SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA PART VIII- KONSO

I must admit to being somewhat biased when visiting the different cultures John and I saw in Southern Ethiopia. I felt most at home, being a farmer at heart, with the two mainly agricultural tribes that we encountered. The first was the Konso, known for their elaborate stone wall terraced villages and beautifully terraced growing fields. Located in countryside of tall rolling hills or small mountains, they have a population of about 300,000 residing in 48 villages. They wear westernized clothing and many of the children are educated.

The men work in the fields growing maize, sorghum, vegetables, and cotton. The grandmothers care for the young children, while the women go to the fields midday to cook for or bring food to their husbands.

We visited the main village. It was amazing. Built up the side of a small mountain and formed as a series of stone walls built in concentric circles up the hillside growing outward as the inner circle filled with people. Each circle is connected by a series of switchback roads with stone steps, all leading to the top of the mountain. The rationale for the design was to use the stone walls for fire control. Cattle, goats and sheep are also kept safe from predators at night. They share living space with the villagers behind the rock walls.

As you walk up the hillside, small openings lead into individual walled living units. Along the way we saw very large round rocks. These are called "Strong Man Rocks" and are lifted to show a man's strength. Our guide lifted one of the larger ones with some ease; but, he could not hold it but a few seconds.

Whenever we visited a tribal village, we employed a local guide to tell us about their culture. Our Konso guide was the best local guide we had on our tour. He was from this village and gave us a lot of cultural and daily life information about the Konso,. He explained that the main gate, located near the bottom of the mountain is closed every evening at a certain time and open early the next day. If you are outside when the gate closes, you must sleep outside.

He also explained that the Konso have a sophsiticated community governing system. Every 14 years, governance of the village is passed down to the next generation. There is a generational tree symbol near the main Community House, the center of their social life, where the ceremony takes place. There is also a pledging stone there where individuals swear to tell the truth and a hero stone where heroes are venerated. The Konso differ from the majority of Southern Ethiopian tribes in that their women are not circumcised. Men are circumcised at around age 20, after they have sired a child. The Community House in the past had many uses - one use was a form of birth control. Each time a child was born, the husband would have to sleep nights in the Community House, not allowed to share a bed with his wife, the mother of the child, for 2 years. Now, our guide told us that they just use condoms.

Pictures: Our guide lifting a "Strong Man Rock"; Switchback stairs up to the top of the main Konso village; View from the top of the Konso village; Terraced Konso farmland; Terraced villages on the way to the main Konso village; Main gate to the Konso village; Konso Community House