ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

AMIST KILO CAMPUS

ANTHROPOLOGY ASSIGNMENT
FIRST YEAR FIRST SEMESTER
NAME TELILA KORME

Section 23

ID: UGR/4352/15
Table of contents

Introduction

Geographical location and ecological setting

Culture and ties that connect

indigenous knowledge

Administrative system and conflict resolution mechanism

Traditional handful practice

Ethiopia is a land of many nations and cultures that have been preserved despite western civilization.
Among one of them is the Bodi people. The Bodi people, also known as the Me'en, are an indigenous
ethnic group who live in southwestern Ethiopia. They have a unique culture and language that has been
shaped by their environment and history. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the
Bodi people's culture, language, religion, economic activity, social structure.

Geographical location and ecological setting of Bodi people

It is believed that the Bodi(me'en) people may have originated in southern Sudan and gradually moved
to Eth they believe that their ancestors emerged from a hole in the ground. In the 19th and early 20th
centuriiopia. The Me' en, However, claim that they originated near Omo River in southern Ethiopia,
where, the Me'en were known the by highland Ethiopians as one of the population from which large
numbers of slaves were taken.

They had a reputation of fierceness in the battle, demonstrated in the tough resistance they put up
against Amhara feudal troops. The Bodi are also called Meken, Tishena,Meken,Mieken and etc. These
name are majorly given to them by other individuals and other people. For example, most resent
research indicates that 'Tishena' meaning 'hello' in Me'en is a name given by Amhara settlers.

The Bodi people are an indigenous ethnic group found in the southwestern part of Ethiopia, particularly
in the Lower Omo Valley. They are a pastoralist community that lives in close proximity to the Mursi and
Surma tribes, who are also found in the same region. The Bodi people are known for their unique
culture, which includes their diet, lifestyle, and traditional practices.

Geographically, the Bodi people live in an area that is characterized by rugged terrain, with steep hills
and deep valleys. The region is also known for its hot and dry climate, which can be challenging for those
who live there. Despite these challenges, the Bodi people have adapted to their environment and have
developed a way of life that is sustainable and resilient.
In terms of their settlements, the Bodi people live in small villages made up of huts constructed from
local materials such as mud, wood, and thatch. These huts are designed to provide shelter from the
harsh climate and are often clustered together in a circular pattern. The villages are usually located near
a water source, such as a river or stream, which is essential for both drinking and irrigation.

Cultures and ties that connect

Culture:

The Bodi people have a rich cultural heritage that is reflected in their music, dance, and art. They are
known for their body painting, which is done using natural pigments made from plants and minerals.
The body painting is usually done during important events such as weddings, funerals, and initiation
ceremonies. The Bodi people also have a unique style of dancing that involves jumping and swaying to
the beat of traditional drums. The dance is usually performed during festivals and other important
events.

Bodi dress is simple. The women wear goatskins tied at the waist and shoulder, while men fasten a strip
of cotton or bark-cloth around their waist. Bodi women likes fashion and they are fond of making tribal
beautification marks on their bodies. These beautification marks (scarification) comes in many forms as
the bearer want it to be. They adorn their body with beautiful tribal bracelets.

Every year, they celebrate their new year, 'Ka`el’ (Bodi New year Celebration) between June and July,
depending on the full moon, the rains. This celebration is a bit different than a usual new year
celebration’s as the tradition is to feed young men from every Bodi village. They are fed with only honey,
cow blood and milk during 3-6 months (fattening process).

To celebrate their new year Ka`el, the Bodi tribe in south Ethiopia, kill a cow. They use a huge stone and
bang the head....then they open the cow, rip out the intestines for divination, and take the blood to
drink it. The feeding on the blood mixed with honey and cow milk enables them to almost double their
weight, which makes them ready for the competition. Contestants for this competition goes naked to
make them eligible to participate.

On the competition day, the contestants and the village folks assembles at the Bode King village.
Traditional bodi tribal warrior dances are performed to the delight of on-lookers. After the dance, the
bodies of the contestants are measured by the elders who then decide who is the fattest winner.The
fattest person is then declared as the winner of the competition and is honored with a great fame in the
bodi tribe.
Their belief system

The Me'en myth of origin says that their ancestors emerged from a hole in the ground somewhere in
southwestern Ethiopia. The Me'en live in fear of the many spirits which they suppose fill their rivers and

woods. The Me'en believe that communication with the spirit world is indispensable in order to avert
misfortune from the spirits of the dead.

The Me'en also believe in a sky god called Tuma. They believe this god has created them and that he is
the god of rain and fertility. They expect a holy dog to intercede with Tuma on their behalf. K'alichas, or
traditional spirit mediums, practice divination and will place curses on others at the request of their
enemies. The majority of Bodi people practice traditional animist beliefs, which involve the worship of
ancestral spirits and nature deities. They believe that everything in the world has a spirit and that these
spirits must be respected and honored. They also have a strong connection to the land and believe that
it is sacred. In recent years, some Bodi people have converted to Christianity or Islam, but traditional
beliefs still play a significant role in their daily lives.

The Bodis people language

According to historyofyesterday.com, the Bodi people speak the Me'en language. The Me'en language is
a member of the Surmic group family and is known as "Nilotic" in Ethiopia. Meʼen (also Mekan, Mieʼen,
Mieken, Meqan, Men) is a Nilo-Saharan language (Eastern Sudanic, Surmic, Southeast Surmic[2]) spoken
in Ethiopia by the Meʼen people. In recent years, it has been written with the Geʽez alphabet, but in
2007 a decision was made to use the Latin alphabet.

Their marriage system

Marriage is of the generalized exchange type. Partners are taken from another lineage, and the
exogamy rules of the old overarching clans is blurring. The boy and girl often initiate the marriage
themselves. After they have agreed, they go to the parents to ask permission and arrange the marriage
ceremony. Occasionally a boy, with the help of his friends, "captures" the girl and then opens
negotiations with the family through the elders. Another form is elopement: If neither set of parents
agrees to the union, the young couple runs away and opens negotiations once the matter has cooled
down. The clans of the traditional chiefs (komorut) do not exchange marriage partners. A Me'en man
can, depending on his wealth, marry more than ten women, but most men have one to three wives. The
bride-wealth to be transferred to the family of the wife ranges from three to ten cattle. In addition, cash
is given. In the lowlands one pays from fifteen to thirty cattle and also gives a gun. Because of the long
time needed to accumulate the bride-wealth, men often marry relatively late (in their late twenties).
Women usually marry ten to fifteen years younger. Postmarital residence is patrilocalneolocal.

Domestic Unit Becasue Me'en households often are polygamous, the basic domestic unit might be said
to consist of a wife and her children. Each wife in a polygamous marriage has her own hut and

"hearthhold" within the compound and lives there with her children. The man has no hut except for his
sleeping and meeting place below a granary (dori). Each wife has her own garden and piece of land,
cleared for her and given to her by the husband.

Kinship and Descent

The basis kinship unit is the three- or four-generation lineage called du'ut. This is a named group with a
known ancestor, the male married members of which live in each other's vicinity. Lineages have
emerged from the older clans (kabuchoch), but only Me'en know from what clan their lineage
descended. Genealogical knowledge is scant and usually does not reach beyond the fourth ascending
generation. Descent is patrilineal, and children become members of the lineage of their father. Me'en
clans are ranked in a moietylike dual structure, with a difference in prestige.

Economic Activity

The Bodi people are primarily pastoralists, raising cattle, goats, and sheep. They also engage in
subsistence farming, growing crops such as maize, sorghum, and beans. Hunting and gathering are also
important economic activities, with wild game and honey being prized commodities. In recent years,
some Bodi people have started to engage in cash crop production, such as coffee and khat. However,
the lack of infrastructure and market access has limited their ability to sell their products at a fair price.

Indigenous knowledge

The Bodi people have important indigenous knowledge such as medicine preparation from plant and
they have their own new year between June and July which is depend on full moon and the rain.

The Me'en have a large variety of herbal medicines against diseases ranging from malaria to snake
poison. The knowledge of these sometimes effective remedies is not shared with outsiders but is
transmitted within certain families or told to people with a deep interest in healing. Four primary clinics
in the Me'en area were set up by the government in the 1980s. They reach only some of the Me'en, are
under-stocked, and tend to undermine traditional healing. However, in most cases Me'en still use
traditional medicine.
Administrative system Conflict resolution mechanism

As the other of Ethiopians people the Bodi people resolve the conflict within them and between other
executed by the elders called shimgelena, it is known in major part of the country. a man or a group who
made a victim have to pay the value that balance for What he or they cause to destroy or damage. In
this process the elders have crucial role such as making the victimized group or individual to calm down,
decision making for the injured people and doing for reconcilation to come.