Bodi tribe

Hi guys!

I really enjoy learning about other cultures, and I recently read about interesting facts on an African tribe. Do you know that there is a tribe which rewards the fattest man in the community? Yes, that tribe exists and its name is Bodi, also called Me’en. But first of all, let me tell you more about this curious tribe, about its lifestyle, culture and ceremonies.

The Bodi tribe inhabits the Omo Valley in Ethiopia. They are seminomadic and their economic activity is based on cattle raising. In addition, the Bodi people drink blood and milk from animals, and eat sorghum and maize, and meat which they just eat it on special occasions. The members of this tribe speak a language called Me’en (also Mekan, Mie’en, Mieken, Meqan, Men), which was written in the Ge’ez alphabet, but now is written in Latin alphabet. They have scarifications on their bodies, and wear ornaments and vestments made from animal skin.

This community has music and dance styles named gulay, which are about happiness of loving, good harvests, prosperity of families, cattle and male vigor. They believe in a god whose name is Tuma; he is the creator of everything and responsible for rain and fertility. Likewise, these people consider that communication with spirits is an important thing within the tribe; and they are afraid of malign sprits resulting from forests and rivers.

They have three important ceremonies: 1) Ka’el is a ceremony in which the tribe rewards the fattest man among them; the winner obtains the most beautiful woman in the community and the title as the king of the day. 2) The ceremony of succession is performed when the spiritual leader of Bodi dies and they have to designate a new successor. And 3) successful hunting which is a meaningful aspect in the lifestyle of this tribe, since they are based on predictions of a priest from the tribe.

So, as you can see, this culture has some interesting traditions from which we can learn more. There were few aspects, but there is more information about them that you can look for.