STUDENT: Katherine Macias Pacheco

CAREER: Dentistry
DATE: 30/04/20
TRIBE THAT DEVELOPS THE RITUAL

The Dassanech tribe is located in the middle of the desert in the Omo Valley, in Ethiopia,
they live in a kind of igloo made of sheet metal. They are divided into 8 main clans, each of
them has their own identity, custom and responsibilities towards the rest of the tribe. They
are animalists, they believe that each clan must have a superior power or different energy,
which they worship as if they were gods.

RITE DESCRIPTION

The ceremony is known as "Dimi", it lasts approximately 4 months, the leaders must indicate
to the parents how many cows should be killed during this time and that they should be
shared with the community, when the girl marries the father can claim the same number of
cows that he should have given in the Dimi. The ceremony would be done only to the first-
born of each family; however, genital mutilation would be done to all girls around 10 or 12
years old without any ceremony, the idea is that the clitoris should be removed before they
act like women. If the ritual is not performed, the girl couldn’t marry and the father couldn't
receive the dowry for the bride.

The process can be carried out in the mother's house or in another town, but it should always
be in a group with girls of the same age going through the same ritual. The cut is usually
done by an older woman who is helped by the girl's relatives, the girl must be handcuffed, a
leather strap is passed around her ankles or between her legs, and must be tied tightly,
trying to restrict movement of the girl. Girls can return when the wounds heal and the pain
subsides.

When the ritual is complete, the girl should drink sour milk and should receive a necklace
from her mother. After this she may be allowed to wear a leather skirt to show that she is
already an adult. Your marriage can often take place shortly thereafter.

PURPOSE OF THE RITE

For them, performing Dimi means respect for the family. If the ritual is not performed, the
girl couldn't marry and the father couldn't receive the dowry for the bride. When this happens,
they are called "wild animals" and men can humiliate and insult them.
Because they believe that each clan has a power and that if it doesn't perform the ritual, this
power could attack each member of the family and die one by one.

PERSONAL CONCLUSION

I understand that the prohibited government that this ritual can continue in 2005, however,
being a free tribe, the government has no power over it and can do nothing. As a result of
this, women who underwent the Dimi have been rising, trying that this ritual should no longer
be performed on their daughters, but they have accomplished nothing.

It is a male chauvinist tribe, that is why the women haven't been able to achieve anything,
the man commands and they must do what he orders them to do.

It is definitely an unpleasant ritual that should no longer be performed, knowing in what

conditions they live makes their poor hygienic situation very visible, a girl could acquire an
infection and die, which logically should happen often.