Mountain Ovoo. -A shamanistic collection of stones, wood or other offerings to the gods, usually found in high places, Orkhan, Kharakhorin region, Central Mongolia.
Shamanist and Tibetan Buddhist run deep in the blood of Mongolian people. People circumambulating mountain oovo.
Orkhan, Kharakhorin region, Central Mongolia.
The loaded camels, "ships of the desert," haul their cargo across the barren plains. The camels carry the dismantled huts, household posessions, the youngest children and the elderly. Camel pastoralists, like the Gabbra, may move like this up to ten times a year.
The loaded camels, "ships of the desert," haul their cargo across the barren plains. The camels carry the dismantled huts, household posessions, the youngest children and the elderly. Camel pastoralists, like the Gabbra, may move like this up to ten times a year.
The Gabbra women wear blazing bright colors and beads. Gabbra girls are clitorectomized at 13 to 14 and usually married between 14-16. Gabbra women, unlike the men, have no assemblies of their own. Nevertheless, they influence much decision making through their husbands, particularly regarding when and where to move the camp.
Gabbra women dismantle the tents before the move to a new settlement. The camp travels with the camels as the animals meander through and around the Chalbi Desert.
Portrait of a Gabbra boy with a lamb. Sheep, goats and camels, the small stock are important for meat, trade and for sacrifices in the many Gabbra rituals and ceremonies. Sold for cash, small livestock also provides the means to buy cornmeal and other necessities.
There is drama even in routine migrations. The huts are dismantled and the items rolled up and packed between poles bundled together and wedged between ropes on the camel. All of the packing and loading is done entirely by women. Men take no part in it other than to restrain the camels if they become unruly or to help lift some prohibitively heavy item.
The prejudice against nomads is very old. While sedentary peoples have often envied nomads their freedom and political independence, nomads are often stigmatized as being “obstacles to development.” In Africa, nomadic pastoralists are accused by their governments of contributing to ecological degradation by overgrazing their animals. In fact, nomads like the Gabra take elaborate care of their grazing lands. Their very survival depends on it. People become restless once the decisions to move has been made, and women often get up in the middle of the night to begin dismantling their households. All of the packing and loading is done entirely by women. Gabra live their entire lives in unending cycles of migration. They know how to use their land and to conserve its resources. They move even before they have to in order to ensure that the land is replenished for the future.

Kenya, East Africa Population: 30,000

Museo Silver Rag (Color Digital Print)
Dimesion: 13.256” x 20”
US$600
Edition 1/25
Mountain Ovoo. -A shamanistic collection of stones, wood or other offerings to the gods, usually found in high places, Orkhan, Kharakhorin region, Central Mongolia.
Mountain Ovoo. -A shamanistic collection of stones, wood or other offerings to the gods, usually found in high places, Orkhan, Kharakhorin region, Central Mongolia.
Mountain Ovoo. -A shamanistic collection of stones, wood or other offerings to the gods, usually found in high places, Orkhan, Kharakhorin region, Central Mongolia.
See photo in original gallery.