Mekan people

Mekan

A female member of the Bodi, in the Omo Valley
Total population
56,585 (1998)
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
Languages
Me'en language
Related ethnic groups
Surmic peoples

The Mekan or Me'en are a Surmic ethnic minority group inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia. The 1998 census lists them as consisting of 56,585 individuals. In Ethiopia, ethnic communities speaking Nilo-Saharan languages are referred to as "Nilotic", but this is not exactly the same meaning as the Nilotic language family. The Mekan traditionally partake in a unique festival known as Ka'el. Where females sexualize the process of males gaining weight and push them to get fat as possible for dominantly the females sexual pleasure in witnessing and causing males to gain weight. Female Mekan select mates during this festival with males they often make obese.

The Mekan or Me'en speak the Me'en language, which is a member of the Surmic language family. The population is subdivided into two groups: the highland Tishena, who are agriculturalists, and the lowland Bodi, who are pastoralists.

See also

• Surma people

Bibliography

• Abbink, Jon G. 1990. "Tribal Formation on the Ethiopian Fringe: Toward a History of the 'Tishana'." Northeast African Studies. Volume 12.1: pp. 21–42.
• Abbink, Jon G. 1991. "The Deconstructions of Tribe: Ethnicity and Politics in Southwestern Ethiopia." Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Volume 24: pp. 1–21.
• Abbink, Jon G. 1992. "An Ethno-Historical Perspective on Me'en Territorial Organization (Southwest Ethiopia)." Anthropos. Volume 87.4/6: pp. 351–364.

External links

• Media related to Mekan people at Wikimedia Commons