The Kunama are an ethnic group native to Eritrea. They are one of the smallest ethnic communities in Eritrea, constituting only 2% of the population. Most of the estimated 260,000 Kunama live in the remote and isolated area between the Gash and Setit rivers near the border with Ethiopia. The Kunama people have ancient ancestry in the land of Eritrea. In the 2007 Ethiopian census, however, the number of Kunama in Tigray has dropped to 2,976 as the remaining 2,000 or so members of thisethnic group have migrated into the other regions of Ethiopia.

The meaning of Kunama (the word kunama) is “pure”. Kunama is peaceful people. Kunama is social oriented, they live together and strive for the growth of the community over individual prosperity. Kunama has an activity called “Kowa”. Kowa is when a Kunama individual or family invites villagers to come and help them. The family provides food and drink for the villagers for that working day and the villagers will harvest for that family without any compensation.
The Kunama carry out most tasks communally, including house construction, firewood collection, farming, and burial rites. The Kunama have a special reverence for their elders, whom they rely upon to govern their villages.
Historically the Kunama have traditions that one of the three Wise Men who traveled to Bethlehem to see the infant Jesus was a Kunama king or prince. This account is on display at the National Museum in Axum, Ethiopia.