Oromo people


The Oromo people are a Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to Ethiopia who speak the Oromo language. They are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and represent 34.5% of Ethiopia's population. Oromos speak the Oromo language as their mother tongue, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. The word Oromo appeared in European literature for the first time in 1893 and slowly became common in the second half of the 20th century.
Some Oromo people still follow their traditional religion, Waaqeffanna, and they used the gadaa system of governance. A leader elected by the gadaa system remains in power for 8 years, with an election taking place at the end of those 8 years. From the 18th to the 19th centuries, Oromos were the dominant influence in northern Ethiopia, during the Zemene Mesafint period.

Origins and nomenclature

The origins and prehistory of the Oromo people prior to the 16th century are based on Oromo oral tradition. Older and subsequent colonial era documents mention the Oromo people as Galla, which has now developed derogatory connotations, but these documents were generally written by members of other ethnic groups. The first verifiable record mentioning the Oromo people by a European cartographer is in the map made by the Italian Fra Mauro in 1460, which uses the term "Galla".
Fra Mauro's term Galla is the most used term, however, until the early 20th century. The term, stated Juxon Barton in 1924, was in use for Oromo people by Abyssinians and Arabs. It was a term for a river and a forest, as well as for the pastoral people established in the highlands of southern Ethiopia. This historical information, according to Mohammed Hassen, is consistent with the written and oral traditions of the Somalis. A journal published by International African Institute suggests it is an Oromo word for there is a word galla "wandering" or "to go home" in their language.
The Oromo never called themselves "Galla" and resist its use because the term is considered derogatory. They traditionally identified themselves by one of their clans and now use the common umbrella term of Oromo which connotes "free born people". The word Oromo is derived from Ilm Orma meaning "children of Oromo", or "sons of Men", or "person, stranger". The first known use of the word Oromo to refer to the ethnic group is traceable to 1893.
celebrations
After Fra Mauro's mention, there is a profusion of literature about the peoples of this region including the Oromo, particularly mentioning their wars and resistance to religious conversion, primarily by European explorers, Catholic Christians missionaries. The earliest primary account of Oromo ethnography is the 16th-century "History of Galla" by Christian monk Bahrey who comes from the Sidama country of Gammo, written in the Ge'ez language. According to an 1861 book by D'Abbadie.
Historical linguistics and comparative ethnology studies suggest that the Oromo people probably originated around the lakes Lake Chew Bahir and Lake Chamo. They are a Cushitic people who have inhabited the East and Northeast Africa since at least the early 1st millennium. The aftermath of the sixteenth century Abyssinian–Adal war led to Oromos to move to the north. The Harla were assimilated by the Oromo in Ethiopia.
The historical evidence, suggests that the Oromo people were already established in the southern highlands in or before the 15th century and that at least some Oromo people were interacting with other Ethiopian ethnic groups. While Oromo people have lived in the region for a long time, the ethnic mixture of peoples who have lived here is unclear. According to Alessandro Triulzi, the interactions and encounters between Oromo people and Nilo-Saharan groups likely began early. The Oromos increased their numbers through Oromization of mixed peoples. The native ancient names of the territories were replaced by the name of the Oromo clans who conquered it while the people were made Gabbaros.

History

Pre-19th century

Historically, Afaan Oromo-speaking people used their own Gadaa system of governance. Oromos also had a number of independent kingdoms, which they shared with the Sidama people. Among these were the Gibe region kingdoms of Kaffa, Gera, Gomma, Garo, Gumma, Jimma, Leeqa-Nekemte and Limmu-Ennarea.
Habte Giyorgis Dinagde was Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Ministry of Defense during the reign of Menelik II
The earliest known documented and detailed history of the Oromo people was by the Ethiopian monk Abba Bahrey who wrote Zenahu le Galla in 1593, though the synonymous term Gallas was mentioned in maps or elsewhere much earlier. After the 16th century, they are mentioned more often, such as in the records left by Abba Pawlos, Joao Bermudes, Jerorimo Lobo, Galawdewos, Sarsa Dengel and others. These records suggest that the Oromo were pastoral people in their history, who stayed together. Their animal herds began to expand rapidly and they needed more grazing lands. They began migrating, not together, but after separating. They lacked kings, and had elected leaders called luba based on a gada system of government instead. By the late 16th century, two major Oromo confederations emerged: Afre and Sadaqa, which respectively refer to four and three in their language, with Afre emerging from four older clans, and Sadaqa out of three. These Oromo confederations were originally located in south-central Ethiopia, specifically the northwest of the Borena region near Lake Abaya, but started moving north in the 16th century in what is termed as the "Great Oromo Migration".
According to Richard Pankhurst, an Ethiopia historian, this migration is linked to the first incursions into inland Horn of Africa by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim. According to historian Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst, the migration was one of the consequences of fierce wars of attrition between Christian and Muslim armies in the Horn of Africa region in the 15th and 16th century which killed a lot of people and depopulated the regions near the Galla lands, but also probably a result of droughts in their traditional homelands. Further, they acquired horses and their gada system helped coordinate well equipped Oromo warriors who enabled fellow Oromos to advance and settle into newer regions starting in the 1520s. This expansion continued through the 17th century.
Both peaceful integration and violent competition between Oromos and other neighboring ethnicities such as the Amhara, Sidama, Afar and the Somali affected politics within the Oromo community. Between 1500 and 1800, there were waves of wars and struggle between highland Christians, coastal Muslim and polytheist population in the Horn of Africa. This caused major redistribution of populations. The northern, eastern and western movement of the Oromos from the south around 1535 mirrored the large-scale expansion by Somalis inland. The 1500–1800 period also saw relocation of the Amhara people, and helped influence contemporary ethnic politics in Ethiopia.
According to oral and literary evidence, Borana Oromo clan and Garre Somali clan mutually victimized each other in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly near their eastern borders. There were also periods of relative peace. According to Günther Schlee, the Garre Somali clan replaced the Borana Oromo clan as the dominant ethnic group in this region. The Borana violence against their neighbors, states Schlee, was unusual and unlike their behavior inside their community where violence was considered deviant.

Demographics

The Oromos are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, numbering about 37 million. They are predominantly concentrated in Oromia Region in central Ethiopia, the largest region in the country by both population and area. They speak Afaan Oromo, the official language of Oromia. Oromos constitute the fifth most populous ethnic group among Africans as a whole and the most populous among Horners specifically.
Oromo also have a notable presence in northern Kenya in the Marsabit County, Isiolo County and Tana River County Totaling to about 470,700: 210,000 Borana 110,500 Gabra 85,000 Orma 45,200 Sakuye and 20,000 Waata. There are also Oromo in the former Wollo and Tigray provinces of Ethiopia.

Subgroups

The Oromo are divided into two major branches that break down into an assortment of clan families. From west to east. The Borana Oromo, also called the Boran, are a pastoralist group living in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The Boran inhabit the former provinces of Shewa, Welega, Illubabor, Kafa, Jimma, Sidamo, northern and northeastern Kenya, and a small refugee population in some parts of Somalia.
Barentu/Barentoo or Baraytuma is the other moiety of the Oromo people. The Barentu Oromo inhabit the eastern parts of the Oromia Region in the Zones of Mirab Hararghe or West Hararghe, Arsi Zone, Bale Zone, Debub Mirab Shewa Zone or South West Shewa, Dire Dawa region, the Jijiga Zone of the Somali Region, Administrative Zone 3 of the Afar Region, Oromia Zone of the Amhara Region, and are also found in the Raya Azebo Aanaas in the Tigray Region.

Language

The Oromo speak the Oromo language as a mother tongue. It belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. It is the most widely spoken language of the Cushitic languages and the fourth most widely spoken language of Africa after Arabic, Hausa, and Swahili. The Oromo language's main linguistic varieties are Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Eastern Oromo, Orma and West Central Oromo.
Modern Oromo writing systems used to transcribe in Latin script. Additionally, the Sapalo script was historically used to write Oromo. It was invented by the Oromo scholar Sheikh Bakri Sapalo during the 1950s.

Religion

The Oromo people followed their traditional religion Waaqeffanna and resistant to religious conversion before assimilation in sultanates and Christian kingdoms. The influential 30-year war from 1529 to 1559 between the three parties – the Oromo, the Christians and the Muslims – dissipated the political strengths of all three. The religious beliefs of the Oromo people evolved in this socio-political environment. In the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, Protestant or Catholic missionaries efforts abled to create Oromo Protestant or Catholic followers.
In the late 19th century, Orthodox was endorsed by the state. Tewodros and Yohannes were known for their intolerance towards other religions. The religion hostile to that of Amhara race who lorded over them helped the expansion of Islam. The first to accept Islam as a resisistance ideology were the Wollo Oromo. The Arsi Oromo also accepted Islam in response to the war and massacre by the Christian state under Minilik. Although Minilik baptized by force the Oromo of Shewa, the emperor felt he had to tolerate the Islam in areas like Jimma and Harar after the use of force in the past turned out to be dangerous.
In the 2007 Ethiopian census for Oromia region, which included both Oromo and non-Oromo residents, there was a total of 13,107,963 followers of Christianity, 12,835,410 followers of Islam, 887,773 followers of traditional religions, and 162,787 followers of other religions. Accordingly, Oromo is 48.1% Christian, 47.6% Muslim and 3.3% followers of traditional religions
According to a 2009 publication of Association of Muslim Social Scientists and International Institute of Islamic Thought, "probably just over 60% of the Oromos follow Islam, over 30% follow Christianity and less than 3% follow traditional religion".
According to a 2016 estimate by James Minahan, about half of the Oromo people are Sunni Muslim, a third are Ethiopian Orthodox, and the rest are mostly Protestants or follow their traditional religious beliefs. The traditional religion is more common in southern Oromo populations and Christianity more common in and near the urban centers, while Muslims are more common near the Somalian border and in the north.

Society and culture

Gadaa

Oromo people governed themselves in accordance with Gadaa system long before the 16th century. The system regulates political, economic, social and religious activities of the community. Oromo were traditionally a culturally homogeneous society with genealogical ties. A male born in the Oromo clan went through five stages of eight years, where his life established his role and status for consideration to a Gadaa office. Every eight years, the Oromo would choose by consensus nine leaders for the office. A leader elected by the gadaa system remains in power only for 8 years, with an election taking place at the end of those 8 years.
There are three Gadaa Organs of Governance: Gadaa Council, Gadaa General Assembly, and the Qallu Assembly. Gadaa Council is considered as it is the collective achievements the members of the Gadaa class. It is responsible in coordinating irreecha. Gadaa General Assembly is the legislative body of the Gadaa government, while Qallu Assembly is the religious institution.

Calendar

The Oromo people developed a luni-solar calendar, which different geographically and religiously distinct Oromo communities use the same calendar. This calendar is sophisticated and similar to ones found among the Chinese, the Hindus and the Mayans. It was tied to the traditional religion of the Oromos, and used to schedule the Gadda system of elections and power transfer.
of Ethiopia sets new world record time 14:11:15
The Borana Oromo calendar system was once thought to be based upon an earlier Cushitic calendar developed around 300 BC found at Namoratunga. Reconsideration of the Namoratunga site led astronomer and archaeologist Clive Ruggles to conclude that there is no relationship. The new year of the Oromo people, according to this calendar, falls in the month of October. The calendar has no weeks but a name for each day of the month. It is a lunar-stellar calendar system.

Oromumma

Some modern authors such as Gemetchu Megerssa have proposed the concept of Oromumma, or "Oromoness" as a cultural common between Oromo people. The word is derived by combining "Oromo" with the Arabic term "Ummah". However, according to Terje Østebø and other scholars this term is a neologism from the late 1990s and has been questioned to its link to Oromo ethno-nationalism and Salafi Islamic discourse, in their disagreement with Christian Amhara and other ethnic groups.
The Oromo people, depending on their geographical location and historical events, have variously converted to Islam, to Christianity, or remained with their traditional religion. According to Gemetchu Megerssa, the subjective reality is that "neither traditional Oromo rituals nor traditional Oromo beliefs function any longer as a cohesive and integral symbol system" for the Oromo people, not just regionally but even locally. The cultural and ideological divergence within the Oromo people, in part from their religious differences, is apparent from the constant impetus for negotiations between broader Oromo spokespersons and those Oromo who are Ahl al-Sunna followers, states Terje Østebø. The internally evolving cultural differences within the Oromos have led some scholars such as Mario Aguilar and Abdullahi Shongolo to conclude that "a common identity acknowledged by all Oromo in general does not exist".

Social stratification

Like other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa and East Africa, Oromo people regionally developed social stratification consisting of four hierarchical strata. The highest strata were the nobles called the Borana, below them were the Gabbaro. Below these two upper castes were the despised castes of artisans, and at the lowest level were the slaves.
In the Islamic Kingdom of Jimma, the Oromo society's caste strata predominantly consisted of endogamous, inherited artisanal occupations. Each caste group has specialized in a particular occupation such as iron working, carpentry, weapon making, pottery, weaving, leather working and hunting.
Each caste in the Oromo society had a designated name. For example, Tumtu were smiths, Fuga were potters, Faqi were tanners and leatherworkers, Semmano were weavers, Gagurtu were bee keepers and honey makers, and Watta were hunters and foragers. While slaves were a stratum within the society, many Oromos, regardless of caste, were sold into slavery elsewhere. By the 19th century, Oromo slaves were sought after and a major part of slaves sold in Gondar and Gallabat slave markets at Ethiopia-Sudan border, as well as the Massawa and Tajura markets on the Red Sea.

Livelihood

The Oromo people are engaged in many occupations. The southern Oromo are largely pastoralists who raise goats and cattle. Other Oromo groups have a more diverse economy which includes agriculture and work in urban centers. Some Oromo also sell many products and food items like coffee beans at local markets.

Contemporary era

Human rights issues

In December 2009, a 96-page report titled Human Rights in Ethiopia: Through the Eyes of the Oromo Diaspora, compiled by the Advocates for Human Rights, documented human rights violations against the Oromo in Ethiopia under three successive regimes: the Ethiopian Empire under Haile Selassie, the Marxist Derg and the current Ethiopian government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, dominated by members of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front and which was accused to have arrested approximately 20,000 suspected OLF members, to have driven most OLF leadership into exile, and to have effectively neutralized the OLF as a political force in Ethiopia.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Oromia Support Group recorded 594 extrajudicial killings of Oromos by Ethiopian government security forces and 43 disappearances in custody between 2005 and August 2008.
Starting in November 2015, during a wave of mass protests, mainly by Oromos, over the expansion of the municipal boundary of the Addis Ababa into Oromia, over 500 people have been killed and many more have been injured, according to human-rights advocates and independent monitors. The protests have since spread to other ethnic groups and encompass wider social grievances. Ethiopia declared a state of emergency in response to Oromo and Amhara protests in October 2016.
With the rising political unrest, there was ethnic violence involving the Oromo such as the Oromo–Somali clashes between the Oromo and the ethnic Somalis, leading to up to 400,000 to be displaced in 2017. Gedeo–Oromo clashes between the Oromo and the Gedeo people in the south of the country, and continued violence in the Oromia-Somali border region led to Ethiopia having the largest number of people to flee their homes in the world in 2018, with 1.4 million newly displaced people. In September 2018 in the minorities protest that took place in Oromia near Addis Ababa, 23 people were killed following the deaths of 43 Oromos in the Addis Ababa neighborhood of Saris Abo. Some have blamed the rise in ethnic violence in the Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne on the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for giving space to groups formerly banned by previous Tigrayan led governments, such as the Oromo Liberation Front and Ginbot 7.
Protests broke out across Ethiopia, chiefly in the Oromia Region, following the assassination of musician Hachalu Hundessa on 29 June 2020, leading to the deaths of at least 200 people. On 30 June 2020, a statue of former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie in London was destroyed by Oromo protestors.

Political organizations

Most Oromos do not have political unity today due to their historical roles in the Ethiopian state and the region, the spread-out movement of different Oromo clans, and the differing religions inside the Oromo nation. Accordingly, Oromos played major roles in all three main political movements in Ethiopia during the 19th and 20th century. In addition to holding high powers during the centralist government and the monarchy, the Raya Oromos in the Tigray regional state played a major role in the "Weyane" revolt, challenging Emperor Haile Selassie I's rule in the 1940s. Simultaneously, both federalist and secessionist political forces developed inside the Oromo community.
At present a number of ethnic-based political organizations have been formed to promote the interests of the Oromo. The first was the Mecha and Tulama Self-Help Association founded in January 1963, but disbanded by the government after several increasingly tense confrontations in November 1966. Later groups include the Oromo Liberation Front, Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, the United Liberation Forces of Oromia, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Oromia, the Oromia Liberation Council, the Oromo National Congress and others. Another group, the Oromo People's Democratic Organization, is one of the four parties that form the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition. However, these Oromo groups do not act in unity: the ONC, for example, was part of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces coalition that challenged the EPRDF in the Ethiopian general elections of 2005.
, February 2006
A number of these groups seek to create an independent Oromo nation, some using armed force. Meanwhile, the ruling OPDO and several opposition political parties in the Ethiopian parliament believe in the ethnic federalism. But most Oromo opposition parties in Ethiopia condemn the economic and political inequalities in the country. Progress has been very slow, with the Oromia International Bank just recently established in 2008, though Oromo-owned Awash International Bank started early in the 1990s.
Radio broadcasts began in Oromo language in Somalia in 1960 by Radio Mogadishu. Within Kenya there has been radio broadcasting in Oromo on the Voice of Kenya since at least the 1980s. Broadcasting in Oromo thought in Ethiopia as it would break radio until 1974 revolution in which Radio Harar began broadcasting.
The first private Afaan Oromoo newspaper in Ethiopia, Jimma Times, also known as Yeroo, was recently established, but it has faced a lot of harassment and persecution from the Ethiopian government since its beginning. Abuse of Oromo media is widespread in Ethiopia and reflective of the general oppression Oromos face in the country.
Various human rights organizations have publicized the government persecution of Oromos in Ethiopia for decades. In 2008, OFDM opposition party condemned the government's indirect role in the death of hundreds of Oromos in western Ethiopia. According to Amnesty International, "between 2011 and 2014, at least 5000 Oromos have been arrested based on their actual or suspected peaceful opposition to the government. These include thousands of peaceful protestors and hundreds of opposition political party members. The government anticipates a high level of opposition in Oromia, and signs of dissent are sought out and regularly, sometimes pre-emptively, suppressed. In numerous cases, actual or suspected dissenters have been detained without charge or trial, killed by security services during protests, arrests and in detention."
According to Amnesty International, there is a sweeping repression in the Oromo region of Ethiopia. On 12 December 2015, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported violent protests in the Oromo region of Ethiopia in which more than 20 students were killed. According to the report, the students were protesting against the government's re-zoning plan named 'Addis Ababa Master Plan'.
On 2 October 2016, between 55 and 300 festival goers were massacred at the most sacred and largest event among the Oromo, the Irreecha cultural thanksgiving festival. In just one day, dozens were killed and many more injured in what will go down in history as one of the darkest days for the Oromo people. Every year, millions of Oromos, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, gather in Bishoftu for this annual celebration. However this year, the festive mood quickly turned chaotic after Ethiopian security forces responded to peaceful protests by firing tear gas and live bullets at over two million people surrounded by a lake and cliffs. In the week that followed, angry youth attacked government buildings and private businesses. On 8 October, the government responded by abusive and far-reaching state of emergency lifted in August 2017. During the state of emergency, security forces arbitrarily detained over 21,000 people.

Notable people