The Hamer are a tribal people lives in the famous Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia. They are quite isolated and are mainly pastoralist; so their culture still places a high value on cattle. There are about 45,000 Hamers in southern Ethiopia.
One of their well-known rituals is called the Bull Jumping (UkuliBula) which represents a life –Changing event for the young man (Ukuli) who passes from boyhood in to adulthood. Mostly the ceremony takes place usually after the harvest time. This is a rite of passage for every young man in the Hamertribe and an important event in a Hamer boy’s life; he must perform this ritual to be allowed to get married. If he passes it means he is ready and responsible enough to found a family. Several months before the ceremony, the family starts to deliver invitations (a rope which has many knots) to whomever they want to attend. The knots usually indicate the number of weeks until the ceremony. This is like a calendar to count down the days until the celebration of that particular Bull Jumping Ceremony. Each day the guest must unite one of the knots until the day of the ceremony arrives. The ritual comes with preparatory ceremonies, dancing, singing and drinking beer to celebrate the occasion.The whole ceremony takes place all day long, but the most important part is in the afternoon.The event starts with the men getting face painting using special materials while the woman and girls are dancing.The Hamerwomen,who in some way are related to the man that will be jumping the bulls, play a special role in the rituals.
They take a sort of pride in the fresh and old scars that they aquired in preparatory ceremonies, by deliberately being whipped. The scars are presumed to be proof of the deep bond that exists between the women and their relatives.The young man that is about to jump has his head partially shaved before the ceremony. He also is rubbed with sand and smeared with dung to give him strength. Then, strips of goat fat and skin are strapped round his body in a cross, to act as a form of spiritual protection.For the actual jump, cattle and castrated bulls are lined up, counting up to fifteen to thirty animals and held in place by the men of the village. The jumper has to cross their backs four times in a row without falling before he is deemed successful. If he falls, he may try again. But since it is such an important ritual, he will have practiced it many times before as a rehearsal.The procedure is finished in a couple of minutes, and then evening falls over the village. People are preparing for the after ceremony, celebrating and drinking the night away.After all this ceremony, as a Hamar man and a mature member of his tribe may has the freedom to make marriage. The Ukuli the young initiated man, once he has successfully jumped the bulls becomes Cherkari (a social stage that he stays in for only eight days). After eight days he transfers to the stage of Maza, and stay at this status until he marries and become Danza, the name for married Hamer men.