Oromo

Oromo

ETHNONYMS: In the past, particularly during the colonial period, outsiders referred to the Oromo as "the Galla of Ethiopia." The Oromo dislike this name and see themselves as a trans-national ethnic and linguistic group.

Orientation

Identification and Location. Oromo-speaking communities live in the highlands of Ethiopia to the north, the Ogaden and Somalia to the east, near the Sudanese border to the west, and their homelands in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya up to the Tana River to the south. As a result of the politics of Abyssinian centralization during the twentieth century and political unrest after 1974, thousands of Oromo moved to Europe, North America, and Australia.

Demography. The Oromo constitute half the population of Ethiopia. A round population figure, including Oromo exiles, was estimated at 25 million at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Linguistic Affiliation. The Oromo language (Afaan Oromo) is a Cushitic language (Afar-Saho, Beja, Sidama, Somali), a branch of the Afro-Asiatic or Hamito-Semitic language family. There are minor variations in usage by Oromo within Ethiopia and Kenya, but it is possible for all Oromo speakers to understand each other.

History and Cultural Relations

The Oromo originated in southern Ethiopia, together with the Somalis, around the tenth century and remained within southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya till migrations took place around 1530. In 1537 they occupied lands in the southeastern Ethiopian province of Bali, 310 miles (500 kilometers) from their homelands, after successful military campaigns against the Ethiopian kings. However, Hassen (1990) has suggested that there may have been groups of agriculturalist Oromo in the Ethiopian region of Shawa, south of Addis Ababa, in the fourteenth century.

All Oromo consider themselves descendants of the Boorana and therefore trace their origins to the Boorana region in southern Ethiopia, particularly to the Boorana homelands of Dirre and Liban. The Boorana are pastoralists, and their patterns of migration and conquest are determined by ongoing searches for water and grazing for their cattle.

Further migrations into northern Kenya took place during the nineteenth century and were halted by the arrival of Europeans in Ethiopia and Kenya in the 1880s. Migrations became more localized and dependent on relations with the Somalis in the southeast and the Abyssinians in Ethiopia. In 1896 the Oromo became subjects of the Abyssinian king Menelik II after the defeat of the Italian forces at the battle of Adwa. By 1904 diplomatic treaties between Britain and Ethiopia had fixed the political boundaries, and the Oromo became residents of Ethiopia and Kenya.

Cultural relations of economic exchange and ethnic hostility between Oromo and Somalis remained the norm during the twentieth century in northern Kenya. However, in Ethiopia the Oromo were colonized by the Abyssinian imperial army, their language was banned, and their children were forced to learn Amharic. After the collapse of the Ethiopian monarchy in the 1970s the Oromo organized themselves into a nationalistic movement that included thousands of Oromo in North America, Europe, and Australia. At the beginning of the twenty-first century nationalistic Oromo groups such as the Oromo Liberation Front were continuing an armed struggle against the centralized Ethiopian government.

Settlements

Oromo settlements consist of several houses that are independent of each other and are articulated socially by a group of men, either leaders of different age sets or senior representatives of clans and lineages. A single settement is known as manyatta, and the houses within such a settlement also are referred to as manyatta.

The traditional Boorana house is built by women, particularly friends and affines of the bride, using clay and wooden sticks, shortly before the wedding ceremony. By the end of the colonial period, particularly in Kenya, other kinds of houses also were built. The materials used include timber, cement, rubber, and plastic. Regardless of their style or the materials used for their construction, all those houses are considered part of a single settlement: a manyatta. If European-style houses are built within a town, the Oromo settlement tends to be called "manyatta."

An Oromo settlement also includes enclosures for animals and sacred enclosures for prayer, divination, and meetings (chaffe, guumi). During times of pastoral movement and particularly when grazing and water are not available close to the settlements, women, children, the ill, and the old, together with a few men, remain in the settlement. They take care of a herd that includes pregnant, old, and young animals (hawicha), while the healthy cattle are kept nearer the grazing areas in a separate herd (fora).

Economy

Subsistence. The ideal type of economic subsistence involves cattle herding and pastoral activities that provide meat and milk. However, many Oromo-speaking groups live on agricultural products and cultivate the land, allowing them to sell products and generate a small amount of cash to buy items such as sugar, coffee beans, rice, and flour. Those who live in the wetter areas, such as Marsabit in northern Kenya and the southern Ethiopian highlands, cultivate and eat maize, millet, and wheat. Agricultural activities are complementary to their pastoral economy based on fresh or sour milk and their secondary products, butter and ghee. Long-term subsistence does not rely on annual crops but on the possession of as many animals as possible.

Commerical Activities. Most social, ritual, and economic activities involve the domestic exchange of cattle and other animals. Milk and vegetables also constitute part of a more localized trade conducted by women in local markets.

Industrial Arts. Some Oromo women sell artifacts such as bowls, wooden cups, and woven mats to tourists and foreign buyers. Other traditional arts include ceramics, hairstyling materials, necklaces, beads, cowry shells, collars, and head adornments.

Trade. Before the colonial period and the introduction of money, cowry shells and salt were used to buy, sell, and trade. Cattle and their products are still the most important means of trading and exchanging property, services, and wives.

Division of Labor. Traditionally, men looked after cattle and the public social sphere and women built houses, owned them, and directed home activities in the domestic sphere. Some of those roles have changed, and some men and women have become medical doctors, teachers, clerks, and civil servants.

Land Tenure. Land is shared and used communally, particularly grazing areas, which are used by all herds and shepherds. Settlements expand according to the amount of land available and the number of people who join a particular settlement. In very few cases individual or family ownership of land has been provided for Oromo. In those cases settlements have recognized the individual ownership of houses but not of land. However, the Oromo consider their places of grazing and burial "their land."

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. Oromo kinship is patrilineal, and descent is reckoned through men. All Oromo belong to two moieties—Gohna and Sabbo—and must marry somebody from the opposite moiety because members of the same moiety are considered brothers and sisters. Within localized kin groups all males who are related by kinship, together with their wives and children, constitute a kin group.

Marriage and Family

Marriage. Every Oromo is expected to marry, and marriage is indissoluble. After marriage wives become affines of all their husbands' affines. Men can marry after their circumcision, and girls can be betrothed at an early age to their future husbands without joining their families before the wedding ceremony. Marriage negotiations between clans and families can take a long time, and a payment in cattle from the groom's family is expected by the bride's family (bride-wealth). A married couple initially lives close to the husband's family, and the bride's sisters and cousins build their new house close to the bridegroom's extended family.

Divorce was uncommon within Oromo society and could be requested only when a woman was infertile or a male child had not been born. In those cases children could be adopted, and therefore divorce was rare. Within Oromo groups that converted to Islam, up to four wives are permitted and divorce has become more common. That is the norm among Oromo in eastern Kenya and southeastern Ethiopia but does not constitute a norm for most of the Oromo.

Domestic Unit. An Oromo household is constituted by all those who are directly dependent on a single male who is considered the father of the family. His wife and children are central to the domestic unit, but other older women such as his mother and the younger children of other relatives who have died can be included in the unit. Those belonging to a domestic unit eat together, and the central role in unit is allocated to the father's wife because women own houses and their contents.

Inheritance. If the father of the house dies, his wife, children, and cattle are inherited by a brother. Children born from the union of his widow and his brother belong to his brother but bear the name of the deceased husband. As all children are allocated cattle at birth, circumcision, and marriage, all the descendants of the deceased father bring their own cattle into the new domestic unit.

Socialization. Boys join other boys of the same age as soon as they can walk. They spend the day playing or hunting lizards, mice, and insects. They receive a young cow from the father or maternal uncle after they catch the first mouse or butterfly. Girls do not hunt but build miniature huts and make human figures with clay or wood. As children grow older, boys look after cattle and girls help their female relatives with domestic chores. Before reaching their fifteenth year boys and girls are circumcised.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The Oromo organize themselves in clusters of households attached to the father of the house that have constant interaction with other households and their leaders. Within a network of households older men play a central role in leading prayers and helping make consensus decisions formulated by all household leaders. The communal assembly is the larger social organization that can make communal decisions and implement them in case of a national emergency or social disputes and conflict. Men lead the assembly, and all decisions are made by communal consensus. Women and children can attend assemblies, but their decision-making sphere of influence is limited. All men enter the Oromo age system (Gada) forty years after their fathers and serve as leaders for a period of eight years. Therefore, Oromo social organization, while strictly hierarchical and maleoriented, is informed by a democratic principle of community inclusion.

Political Organization. The Gada system traditionally provided different age sets constituted by males who fulfilled different social roles in the Oromo nation and its localized communities. One set was always in office for eight years and secured the political leadership needed for social welfare and the maintenance of peace. Some scholars have called this system "an Oromo democracy" because the succession of age sets every eight years provided the possibility of political and leadership service to all age sets in turn. Even when the Gada rituals are not celebrated as often as they were in the past, the names of officers are commonly used, such as Senior Chief (Haiyu gudda), Owner of the Sceptre (Abu Bokuu) and Chief of the War (Haiyu A'Duulla).

Social Control. Traditionally and in the Gada system, social control was exercised by a gerontocracy in which older age sets had enormous influence in the communal assembly. Contemporary political changes in Ethiopia and Kenya have allowed for localized communal assemblies in which the older generations (gadamoji in the Gada system) have the social wisdom of old age but also have the power to bless or curse their children and every member of the community. Within daily life blessings ordinarily are given by long greetings that are exchanged throughout the day. Somebody who does not comply with social rules and agreements eventually is considered a social outcast and has to leave his village, community, or extended family.

Conflict. Individual and social conflicts are solved through a public discussion with appointed leaders in every community that has the social power to express legal opinions and mediate between litigating parties, whether they are individuals or groups within the community or husbands and wives. More serious conflicts with other ethnic groups have included resistance to the Abbysinian conquest in western and central Ethiopia and the ongoing conflict for water rights between Oromo and Somalis in southeastern Ethiopia and eastern Kenya.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. The Oromo are monotheistic and believe that the world was created by God (Waqqa), who lives in the skies (waqqa) and sends rains to the earth so that grass can grow. Waqqa makes possible the growth of cattle by providing grass and water and in doing so looks after all the Oromo. God's gift is expressed through a peaceful relationship between the skies and the earth and among God, human beings, animals, and nature. Peace (nagaa) is the central philosophical paradigm of existence and is expressed in daily life as the Peace of the Boorana (nagaa Boorana) through ordinary greetings, blessings, and prayers. War and strife with other ethnic groups are necessary to preserve and sustain the nagaa Boorana and the blessings of God that are requested through daily greetings and prayers. Through interaction with other groups, significant numbers of Oromo have expressed public allegiance to Islam and Christianity while remaining loyal to their traditional beliefs.

Religious Practitioners. At a national level the two hereditary Boorana priests (Kallu) are considered sacred priests and leaders. The Kallu reside in a particular area, and the Oromo regularly bring their families and cattle for them to bless. In the past and before the Abyssinian conquest of the Oromo homelands the Kallu dominated Oromo national life. By the mid-twentieth century the Kallu had sent messengers to different locations in Ethiopia and Kenya to remind people of the need to observe the festivals (jila). In the case of localized festivals the members of the oldest age sets (gadamoji) organize the jila, and within the Oromo national ritual structure senior councillors and ritual officiants (Wayyu) lead specific communal festivals for different age sets.

Ceremonies. All national ritual celebrations are linked to the Gada system. Gada is an age system whose membership is solely male; thus, every male enters the system through an initiation ceremony forty years after the entry of his father into the system. All the males who are initiated in a particular year constitute an age set that moves up the age system when the national festivals are celebrated every eight years. As the age sets move up to another age grade every eight years, they assume a different social role and have different responsibilities within the community.

Arts. Mat weaving and pottery making are common among different groups of Oromo, but domestic artifacts constitute forms of art made by all men and women. Men use wood, leather, and metal to produce material objects, and women use leaves, roots, and the bark from stems.

Medicine. The knowledge of herbs is central to medicine and curing in Oromo communities. In the case of a long illness, the cause of the condition is presumed to be supernatural and possession rituals are performed to find the spirits that have caused the condition. Ritual specialists conduct these rituals, but prayers by older men also are used to heal the sick.

Death and Afterlife. The Oromo believe in an afterlife and suggest that at the moment of death all Oromo are reunited themselves with Waqqa. Funeral rites have been diversified to express conversions to Islam and Christianity and constitute an important communal event.

For other cultures in Ethiopia, see List of Cultures by Country in Volume 10 and under specific culture names in Volume 9, Africa and the Middle East.

Bibliography

Aguilar, Mario I. (1998). Being Oromo in Kenya. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.

Bartels, Lambert (1983). Oromo Religion: Myths and Rites of the Western Oromo of Ethiopia—An Attempt to Understand. Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 8. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.

Baxter, P. T. W. (1978). "Boran Age-Sets and Generation-Sets: Gada, a Puzzle or a Maze?" In Age, Generation and Time: Some Features of East African Age Organisations, edited by P. T. W. Baxter and Uri Almagor. 151-182. London: Hurst. Baxter, P. T. W., Jan Hultin, and Alessandro Triulzi, editors (1996). Being and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological Enquiries. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet and Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press.

Dahl, Gudrun (1979). Suffering Grass: Subsistence and Society of Waso Borana. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology. Stockholm: Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm.

Hassen, Mohammed (1990). The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570-1860. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jalata, Asafa (1993). Oromia & Ethiopia: State Formation and Ethnonational Conflict, 1868-1992. Boulder, CO, and London: Lynne Rienner.

Legesse, Asmarom (1973). Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African Society. New York: Free Press.

—— (2001). Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System. Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press.

Van de Loo, Joseph (1991). Guji Oromo Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Religious Capabilities in Rituals and Songs. Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 39. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.

MARIO I. AGUILAR