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The ceremonial outfit hangs on a pole outside the family house specially constructed for the Dimi
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Dassanech woman painting her body and face with yellow mud as she prepares for the Dimi
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The Dimi is a collective ceremony to celebrate and bless daughters of similar age for fertility and future marriage
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During the Dimi ceremony women wear a cape made from a colobus monkey skin over a leather skirt and carry a wooden spoon or a cowhorn
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Each man taking part in the Dimi wears a black ostrich feather headgear and a leopard skin fur and carries a long wooden stick and a ritual shield
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The Dassanech men march from house to house stopping to chant and dance at each hut inviting the women to join the procession
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The Dimi ritual is crucial for men. Once the Dimi is over the father attains his elder status
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After his daughter's blessing this Dassanech man will be allowed to join an elite group of elders called buls
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His face painted with yellow mud, this Dassanech father wears the traditional ostrich feather hat
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At the same time that his daughter is blessed for fertility the father attains his elder status (buls) in the Dassanech community
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The Dimi is a collective ritual in which all Dasanech men whose daughter reaches puberty participate
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Dassanech men in full ceremonial regalia marching from hut to hut with their long wooden stick
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Once the Dimi is complete the father becomes a wise man or an elder, a status that allows him to participate in the village's and clan's most important decisions
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Dimi male participants paint their face with yellow mud and wear an ostrich feather headdress
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Young Dassanech with scarification marks looking for an opening in the wall of leopard skin capes
