The Dassanetch are known under more than one name, like Glebe, Murielle and Reshiat. These names all concern the same people, in total 35,000 souls.

The Dassanetch can however be divided in eight clans. These are the Elele, Inkabelo, Inkoria, Koro, Naritch, Oro, Randal, and Ri’ele. Two of them (Inkabelo and Inkoria) come forth from the same ancestors: the Nyupe tribe in West-Kenya, also called the Pokot. These have more or less assimilated the Naritch (probably a splinter group of the Murle of Western Ethiopia) and the Oro. The Oro historically probably have had the dominating language and are solely responsible for the Cushitic language now spoken by all Dassanetch. The river people Ri’ele seem to have Borena background but have been Dassanetchated as time went by. The Randal are connected historically with the Rendille of Northern Kenya, whereas the Koro are related to the Maasai of Lake Turkana’s west coast.

The Dassanetch belong to the Cushitic linguistic group. They live throughout the southern part of the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

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