SudanA cattle herder from the Dinka tribe carries a weathered AK-47 rifle to protect his Zebu cows from cattle raiders near Rumbek in central South Sudan. After being embroiled in a decades-old civil war that has claimed over 2 million lives, the nomads have continued their age-old conflict with other cattle-keeping tribes. Armed raids to steal cows from the herds of enemy tribes have been commonplace since time immemorial. But the arrival of guns has changed these conflicts from hand-to-hand skirmishes with spears and bows and arrows to ambushes conducted by an enemy that often cannot be seen. Image by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
USAMembers of the Canupawakpa Dakota Nation Unity Riders, of the Sioux Native American tribe, are photographed outside the United Nations offices after arriving on horseback in commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in Manhattan, New York. The Riders made their way on horseback from Mantioba in Canada to New York, which they say is their native homeland, to build goodwill and better friendship with those who call the New York region their home now, they said. Image by Adrees Latif / Reuters
Tibet In 2017, Aj Namo became the first Tibetan fashion designer to show at China Fashion Week in Beijing. But when the organisers offered her China’s well-known models, she declined. Instead, she selected young Tibetans from her hometown of Kangba, a small grassland township in western Sichuan, near Tibet. Seeing herself as an ambassador for Tibetan culture in Beijing, Namo wants to change pervasive Chinese perceptions of Tibetans and their culture as “backward”, a result of state propaganda. Image by Jason Lee / Reuters
MongoliaA Kazakh eagle hunter with his golden eagle at a ger, a portable dwelling near the city of Ölgii in western Mongolia. The Kazakhs of western Mongolia are known for hunting with eagles, and each year, between February and April, around 200 families make the 150 km trip across the Altai Mountains, in temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius on their spring nomadic migration, that happens annually. Image by Wolfgang Kaehler
EthiopiaA Bodi tribesman sports DVDs as earrings during a Ka’el ceremony—observed during the tribe’s New Year celebrations in June—in Omo Valley, Ethiopia. The ceremony measures the body fat of the male contestant, and honours the fattest winner with fame and adulation of the tribe. Image by Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images
KenyaSonyanga Olengais (left), captain of the Maasai Cricket Warriors, talks to his teammate Mamai Simon Papai during their T20 match against the Ambassadors of Cricket from India in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia National Park, in 2013. The Maasai Cricket Warriors are role models in their communities, where they actively campaign against retrogressive and harmful cultural practices, such as female genital mutilation and early childhood marriages, while fighting to eradicate discrimination against women in Maasailand. Through cricket, they hope to promote healthier lifestyles and also spread awareness about HIV/Aids. Image by Thomas Mukoya / Reuters
New ZealandAn indigenous man from the Gavião tribe receives a greeting from a Maori woman from New Zealand during the closing ceremony of the first World Games for Indigenous Peoples in Palmas, Brazil, in 2015. “We’re not looking to crown champions or find great athletes,” says Carlos Terena, organiser of the event. “This isn’t about competition, it’s about celebration. Competition is more a thing for the Western world anyway.” Image by Ueslei Marcelino
