Karo Tribe of Ethiopia

The Karo tribe (sometimes spelled Kara) is a small group located in Ethiopia that is home to between 1000-3000 people. It is the smallest ethnic tribe in Ethiopia (Matema 2018), and is one of around seven tribes that is near the Omo river. The tribe depends on this river and its flooding patterns for growing crops as well as fishing in times of food scarcity. Crops known to grow in this area include “sorghum, maize, tobacco, gourd, pumpkin, and two species of bean” (Goettsch 1984: 21). Aside from this, they also keep livestock like goats and cattle.

The tribes nearby coexist with varying levels of peace or aggression between them, and occasionally tribes will trade for things like cloth, cattle, food, beads, and more.

Although the tribe is relatively untouched by the modern world, they have a few modern amenities. These include t-shirts (which they rarely use), plastic containers used to carry water from the river, and AK-47 rifles. For the Karo people, “the AK-47 has replaced the spear” (McCarthy 2017) and owning the rifle provides protection for the family from enemies and protection for livestock from other animals.

Face and body paintings are very common and one of the practices the Karo people are known for. They use things like white chalk, yellow mineral rock, charcoal, and iron ore for these paintings. The purpose is mostly aesthetic and to appear more attractive to the opposite sex and special paintings are done for special occasions as well. The designs of paintings can change frequently and can range from simple designs like stars, lines, and dots to things like animal motifs. One of the more common designs is an array of handprints covering the torso and legs (Atlas of Humanity).

One of the other practices of the Karo people includes scarification. The process of scarification entails “rubbing charcoal in deliberately administered cuts” (McCarthy 2017) and this process produces intricate scar patterns which sometimes carry meaning and can be for aesthetic purposes as well. For Karo people, males receive scars for courageous acts like killing a member of a rival tribe or a deadly animal, and they will receive one scar on their chest for each kill. Women partake in scarification for aesthetic reasons as scars are considered mature and attractive and make them more desirable to males of the tribe.