A young Dassanech girl wears a beautiful array of beaded necklaces, some secured at the back by metal rings, and a beaded headband. Her ears are pierced several times, the holes are kept open by small wooden plugs. Much the largest of the tribes in the Omo Valley numbering around 50,000, the Dassanech (also known as the Galeb, Changila or Merille) are Nilotic pastoralists and agriculturalists.