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Child from the Karo tribe with the Valley of the Omo River behind.

Cradle of Mankind in Danger of Losing Ancient Cultures and Lands to Foreign Corporations

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The Omo Valley of Ethiopia is known as a beautiful, biologically and culturally diverse land, distinctive and vital for many reasons. The Omo River empties into the unique Lake Turkana in Kenya - the world’s largest alkaline lake, as well as the world’s largest permanent desert lake. This archaeologically significant area has offered up fossils of major importance in the study of human origins and evolution. But now, the area regarded as the cradle of humankind is in danger of losing ancient cultures and lands due to modernization and land development.

The Lower Valley of the Omo and Lake Turkana National Parks are internationally recognized, and are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites, possessing of “outstanding universal value”.

Satellite image of Lake Turkana: Note the jade color. The Omo River enters at the top. The river visible on the lower left is the Turkwel, which has been dammed for hydroelectric power.

Satellite image of Lake Turkana: Note the jade color. The Omo River enters at the top. The river visible on the lower left is the Turkwel, which has been dammed for hydroelectric power. Public Domain

The Ecologist reports the valley and its inhabitants are now in jeopardy, as a land grab of “twice the size of France” is swallowing up indigenous areas and developing them into sugar, cotton and biofuel plantations. Further, dams are being installed on major water sources, in what is said to be a violation of Ethiopian law, and in “total disregard for the rights of Ethiopia's Indigenous Peoples” by The Ecologist.

This industrialization may not only endanger the current cultural and ecological environment of Ethiopia, but also may impact an area which is significant to our understanding of human origins.

Lower Valley of the Omo River, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lower Valley of the Omo River, UNESCO World Heritage Site. AnnaMaria Donnoli/Wikimedia Commons

Lake Turkana is known as the ‘cradle of mankind’, existing as a pre-historic center for early hominids. Some 20,000 fossil specimens have been collected from the Turkana Basin. Anthropological digs have led to the discovery of important fossilized remains, most notably, the skeleton of the Turkana Boy, (or Nariokotome Boy).

The skeletal remains of Turkana Boy

The skeletal remains of Turkana Boy. Claire Houck/Wikimedia Commons

Finding Turkana Boy is one of the most spectacular discoveries in palaeoanthropology.  His reconstruction comes from the almost perfectly preserved skeleton found in 1984 at Nariokotome near Lake Turkana. It is the most complete early human skeleton ever found.  Turkana Boy is believed to have been somewhere between 7 and 15 years of age and lived 1.6 million years ago. According to research, the boy died beside a shallow river delta, where he was covered by alluvial sediments.

'Turkana Boy' - Homo ergaster.

“Turkana Boy” - Homo ergaster. Credit: Senckenberg Research Institute

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Responsible investment in land is an important part in fighting poverty, writes Oxfam. However, modernization at the expense of the indigenous communities is what may instead be happening in the Omo River Valley.

The dam Gibe III is nearing completion, and, as backed by an Italian construction company, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the World Bank, is slated to primarily export the produced hydropower. Indigenous communities may need to relocate, and tribes dependent upon herding and nomadic lifestyles will no longer have access to seasonally flooded lands.

The feared danger to Lake Turkana is the cessation of water from the dammed rivers. The Ecologist notes that “90% of its inflow comes from the Omo.” Damming this inflow may have an effect on the unique biology of the lake, and the fish, birds, reptiles and mammals which depend upon it. In addition, large-scale agriculture and irrigation projects connected with the dam may alter the water’s chemical composition, if it is exposed to chemical run-off.

Lake Turkana seen from the South Island.

Lake Turkana seen from the South Island. Doron/Wikimedia Commons

The Ecologist reports on the potential damage to the indigenous people: “For many tribes in the Omo Valley, the loss of their land means the loss of their culture. Cattle herding is not just a source of income, it defines people's lives. There is great cultural value placed on the animals. The Bodi are known to sing poems to their favourite cattle; and there are many rituals involving the livestock, such as the Hamer tribe's coming of age ceremony whereby young men must jump across a line of 10 to 30 bulls.

Losing their land also means losing the ability to sustain themselves. As Ulijarholi, a member of the Mursi tribe, said, "If our land is taken, it is like taking our lives.”

People of the Tesemay Tribe, of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia.

People of the Tesemay Tribe, of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia. Rod Waddington/Wikimedia Commons

The large-scale land purchases by foreign investment is worrying observers who suggest that the diminishing space available to Omo Valley indigenous may cause conflict in the attempt to move to new land and find resources. Instead, it is recommended that small land holders and nomadic herders should be supported so they can improve their efficiency and gain access to local markets. This may create a sustainable system which benefits indigenous populations and preserves the lands so rich in cultural, environmental, and historical importance. 

Featured Image: Child from the Karo tribe with the Valley of the Omo River behind. Credit: Veleknez / Dreamstime

By Liz Leafloor

 

Comments

Tsurugi I agree entirely. The other posters seem to misread your first post. The corrupt government is in the first case the one to blame. But no where did you suggest the corporations have the interests of the indigenous peoples’ welfare at heart. But what should we do? 

 
Tsurugi's picture

There it is….the Ethiopian Government. You say they are hideously corrupt; I agree. It is almost certainly the Ethiopian government who is responsible for selling or leasing the rights to these foreign corporations, which means that they are the real culprits in this story since they are the ones actually stealing the land from the indigenous peoples.

And yet they are not mentioned in the article at all.

Tsurugi I am not sure where you are from, but if you follow the Ethiopian government you know they are hideously corrupt. I am curious as to why anyone would think that a corporation has the best interest of anyone other than the corporation. It is simply a land grab for multinationals who exploit land at the behest of helpless tribes to rape, and pillage the land and send the goods to other places, not Ethiopia. Same ideal goes to the lease of farming land to India, China, Saudi Arabia, Israel and a few others for $3 a hectare for an entire year. The government kicked people off the land and literally gave it away, with those countries bringing in their own workers and shipping all food out of the country. If you think that is cool, you need to really check yourself.

Tsurugi's picture

It’s refreshing to be called a child, thanks. I’m sorry it makes you sad.

I absolutely agree that there has long been a war on free living peoples; I happen to believe it vastly predates Rome but that’s another conversation entirely.

I disagree that we should all go back to living simply in the wilds. There are cycles of destruction that are natural to this planet, and if we don’t want to continually undergo near-extinction and a loss of our collective memories, we will have to escape this planet and its deadly merry-go-round of cataclysmic destruction….and I mean physically escape it, not spiritually. For that, we need tools, technology, accumulated knowledge, power sources, and so on.

There is the possibility that in pursuing those things, we will annihilate ourselves. If we don’t pursue those things, the planet will annihilate us eventually anyway. A slim chance is better than no chance at all, which is what we’ll have if we go back to living in the trees.

Tsurugi, your child like understanding of how things operate in the world is sweet but sad. You are a fool and have excepted falsehood for truth. Do you not know the history of colonialism? Do you think that those that drove colonialism have for some reason gavin up their power and relinquished their greed and selfish existence of lavish excess? Know Sir, the methods just evolve for the people always far outnumber the controllers, so their game is to maintain methods of controlling the masses through propaganda, chaos, confusion, division, greed, dehumanization, and one million other methods. This happened to your people and to mine, by the Romans who murdered/raped and destroyed their culture. There has been a war on free living peoples ever since and today they are now into the small forgotten corners that they didn't have time for before. Develop means to use until useless to enslave, to dehumanize until willing to kill ones brother and rape ones sister, to forget what we owe to nature and why we preserve it as it supplies us with life and gave birth to us also and is spirit also. The changing from long term living as indigenous people live, to short term as a parasite lives moving from host to host. Consume and destroy. Conscious people in developed nations know that the true way is the way the old indigenous cultures live and lived with respect and understanding for all life and that to transgress another life disrespectfully, be it river or tree
means death to all.

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Liz

Liz Leafloor is former Art Director for Ancient Origins Magazine. She has a background as an Editor, Writer, and Graphic Designer. Having worked in news and online media for years, Liz covers exciting and interesting topics like ancient myth, history,... Read More

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