the lower regions of the park when there is a shortage of water or grazing. Numbering around 7000, the Bumi are agro-pastoralists, relying on cattle herding and flood retreat agriculture (consisting mainly of Sorghum harvesting on the Omo and Kibish rivers).The Bumi tend to indulge in honey and frequently smoke out beehives in the park to get to the honey inside the nests. The Bumi are known to be great warriors and, quite frequently, active warmongers, they are often at war with the neighboring tribes including the Hamer, the Karo and the Surma.

Small groups of Bumi living along the Omo are specialized crocodile hunters using harpoons from a dugout canoe. The elders of both sexes wear a lower lip plug, the men’s being made from ivory and women are made from cooper filigree.