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The
People
The
Oromo are one of the Cushitic speaking groups of people with
variations in color and physical characteristics ranging from
Hamitic to Nilotic. A brief look at the early history of some of
the peoples who have occupied north-eastern Africa sheds some
light on the ethnic origin of Oromo. The Cushitic speakers have
inhabited north-eastern and eastern Africa for as long as recorded
history. The land of Cush, Nubia or the ancient Ethiopia in middle
and lower Nile is the home of the Cushitic speakers. It was most
probably from there that they subsequently dispersed and became
differentiated into separate linguistic and cultural groups. The
various Cushitic nations inhabiting north-east and east Africa
today are the result of this dispersion and differentiation. The
Oromo form one of those groups which spread southwards and then
east and west occupying large part of the Horn of Africa. Their
physical features, culture, language and other evidences
unequivocally point to the fact that they are indigenous to this
part of Africa. Available information clearly indicates that the
Oromo existed as a community of people for thousands of years in
East Africa (Prouty at al, 1981). Bates (1979) contends, "The
Gallas (Oromo) were a very ancient race, the indigenous stock,
perhaps, on which most other peoples in this part of eastern
Africa have been grafted".
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In
spite of the fact that there are several indications and evidences
that Oromo are indigenous to this part of Africa, Abyssinian
rulers, court historians and monks contend that Oromo were new
corners to the region and did not belong here. For instance the
Abyssinian court historian, Alaqa Taye (1955), alleged that in the
fourteenth and sixteenth centuries the Oromo migrated from Asia
and Madagascar, entered Africa via Mombassa and spread north and
eastwards. Others have advocated that during the same period the
Oromo crossed the Red Sea via Bab el Mandab and spread westwards.
Abyssinian clergies even contended that Oromo emerged from water.
On this issue, based on the points made in The Oromo's Voice
Against Tyranny, Baxter (1985) remarked, "... the contention
that the first Oromo had actually emerged from water and
therefore, had not evolved to the same level of humanity as the
Amhara (i.e. treating a myth of origin as a historical fact); or,
more seriously, that Oromo were late corners to Ethiopia and
hence, by implication, intruders and not so entitled to be there
as the Amhara."
The
history of the arrival of the Oromo people in the sixteenth
century in East Africa from outside is a fabrication and denial of
historical facts. It is a myth created by Abyssinian court
historians and monks, sustained by their European supporters and
which the Ethiopian rulers used to lay claim on Oromo territory
and justify their colonization of the Oromo people. Several
authorities have indicated that the Oromo were in fact in the
North-eastern part of the continent even before the arrival of the
Habasha. According to Perham (1948): "the emigrant Semites
landed in a continent of which the North-East appears to have been
inhabited by the eastern groups of Hamites, often called Kushites,
who also include the Gallas." Paulitschke (1889) indicated
that Oromo were in East Africa during the Aksumite period. As
recorded by Greenfield (1965), Oromo reject the view that they
were late arrivals, "... old men amongst the Azebu and Rayya
Galia dismiss talk of their being comparative newcomers.......
Their own (Abyssinians) oral history and legends attest to the
fact that Oromo have been living in Rayya for a long time. Beke
(cited by Pankurst, 1985-86) quoted the following Lasta legend:
"Menilek, the son of Solomon, ... entered Abyssinia from the
East, beyond the country of the Rayya or Azebo Gallas There are
also evidence (Greenfield et al, 1980) that at least by the ninth
and tenth centuries that there were Oromo communities around Shawa
and by about the fourteenth century settlements were reported
around Lake Tana. The recent discovery, (Lynch and Robbins, 1978),
in northern Kenya of the pillars that Oromo used in the invention
of their calendar system, dated around 300 B.C., is another
indication that Oromo have a long history of presence as a
community of people, in this part of Africa.
The
so called "Galla invasion of Ethiopia" is also a tale.
It was first written around 1590 by a monk called Bahrey and
henceforth European historians and others almost invariably
accepted this story as a fact. From his writing, it is evident
that he was biased against Oromo. The following quotation from
Bahrey, (in Beckingham et al, 1954), vividly illustrates typical
Abyssinian cultural, religious and racial biases against Oromo. He
began his book "The History of the Galla": "I have
begun to write the history of the Galla in order to make known the
number of their tribes, their readiness to kill people, and the
brutality of their manners. If anyone should say of my subject,
'Why has he written a history of a bad people, just as one would
write a history of good people', I would answer by saying 'Search
in the books,
and you will find that the history of Mohamed and the Moslem kings
has been written, and they are our enemies in religion In fact it
appears that the main purpose of his writing was to encourage
Abyssinians against Oromo. Bahrey, Atseme, Harris, Haberiand and
others description of what they called the 'Galla invasion of
Ethiopia' as an avalanche, a sudden overwhelming human wave which
could be likened to a flood or swarms of migratory locust is
unrealistic and difficult to imagine to say the least.
The
Oromo's Voice Against Tyranny argued that: "... the so-called
Galla invasion of the sixteenth century was neither an invasion
nor a migration. It was rather a national movement of the Oromo
people ... with the specific goal of liberating themselves and
their territories from colonial occupation. It was nothing more or
less than a war of national liberation." In fact the last
2000 years were occupied with a gradual expansion of Abyssinians
from north to south. This expansion had been checked throughout by
Oromo. It was only with the arrival of Europeans and their
firearms that Abyssinians succeeded in their southward expansion
mainly in the middle of last century.
Abyssinian
and European historians alleged that there was a sudden population
explosion in the Oromo community in the sixteenth century that
enabled it to invade Ethiopia. The claim lacks a scientific base.
During that time no significant, if at all any, technological
development such as discoveries or introductions of medicines, new
and improved tools for food production, etc. took place in the
Oromo community that could have been the cause for the sudden
population explosion. The Oromo community had no advantages of
these sort over neighboring communities.
Different
areas have been indicated as place where the Oromo developed or
differentiated into its own unique community of people or ethnic
group (Braukamper, 1980). According to some ethnologists and
historians, the Oromo country of origin was the south-eastern part
of Oromia, in the fertile valley of Madda Walaabu in the present
Baale region. This conclusion was reached mainly on the basis of
Oromo oral tradition. Based on scanty anthropological evidence,
others have also pointed to the coastal area of the Horn of
Africa, particularly the eastern part of the Somali peninsula, as
the most probable place of Oromo origin. Bruce, an English
traveler, indicated that Sennar in Sudan was the Oromo country of
origin and that they expanded from there. It should be noted here
that many European travelers have suggested the origin of peoples,
including Oromo, to be where they met some for the first time,
which in most cases happened to be peripheral areas.
There
are several groups of people in East Africa very closely related
to the Oromo. For instance, the Somalis are very similar in
appearance and culture. The fact that the Somali and Oromo
languages share between 30 percent and 40 percent of their
vocabulary could be an indication that these two groups of people
became differentiated very recently. Other Cushitic-speaking
groups living in the same neighborhood who are closely related to
the Oromo are Konso, Afar, Sidama, Kambata, Darassa, Agaw, Saho,
Baja and other groups.
The
Oromo are also known by another name, Galla. The people neither
call themselves or like to be called by this name. They always
called themselves Oromoo or Oromoota (plural). It is not known for
certain when the name Galla was given to them. It has been said
that it was given to them by neighboring peoples, particularly
Amhara, and various origins of the word have been suggested. Some
say it originated from the Oromo word 'gaiaana' meaning river in
Oromiffa. Others indicate that it came from an Arabic word 'qaala
laa'. There are other similar suggestions as to the origin of the
word. The Abyssinians attach a derogatory connotation to the Galla,
namely 'pagan, savage, uncivilized, uncultured, enemy, slave or
inherently inferior". The term seems to be aimed at
generating an inferiority complex in the Oromo.
Oromo
have several clans (gosa, qomoo). The Oromo are said to be of two
major groups or moieties descended from the two 'houses' (wives)
of the person Oromo represented by Borana and Barentu (Barenttuma).
Borana was senior (angafa) and Barentu junior (qutisu). Such a
dichotomy is quite common in Oromo society and serves some aspects
of their political and social life. The descendants of Borana and
Barentu form the major Oromo clans and sub-clans. They include
Borana, Macha, Tuullama, Wallo, Garrii, Gurraa, Arsi, Karrayyu,
ltu, Ala, Qalloo, Anniyya, Tummugga or Marawa, Orma, Akkichuu,
Liban, Jile, Gofa, Sidamo, Sooddo, Galaan, Gujii and many others.
However, in reality there is extensive overlap in the area they
occupy and their community groups. And since marriage among Oromo
occurs only between different clans there was high degree of
homogeneity.
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