In Ethiopia, tourists mainly go for exotic things. Fortunately, many tribes have survived in this country, which reject the achievements of civilization and live according to the precepts of their ancestors. But even against the background of other wild aborigines, the Mursi tribe stands apart. An excursion to their habitat is several times more expensive than any other, and tourists are always accompanied by armed guards. It cannot be otherwise: the warriors of death (as the Mursi call themselves) are still addicted to cannibalism, and the murder of a person is considered a feat for them.
Missionaries into the cauldron
Now in the national park "Mago" in the south-west of Ethiopia, about six thousand Mursi live, divided into five tribes, either at war with each other, or observing armed neutrality. This area is rather difficult to access and is fraught with many dangers. That is why the Mursi managed to repel all attempts to conquer them. Neither the local kings, nor the Arabs (and they at one time captured almost all of Ethiopia), nor the Portuguese did this. Of course, the Mursi suffered heavy losses, and the number of the tribe decreased tenfold, but this is the price of sovereignty.
The soldiers of death could not be conquered with sword and fire, so Christian missionaries (including Jesuits) and Muslim preachers tried to convert them to their faith. It didn't work out. Anyone who appeared in these parts and dared to assert that the local god Yamda was not almighty at all was in for a slow and painful death. After the torture, the "blasphemer" - still alive - was sent to the cauldron and had a festive meal. As usual, after the murder of the missionaries, a punitive expedition was declared to Mursi, which died at the hands of soldiers of death or from tropical diseases.
Oddly enough, tsetse flies came to the aid of the local residents (Mago Park is one of the few places in Ethiopia where this insect has not yet been exterminated). Sleeping sickness turned out to be more terrible for the punishers than the spears and arrows of the Mursi. Therefore, first the Arabs, and then the Portuguese, gave up trying to convert the warriors of death to their faith.
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"Why is sleeping sickness not terrible for Mursi?" - the reader will ask a fair question. The fact is that the natives, whose life passes in very difficult conditions, have been doing … vaccinations for many centuries. True, they are very peculiar. Live insect larvae are launched under the skin of a newborn baby. The body, sensing a foreign body, enters into a fight with it. Ugly marks remain on the Mursi's body, but he acquires immunity to all kinds of sores. By the age of 12 (according to local concepts, this is the age of puberty), the belly of the warrior of death is dotted with hundreds of traces of "vaccinations" that add up to bizarre patterns.
Fashionistas of the Black Continent
Various "decorations" are generally a distinctive feature of Mursi. Researchers of the tribe believe that the creepy attributes appeared when slavers were frequent in Ethiopia. First of all, they selected women who more or less met European beauty standards. It was then that Mursi women began to shave baldly, insert huge rings into the earlobes, and a clay or wooden debi plate into their lips. Later, slavers stopped visiting these lands, but the fashion remained. If a girl expects to marry successfully, she pierces her lower lip and inserts there first a stick, then a piece of clay, then larger and larger objects. Finally, a debi is placed in the lip, which can reach 30 centimeters (!) In diameter. The larger the jewelry size, the higher the girl is quoted in the bride market. The potential groom will give the relatives of the betrothed from three goats (for a girl with an unperforated lip) to 30 cows. However, the latter, of course, is a rarity - the Mursi are poor enough, and only tribal leaders can afford such a ransom.
An important role in local fashion is played by … the dead. The deceased, unless he died as a result of an infectious disease, almost all "goes to work." Fat is melted from the deceased - after that, relatives are rubbed with it. Therefore, Mursi is distinguished by a specific and very disgusting smell. From the knuckles of the deceased, necklaces and other jewelry are made. They pave the swampy swamps with ribs and skulls. Most of the meat is consumed. The insides are partly used for magical rituals, partly fed to dogs. Waste-free production!
Therefore, Mursi women of fashion make a "hairstyle" of everything that comes to hand: something like a wig made of ropes is attached to the scalp, into which pieces of cans, feathers, sticks and even dry animal excrement are woven into it. Taking into account the fact that hygiene is unknown to Mursi, the smell emanating from them can knock an unprepared tourist off his feet. But it is not the lethal aroma and the frightening appearance that make the warriors of death truly dangerous.
Automatic machine is the main argument
The Mursi clans are constantly at odds with each other - over pastures, wells and land plots. Therefore, each warrior of death, leaving the village, carries a Kalashnikov assault rifle (they are acquired in neighboring Sudan). In the village of Mursi, they walk armed with long sticks decorated with phallic symbols. This unsophisticated weapon becomes fearsome in the hands of an experienced fighter. All Mursi have learned to fight on sticks since childhood, taking part in the annual tournament, which runs from September to November. At this time, a truce is established between the clans. Up to a thousand men sometimes participate in battles. The fighters are split in pairs and beat each other until the opponent falls. Moreover, it is strictly forbidden to kill an opponent: those who overdo it, simply cut off their hand. The winner of this tournament, held on the Olympic system,has the right to choose a wife from any clan - and without any ransom.
The rest of the time the Mursi are constantly fighting. Killing an opponent from a foreign clan is a real feat that gives you the right to apply a special tattoo (somewhat similar in shape to our army chevron). The tattoo is applied on the right hand - if the Mursi finished off the man, on the left - if the woman became the victim. When there is no free space on the arms, tattoos are applied to the back, buttocks and stomach.
Those wishing to visit the village of Mursi must be accompanied by armed guards. In this case, the excursions begin exclusively in the morning. This is a very wise decision: the fact is that Death Warriors are very prone to drinking alcohol and begin to drink as soon as they wake up. Therefore, tourists can feel relatively safe only when the majority of armed men guard the cattle in the pasture, and a few watchmen and women remain in the village. If an aggressive crowd of submachine gunners encounters guests, excesses are possible. The guides immediately warn that drunken Mursi are completely uncontrollable. And even if the supreme council (barra) condemns the murderer of the tourist to death after the fact, who will be any easier from this?
Despite the absence of the most "frostbitten" part of the clan in the village, the guests of the village still have to stay on their guard. Yes, the Mursi live on subsistence farming, but the Sudanese do not exchange machines for goats or cows. Give something more substantial to the barons of arms. Therefore, an aborigine can easily rip the chain from the neck of a guest of the village, snatch an expensive camera or bag from his hands and hide among the huts. Finding a thief is almost impossible, and if you succeed, Mursi will instantly become aggressive and he will have a stick in his hands, or even a machine gun. Further controversy could lead to tragedy. However, if you offer a ransom for your belongings, the Aborigines will most likely return them to you.
Another way to get money from a tourist is to pose for the camera. There is a clear price list: a photo with a Mursi - 2 birr (1 birr is equal to about 3 rubles), with a naked Mursi - 15 birrs (the natives are happy to pose without loincloths, which they wear exclusively for the sake of guests), with a warrior with a machine gun - 6 birrs, with a naked warrior with a submachine gun - 20 birrs … However, all this will be explained to you in detail by the guides, if you decide to visit the village of the soldiers of death.
Spooky ritual
Another difference between the Mursi and the tribes inhabiting the territory of Ethiopia is the terrible ritual that they still perform. Perhaps even cannibalism has some rational explanation (it allows people to survive in hungry years), but the destruction (you can't call it any other way) by the high priestess of the clan's men is already, by our standards, beyond common sense. Moreover, their wives are directly involved in the murder of the unfortunate.
Once a year, women offer (refusal is not accepted!) To their husbands to breathe the smoke of a mysterious powder that the high priestess gives them. The warriors fall into a narcotic sleep. The priestess goes around the huts during the night and puts an antidote in the mouths of the men. Some, however, "forgets", and in the morning these poor fellows simply do not wake up. The widows of such warriors live in high esteem - it is believed that they have fulfilled their duty to the god Yamda. Even after death, they are given a special honor. The bodies of the deceased are not disposed of, but buried in special wooden decks. Having cut off, however, first their hands.
On the day when the terrible ritual of killing men is carried out, tourists are not allowed into the tribe's territory.
… For centuries Mursi have been creating a reputation for themselves as the most aggressive, dangerous and mystical ethnic group. And now in Ethiopia, where tens of thousands of people are killed in inter-tribal squabbles every year, no one runs the risk of getting involved with the soldiers of death.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №33. Author: Andrey Leshukonsky