Ari Chief with Wives and Children
Ethiopia-2013
We were invited to have an audience with the chief of the Ari. His home was on top of a fertile hill where his people farmed. The Ari wore western clothes but farmed with wooden plowshares and oxen. The chief was a farmer himself. He had to be a good one to feed his family : at least two wives and somewhere between 21 and 25 children. He’d recently taken a new wife. That’s her wearing a striped skirt and holding a baby in her arms. The first wife is on the right clad in a striped knit shirt and wearing a bright print scarf around her neck. The chief is in the middle wearing a yellow polo shirt. He’s put some distance between himself and his wives. I’m thinking he does not want to show favoritism.
When we entered the compound, we bumped right shoulders with the first and second wives as a greeting. I liked it. Intimate but not as intimate as a hug. We sat under a tree while First Wife poured coffee and some kind of dried grain was passed around as a snack. I always partake of what is offered. I don’t want to offend, but I say a silent Hail Mary that I won’t get sick. And so far, I haven’t.
The newest wife was young and pretty. Does any man ever take one who is old and ugly? And she was proud of her baby. She became the subject of all the photographers in the group. I noticed First Wife looked a bit glum. Her thoughts ‘telegraphed’ to my mind: she used to be the pretty one, she was once the one with the new baby to show off, why, she could barely count all the new babies she had produced for the chief and now here she was relegated to pouring coffee like a waitress! Empathy flooded through me. I gestured for her to pick up a baby and began to photograph her while calling to the others that she was being neglected. Suddenly it was like old times…she sat in state with a baby on her lap smiling graciously. Yes! Being First Wife is best!