Muko Balguda killed twelve of her children before her husband jumped the bulls. Because her betrothed was not technically a man, he could not engage in a legal marriage, which means her children were not legitimate. Muko’s face seems ancient and it is difficult for her to smile anymore, but every now and then she will stomp the dust and listen to the sound the bells around her knees make as she scurries around to get firewood, carry water to the water drums, and boil the water that will later be added to fermented sorghum paste for tonight’s inebriated celebration. The water from the Omo River is silt-laden, which is good for agriculture, but not great for drinking. There is a local root they use that takes the silt out of suspension and drops it to the bottom of the drum. Karos are the only tribe that practice Mingi killing by putting dirt in their newborn children’s mouths and leaving them out in the bush to die. There was not a group bull jumping for the Karos for fifteen years because of a war across the river with the Nyangatom. So Muko had twelve children out of wedlock and killed all of them. Mingi is a strong tradition. The Ethiopian feds wanted to stop it and had a contingent headed to Duss Village when they heard all the men had gone to the meeting hall with their AKs and were waiting to kill them if necessary. There is a mingi center that has never saved an out of wedlock child, but has saved a few whose teeth came in the wrong way —another superstitious rational for a mingi killing.
Buy This Image