Stick Walk

Short answer: The Banna (also written Bena) are a people of the Lower Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia's South Omo Zone. They live in the higher country around the market town of Key Afer and are closely related to their Hamar neighbors, with whom they share the Hamar-Banna language and major ceremonies.

Their best-known tradition, the one in the footage, is stilt-walking, not walking with sticks. Young men and boys strap their feet to tall wooden poles and stride across roads and fields, sometimes about three meters above the ground. A 2026 DW report describes it as an old herding skill that helps young herders watch over their animals and stay safe from snakes. Other accounts describe it as a rite of passage and a performance at festivals, where stilt-walkers may paint their bodies with white stripes. Explanations vary, and some accounts doubt the practical origin story. Stilt-walking now also draws tourists, which DW reports brings extra income along with outside influences. The footage shows young men on long stilts walking along a road and across red earth, with green hills behind.