THE JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND …...Dec 21, 2019 · THE JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE was formerly ... the study will shed a ray of light

THE JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE was formerly

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Ephraim Isaac (Institute of Semitic Studies, USA) Assefa Balcha (Wollo University, Ethiopia) Zelealem Leyew (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia) Ronny Meyer (Inalco/Llacan, France)

Ekkehard Wolff (Adama University, Ethiopia) Daniel Kassahun (Austin Community Collage, USA)Anbessa Teferra (Tel Aviv University, Israel)

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Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History, and Culture. Volume 8/ Number 2/ 2019

ISSN 0894-9824

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture

Volume 8, Number 2, 2019

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture. Vol 8, No. 2, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTICLES

THE SOCIAL BASIS OF BUNA (COFFEE) USAGE IN WALLO... 141

Assefa Balcha

CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARSI OROMO WOMEN TO CUSTOMARY

CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACE RESETTLEMENT ........ 163

Gemeda Hunde Wordoffa &Wako Gada Obse

የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን ሀይማኖታዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች ለቱሪዝም እድገት

ያላቸው ሚና ፍተሻ ......................................................................................... 191 መንግስቱ ታደሰ

የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ታሪክን የተንተራሱ የትርክት ተቃርኖዎች ለማለዘብ የህዝብና ባህል መስተጋብር

ታሪክ ምርምር ሚና ........................................................................................ 221 አውግቸው አማረ

REVIEW

የመጽሃፍ ዳሰሳ .............................................................................................. 249 መንግስቱ ታደሰ




THE SOCIAL BASIS OF BUNA (COFFEE) USAGE

IN WALLO

Assefa Balcha

ABSTRACT

Based on the data gathered from local oral informants and secondary source

materials the paper attempts to reconstruct the role Coffee (Amh. Buna)

played in the social life of the people of Wallo, Ethiopia. The main object of

this study is thus to examine the way in which the habit of coffee brewing

and drinking for various reasons has been maintained for so long and how

this tradition would help facilitate mutual respect and understanding as well

as nurture enduring harmony and collegiality among the local public. Wallo

has been, and is, known for extensive consumption (and also for growing a

limited amount) of coffee, a tradition strongly embedded in both the physical

and spiritual life of the people. Buna’s role in bringing people together across

religious and ethno-linguistic lines and cherishing peaceful coexistence for

centuries deserves closer examination and recording. By looking into the

changing role of coffee consumption over time, the study will shed a ray of

light on the increasing importance of coffee drinking among the youth and

the mushrooming of coffee-selling business establishments.

INTRODUCTION

Coffee, (Buna in Amharic and Bun in Arabic), is Ethiopia's precious

gift to the outside world and the main export item and foreign

exchange earner. Buna is indigenous to the fertile and well-watered

southwestern region of Ethiopia. The forests where coffee still grows

wild are mainly in Kaffa, Jimma, Wollega, Illubabor, Gamu Gofa

provinces. The Oromo states of the Gibe region (straddling modern

day Kaffa, Wollega, western Shewa and eastern Illubabor) also

142 | THE SOCIAL BASIS OF BUNA (COFFEE) USAGE IN WALLO


became the center of the regional lucrative trade in coffee, slaves,

gold and ivory. While all the four major coffee species: Coffea arabica,

Coffea Robusta, Coffea liberica and Coffea esliaca (also called Coffea

excelsa), are believed to have been first grown in Africa, Coffea arabica

is known to have originated in Ethiopia.1 And, ‘so far is known, in no

other part of the world’ that Coffea arabica grows wild. The Arabs of

Yemen had imported the seeds of Coffea arabica from Ethiopia and

domesticated them. It could not have originated there as the natural

“conditions do not exist in Yemen which would allow this type of

coffee to grow as a wild plant without cultivation by man.”2 Though

not definitively ascertained, “coffee” or the name now used in other

languages has been associated with Kaffa, the province where the

coffee tree with thousands of varieties grew wild. Ninety percent of

the world’s coffee crop comes from the species Coffea arabica. It has

been generally accepted that coffee originated in present day

Ethiopia; hence, ‘the scientific taxonomy Coffea Arabica is actually a

misnomer.’3 The famous oral account with regard to the discovery of

coffee which goes as far back as AD 9th C in tandem with Kaldi, the

mythical shepherd boy who observed the stimulation of his goats

after nibbling the coffee beans, has been well-known and it requires

no explanation. Though the exact time period at which Ethiopians

began to use coffee as a beverage is unknown, coffee beans were

known to have been consumed in various other forms. 4 It can

therefore be speculated that drinking coffee in its present form must

have been developed gradually and after a long period of trial and

error.

1 Mekete Belachew, “Coffee”, Encyclopedia Aethiopica, V. 1. Otto

Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. Wiesbaden 2003, p 763

2 “How Ethiopian Coffee Spread through the World” Ethiopian Observer,

V. 4, N.1, 1960, p. 183

3 Metasebia E. Yoseph, “A Culture of Coffee: Transmediating the

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony,” MA Thesis, Washington, DC, Gorge

Town University, 2013, p.27

4 “How Ethiopian Coffee Spread” pp. 183-184

ASSEFA BALCHA | 143


The coffee plant and the habit of coffee drinking seem to have been

disseminated to the other parts of the country along with the

dispersion of the Oromo people since the 16th century.5 Later, the long

distance caravan merchants of the 19th century using the trade routes

that interweaved the country were believed to have been the main

agents for the widespread use of coffee in Ethiopia.6 The foundation

in the late 19th c of Dessie as a regional capital boosted the importance

of the trade routes passing through it to Zeila in the east and to

Massawa in the north. In much of the 20th century itinerant Muslim

merchants of Wallo had often traveled to as far as Jimma and beyond

in the south to bring coffee and other merchandize to the lucrative

Wallo market. The information gained from this trade relations

pushed considerable number of casual laborers from rural Wallo to

seasonally migrate to the coffee-producing areas to pick coffee beans

in order to subsidize their income.7 The coffee plant is highly prized

and its berries have been, and are still, used for variety of personal

and social activities. Being a traditional drink in both rural and urban

areas of Ethiopia coffee is often consumed in a social setting

involving family and friends, relatives and immediate neighbors. As

a unique mark of hospitality, the majority of the Ethiopian public has

been known for arranging an elaborate coffee ceremony to entertain

their local or foreign guests. Ethiopians are believed to be “the

highest coffee consumers in Africa,” making them the producer,

exporter and heavy consumer of coffee.8 Almost all bars that had

been serving alcoholic drinks and foods were simply referred to as

Coffee House or Buna Bet in Amharic. These days the name Cafeteria

5 Endalkachew Lelisa Duressa. “Discourse Analysis of Origin and

Distribution of Coffee Arabica” American Research Journal of History and

Culture; V.4, Issue 1, 2018, p.5

6 Richard Pankhurst, A Social History of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: Institute of

Ethiopian Studies, 1990, pp.314-315

7 Oral Informants

8 José D. Sette, “Ethiopian Coffee: Challenges and Opportunities” Paper

presented at the Ethiopian Coffee Export Conference, 8 – 9 November 2012,

Addis Ababa Ethiopia. P. 10



and Restaurant has been widely used for places where hot drinks like

tea, coffee, a mix of coffee and tea (spris in local parlance), espresso,

macchiato as well as fast food and other local or foreign cuisines are

served.

The ceremony was so ingrained in the day-to-day life of the people

that the anti-social political cadres of the military government or the

Derg (1974-1991) did not even try to abolish the rituals of coffee

drinking, which may have been held up to three times a day. It can

therefore be argued that one of the resilient and enduring Ethiopian

traditions that sustained and/or unaffected during the turbulent Derg

regime was the coffee ceremony.9 The ceremony was often used to

share and gossip about current political developments in the country

and the various politico-military challenges the Derg administration

was facing. At the time where news and views were controlled and

censored by the state, the coffee ceremony was the only place for

“cultural continuation in the midst of cultural disruption.” 10 For

instance, using coffee drinking as a pretext, and even as a coping

method of the tragedies that befell some of them, family members

and close relatives (and also neighbors) came together to update

themselves and share information on the infamous issue of the

recruitment to the national military service of the youth and to devise

ways and means to save their sons from it. It is also believed that

political opponents of the Derg used the coffee ritual gatherings for

disseminating their political ideologies and recruiting members to

their clandestine organizations.11

LOCAL SOCIO-CULTURAL MYTHS

According to oral tradition, a renowned sheikh by the name Aniye,

named correctly as Sheikh Mohammed al-Anni (d. 1887), is said to

9 Dahay Daniel, “The Comforts of Coffee: The Role of the Coffee

Ceremony in Ethiopians' Efforts to Cope with Social Upheaval during

the Derg Regime (1974-1991)”, MA Thesis, History, Ottawa, Ontario,

Carleton University, 2016, p. ii

10 Ibid, p.83

11 Oral Informants

ASSEFA BALCHA | 145


have introduced chat usage in Wallo. Aniye was living in Rayya and

was expelled from there by Emperor Yohannes (1872-1889). He then

settled in Dana, Yejju. He died at the same place and later became one

of the venerated local Muslim saints in Wallo and to whom a shrine

was dedicated. It is not clear why the use of chat has been associated

with Sheikh Aniye. However, it is reasonable to argue that associating

chat usage with this famous Muslim local saint underpinned the need

for a legitimating justification. It is worth remarking that chat has a

reputation of curing almost all kinds of human ailments. People

believed that drinking coffee while chewing chat would help them

stay awake and highly attentive to pray devotedly all through the

night.12

Similarly, coffee drinking has been associated with sheikh Imanu, a

mythical person of unidentified origin and time. The sheikh was

believed to have introduced coffee usage after ‘watching the berries

being nibbled by birds and he himself had tested it.’13 Despite this

dubious account, however, Krapf, who visited Wallo around the

mid-19th century, remarked that Muslims in Yejju were accustomed

to drinking coffee.14 It is quite certain that towards the end of the 19th

century, both chat and coffee, which had been largely associated with

the Muslims and the zar ritual, became popular even among the

Christian population. It is believed that people in Wallo adopted the

custom of coffee drinking following the settlement in the region of

the Oromo people; and this tradition appeared to have encountered

strong opposition from the Orthodox Church. With a strong support

he garnered from the Church Emperor Yohannes IV (1872-1889)

launched an intensive campaign against the zar possession rites and

the wadaja prayer sessions, wherein chewing chat, drinking coffee and

sniffing or smoking tobacco were often supplied, and the emperor

12 Oral Informants

13 Oral Informants

14 C. W Isenberg, and J. L. Krapf, Journal of C. W. Isenberg and J. L. Krapf.

London: Seeley, Burnside and Seeley, 1843, pp.429, 437



firmly opposed them as irreligious, idolatrous habits. 15 After the

passing of Emperor Yohannes, however, such injunctions had been

significantly relaxed. As Emperor Menilik himself used to drink

coffee, the coffee-drinking habit was said to be rapidly spreading

during his reign.16 However, brewing coffee from its roasted berries

for drinking, originally the ‘prerogative of the rich’, had been picked

up by the ordinary public is hard to establish.17

COFFEE’S ROLE IN INDIGENOUS HEALING

Coffee had also some importance in traditional medicine. Learning

to control strong medicines with antidotes so as to reduce their

violent reaction on patients using items like whey, butter milk, coffee,

linseed or lemon juice, etc., was a vital part of the training package in

indigenous therapeutics. Indigenous healers also put some roasted

coffee beans on the same spot/s where medicinal herb/s had to be

uprooted. A patient seeking to obtain therapeutic service from a local

healer had to offer in advance what is customarily known as rensa.

Rensa could be in kind, such as a handful of coffee beans, or a very

small token cash payment. This means coffee had served as a

medium of transaction. Besides, some individuals, often elderly

women, were also known for reading the patterns of the second or

mostly the third round coffee residues (Baraka) in the cup to foretell

the person’s future. Other fortune tellers were also known for

throwing some coffee beans and interpreting the graphical

configurations they made. Though it is hard to tell with certainty,

there seemed to have been some sort of relation between the use of

Baraka, which means literally ‘blessing’, and this particular

divinatory method. If ‘a diviner is present, [participants] may

15 Oral Informants

16 Richard Pankhurst, “Notes for a History of Ethiopian Agriculture”

Ethiopian Observer, V. 7, N.3, 1964, p. 219

17 Rita Pankhurst, “Cultural role of coffee in Ethiopia,” Encyclopedia

Aethiopica, V. 1 Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. Wiesbaden, 2003, p.765

ASSEFA BALCHA | 147


eventually turn over their cups to have their fortunes told.’18 In fact,

as most people did not want to have their future divined in the

presence of others, essentially to avoid censure, however, those who

wanted to tap this particular service would summon the ‘cup-

readers’ to their homes in secret and brewed coffee as required for

the purported objective.

In some Orthodox Christian families and regular church goers the

coffee that would be drunk in weekends (Yesenbet Buna) should be

roasted and powdered before Friday evening. It was to observe the

sanctity of the two Ethiopian Sabbaths that roasting and pounding

coffee, just like other heavy domestic chores, which were considered

as sinful deeds, was not allowed to be carried out during Saturdays

and Sundays. Devotees would not even drink coffee that was freshly

prepared by others during weekends. 19 Though unsuccessful, the

Ethiopian Orthodox Church often preached the laity to stop coffee

drinking and the rituals associated with it.

At times, coffee itself was held responsible for causing some mild

illnesses. For example, a sweaty person being exposed to the sun

(especially mid-day sun), or had consumed spicy food or coffee,

he/she would become sick with Mich or Shiwita. It was either for fear

of contracting Mich or keeping away the machination of malevolent

spiritual beings that most women would not even dispose coffee

residues (yebuna atela) at any available spot. The most favored home-

based treatment for mich was to steam bathe the sick with the boiling

leaves of nech Bahir Zaf (Eucalyptus globulus) and areg resa (Zehneria

scabra) and/or rubbing the body with the crushed leaves of damakese

(Ocimum suave); and, most importantly, drinking the potion of

damakese with coffee or a sprig of rue or Tena Adam (Ruta chalepensis)

being dipped in the coffee cup was believed to be an effective

remedy. Swallowing a paste made of coffee grounds and honey was

18 Rita Pankhurst, “Cultural role of coffee in Ethiopia,” Encyclopedia

Aethiopica, V. 1 Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. Wiesbaden, 2003, ,p.765

19 Oral Informants



recommended for treating sore throat and abdominal complaints

such as colic and diarrhea. Likewise, ground coffee was also applied

to arrest the bleeding of some minor skin injuries. For headache

drinking hot coffee was often the prime home-based treatment

choice. As part of their treatment procedure, local injectionists also

advised their patients not to take salty, fatty or highly fermented

foods, as well as coffee and local beverages with strong alcoholic

contents. Biomedical practitioners also made similar injunctions on

their patients and many of whom had a hard time quitting their

coffee drinking habits. 20 Though “the ritual has many beautiful

shared meanings that are an important part of daily life and collective

interactions” for women, addiction21 to coffee drinking has been a

salient habit of both sexes.

COFFEE AND LOCAL TECHNOLOGY

As most weavers (Shemanie), potters (Shekla Seri) and iron smiths (Bale

Eje) in the past did not own farmlands, they had to eke out their living

by weaving clothes, manufacturing agricultural implements and

earthenware household utensils, such as Beret Mitad (small metal

plate for roasting coffee beans), Fernelo (a thin metal open-faced stove

for heating charcoal on which coffee is roasted and boiled), Jebena (a

slender necked, round based clay pot, with a handle and spout),

Matot (a hand-woven circular basket for resting the coffee pot) and

Gulecha (earthenware tripods on which cooking utensils and coffee

pots rest above the fire), as well as Mugecha and Zenezena (wooden

mortars and pestles for pounding coffee, spices and grain) and a

small washbasin to rinse the coffee cups. Depending on the occasion,

a short table-like wooden tray or Rekebot on which the brewed coffee

would be poured into the cups varied in size and workmanship. In

fact, some of the necessary kits that have been used in everyday

coffee ceremony and during holidays such as Mawlid or other public

20 Oral Informants

21 Jennifer A Brinkerhoff, “Being a Good Ethiopian Woman: Participation

in the “Buna” (Coffee) Ceremony and Identity,” PhD Dissertation,

Arizona State University, 2011,p.4.

ASSEFA BALCHA | 149


events differed in their size and quality. In the case of the latter, for

instance, the size of the pots and trays that have been deployed to

serve quite a lot of people (or Jemaa) at once and customarily referred

to as Yejemaa Jebena and Yejemaa Rekebot respectively, were unusually

big. It is also worth noting about the kinds of small mats that are

placed under the Rekebot. In most cases, the decorated mats (Ar.

Sufran) that are made of different materials have been produced by

local craftswomen mastering a skill in embroidery. The quality of the

various accouterments including the kinds of coffee cups, incense,

sandalwood, and snacks being used or supplied in a coffee ceremony

may give us a clue about the socio-economic status of a household as

well.22

SOCIO-CULTURAL VALUES OF COFFEE

In Wallo, the social role of coffee is still paramount like nowhere else.

Both Christian and Moslem families in Wallo commemorated Abdal

Qader al-Jilani, a certain Sheikh Kedir, and Sheikh Nura Hussein every

Wednesdays, Saturdays and Tuesdays respectively by chewing chat

and holding elaborate coffee ceremonies. These regular gatherings

seem to have enhanced the degree of conviviality and

intercommunication among members of the two religious

communities. The saying: ከላይ ታቦቱ፤ ከሥር ረከቦቱ “The Ark on top and

the Coffee Tray beneath” 23 must have been the shared socio-

psychological belief governing such inter-religious weekly ritual get-

together.

Propitiation of a local protective spirit or qolle was periodically

accomplished to maintain the health and wellbeing of the people in

the locality. When a flu-like illness visited a village, for example,

women in the neighborhood would come together to placate the qolle

and get its mercy, so as to withdraw its wrath and leave the locality

with graceful civility. An elaborate coffee drinking ceremony was

normally accompanied by eating either boiled or roasted cereals

22 Oral Informants

23 Oral Informants



along with unleavened bread or qita. Some of these edible foodstuffs

would also be tossed to “feed” the spirit.

The Ethiopian New Year and Meskel (or ‘The Finding of the True

Cross’), the two principal religious holidays that have been

customarily celebrated with bonfire and fanfare would soon be

followed by an exceptionally decorated coffee ceremony. The other

yearly holiday in which coffee has been widely consumed in group

for a couple of days is Genbot Lideta, the first day of Genbot (May), a

festive occasion being held to commemorate the birthday of Saint

Mary.24 Participants making monetary contributions jointly prepared

bread, Qollo and Injera with Siga Wot (meat stew) or Tibis (grilled

meat). They also brought coffee, incense; alcoholic or non-alcoholic

drinks to share. Offerings of the fulfilled vows some of them had

made in the previous year would increase the amount and variety of

foods and drinks they enjoyed. Besides consuming the food in a

jubilant mood, serving coffee in a traditional and exquisite manner

has been an indispensable ritual. Coffee has been ceremonially

served even in a faith-based association (Mahber) in which members’

one after the other offered well-prepared food and/or bread and tella

once in a month in the name of a guardian angel or a saint to whom

the Mahber was purportedly dedicated. Among the Muslim or

Orthodox Christian public religious and cultural holidays and

festivities such as births, marriages and christening times became less

glamorous if not supplemented by coffee service.25

Likewise, offerings to a female deity called atete (being held in

Meskerem, the first month of the Ethiopian New Year) constituted

split boiled barley (qinche) infused with unsalted and non-spiced

ghee (clarified butter); wheat bread, qollo (roasted cereals), nug (Niger

seed), milk, and a drink made of unleavened barley bread (buqrie)

without gesho (Rhamnus prinoides) or birz (unfermented honey mead);

burning of incense and sandalwood, and above all, the ceremonial

24 Dahay Daniel, “The Comforts of Coffee” p.81

25 Oral Informants

ASSEFA BALCHA | 151


servicing of coffee along with the sweet-smelling herbs like ariti

(Artemisia afra) and tej sar (Cymbopogon citratus) and the freshly-cut

grass or serdo (Cynodon dactylon) covering the floor on which the Balle

chelle woman seated, was an indispensable ritual performance. Most

importantly, the Balle chelle’s consumption of some butter-soaked

roasted coffee beans in the husk signified the beginning of the

festivity that often involved members of the household, relatives and

immediate neighbors.26

Coffee was highly needed even in times of severe food scarcity. The

axiom: ‘We live on coffee',27 which signified the difficulty the famished

people encountered and their craving to have a cup of coffee, was one

of the coping methods they employed to withstand the pangs of

hunger. Particularly in rural areas, it is believed that the last stage of

poverty is when families cannot prepare and treat themselves and

their neighbors with coffee. The significance of this expression is that

coffee is the only food available for them. Those who could not afford

to buy coffee would soon resort to drink the boiled coffee husk.

Having their homes fumed with the smell of coffee coming out of the

roasted husk would give them some psychological comfort. To make

a brew the coffee husk or a few beans would at times be mixed with

deeply roasted barley pearls.28 It was also common to see elderly men

and women roaming around residential areas asking residents to

provide them boiled coffee. Seeking to obtain their blessings most

people would not even hesitate to make and offer them coffee

together with injera bewot (injera with stew) or the usual snack known

customarily as Yebuna Qures such as popcorn, Qollo, Qita, bread and

even a piece of Injera with Dequs (chili powder or hot pepper). It was

also common to observe some older women from nearby rural areas

26 Oral Informants

27 Dessalegn Rahmato and Aklilu Kidanu, “Consultation with the Poor: A

Study to Inform the World Development Report on Poverty and

Development” (National Report, Ethiopia), Addis Ababa. 1999.

www.siteresources.worldbank.org p.28.

28 Oral Informants



asking passersby on the streets to give them money to buy coffee.29

In normal times, however, the major reason/s why rural folks

periodically came to towns is to buy essential items such as salt, soap,

oil, sugar, coffee, and gasoline, etc.30

As most people in rural areas are accustomed to having hot coffee

early in the morning, they are constantly worried about the increase

in price of coffee. Invitation for coffee is usually followed after

courteously asking each other’s health and the health of relatives. As

often believed, coffee is the most regularly consumed “caffeine-

containing beverage next to water and tea.” This idea seems to be true

when we see some individuals who would prefer to drink coffee

early in the morning together with a small loaf of injera or a piece of

bread only; others even would like to have coffee without breakfast

at all. Elderly women and long-distance itinerant merchants while

traveling would take some roasted coffee beans with them; and they

chewed a few beans once in a while till they reached their final

destinations.31

It has been, and is, customary to serve coffee and roasted cereals or

Qollo for those who took part in the burial ceremony of a deceased

person. Beside members of the funeral association, relatives and

family members and several other people participated at the funeral.

Coffee was the much needed item members in some funeral

associations (or Idir) contributed to ease the economic burden of the

bereaving family. Soon after the end of the funeral rite women in the

grieving household had to repeatedly serve coffee and tea to those

who came to solace the mourners. Hosting with coffee would be

carried on for several days as people continued to come to comfort

the mourners and stayed for some minutes/hours in the tent (Amh:

29 Personal Observations

30 Assefa Balcha, “Dietary and Life Conditions in 20th Century Wallo,”

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture Volume 7, Number 1,

1-40, 2018, p.16.

31 Oral Informants

ASSEFA BALCHA | 153


Denkuan) the Idir oftentimes erected.32 It may therefore be argued that

the Buna drinking sessions in such distressful times seemed to have

contributed to the strengthening, if not the creation, and/or

reproducing the social fabric in a meaningful way.

COFFEE IN GROUP PRAYER OR HEALING SESSIONS

The settlement in Wallo of the Oromo since the turn of the 17th C had

tremendously impacted the religious and cultural beliefs and

practices of the pre-Oromo inhabitants of the area. The adoption from

the Oromo inhabitants of a group prayer ritual called wadaja was an

important cross-cultural development in what is today Wallo. Such

cross-cultural interactions must have assisted to maintain the cross-

fertilization of the beliefs and values of the ethnically heterogeneous

local population and to nourish their cultural admixture in an

enduring and harmonious way. Through their active engagement in

the group wadaja healing or prayer (Dua) sessions, participants

genuinely believed that they would be liberated from a host of

human or spiritually-caused personal, familial and social problems.

More often than not, most wadaja rituals were accompanied by

chewing a mildly narcotic plant called chat (Catha edulis) that contains

an active psycho-stimulant substance known as cathinone, frequent

drinking of coffee, slaughtering of fowl, sheep, goats, or even bulls,

burning of incense and chanting petitionary or propitiatory songs.33

The French missionary Salviac in the early 20th c described how a

family wadaja was performed. He wrote: “The family that celebrates

[wadaja] invites relatives, friends, neighbors, and prepares coffee,

beer, sometimes mead, polenta or bread, barley or grilled maize.”34

The wadaja “is accompanied by a feast of bread or roasted corn and

32 Personal Observations

33 Enrico Cerulli, “The Folk-Literature of the [Oromo] of Southern

Abyssinia” Harvard African Studies, 3, 1922, p.136 http://nrs.harvard.

edu/ urn-3:FHCL:12674642

34 Ayalew Kanno, The Oromo: Great African Nation, As Recounted by Martial

De Salviac, Translated from French. Addis Ababa: Artistic Printing Press,

2008, p.162.



coffee, beer or hydromel, a portion of which is offered to Waqa ...”35

People sharing a common frame of mind held wadaja ritual for

various purposes such as to remove barrenness, to obtain wealth, or

to succeed in business, and above all, to overcome ill-health and live

long. It could also be used to avert misfortune when, for example, a

person dreamt of a deceased family member, which was extremely

undesirable. 36 Preparing wadaja might be needed to reverse the

impending misfortune and restore a harmonious relationship

between the deceased and the living. It was also common to entertain

‘dream interpreter/s’, often an elderly woman or any person with a

proven skill to do so, with coffee in order to have one’s dream

interpreted.37

Among the various types of the Wadaja rituals, the Tolfena wadaja, for

instance, was characterized by a huge consumption of chat (Catha

edulis), local alcoholic drinks and/or smoking tobacco, not to mention

coffee drinking and other ritual items that have been readily served

in all wadaja ceremonies. The participants in the tolfena wadaja were

often a small group of young men (also at times adults). Tolfena is a

corrupted derivation of an Oromo word tole, which literally means

“OK” or “alright,” indicating the supposed capability of the wadaja

participants in making things alright. 38 The tolfena wadaja did not

necessarily reflect a single tradition; rather it was a good example of

the evolution of a modified form of ritual anchoring on the

purportedly accepted notions of the wadaja etiquette and procedure.

The inclusion of alcoholic drinks in the predominantly “alcohol-free”

ritual of chat-chewing and coffee-drinking underpinned the changing

35 Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.

1965), p.262.

36 Assefa Balcha, “Traditional Medicine in Wallo: Its Nature and History”.

MA. Thesis, History, Addis Ababa University, 1992, pp.36-37.

37 Oral Informants

38 Assefa Balcha “Wadaja Ritual: Portrait of a Wallo Cultural Coping

Mechanism”, Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, 3:1, 2017, PP

47-48, DOI: 10.1080/23277408.2017.1323170.

ASSEFA BALCHA | 155


or adaptive nature of the wadaja ritual. One may argue that these

perceptible alterations in chat and coffee usage and their improper

use and abuse by the younger generation appear to have been the

major reason why menzuma experts expressed their disappointment

in the following way:

It is depressing not pleasurable;

When apes drink coffee and monkeys chew chat.

It was the elderly who presaged about the future;

Now the impassive youth begin to do so.39

As in most culture-bound societies, variety of human and natural

problems were invariably perceived as manifestations of God’s

wrath upon transgressors, or the machinations of wicked spiritual

entities. Either to obtain God’s mercy, to avert a looming disaster, to

remove the malefic influence of evil spirits, or to correct human

injustices, the duberti, elderly women aged above 60 years, would

gather around a big tree, in an open field, by the main road, or in the

vicinity of administrative offices, to conduct the wadaja ritual. During

these times, the duberti obtained provisions of food, coffee and other

ritual items like chat, sandalwood and Frankincense from the

surrounding communities and passers-by. The duberti often stressed

the idea that whenever chat is chewed by “devout and righteous

individuals, whatever is sought can easily be obtained.” In the case

of severe drought, for instance, the duberti would come together to

have a wadaja session to pray for God’s mercy. Such a wadaja could

be run for days and chat and coffee would be frequently served, day

and night, along with the slaughtering of sheep, goat or even a bull.40

Moreover, for a variety of personal reasons, many individuals or

households would summon the duberti to have a private wadaja ritual

session. Being renowned for their expertise in dealing with some

psycho-social illnesses, the duberti having a highly focused séance

and prayer session of chat chewing and coffee drinking would exert

39 Ibid, pp. 49-51; Oral Informants

40 Assefa Balcha “Wadaja Ritual” pp.49-51; Oral Informants.



psychological pressure on the allegedly intrusive spirit, which would

either be persuaded or forced, as the case might be, to leave its

involuntary host. Other than such a specialized service the duberti

were simply expected to give assurances of “physical and

psychological well-being” to those who demanded their service or

blessings. Their involvement in private wadaja sessions was one of the

ordinary duties the duberti carried out in their respective

communities. Although they gave emphasis to the problems they

were summoned to deal with, the duberti, whose curse was highly

feared, were reputed to provide their blessings and prayers for the

general well-being of the society as a whole.41 The use of coffee as the

only single component of the tufta (“spitting”) ceremony by the

elderly men in Raya has been recorded.42 The host may have sought

the participants’ tufta and blessings with the intent of obtaining

children, wealth, succeeding in business, good harvest, healthy life,

as well as fulfilling a variety of other personal wishes.43

A ritual of group prayer in and around Muslim shrines often

accompanied by chat chewing, coffee drinking, animal sacrifice and,

above all, collective chanting to obtain the baraka of the Prophet and

the local saints induced pilgrims to visit the sites in different

occasions such as on Fridays, Mawlid (the annual celebration of the

Prophet Mohammed's birthday), and during the Muslim New Year

(or Ashura). While coffee was intermittently brewed and drank, chat

(Catha edulis) was chewed up until the time of the sacrifice, the high

point of the ritual.

As a rule, a Wadaja session was presided with a ritual expert called

Abbagar, a traditionally-sanctioned “socio-cultural” and “politico-

religious” leader in different parts of rural Wallo. The entire

procedure being applied during the roasting, grinding and boiling of

41 Oral Informants

42 Kibrom Assefa Molla, Culture and History of the Raya people (Amharic),

(Addis Ababa: Far East Trading Private Ltd., Co., 2005 E.C.) pp.172-174.

43 Oral Informants

ASSEFA BALCHA | 157


coffee has been accompanied by constant blessings and singing the

Menzuma songs (prayerful chants and litanies). This creates a joyful

atmosphere among the ritual participants. The Wadaja session that

would be held during Pagumen or anytime during the day or at

nighttime, would keep its momentum with intermittent distribution

of Chat and drinking of hot coffee till the program ended. Participants

would enthusiastically inhale the aroma of the roasted coffee from

the smoking pan before sipping the three rounds of coffee known

generically as Awol or Abol (Ar, ‘first’), Tona (a derivation of an Arabic

word Tani, meaning ‘second’); and Baraka (Ar. ‘blessing’). The one

who prepares the coffee or the Kadami invites the coterie (hadra)

leader, the Abbagar, to give his blessings and best wishes by saying

Abol Jeba which literally means 'here is the first round of the brewed

coffee, Abol or Awol,” which is the strongest and scrumptious one.

Then the Abbagar begins giving his formal blessings. While receiving

the blessings all the participants being open handed would say

“Amen! Amen!” Then after, the server would pour the steaming hot

coffee into handless diminutive cups (Finjal or Sini) and hand them

to all the participants starting from the Abbagar. The saying: የቡና ስባቱ

መፋጀቱ “Coffee’s deliciousness is its hotness” implies peoples’

preference to sip coffee being very hot. As the ritualized coffee

ceremony is a three-step process, the much weakened brews of the

second and third rounds, Tona and Baraka, would soon be served

within short time intervals. The sweet-smelling smoke from the

incense burner (Gacha) and the soothing aroma coming out of the

coffee pot or Jebana gave the partakers a jubilant mood.44

COFFEE AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

Unlike the today’s culture of drinking coffee with sugar, the majority

of people in the past would drink their coffee with some salt in it.

Some prominent individuals and the well-to-do used to drink coffee

by adding butter or milk; others would want to sip their coffee being

flavored with twigs of Tena Adam (Ruta chalepensis).

44 Oral Informants



Despite the differences in the modes of consumption, however, coffee

drinking played considerable role in bringing neighboring women

together to discuss their private and group issues in a friendly and

relaxed manner. Major responsibilities of Ethiopian women

constitute preparation of food and drinks, making delicious coffee,

washing and cleaning, child care, and caring for the sick in the house.

In addition to carrying out these household chores day in day out,

the coffee drinking time was considered as a suitable and preferred

moment for women to discuss various personal or familial issues in

an intimate and congenial atmosphere with their neighbors (or

spouses) in relative privacy. 45 Done on a daily basis, the coffee

ceremony thus serves to bring women together, ‘to relax and to take

a break from the stresses of daily life.’46 Sharing coffee with neighbors

would also mean that they are “at peace” with each other.

Those who habitually brewed and met at a fixed time of the day in

the coffee drinking session were called Tertibegna (Ar. Tertib? or

‘round” in Oromignna), which means literally ‘regular member/s of

the coffee drinking group’). To inform the readiness of coffee to

group members, kids would be sent to tell them ኑ ቡና ጠጡ “come and

drink coffee”. A single coffee drinking session may have taken an

hour or two and this created “a space for community and

conviviality.” The intimate relationships which neighbors created

through repeated rendezvous for coffee would enable them to have

deep conversation and idea sharing that they would openly examine

and resolve a number of domestic and interpersonal problems or

conflicts, including accidental marital qualms or less critical

disagreements. Even marriage suggestions between children of the

participants could be discussed. This means the daily coffee drinking

sessions used to serve as a forum to bring regular group members

together so as to discuss and resolve plethora of inter-household or

neighborhood problems. Correcting children’s immoral or

delinquent behaviors; safeguarding the safety of their households

45 Oral Informants

46 Dahay Daniel, “The Comforts of Coffee” p.80.

ASSEFA BALCHA | 159


from burglary and theft; handling of sanitary problems or disposal of

refuses; peaceful resolution of routine clashes among their kids and

other interpersonal resentments, inter alia, were some of the issues of

discussion at the daily coffee drinking ritual.47 In recent years the

coffee ceremony has been instrumental to the formation of state-

sponsored political discussion groups at the local or Kebele level. The

attempt on the part of the state to use the traditional coffee ceremony

for political purposes must have been derived from the idea that no

one would dare say no if he/she were invited at the time when coffee

was ready for drink. The saying: ቡና ጠጣ ሲሉህ አትሂድ “Do not go away

[or refuse] if you are invited to have a cup of coffee”48 demonstrates

that.

FINAL REMARKS

It is possible to discern that the tradition of dispersing freshly cut

grass, burning incense, and the rite of blessing in every day coffee

ceremony must have been elements of the transmuted cults of the

Wadaja, Atete and Qolle rituals of the earlier periods. According to Rita

Pankhurst, “the modern coffee ceremony has unmistakable

antecedents in zar and other spirit rituals.”49 Though the Tertibegna

tradition has noticeably declined in major urban centers, the

popularity of coffee drinking among the youth is so high that

countless number of business-minded women in most Ethiopian

towns and cities actively engage in brewing and selling hot coffee or

Yajebena Buna, along the main roads. By using an ethical business

model and incorporating ceremonial items such as popcorn, grass

and incense, these “pop-up cafes” offer cups of coffee with sugar and

Tena Adam in the traditional brewing manner and with cheaper

prices. 50 Likewise, modern cafes in urban centers also serve as

‘enlightened meeting places’ for higher learning students and the

47 Oral Informants

48 Oral Informants

49 Rita Pankhurst, "The Coffee Ceremony and the History of Coffee

Consumption in Ethiopia," PICES 3, 526f.

50 Metasebia E. Yoseph, “A Culture of Coffee” p.34.



intelligentsia where they liberally socialize and exchange ideas. At

present, coffee being the most enjoyable drink among both the

younger and older generation of Ethiopians is avidly consumed

throughout the width and breadth of the country. In spite of the

current ethnic tensions, however, “there remains an understanding

of a ‘common’ coffee ceremony that has come to embody the broader

national identity.” 51 In other words, coffee has made enormous

contributions of its own in promoting love, harmony and compassion

as well as nurturing a tolerant culture of communication in a multi-

linguistic and multicultural Ethiopian setting. Developing projects

and enterprises for promoting coffee tourism52 within the agritour-

ism industry, based on an emerging notion called ‘identity economy’

that would help facilitate the preservation of indigenous identity and

culture,53 inter alia, may well be a potential area of investment to boost

local tourism and the nation’s socio-economic development. Being

everyman’s drink and a time-honored badge of Ethiopian hospitality,

coffee has indeed proven to be “Ethiopia’s symbol of national

identity” as tea is an iconic, cherished drink of the Japanese and

Chinese people in the east.54 Hence, if coffee, Ethiopia’s precious gift,

is enjoyed across the entire world, and if it is still cherished by the

Ethiopian public irrespective of their linguistic, sociocultural,

economic and gender differences, why not the Ethiopians therefore

use coffee as a symbol and/or emblem of their national identity and

unity? Is there any single item other than coffee that enjoys this much

amount of popularity and acceptance in Ethiopia? The answer, as to

the author, is definitely no. Then, Ethiopians should think using

coffee as a symbol and/or emblem of their national identity.

51 Ibid, p.14

52 For a detailed information on Coffee Tourism, see, for instance, Ohsoon

Yun, “Coffee Tourism in Ethiopia: Opportunities, Challenges, and

Initiatives” PhD Dissertation, Geography, University of Exeter, 2014

53 Sarah Lyon, “Coffee Tourism and Community Development in

Guatemala” Human Organization 72(3): 188-198, 2013.

54 Metasebia E. Yoseph, “A Culture of Coffee” pp.32-33

ASSEFA BALCHA | 161


REFERENCES CITED

Assefa Balcha. (1992). “Traditional Medicine in Wallo: Its Nature and

History” MA. Thesis, History, Addis Ababa University.

Assefa Balcha. (2017). “Wadaja Ritual: Portrait of a Wallo Cultural

Coping Mechanism”, Eastern African Literary and Cultural

Studies, 3:1, 40-52, DOI: 10.1080/23277408.2017.1323170.

Assefa Balcha. (2018). “Dietary and Life Conditions in 20th Century

Wallo,” Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture

Volume 7, Number 1, 1-40.

Ayalew Kanno. (2008). The Oromo: Great African Nation, As Recounted

by Martial De Salviac, Translated from French. Addis Ababa:

Artistic Printing Press.

Brinkerhoff, Jennifer A. (2011). “Being a Good Ethiopian Woman:

Participation in the “Buna” (Coffee) Ceremony and Identity”

PhD Dissertation, Arizona State University.

Cerulli, Enrico. (1922). “The Folk-Literature of the Galla [Oromo] of

Southern Abyssinia” Harvard African Studies, 3,

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:12674642

Dahay Daniel. (2016). “The Comforts of Coffee: The Role of the Coffee

Ceremony in Ethiopians' Efforts to Cope with Social

Upheaval during the Derg Regime (1974-1991)”, MA Thesis,

History, Ottawa, Ontario, Carleton University.

Dessalegn Rahmato and Aklilu Kidanu. (1999). “Consultation with

the Poor: A Study to Inform the World Development Report

on Poverty and Development” (National Report, Ethiopia),

Addis Ababa. www.siteresources.worldbank.org

Endalkachew Lelisa Duressa. (2018). “Discourse Analysis of Origin

and Distribution of Coffee Arabica,” American Research Journal

of History and Culture, V.4, Issue 1.

“How Ethiopian Coffee Spread through the World”. Ethiopian

Observer, V. 4, N.1, 1960.

Isenberg, C. W. and J. L. Krapf. (1843). Journal of C. W. Isenberg and J.

L. Krapf; London: Seeley, Burnside and Seeley.

Kibrom Assefa Molla. (2005 E.C). Culture and History of the Raya people

(Amharic), Addis Ababa: Far East Trading Private Ltd., Co.



Lyon, Sarah. (2013). “Coffee Tourism and Community Development

in Guatemala” Human Organization 72(3): 188-198.

Mekete Belachew. (2003). “Coffee,” Encyclopedia Aethiopica, V. 1

Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co.

Metasebia E. Yoseph. (2013). “A Culture of Coffee: Transmediating

the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony,” MA Thesis, Washington,

DC, Gorge Town University.

Pankhurst, Richard. (1964). “Notes for a History of Ethiopian

Agriculture,” Ethiopian Observer V. 7, N.3.

Pankhurst, Richard. (1990). A Social History of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa:

Institute of Ethiopian Studies.

Pankhurst, Rita. (1997). "The Coffee Ceremony and the History of

Coffee Consumption in Ethiopia," PICES 2: 516-539.

Pankhurst, Rita. (2003). “Cultural role of coffee in Ethiopia,”

Encyclopedia Aethiopica, V. 1 Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz

GmbH & Co.

Sette, José D. (2012). “Ethiopian Coffee: Challenges and

Opportunities” Paper presented at the Ethiopian Coffee Export

Conference, 8 – 9 November, Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

Trimingham, Spencer. (1965). Islam in Ethiopia, London: Frank Cass &

Co. Ltd.

Yun, Ohsoon. (2014). “Coffee Tourism in Ethiopia: Opportunities,

Challenges, and Initiatives” PhD Dissertation, Geography,

University of Exeter.

Assefa Balcha

Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia




CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARSI OROMO WOMEN

TO CUSTOMARY CONFLICT RESOLUTION

AND PEACE RESETTLEMENT

Gemeda Hunde Wordoffa & Wako Gada Obse

Abstract

In Arsi Oromo, women have remarkable and complex conflict resolution and

peace resettlement practices. The women’s practices, which aimed to

intermediate conflict, may extend to actual conflict resolution process

conducted by community elders’ council. Their practices are used to support

the women’s status as Wayyuu ‘sacred’ members of the society. Thus,

customarily in Arsi Oromo the whole members of the society show honour

to the women in general and the elderly women in particular.

1. Introduction

This study examines Arsi Oromo women’s customary practices to

elucidate their role. Although women have been playing a significant

role in the Arsi Oromo social group, their contributions to the social

construction of the group have not been well studied and

acknowledged in the academic circles. In some cases, their practices

are exposed to distortion and extinction.

The data are collected from the members of Arsi Oromo through

different data collection methods; and analyzed in view of social

construction theory. The interpretations of women’s practices are

determined by specific purposes of meaning construction.

164 | CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARSI OROMO WOMEN TO CUSTOMARY CONFLICT RESOLUTION…


The Oromo people are divided into two groups; Barentu and Borana.

The Arsi Oromo is one of the groups under the Barentu Oromo.

According to oral traditions, the genealogy of Arsi shows that the

man called Arussie (Arssie) was an ancestor of Arsi Oromo people.

Arussie had two sons, Siko and Mando, who in turn begot five and

seven sons respectively. These twelve sons of Sikko and Mando are

considered as the forefathers of the Arsi Oromo (Nuro,1989; Huseen,

2000).

The two great moieties of Arsi Oromo are named after the two sons

of Arussie (Arssie); Siko and Mando. They are divided into sub

moities, and the sub moities also divided into gosa ‘clan’. Regarding

the number of gosas ‘clans’ of Arsi Oromo, the available information

vary. Nuro (1989) states that the Arsi Oromo has more than one

hundred gosas and anyone who does not belong to these gosas can not

claim to be from the Arsi Oromo. Gemeda (2016) refers to the

information he got from the elderly members of Arsi Oromo and

describes that he could identified about 133 Arsi Oromo clans.

Huseen‘s (2000) figure is much larger than that of Gemeda and Nuro.

For Huseen, the clans of Arsi Oromo numbers more than 347.

Regarding the original land of Arsi Oromo, Ketebo (2010), referring

to their oral tradition, states the original land of Arsi Oromo to be

Bale. They specifically mention Bareedduu Kurkurruu, also known as

Miidhadduu Kurkurruu in Bale, to be their original homeland. He

further discusses some informants are able to trace back the

geneology of those who took part in the Oromo expansion and

arrived in Arsi from Bale five to seven generations back.

Geographically, Arsi situated in the central part of Ethiopia. Ketebo

(2010) states that the Arsi zone is part of the larger Arsi land, which

comprises Arsi and Bale zones proper. This vast territory roughly

extends between the Rivers Awash in the north and the Gennalle in

the south, with the Wabe Shabale River dividing it into two entities.

Its east-west extension runs between the former Hararghe and

Sidama zone of the South Ethiopia Nations Nationalities and Peoples

GEMEDA HUNDE WORDOFFA AND WAKO GADA OBSE | 165


(SENNP) region. Furthermore, he discusses that following Minelik’s

conquest of the late 19th Century, other groups of people, mainly the

Amhara and the Shoan Oromo, moved to Arsi and subsequently

became inhabitants of the region as well. This would include also

some areas of the present west Arsi zone; i.e. districts of Arsi Nagele,

Adami Tullu, Jiddo Kombolcha, Shashamanne, and Siraro. They also

inhabt the present zones of East and West Hararghe, and East Shoa

(on the left bank of the River Awash) on the low lands of Bosat district

and Nura Era State Farm area. The Arsi Oromo settlements also

extend up to Guji and Borana in the south. Accordingly, the Arsi

Oromo settled over a larger area than any other settlement of the

Oromo society. They came to the area they are inhabiting today as

early as the time when the Oromo expansion began. It seems that

they did not go far away from the area they had occupied earlier. The

Arsi Oromo in all zones speak Arsi dialect of Afan Oromo, which is

sometimes called Afaan Arsi, the Arsi language. Nowadays, the name

Arsi stands for both the Arsi Oromo people and the Arsi zone

respectively (Ketebo 2010: 4, Nuro 1989: 3, Mamma 1986: 2). They

have developed a concept of Arsooma (Arsihood) that refers to a

specific culture, and provided Arsi with an identity that has been

passing to Gosas (clans) for a long period.

Regarding the economic activities, the Arsi Oromo were

predominantly pastoralist until the 19th century and even after.

Certain mixed groups were agrarian and cattle breeders living in

permanent settlements from which at certain seasons the cattle are

driven in search of pasture, but they become increasingly pastoral in

the south; where the country is less suitable for agriculture (Spencer,

1952). Today, they are agrarian and cattle-breeders living in

permanent settlement areas.

According to Bahru (2002) it was only after the conquest of Arsi by

Menelik II from 1882-1886 that the activities in economic, social

interaction, cultural and religious spheres slightly, but with

significant changes took place, which most probably has facilitated

the expansion of Islam among the Arsi Oromo.



Spencer (1952) states that in 1925 the Arsi Oromo were organized

under the Gada system of five cycles of eight years each. In Arsi

Oromo, the Gada system was very strong. The system organized the

Arsi society into groups that assume different responsibilities. Until

Menelik II put the Arsi Oromo under his power, they were governing

themselves by the Oromo Gada system. In addition, Bahru (2002)

discusses that the Arsi had an economy combining agriculture and

pastoralism, and a more pronounced sense of regional identity

fostered by the leadership of their hereditary abba gada, when the

southward expansion of the kingdom of Shoa reached its climax

under Menelik II. Nuro (1989) on his part affirms the Arsi Oromo had

their abbaa bokkuu ‘Gada leader’, abbaa duulaa ‘Military chief’ and

abbaa muudaa ‘Religious leader’. We can learn from the above writers

that in traditional Arsi Oromo, the Gada guided the religion, social,

political, and economic life of the social group for many years.

The Oromo people constituted of approximately a dozen of tribal

clusters. Although they retain similarities in the descent system, they

differ considerably in religion, life style, and political organization

(Baxter, P. T. W.; Hultin, Jan; and Triulzi, Alessandro; 1997). The Arsi

Oromo is one of the Oromo groups, who have been practicing the

unique culture. In the customary rule of Arsi Oromo, the members of

the social group assigned different roles. To reveal these roles, this

research examined the place and the role of women in the customary

conflict resolution mechanism of the Arsi Oromo social group. The

roles, which the Arsi Oromo women were played in the past and they

are playing nowadays to maintain the peaceful coexistence of the

social group, are the central point of this research. The research

presented analysis of the processes, rituals, stuffs associated with the

practices, different amenities, and oral discourses used by the women

in relation to the customary conflict resolution of Arsi Oromo. It also

described the concept and meanings of peace in traditional Oromo

society.



2. Background and Justification of the Study The Arsi Oromo social group constructed and has been employing

the constructed social structures to maintain their continuation as a

social group and wellbeing of their members. The members of Arsi

Oromo social group were delegated different roles in the social

structure of the group. In the past the social structure of Arsi Oromo

was based on the Oromo Gada system. Later, after the decline of the

Oromo Gada, the social structure of Arsi Oromo establishes on age

level, social status, knowledge of the Arsi culture, sex, etc.

Accordingly, the women had different roles in the social structure of

Arsi Oromo. Principally the women were responsible to nurture and

teach the children about the history of Arsi Oromo and gosas. The

Arsi Oromo mothers used to share their experiences about family

management to their daughters and boys. They always strive to bring

up their children to be the responsible members of the social group.

They make every effort to lay the foundation for a healthy and

confident society that can take charge of its destiny.

The customary rule of the Oromo society states that women in

general and the elderly women in particular, deserve honor by the

whole members of the society. In Arsi Oromo women are considered

as wayyuu ‘sacred’ members of the social group, who are blessed with

spiritual power vested in them by Waaqaa ‘God’. Customary in the

Oromo society, it is believed that by prayer to Waaqaa, the elderly

women may maintain the relationships exist among the society and

Waaqaa. They could also maintain the relationships that exist between

human and nature. According to the customary rule of Arsi Oromo,

women are responsible to bring to end conflicts appear among

individuals, groups, and clans of Arsi Oromo. Likewise, they bring

to end conflicts appear among wives and husbands. The Arsi Oromo

believe that when the elderly women prayer to Waaqaa, He responds

to their prayer faster. When difficulties such as a prolonged absence

of rain appear in the area and epidemic diseases spread, and cattle

and people die in large, the women pray to Waaqaa to resettle peace

in the community. The women also pray to Waaqaa, when pregnant

mothers face hard labor, pleading for safe birth.



Nowadays, the women’s role in the social construction of Arsi Oromo

is declining. The weakening of women’s role influences the

continuity of their traditional practices and indigenous knowledge.

Different factors have been contributing to the declining of the

customary Arsi Oromo women’s practices. Modern education,

globalization, media (high-tech media), and rapid socio-economic

and political changes are among the factors that are influencing the

women’s role. Their traditional wisdoms, indigenous knowledge,

and practices are becoming extinct. Nowadays the traditional

wisdoms, indigenous knowledge, rituals, and festivals are practiced

by a few elderly women of Arsi Oromo. They also survive in the

mouths of these elderly women. The women recite the wisdoms,

conventions, rules, and orders orally. Hence, their essence and social

validity are liable to distortion and extinction, when these elderly

women pass away. Therefore, unless such practices are studied and

its significances are acknowledged in academic circles, they could

disappear without leaving any records.

On the other side, though different studies were conducted on the

Oromo people and the Arsi Oromo culture, the authors of this article

did not come across with a study that consider the role, which the

Arsi Oromo women were played in the past and playing these days.

This research aims in examining the role of the Arsi Oromo women

in the customary conflict resolution of the social group to bridge the

research gap.

3. Concepts of Peace, Conflict, and Conflict Resolution

Peace and conflict are wider concepts among the human behaviors

and customs. Conflicts may happen every time in the human live. It

happens, whether in a family argument or an international

confrontation. Conflict plays a role in every circle of a society; within

families and communities, between groups, and among nations

(McCollum, 2009). Conflict influences the social, economic, and

political activities of the societies. To examine the conflict resolution

practices conducted by the Arsi Oromo women, this sub-section

presented definitions of conflict that are provided by different



writers. It also presented the meanings of conflict and peace in the

customary Oromo society.

Although conflict may happen every time in the society, its meanings

vary from one society to another. The Mediation Centre at El Centre

College in Dallas, Texas, defines conflict as ‘behavior in which people

oppose one another in their thoughts, feelings, and /or actions’

(McCollum, 2009:15). In addition, Wallensteen (2002:16) defines a

conflict as ‘a social situation in which, a minimum of two actors

(parties) strive to acquire at the same moment in time on available set

of scarce resources’.

The above writers defined conflict as a dispute between two or more

individuals or groups. The definitions bring together essential

elements from a number of commonly used definitions of conflict; i.e.

the actors/‘parties’, disagreement, and resources. We can learn from

the definitions that at the root of all conflicts there are unmet needs.

People often create conflicts as they pursue what they want and need.

These needs may be physical ones, such as food, water, shelter,

safety, etc.; resources might be economic in the form of land, wealth;

political in the form of leadership or power; social in the form of

prestige or status; or personal in the form of self-esteem, feelings, and

actions.

It is stated that in any conflict, a useful question to be asked is ‘what

are the unmet needs here? Whatever they are, they will most likely

need to be addressed before the dispute will end. Because conflict is

a regular part of life, it makes sense that people have developed

methods for dealing with it (McCollum: 2009).

A society may also live without a conflict. Such a society, which lives

without a conflict is characterized as a peaceful society. A peaceful

society could be regarded as a society, which is not at dispute with

other societies. Most of the time, the absence of conflict signifies the

reign of peace among the societies. Levinson, (1994) defines that

peace is a type of relationship between political communities, which



is characterized by the absence of violent conflict. This definition

discusses peace in relation to the absence of conflict among the

society.

However, in customary Oromo society, the concept of peace is wider.

According to the research informants, for the Oromo society peace is

not only the absence of war. Rather, peace relates to values of the

Oromo society. For the Oromo society nageenyii ‘peace’ is

amalgamated to wealth, health, well-being, harmony, calmness and

peacefulness. In other words, for the Oromo society, peace relates to

wealth, health and well-being of individuals, families, groups, and

the society in general; and good intra- and inter-group relationships.

Furthermore, peace is integrated to the harmony, which the Oromo

society established with natural environment and Waaqaa. The

absence of peace is manifested by the occurrence of disasters, which

could be either overt or covert. When the relationships exist among

the society and the harmony that the society established with the

nature and Waaqaa are distorted, natural disasters may occur; i.e.

epidemic diseases appear and kill many people; excessive rainfall

erodes crops; prolonged absence of rainfall that results in famine

appears, etc. It was this harmony, which keep up the health of the

people and cattle, absence of diseases, appropriate rain fall that

provide farmers with good crops, water for the people and cattle, etc.

When there exists adequate food for everyone, grass for cattle, water

for people and cattle, the society lives in harmony with their

environment; peace would flourish in homes and families, clans and

the society in general. The neighboring communities could live in

peace, visit one another and attend weddings, funerals, and conduct

rituals, festivals, etc. These points reveal the very important

traditional insight, and notion of peace, which the Oromo society

developed.

All societies have means to resolve conflicts among members of the

groups (Levinson, 1994). Yet there are considerable variations among

societies, regarding how they bring to end the disputes. Different



societies use different types of conflict resolution mechanisms to

bring conflicts to ends and restore the peace. The mechanisms reveal

the conflict resolution mechanisms used by the society. Thus, the

conflict resolution skills of the society are important. Conflict

resolution skills are the tools, which the people use to weave these

connections and repair them when they fray. Conflicts can be

managed in a number of ways. According to Levinson (1994), conflict

management refers to behaviors that occur in reaction to an actual or

potential conflict situation. Conflict management can involve actions

taken to resolve the conflict, or even actions that in advertently

prolong or intensify the conflict.

McCollum (2009:19) discusses strategies and methods used by

different societies for managing conflicts include avoidance,

independent action, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and

litigation.

In customary conflict resolution mechanism of Arsi Oromo, the

mediators (the Waataa people and the community elders) use the

constructive conflict method. McCollum, (2009:21), states that the

constructive conflict resolution has ingredients to improve a

situation. The people involved in constructive conflict focus on

finding a solution that benefits everyone. These are known as

‘win/win’ resolutions. The goal of conflict resolution is to reach an

agreement where both parties ‘win’. These win-win agreements

bring about resolution that can stand up over time. A conflict with a

‘win-lose’ resolution will return-sooner or later-for a rematch.

Sometimes the two sides in a conflict cannot reach a win-

win resolution in their own negotiations. At that point, they should

seek outside help. This may take the form of a mediator to help

the two sides communicate more effectively. Another option

may be an arbitrator who will listen to both sides and then make

a decision that both sides agree to follow. Negotiation, mediation,

and arbitration are all valuable ways to achieve constructive

resolutions to conflict.



The choice, which mechanism to use is depending on considerations

such as the source of the conflict, the level of the damage incurred by

one or both of the disputants, and the relationship between the

parties. For example, a family or a clan, whom its member murdered,

might be able to settle dispute about the crime committed against life

with jaarsummaa ‘elder’s council’. But another family or clan may not

show interest to settle the matter through mediators (direct

negotiation) and instead take the case to the court before a judge

using witnesses and evidences.

There are also a few Oromo people who take their cases to Warra

Waaqaa (Warra Ayyaanaa) 1 to settle the conflicts and use as the

mechanism of conflict resolution. According to Aman, the

community elder from Arsi Oromo, most of the time the cases taken

to Warra Waaqaa or Warraa Ayyaanaa are cases that lack evidences and

witnesses. In other words, when the agreement made among two

parties in the absence of legal documents or witnesses, the compliant

take the case to Warraa Waaqaa. In customary Oromo society, the

council of elderly members of the community (the constitute of those

who hold the Jaarsummaa ‘elders’) are composed of men, who are

selected for membership on the basis of some criteria such as age,

social status, head of a sub-group, clan, village, and religion leader.

Levinson (1994) discusses that elder’s councils are relatively

democratic representative bodies whose members represent all major

social groups in the culture. Depending on the culture, these social

groups might be families, lineage, clans, villages, neighborhoods, etc.

1 Warra Waaqaa (Warra Ayyaanaa) is a family, who are considered by the

society members owning spiritual power. The people think that the

power invested on them by Waaqaa enables them tell the mischievous

and crimes committed covertly. Thus, some people take the cases to

these people (whom they think are gifted) for investigation.



4. Analysis of Conflict Resolution Rituals Practiced by Arsi

Oromo Women Customarily in Arsi Oromo, women had a significant role in bringing

conflicts to end. They have been playing a magnificent role in conflict

interventions and bringing conflicts appear in the social group to

end. The women have been bringing to end all conflicts, which realize

among individuals, groups, sub-clans, etc. The women also take an

intermediate role to bring conflicts to end on the behalf of the Waataa

people. The women’s role of bringing conflicts to end may extend to

the actual conflict resolution process, which conducted by the elderly

members of the community and the Waataa people. The aim of

intermediation is to stop the fight and help the conflicting parties to

solve the disagreement through jaarsummaa. In the customary Oromo

society, jaarsummaa is an alternative conflict resolution mechanism,

which is based on dialogue and negotiation.

The jaarsummaa practice often creates an environment that enables

the conflicting parties to resolve the conflicts through dialogue and

negotiation. The jaarsummaa also enables the conflicting parties to

resettle peace and re-establish good relationship among them. In this

way, women have been playing a vital role in saving the lives of those,

who involve in disputes, appear in the community.

The customary law of Arsi Oromo states, the elderly women in

particular and the women in general, deserve honor. The members of

Arsi Oromo social group show obedience to the women. The

obedience, which the members of Arsi Oromo show to the women’s

words, reveal the important role that women assume more than men

do in conflict resolution.

Aman Jano, a community elder and one of the consultants of this

research, asserts that the elderly women are honored by the whole

members of Arsi Oromo. Furthermore, he discusses that men respect

the women because of the thick bonds exist among men and women.

According to Aman, the relationships between male and female are

multi-dimensional and maintain multiple purposes. As the mothers,



the women take care of the children and manage the houses. They

also assist their husbands in different works and manage the families.

Aman and Gada, the research consultants from Arsi Oromo, discuss

why the Arsi Oromo women deserve honor as the following:

1. Dubartoonni haadha nu deettee!

Women are mothers, who bore us.

2. Gara’a nu baattee.

They carried us in their wombs.

3. Haadha warra keennati.

They are our wives.

4. Haadha ilmoo keennati.

They are mothers of our children.

5. Gara’a waliin dhalanne.

They are our sisters.

6. Uummannee ilmoo teennaa.

They are our daughters.

The above facts reveal why women deserve honor, in the Arsi Oromo

social group in particular and the Oromo society in general.

During the practice of bringing a fight to end, the Arsi Oromo women

unfasten their hanfalaa ‘traditional women’s belt, which is woven

from cotton’, carry sinqee ‘the ritual stick’, tie their hanfalaas together,

form a human chain, and go into the middle of the fight. They do not

leave the place, unless the conflicting parties stop the fight and

retreat. While the Arsi Oromo women intermediate conflicts, they

often rehearse the following commands to order the conflicting

parties to bring to end` the fight. The women’s rehearsal shows the

honor they deserve and their role in the customary Arsi Oromo social

group.

7. Nu’i Waatichaa!

We order you to stop the fight on the behalf of the Waataa!

8. Gara’a laafo’oo!

Our bellies are soft (we are kind-hearted/ sympathetic!)

9. Hanfala laafo’oo!



Our belts are soft!

10. Ta harma aananiiti!

We are the breasts of milk!

11. Ta gara’a baanati!

We are those who bear children!

12. Ta kallacha qanafa’atii!

We are qanafaas of foreheads!

13. Lola hinsoqnuu!

We do not want a fight!

14. Dhiiga jigu hinfe’enuu!

We do not want bloodshed!

15. Obboleeyyii walhinlolina!

Do not fight with your brothers!

16. Lola dhaaba’a!

Stop the fight!

17. Nu’i Waatichaa, lola dhaabaa jennaa!

We tell you to stop the fight on the behalf of the Waataa!

The customary rule of the Arsi Oromo states that while conflict

appears in the absence of the Waataa, anyone who is around can take

the role of the Waataa people and order the conflicting parties to stop

the fight on the behalf of the Waataa. However, the women deserve

honor by the whole members of the social group and bring to end

conflicts; they can also act on behalf of the Waataa and order the

conflicting parties to stop the fight (7, 16, 17).

Furthermore, the women politely request the conflicting parties to

stop the fight. While the women present the request, they underline

that for the women are kind-hearted, they do not want to see

bloodshed (13, 14). They also underline that those who are fighting

were born and nurtured by mothers (8, 9, 10, 11).

Moreover, the Arsi Oromo women bring to end conflicts appear

between wives and husbands. Particularly, when the conflict appears

among the mother, who gave birth recently and her husband, the case

would become more series and result in penalizing the husband,

according to the siinqee rule. In the Oromo society, the women also

use siinqee to bring to end conflicts and resettle the peace of the



families and the peace of the society in general. In Arsi Oromo, a

mother of an infant, ties qanafa on her forehead. The elderly women

use qanafaa metaphorically and order the conflicting parties to stop

the fight. ‘Like the woman, who ties qanafaa deserves honor by the

whole members of the social group, you, who are fighting, respect us

and stop the fight’ (12). Consequently, no one goes beyond this

declaration. Therefore, the parties obliged to stop the fight.

If the conflicting parties show refusal to accept the declaration and

do not stop the fighting, they would suffer the ultimate punishment

for disobeying the customary rule of the social group and

disrespecting the women. The punishment is the curse lain by the

women on the conflicting parties. Furthermore, the women present

the case to the council of the elderly member of the community,

requesting the enactment of the customary rule, for the conflicting

parties showed refusal to accept the order.

In the tradition of Arsi Oromo, the woman who gave birth to a baby,

ties qanafaa on her forehead for about a year long. qanafaa signifies the

woman as a mother of an infant. One with qanafaa gets a special honor

by the whole members of the social group, during this particular

period. Throughout this time, her primary task is taking care of the

infant. If the husband beats this woman at some point in this time,

she presents the case to the village’s elderly woman. After that the

elderly woman informs the case to the women, who live in the same

village. Then, the village’s women meet and go to the beaten

woman’s house to investigate the case. On their way to the beaten

woman’s house and after they arrive, they sing the Ateetee song. In

Arsi Oromo, the Women’s claim, which aimed to request justice, is

known as iliilfatu’u ‘to ululate’.

18. Ateeteen baatee walgeettee - baatee walgeettee

Atetes went out and gather together – gather together

19. Ateetee wabiyyo’o horaa – wabiyyo’o horaa



Atete be rich at Wabe – be rich at Wabe2

20. Waan biyyaa tolaa jettee ayyoolaan

Mother said, do what is good to the people



22. Ateetee Ateetee laga sheedanaa - laga sheedanaa

Atete! Atete! Who live in the area of the Shedana River

23. An hoolaa nyaadhu akka jeedala

I do not eat sheep, like a fox



25. Gurbaan an da’ee fafaan na gahee

My boy took me to something bad

26. Ateetee wabiyyoo horaa - wabiyyoo horaa

Atete be rich at Wabe – be rich at Wabe


Mother said, do what is good to the people



29. Kabaja dinnaan baatee walgeettee - baatee walgeettee

For you refused to be honored, Atetes went out and gather

together – gather together


Mother said, do what is good to the people.

Next to this, the elderly women start the investigation. Finally, if they

found out that the husband is guilty, they penalize him, for breaking

the customary rule of the Arsi Oromo, i.e. for beating the mother of

an infant. The penalty is let him pay his wife a compensation. In Arsi

Oromo the compensation can be slaughtering a sheep and buying to

the victim cloths. The compensation paid to the beaten woman varies;

according to the economic status of the husband. If the husband is

the owner of many cattle, he buys clothes to his wife and slaughters

a bull to the group of women. If he is such a poor person, he

slaughters a sheep for the women, and needs to buy clothes to his

2 Wabe is the River bordering the Arsi and Bale zones of Oromia. The

river is also known by the name Wabe Shebelle.



wife, which is considered by the Arsi Oromo, the minimum

compensation paid for such type of penalty.

Aman Jano discusses that the poorest husband, who cannot afford a

bull or a sheep, admits his guiltiness, and request the women to

forgive him; i.e. an exemption from the penalty. If the submission

convinces the women, they would exempt him from slaughtering a

bull or a sheep; and instead they prepare porridge and eat together.

Finally, the women reconcile the wife to her husband.

If the husband shows refusal to accept the decision of the village’s

women, they lay the curse up on him. Furthermore, they present his

refusal to accept the decision, to the community elders; requesting

enactment of the customary rule upon the person who shows

rejection to the elderly women’s decision. The community elders

arbitrate the case per the customary rule of the Oromo people.

In addition to intermediating conflicts, the Arsi Oromo women play

a significant role in the customary conflict resolution of the social

group. The customary conflict resolution practice of Arsi Oromo

necessitates participation of women on the final day of the

reconciliation ritual conducted among the conflicting parties.

Customarily, in Arsi Oromo, the reconciliation ritual aims to

reconcile, for instance, a murderer with the family of the murdered

organizes in the killer’s village. The aim of conducting the

reconciliation ritual in the killer’s village is to give protection to the

killer’s and his group. The elderly members, from the two parties,

organize the reconciliation ritual. Thus, the deceased’s family and

clan members need to go to the killer's village.

As the deceased’s group members arrive at the entrance of the

compound, the bokkuu order them to turn their faces back and walk

backward to the tent, set inside the compound, in which the killer’s

family and his clan members seat. Thus, the members of the two

parties do not see each other, until the reconciliation ritual conducts.

After a while, the bokkuu order them to stand. As they stand inside



the compound turning their faces back, the killer slaughter a sheep,

pull it on the ground to discharge its blood on the ground, and

returns back to his group members. The intention is to let the

members of the deceased person’s clan step over the slaughtered

sheep and discharged blood.

The bokkuu comes to the middle of the two groups and order the

members of the deceased clan to step forward to the place where the

killer was slaughtered the sheep. Next, two women, one from the

victim’s group and one from the killer’s group, come forward,

carrying heexoo ‘flowers of the mahogany tree’, and hiddii ‘fruits of a

small bushy tree’. Later, the woman who carried the heexoo walks

forward and spreads the heexoo to the right and left sides repeatedly;

up to the place where the killer’s group sited. She rehearses:

31. Hadhaan ta kalee, mi’aan ta hardhaa

The past death is bitter, today’s pleasure is sweet

The second woman, who carried hiddii, spreads the hiddii to the right

and the left sides following the first woman. She also rehearses:

32. Akka miciree3 ta’aa, akka miciree kanaatti horaa, dagaagaa.

Be plenty, be reproducing and be wealthy.

The two women put down heexoo and hiddii and take bulbula ‘cultural

drink made of honey’, walk forward and drizzle the drink to the left

and the right sides; as they did heexoo and hiddii. Metaphorically

bulbula, hiddii, and heexoo symbolize life, reproduction, and relief.

Death is bitter like a heexoo and life is sweet like the drink made of

honey. Thus, death is represented by heexoo (bitter flower of the

mahogany tree, which is used by Ethiopians as a medicine for tape-

warm), and life by hiddii ‘a small bushy fruits of tree’ that easily

grows. Heexoo and the drink made of honey signify the ups-and-

downs of living. Symbolic representations of heexoo and honey are

that heexoo is bitter but used for ‘cleansing’ as well as ‘healing’ the

3 Miciree is the seed of hiddii (fruit of a small bushy tree).



‘injured’ relationship; while hiddii stands for wealth, reproduction,

and livestock ‘cattle in particular’. The aim of this practice is to show

that the pour of cultural drink washes out the heexoo. It symbolizes

the need of passing over death and focusing on the upcoming time

by ignoring the past. The materials used in conflict resolution and the

discourses signify the relationships exist among the society.

In addition to the practice of conflict resolution, the women

intermediate the Waaqaaa and the Oromo people. In the customary

Oromo society there was a ritual practice known as malkaa bu’uu

‘going to a ford for ritual’. Malkaa bu’uu ritual aims at restoring peace

among the community and the nature. The initiative could come

from women, when they realize the lack of peace in the environment.

The Oromo people believe that when peace is distorted, nothing

would go right; epidemic diseases appear and the members of the

community suffer from or death of serious diseases. They also believe

that a prolonged absence of rain would appear and the land no longer

produces crops. Some members would experience difficulties linked

to the community life, etc.

According to our informants from Arsi Oromo, the social group

believes that such successions of misfortunes would not be accidental.

It was the sign that love and peace will absent from the community,

and prompted the women to decide to organize the practice of

intermediating Waaqaa and the society. The malkaa bu’uu ritual is

organized at the nearby rivers. The ceremony is headed by elderly

women, whose moral integrities are universally acknowledged.

If the women organized the practice because of a long-lasting

drought, which may bring a famine in the area, they sought the help

of the Waaqaa and prayer for rain. The lack of the rain, which appears

in this case, is considered as a conflict between Waaqaa and human

beings, whom the later had disobeyed. In general women organize

and lead such ritual to reconcile human beings with themselves, with

nature, and with Waaqaa.



We have discussed above women’s role in the customary Arsi Oromo

social group, in line with conflict resolution and peace building

mechanisms. From the discussion we can infer that women have a

dominant role in conveying, disseminating, and strengthening the

critical values that generate peace and harmony in customary Arsi

Oromo social group.

5. Conclusion

The Arsi Oromo women’s customary dispute resolution mechanism

encourages the peaceful co-existence among the members of the

social group. Because in the customary rule of Arsi Oromo, women

are Wayyuu, who lay curses and give blesses. The members of the

social group desire women’s bless and fear their curses. Thus, once

the women act as the mediator and order the conflicting parties to

stop the fight, the parties obey the command and stop the fight. The

obedience, which the Arsi Oromo social group shows to the women’s

words, pave the road to the effort made by the community elders, the

religion leaders, and the clan leaders in resolving the conflicts and

maintain the peaceful co-existence of the social group.

For the traditional Oromo people, peace is equivalent to health,

wealth, wellbeing and freshness and an enemy of poverty, insecurity,

and various man-made and natural disasters. Women’s roles as

mothers, wives, and sisters were put to effective use in peace building

and conflict resolution mechanisms of the Arsi Oromo. They inculcate

the culture of peace in the children. Furthermore, they participate

firmly in the practice of conflict mediation to bring to end the conflicts

that appear among the groups, individuals, and within the family of

Arsi Oromo. The women also have important positions in conflict

resolution rituals in traditional Arsi Oromo. If given the chance, they

can do the same in neighboring social groups, to the greater glory of

peace and tranquility in the current society.

The customary ritual practices of Arsi Oromo women’s, which aimed

to bring the conflicts to end, contribute to the endeavors made by

some members of Arsi Oromo to retain the endangered cultural



practices of the social group. The traditional Oromo people are

convinced that lasting peace does not grow in a vacuum. In their view

it grows on enduring human values, implanted in children at young

ages. They believe that meaningful peace cannot reign, if those

important cultural values of the Oromo people are ignored.

In view of the position, which the women were occupied and the role

they have been playing in the traditional Oromo society, the Oromo

women in general and the Arsi Oromo women in particular, need to

involve actively in practices of conflict intermediation and conflict

resolution of the Oromo society. In this regard, modern laws and rules

need to incorporate the women, in important peace processes. They

also need to incorporated and made part of the delegation that

maintains peace in any part of the region and the country. People

need to be made aware about the crucial role, which the women had

played in the past towards the promotion of the culture of peace and

conflict resolution in traditional Arsi Oromo social group in particular

and the Oromo society in general.

There is a need for improved information and awareness about

raising family unity through the promotion of positive traditional

values and the role played by women as mediators and mothers. One

way to promote this is through awarding and acknowledging

selected elderly women and good mothers and families with good

children at different government’s structure.

The statutory laws involve the laws by the government with a top-

down approach, by passing the customary rules, which include the

traditional dispute resolution mechanisms of a society in general.

Thus, this research suggests that the top-down imposition and

enforcement of statutory laws that ignore customary laws should be

avoided. Instead, mechanisms should be sought to incorporate the

traditional customary rules and the customary mechanisms of conflict

resolution, so as to integrate them in enacting or implementing

statutory laws. Recognizing the contributions of women to customary

conflict resolution, mediation, and peace resettlement mechanisms of

the Arsi Oromo social group in particular and the traditional Oromo



society in general, the government need to reconsider the case once

again; which enable the Arsi Oromo local communities to reclaim the

lost mechanisms in the conflict mediation and conflict resolution of

the society.

Nowadays, some values of the customary Oromo society in general

and the Arsi Oromo social group in particular, are becoming extinct.

The deterioration and breakdown of the positive values of the society

are contributed to the extinction of customary values. The researchers

underline the need of documenting the role of women in traditional

conflict resolution of the Arsi Oromo, to safeguard the traditional

wisdoms, performances, rituals, lexical words, and ritual stuffs. The

researchers emphasize the need of enhancing the key values of Arsi

Oromo social group. To enhance its values, efforts need to be made

towards and maintaining, and strengthening the traditional culture

of Arsi Oromo.

One of the best ways of preserving culture is transferring the

knowledge to the next generation through education. The researches

strongly suggest that peace and the key cultural values and the

women’s role in traditional Oromo society, need to be re-examined

and incorporated into the respective local school curriculums, to

transfer customary peace values, and principles of the society to the

school children. In this effort at educating children positive cultural

values becomes essential to get the children back to track.

Appendix

Appendix 1. Detailed Description on the Methodology of the

Research The research employed an ethnographic research method. Ethno-

graphic research emphasizes on describing and interpreting cultural

behavior of the study society. In the ethnographic research, the

ethnographers immerse themselves in the lives and culture of the

group being studied; often living with that group for months on end.

The researchers participate in a groups’ activities whilst observing its



behavior, taking notes, conducting interviews, analyzing, reflecting

and writing reports (Himmelmann, N. 2006; Dawson: 2002).

The data were collected from the members of Arsi Oromo. The data

collections were focused on collecting the data from the selected

members of the community in its natural settings. The researchers

collected the data through interviews (structured and unstructured

interviews), focus group discussion, and observation. Interviews

were conducted to understand the traditional performances, rituals,

and practices of the Arsi Oromo women. The interviews were also

conducted to understand the relationship between the Arsi Oromo

and the neighboring groups. In addition, interviews were conducted

with the selected members of the Arsi Oromo to collect the data about

their traditional belief, outlook, livelihood, customs, and history.

Participant observations were conducted when the Women perform

the practices. Observations were also conducted while the Arsi

Oromo women lain curse on those, who showed refusal to the

decision made by them. In addition, the researchers conducted

observation of the final reconciliation ritual practiced at Dugda Batu

kebele of Ziway Dugda woreda. These traditional practices were

recorded by video for textual analysis.

The data on the traditional belief of the Arsi Oromo, materials used

for rituals and performances led by the Women were collected

through the focus group discussions. Audio and video recordings

and pictures were taken in the natural settings. Audio recordings also

made to capture spontaneous speaking and language use of the

participants.

The data were collected from the purposively selected three woredas

‘districts’ from East and West Arsi zones, which the majority of the

inhabitants are Arsi Oromo. These woredas are Ziway Dugda and

Munessa woredas from East Arsi and Kofale woreda from West Arsi

zone. However, the members of Arsi Oromo inhabit the neighboring

woredas; they were not considered as the target group. The Arsi



Oromo, who live outside the three woredas were not considered as the

target groups; but they were considered for cross-checking purposes.

The consultants were selected based on the information that the

researchers gathered about their knowledge and culture of Arsi

Oromo in particular and the Oromo society in general. The

informants were selected by purposive sampling method, from

different social groups, to make the representation of participants

diverse in age, sex, social status, and experiences in conflict

resolutions.

Accordingly, the informants, who were selected to provide

information, include Abba Gada ‘Gada leaders’ of Arsi Oromo, elderly

people, youths, and women of Arsi Oromo. Participation of the

women and youths assisted in making known about the role of

women in Arsi Oromo culture. It also assisted the researchers by

revealing the women’s role in the culture of the Oromo people in

general and the Arsi Oromo social group in particular. The

interviews conducted with youths also assisted in understanding the

attitude of youths about the traditional culture of Arsi Oromo.

Even though, the researchers have little knowledge about the culture

of Arsi Oromo, they were traveled to the selected research sites to

present the actual description and interpretation of the culture of the

Arsi Oromo. The researchers were conducted interviews, observed

the focus group discussion, took notes, analyzed the data, and wrote

reports. In general, the researchers were collected the primary data

in its natural settings; i.e. the collection, transcription, and translation

of primary data were conducted in the study population, which also

gave chances to the researchers in checking the appropriateness of

the collected data.

Since the study population of the research is speakers of Afan Oromo

‘Oromo language’, interviews and focus group discussions were

conducted in Afan Oromo. The interviews, focus group discussions,

and observations were recorded. Then the researchers transferred the

recordings to text on the notebooks. After interviews and focus



groups discussions, the researchers translated the corpus data to

English, assisted by three consultants, who are Arsi Oromo. Even

though, the researchers are speaker of Afan Oromo, they speak

different dialect of Afan Oromo, while the informants speak the Arsi

dialect of the language. To avoid misrepresentation in translating

some vocabularies and cultural expressions that are specific to the

Arsi Oromo culture, the researchers depended on the selected

interpreters/translators.

The research included recording, describing, analyzing, and

interpreting the data. The interviews, focus group discussions and

observations were captured and the recordings of media (audio,

video, and picture) were performed. Each elicitation sessions were

recorded using a digital recorder and each recording were

transcribed. At the end of each fieldwork session, translation and

preliminary analyses of the information elicited were done and the

data entered to the database. Then, the video and audio files were

converted into editable formats. Encoding and transferring of the

analogue recordings and texts written on papers to the digital

domain as a computer file were done using appropriate settings.

Finally, analyses of the collected data were performed. The data were

analyzed qualitatively by focusing on the main performances.

The results obtained by data analysis were triangulated to give

thoroughness, richness, and depth of understanding to the research.

Furthermore, the researchers summarized the findings to share in-

depth meanings with others, which was a thick description. The thick

description of the research involved a comprehensive description of

the social context and the characteristics of Arsi Oromo. The thick

description was written with the assistance of field notes, which were

taken during the field works; i.e. through interviews, observations,

and focus group discussions conducted in the field.

Regarding research ethics, before the study began, the researchers

formally communicated to the zones, woredas and kebeles officials,

community elders, and religion leaders of the study area, to get their



consensus and cooperation throughout the study period. In the study

of culture, the interests of the society studied cannot be ignored.

Because the community has a right on what can be done and what

cannot be done with their contributions. According to Himmelmann

(2002) the interests and rights of contributors and the speech

community should take precedence over scientific interests. In

addition, Blaxter, Hughes and Tight (2006) underline that ethical

research involves getting the informed consent of those the

researchers are going to interview, question, observe, or take

materials from. Furthermore, Johnson (2004) states that the person

who conduct a research have to be careful not to include any data

into his/her corpus, which may harm the contributors or the study

community. Accordingly, the study excluded such practices. The

data collections were considered the good will of the informants, who

are Arsi Oromo and inhabiting the research sites.

Appendix 2. An Overview of Studies on the Oromo Cultur

Like studies on Afan Oromo, researches on the Oromo culture also go

back to the early 19th C Europeans and European travelers. According

to Pankhurst (1976) the first recorded pieces of Oromo oral literature

were provided by two Oromo slaves called Waré and Gabao. They

were born in Limmu, the former province of Kaffa (Ethiopia), and

brought to Paris in 1830’s where they met the famous French

geographer, Edme-François, Jomard. Their accounts consisted of

three different prayers pronounced by men, women and girls, three

songs of love and three songs of war were published by Jomard, in

1939. Pankhurst (1976) also discusses that Jomard (1939) collected

almost one thousand Afan Oromo words, so little was then known

about the language. Pankhurst (1976) emphasized the significance of

these texts for Oromo studies, as Jomard also collected a considerable

body of geographical, linguistic, and other material, which he

published in the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie in 1939.

Cerulli (1922) also collected and analyzed different texts of Afan

Oromo. The texts were elicited from native speakers of the Macha

dialect of Afan Oromo, who lived in the then Gibe states, South



Western Ethiopia. Cerulli (1922) categorized these collections into

two groups: ‘Songs on Historical Subjects’ and ‘Prose Works on

Historical Subjects’. The first group of the Songs, which focused on

historical subjects, includes songs about the history of the

independent Oromo states; which the date of the war was probably

about 1885-1886. The rest of the Songs were Geerarsaa ‘War and

Hunting songs’, Cultural Love Songs, Nuptial Songs, Cradle Songs,

and Festive and Religious Songs. He also collected Songs of the

Caravans, and Pastorals. The second group of the collected texts were

various kinds of Oromo popular literature in ‘Prose Works on

Historical Subjects’, which include the Oral Chronicle of the

Kingdom of Guma, texts on Ethnological Subjects, texts of Magic and

Prophetic Literature, humorous haasa’a ‘prose’, proverbs, and

riddles, which were oral texts.

The studies on the cultural aspects of the Oromo people, which were

started in early 19thC, have been increasing in number and broaden

out in scope from time to time. Hence, nowadays, there exist different

studies conducted by Ethiopians and foreigners on the Oromo

culture. In this respect, Asmarom Legesse’s (1973) Gada: Three

Approaches to the Study of African Society, which discusses the

traditional administration structure of the Borana Oromo, is a major

work worth mentioning. He discusses a social stratification system,

the Borana Oromo Gada system, which was based on an eight-year

cycle of generation age sets. For instance, according to the customary

rule of the Borana Oromo Gada system, every eight years the Borana

Oromo organizes a popular assembly called Gumi Gayyoo, which

enacts new laws. The Gumi elects Abba Gada ‘the Gada Leader’, who

leads the Gada for an eight-year term. Nevertheless, the Oromo Gada

system is no longer in broadening practice, but remains influential.

Asmarom’s book has invaluable significance in the study of the

Oromo society in general, and the Borana Oromo in particular.

Recently, Ethiopian scholars have been producing different

researches on the Oromo Culture. Hence, we can find numerous BA’s

and MA’s theses and PhD dissertations, which encompass different

aspects of the Oromo culture.



References

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Bahru Zewude. 2002. A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1991: Second

Edition. Addis Ababa University Press: Addis Ababa.

Baxter, P. T. W., Hultin Jan and Triulzi, Alessandro. eds. 1996. Being

and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological Enquiries.

Nordiska Afrikainstitutet: UPPSALA.

Blaxter Loraine, Hughes Christina, and Tight Malcolm. 2006. How to

Research: Third Edition. Open University Press: New York.

Cerulli, Enrico. 1922. Folk-Literature of the [Oromo] of Southern

Abyssinian. In Hooton E. A. and Bates, Natica, I. eds. Harvard

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of the Peabody Museum. Harvard University Press: New

York.

Dawson, Catherine. 2002. Practical Research Methods: A user-friendly

guide to mastering research techniques and projects. How To

Books Ltd: Oxford.

Gemeda Hunde. 2016. Documentation of the Endangered Cultural Traits

of the Waataa Community: Chopha Village in Focus. PhD

Dissertation in Documentary Linguistics and Culture. Addis

Ababa University: Addis Ababa.

Himmelmann, N. 2002. Documentary and Descriptive Linguistics. In O.

Sakiyama, & F. Endo, eds. Lectures on Endangered Languages.

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Himmelmann, Nickolaus, P. 2006. Language Documentation: What is it

and what is it good for? In: Gippert Jost, Himmelmann Nikolaus

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Johnson, H. 2004. Language Documentation and Archiving or How to

Build a Better Corpus. In Austin, Peter K., ed. Language

Description and Documentation. (Endangered Languages

Project.) Vol. 2. 140-153. School of Oriental and African

Studies: London.

Ketebo Abdiyo. 2010. The Political Economy of Land and Agrarian

Development in Arsi: 1941-1991. PhD Dissertation. Addis


Levinson, David. ed. 1994. Aggression and Conflict: A Cross-Cultural

Encyclopaedia. ABC – CLIO, Inc. Santa Barbara, California.

Mamma Bedanie. 1986. Settlement of Disputes in Rural Ethiopia Outside

the Codified Legal System: The Case of the Oromo in Arsi- Bale

Missives. LLB Thesis. Faculty of Law. Addis Ababa

University: Addis Ababa.

McCollum, Sean. 2009. Character Education: Managing Conflict

Resolution. Chelsea House Publications: New York.

Nuro Bedasso. 1989. Arsi Oromo Customary Marriage and Divorce in

Light of the Civil Code. LLB Thesis. Faculty of Law. Addis


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In: Africa: Rivista Trimestrale Di Studi e Documentazione dell

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Gemeda Hunde

Arsi University, Arsi, Ethiopia

&

Wako Gada

Arsi University, Arsi, Ethiopia




የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን ሀይማኖታዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች ለቱሪዝም እድገት ያላቸው ሚና ፍተሻ

መንግስቱ ታደሰ

አጠቃሎ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን በሚዳሰሱም ሆነ በማይዳሰሱ ቅርሶቿ ለቱሪዝም እድገት እያበረከተች ያለችው አስተዋጽኦ ከፍተኛ ቢሆንም በማስተዋወቁ ደረጃ ግን ብዙ ክፍተቶች እንዳሉ ለመረዳት አያዳግትም። የዚህ ጥናትም ዋና አላማ የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን ሐይማኖታዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶችን በመለየት ለቱሪዝም እድገት ያላቸውን ሚና መፈተሽ ነው። መረጃዎችን ለመሰብሰብ፣ ለመተንተንና ለመተርጎም አይነታዊ የምርምር ዘዴን በመጠቀም ጥናቱ ተከናውኗል። የጥናቱን አላማ ለማሳካት

ኢላማዊ የንሞና ዘዴ (purposive sampling) አገልግሎት ላይ ውሏል። በድምጽ እና በድምጽ ወምስል መሳሪያዎች በመጠቀም የሚመለከታቸውን ግለሰቦች ቃለ መጠይቅ

በማድረግ መረጃዎች ተሰብስበዋል። የመረጃ አሰባሰብ ሂደቱም ርቱዕ እና ኢ-ርቱዕ ምንጮች ላይ ትኩረት ያደረገ ነው። ትንተናው በገለጻ እና በማብራራት መልክ ተከናውኗል። የጥናቱ ውጤት እንደሚያመለክተው ቤተክርስቲያኗ ያሏት መንፈሳዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች ለየት ያሉና ብዙ እድሜን ያስቆጠሩ አንዳንዶችም በሌሎች የአገራችን ክፍሎች የማይገኙ ናቸው። በሌላም በኩል የአካባቢው መንገድ አስቸጋሪነት፣ ጎብኝዎች የሚያርፉባቸው ሆቴሎች አለመኖር እና የሙዚየሙ ግንባታ መጓተት ቅርሶቹ ባሉበት አካባቢ ብቻ ተደብቀው እንዲቀሩ ተግዳሮት ሆኗል። በአጠቃላይ የተለያዩ የባለድርሻ አካላት ቤተክርስቲያኗ ለቱሪዝም እድገት ያላትን እምቅ ሀብት በመጠቀም የቱሪስት መዳረሻ ትሆን ዘንድ ለወደፊት ሰፊ ስራ መስራት እንደሚጠበቅባቸው ከምርምሩ ውጤት መረዳት ይቻላል።

1. መግቢያ በአለማችን ላይ በፍጥነት እያደጉ ከመጡት እና በትርፋማነታቸው ከሚታወቁት ሴክተሮች አንዱ ቱሪዝም መሆኑን በርካታ ምሁራን ይገልጻሉ። በተለይ ስራ በመፍጠር እና ገቢን በማመንጨት በኩል ያለው እምቅ ሀይል ከፍተኛ በመሆኑ ያደጉትም ሆነ ያላደጉት አገሮች ትኩረታቸውን ወደ ጭስ አልባው ኢንዱስትሪ እያደረጉ እንደ ሆነ የአለም ቱሪዝም ድርጅት

(2010) አስረድቷል። ይኸው ድርጅት ቱሪዝም ከዓለም መሪ ስራ ፈጣሪዎች አንዱ መሆኑን በጥናት አረጋግጧል።

192 | የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን ሀይማኖታዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች


ቱሪዝም እያደገና እየተስፋፋ በሚመጣበት ጊዜም የሰው ልጅ ህይወትን በተለያየ መልኩ እንደሚቀይር እሙን ነው። የጎብኝዎችን መሰረታዊ ፍላጎት ለማሟላት ሲባል ሆቴሎች ይስፋፋሉ፤ የመንገድ ግንባታዎች ይከናወናሉ፤ የቢዝነስ ግብይቶች ይበራከታሉ፤ የአገር ገጽታ ይገነባል፤ በአጠቃላይም የአገሪቱን የገቢ ምንጭ በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ ይጨምራል።

የአለም ቱሪዝም ድርጅት (2010) እንዳሰፈረው ቱሪዝም የአለም አቀፍ የኢኮኖሚ

እንቅስቃሴውን 5% መውሰዱ ጭስ አልባው ኢንዱስትሪ ለግሎባል ኢኮኖሚው አንቀሳቃሽ ሞተር መሆኑን ያመለክታል ብሏል።

ኢትዮጵያ ብዝሃነት ባላቸው ታሪካዊ፣ ባህላዊና ተፈጥሯዊ መስህቦች የተሞላች፣ እንዲሁም በአለም አቀፍ ደረጃ የተመዘገቡ ስምንት ቅርሶች ያሏትና የሰው ልጆች መገኛነቷን የሚመሰክሩ በርካታ ቅሪተ አካሎች ባለቤት ከመሆኗም ባሻገር የተለያዩ የባህል መገለጫዎቿ

ለቱሪዝም ልማት አመቺ እንደሚያደርጓት የቱሪዝም ልማት ፖሊሲ (2001) ገልጿል። ነገር

ግን ይህን የቱሪዝም እምቅ ሀብት በአግባቡ እየተጠቀመችበት ነው? የሚለው ጥያቄ አሁንም በተለያዩ ምርምሮችና ፕሮጀክቶች ተደግፎ መልስ የሚያሻው ጉዳይ መሆኑን ማስተዋል ያስፈልጋል።

ከላይ ከተጠቀሱት እምቅ ሀብቶች መካከል በብዛት የሚገኙት በኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ አብያተክርስቲያናት ውስጥ ነው። በውስጧ የያዘቻቸውም ቅርሶች ጥንታዊነት ያላቸው፣ የአገሪቱን ታሪክ ፍንትው አድርገው ከማሳየታቸውም በተጨማሪ የታሪክ፣ የስነሰብዕ፣

የሀይማኖት ወዘተ. ተመራማሪዎችን ትኩረት የሚስቡ ናቸው። ከዚህ ጋር አያይዞም

ኤርሚያስ (2014) እንዳሰፈረው አብዛኛው የሀይማኖታዊ ቱሪዝም ሳይቶች የሚገኙት በኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን ቢሆንም ብዙዎቹ ጥናት ያልተደረገባቸው እንዲሁም ለአለም አቀፍ ጎብኝዎች ክፍት እና ምቹ አለመሆናቸው ለቱሪዝም እድገቱ እንቅፋት ፈጥሯል።

ይህ ጥናት ትኩረት ያደረገውም በአማራ ክልላዊ መንግስት በደቡብ ወሎ ዞን በአማራ ሳይንት ወረዳ ውስጥ በርካታ ሀይማኖታዊ፣ ታሪካዊ እና ባህላዊ ቅርሶችን በውስጧ አካታ የያዘችው ርዕሰ አድባራት ወገዳማት ተድባበ ማርያም ደብር ላይ ነው።

የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን የአገራችንን ጥንተ ታሪክና ባህል መዝግባ፣ ሰንዳ እና ቀርሳ ከትውልድ ወደ ትውልድ እያስተላለፈች የምትገኝ ከመሆኗም በላይ ለቅርሳዊ ቱሪዝም መስፋፋት እያደረገች ያለችው አስተዋጽኦ እንዲህ በቀላሉ የሚታይ አይደለም። ይህን በማድረግ ላይ ካሉት ደብሮች ውስጥ ርዕሰ አድባራት ወገዳማት ተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን ትገኛለች። በደብሯ ውስጥ የሚገኙት ቅርሶች ለጥናት የሚያነሳሱና ብዙ ጎብኝዎችን የመሳብ አቅም ቢኖራቸውም በአግባቡ ባለመደራጀታቸውና ለተመራማሪዎችም ክፍት ባለመሆናቸው የተነሳ ለቱሪዝም እድገት የበኩላቸውን አስተዋጽኦ እያበረከቱ አለመሆናቸውን መረዳት አያዳግትም። የተለያዩ ፀሀፊዎችም—እንደ

ዳንኤል ክብረት (1999)፣ ዘመድኩን (1992)፣ ሉሌ (1997) እንዲሁም ኅሩይ ባየ

(2006) —የቤተክርስቲያኗን ታሪክ ከማስፈር እና አጫጭር ትንታኔ ከመስጠት ባለፈ ለቱሪዝም እድገት ያላትን እምቅ ሀብት ለመፈተሸና ለማስተዋወቅ አልሞከሩም። የወረዳው

መንግስቱ ታደሰ| 193


አስተዳደር የባህልና ቱሪዝም ቢሮ አካባቢውን ለማስተዋወቅ የአዘጋጀውን ሲምፖዚየም መሰረት በማድረግ የአሰናዳው መጽሄት ለጥናቱ የተመረጠችው ደብር ያላትን የቱሪዝም ሀብት ያመላከተ በመሆኑ ለጥናቱ መነሻ ሆኗል።

የዚህ ጥናት ዋና ትኩረት ቤተክርስቲያኗ ያላትን ሀይማኖታዊ፣ ባህላዊ እና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶችን በመፈተሸና ለይቶ በማውጣት ለቱሪዝም እድገት ያላትን አቅም በማመላከት በአገር ውስጥም ሆነ በአለም አቀፍ ደረጃ የቱሪስት መዳረሻ የምትሆንበትን እድል መጠቆም ወይም ማሳየት እና የተመራማሪዎችን ትኩረት በመሳብ ላይ ያነጣጠረ ነው። የጥናቱ ዋና አላማ በደቡብ ወሎ ዞን በአማራ ሳይንት ወረዳ የርዕሰ አድባራት ወገዳማት ተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን በውስጧ የያዘቻቸው ሀይማኖታዊ፣ ባህላዊ፣ እና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች ለቱሪዝም እድገት ያላቸውን ሚና መፈተሸ ነው። የጥናቱ አላማ ይሳካ ዘንድም በጥናቱ መጨረሻ ቀጥሎ የቀረቡት ጥያቄዎች መልስ ያገኛሉ።

• የቱሪዝም ቅርሶቹ የትኞቹ ናቸው?

• የቅርሶቹ ጠቀሜታስ እስከምን ድረስ ነው?

• ቤተክርስቲያኗ ለቱሪዝም እድገቱ አስተዋጽኦ እንዳታበረክት ያገዷት ነገሮች

ምንድን ናቸው?

• ለችግሮቹ አማራጭ መፍትሄ ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ ነገሮች ምን ምን ናቸው?

ምርምሩ ፍተሻ እንደመሆኑ መጠን ለታሪክ፣ ለባህል፣ ለስነሰብዕ እና ለሌሎችም ተመራማሪዎች ጠለቅ ያለ ጥናት ለማጥናት ያመቻቸው ዘንድ እንደ መነሻ ሆኖ ያገለግላል። በሌላም በኩል የዞኑም ሆነ የወረዳው ባህልና ቱሪዝም ቢሮዎች ባቅራቢያቸው ካሉ ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች ጋር በመተባበር የተለያዩ ፕሮጀክቶችን ቀርጸው ሰፊ ስራዎችን ለመስራት የሚያስችላቸውን መረጃ ይሰጣል። ባጠቃላይም ቤተክርስቲያኗን ለተለያዩ የባለድርሻ አካላት ያስተዋውቃል።

መረጃ ለመሰብሰብ፣ ለመተንተንና ለመተርጎም አይነታዊ የምርምር ዘዴን በመጠቀም ጥናቱ ተከናውኗል። የጥናቱን አላማ ለማሳካትም ኢላማዊ የንሞና ዘዴን በመጠቀም በይበልጥ የቤተክርስቲያኗን ታሪክ እና ቅርሶች የሚያውቁ ሰዎችን ፊት ለፊት፣ በድምጽ እና በድምጽ ወምስል መሳሪያዎች በማስደገፍ ጥልቀት ያለው መጠይቅ በማድረግ መረጃዎች ተሰብስበዋል። ከዚህ በተጨማሪም በተመራማሪውም ሆነ ከዚህ በፊት የባህልና ቱሪዝም ባለሙያዎች ያነሷቸው ፎቶዎች በጥናቱ ውስጥ ተካተዋል። የመረጃዎች አሰባሰብ ሄደትም

ርቱዕ እና ኢ-ርቱዕ ምንጮችን በመጠቀም ላይ ያተኮረ ነው። የተሰበሰበውን መረጃ መሰረት በማድረግ ትንተናው በገለጻ እና በማብራራት መልክ ተከናውኗል።

2. የባህላዊ እና የሀይማኖታዊ ቅርስ ቱሪዝም ቱሪዝም እንቅስቃሴና አገልግሎት የሚከናወንበት ብቻ ሳይሆን የማህበራዊና የባህላዊ ክስተቶችም ጥርቅም ነው። አንድ ግለሰብ ወይም ቡድን ከቤት ተነስቶ ወደሚጎበኛቸው አካባቢዎች ሄዶ እስከሚመለስበት ጊዜ የሚከናወኑት ድርጊቶች በርካታ ናቸው። ቱሪስቱ ከአስተርጓሚው፣ ቱሪስቱ ከአገልግሎት አቅራቢዎች፣ ቱሪስቱ ከባህልና ቱሪዝም

ባለሙያዎች፣ ቱሪስቱ ከማህረሰቡ ወዘተ. ብዙ ነገሮችን ማንሳት ይቻላል። Franklin



(2003)፣ Weaver and Opperman (2000)ን ጠቅሶ እንዳሰፈረውም ቱሪዝም የብዙ ድርጊቶች ድምር ውጤት ነው። በቱሪስቶች መካከል የሚደረግ ግንኙነት፣ የቢዝነስ አቅርቦት፣ የመንግስት እና የማህበረሰቡ አካላት ከጎብኚዎች ጋር የሚያደርጉት መስተጋብር እንዲሁም የአካባቢው ሀላፊዎች እና የሰላም አስከባሪዎች፣ ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች፣ መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ ድርጅቶች ሁሉ የሚሳተፉበት እና የእይታውን፣ የትራንስፖርቱን፣ የመስተንግዶውን ወዘተ እንቅስቃሴ የማስተዳደር ሂደት የሚከናወንበት ጉዳይ ቱሪዝም በሚለው ጽንሰ ሀሳብ ውስጥ ይጠቃለላል።

Smith (2003) Raymond (1976)ን ጠቅሶ እንዳሰፈረው ባህል ውስብስብ ያለ ቃል ከመሆኑም ባሻገር ብያኔ ለመስጠትም አስቸጋሪ ነው። ይህም የሆነበት ምክንያት ማንኛውም ህብረተሰብ ለባህል የራሱ የሆነ ቅርጽ፣ አላማ፣ እና ትርጉም የሚሰጠው በመሆኑ ነው።

Smith (2003) “ባህል የአኗኗር ዘይቤ ነው” የሚለውን የተለመደ ብያኔ እንደ አማራጭ

አድርጎ ካስቀመጠ በኋላ ባህልን በስነ-ሰብዕ እና በስነ-ማህበረሰብ መካከል ያለውን

ግንኙነት በማጤን መተርጎም የተሻለና ሁሉን አቀፍ እንደሆነም ያስቀምጣል። ይኸውም፡- ባህል የተወሰኑ ሰዎች ወይም ማህበራዊ ቡድኖች የተለያዩ ማህበራዊና ጥበባዊ እንቅስቃሴዎችን ያካተተ የአኗኗር ዘይቤ ነው ማለት ይቻላል።

በርካታ ምሁራን ለቅርስም ሆነ ለባህላዊ ቱሪዝም አንድ ወጥ የሆነ ብያኔ ለመስጠት ሲቸገሩ ይስተዋላል። ባህላዊ ቱሪዝም የባህላዊ ቅርስ አንዱ ክፍል ነው። የአንድ ማህበረሰብ

ማህበራዊ እና ኢኮኖሚያዊ እድገት መሳሪያ ተደርጎ ሊወሰድ እንደሚችልም Sava and

Caraivan (2012) ገልጸዋል። እንደ Alzua et al. (1998) Richards (1996)ን ጠቅሶ እንደገለጸው ሰዎች በባህል ዙሪያ ያላቸውን የማወቅ ፍላጎት ለማርካትም ሆነ አዳዲስ መረጃዎችና ልምዶችን ለማግኘት ከመኖሪያ ቦታቸው ተነስተው ወደ ባህላዊ መስህቦች የሚያደርጉትን እንቅስቃሴ ባህላዊ ቱሪዝም ልንለው እንችላለን ብለዋል።

ቅርስ የአንድ ማህበረሰብ የቆየ ባህላዊ ልማድ ወይም ታሪካዊ ዋጋ ያላቸውን እና በቀላሉ

ከትውልድ ወደ ትውልድ እየተላለፉ የመጡ ነገሮችን በሙሉ ያጠቃልላል (Salazar

and W. Porter, 2004)። የቅርስ ቱሪዝም ደግሞ ሰፋ ያለ ጽንሰ ሀሳብን የያዘ ነው።

እንደ Salazar and W. Porter (2004) ገለጻ የጥንት የሆነ እና ሊጎበኝ የሚችል ነገር ሁሉ የቅርስ ቱሪዝም ሊባል እንደሚችል አስቀምጠዋል። ባህላዊ፣ ታሪካዊ እና ተፈጥሯዊ ሀብቶች ሁሉም ተሰባስበው የቅርስ ቱሪዝምን ይፈጥራሉ። እንዲህ አይነት ቱሪዝምም ሙዚየሞችን፣ ታሪካዊ ክስተቶችን፣ ሀውልቶችንና ቅርጻቅርጾችን እንዲሁም የተቀደሱ ቦታዎችን ሁሉ ያጠቃልላል። የቅርስ መስህቦችም ተፈጥሯዊ፣ ባህላዊ እና ህንጻዎች ብለን

በሶስት ልናጠቃልላቸው እንደምንችል Khursiah and Fakhrul (2011) ያስረዳሉ።

ባህላዊ ቅርሶች የሰዎች የዕለት ተዕለት እንቅስቃሴ ዋነኛ አካል ናቸው። በጥንቃቄ የተመረጡ ዋጋ ያላቸው ስብስቦች፣ አመለካከቶች፣ አለምን የመገንዘቢያ መንገዶች እንዲሁም ህይወትን የመቅጃና የማቆያ ብሎም ከትውልድ ወደ ትውልድ የማስተላለፊያ መንገዶች እንደሆኑ



Goral (2011) ገልጻለች። የቅርስ ውክልናዎችም ቁሳዊ እቃዎች ብቻ ሳይሆኑ ሊዳሰሱ ወይም ሊታዩ የሚችሉ እንደ ወግና ልማዶች፣ የመንፈሳዊ በዓል ስርኣቶችን፣ እውቀቶችን፣ ነገሮችን እና ከእነሱ ጋር ግንኙነት ያላቸው ባህላዊ ሁኔታዎችን ሁሉ ያጠቃልላል። ስለዚህ የሚዳሰሱትም ሆነ የማይዳሰሱት ባህላዊ ቅርሶች የማህበራዊም ሆነ የኢኮኖሚያዊ እድገቶች መሰረት በመሆናቸው ከማህበረሰቡ ህይወት ነጥሎ ማየት አይቻልም።

ባህላዊ ቅርስን እንደ ማህበራዊ ክስተት ስንመለከተው በማህበረሰቡ የተፈጠረ እና ዋጋ

ያለው ነገርን እንደሚያመለክት Salazar and W. Porter (2004) አስረድተው

ብሄሮችና ሌሎች ማህበረ-ባህላዊ ቡድኖች ባለፉት ድርጊቶችና ነገሮች የጋራ የሆነ የማንነት መሰረት እንዳላቸው በግልጽ የሚያሳይ መሆኑን አመላክተዋል።

የአለፈውንና የአሁኑን እውነተኛ የህዝቦች ታሪክ እና ማንነት የሚወክሉ ታሪካዊ ቦታዎችን፣

ጥንታዊነት ያላቸው በእጅ የተሰሩ መሳሪያዎች፣ የተለያዩ ድርጊቶችን ወዘተ. በተግባር በቦታው ሄዶ መመልከት እንደ ባህላዊ ቅርስ ቱሪዝም ይቆጠራል። ባህላዊና ቅርሳዊ መስህቦች ለቱሪስት መዳረሻዎች ከፍተኛ አስተዋጽኦ ያደርጋሉ፤ ሁለቱም በጣምራ

በሚሆኑበት ጊዜ ለቱሪዝም ፈጣን እድገት እንደ ዋነኛ አካል ተደርገው ይታያሉ (Alzua

et al. 1998)። በሌላም በኩል እንደ Siga (2012) ገለጻ ሀይማኖታዊ ቱሪዝም ሰዎች

ሀይማኖታዊ ቅርጾችን ወይም ውጤቶችን (ጥበብ፣ ባህል፣ ወግ፣ ስነቅርፅ፣ ወዘተ.) ለመመልከት እና እምነታቸውን ለማጠንከር ካላቸው ፍላጎት አኳያ የሚደረግ ጉዞ ነው።

Malek (2012) እንደሚገልጸው ይህ የቱሪዝም አይነት ጥንታዊነት ያለው እና ሰዎች ለብቻውም ሆነ በቡድን ወደ ሀይማኖታዊ ቦታዎች ጉብኝት ማድረግ የጀመሩበት ዘመን ራቅ

ያለ እንደሆነ አስፍሯል። በኢትዮጵያም ከልደተ ክርስቶስ ከ980 ዓመታት በፊት ንግስት

ሳባ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ያደረገችውን ጉዞ መጥቀስ ይቻላል (1ኛ ነገስት፣ ምዕራፍ 10፣ ቁጥር

13)። በጉዞዋም ወቅት የመንግስት አስተዳደር ምን እንደሚመስል፣ የሰሎሞንን ጥበብ እና ብልህነት አውቃ ወደ ሀገሯ እንደተመለሰች ክብረ ነገስት ሰፋ አድርጎ ይተነትነዋል።

ሰዎች ሃይማኖታዊ ጉዞ የሚያደርጉት በአንድ በኩል እምነትን ለማጠንከር ሲሆን በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ አዳዲስ እውቀቶችን ለመጨመር ነው። ሁለቱንም አንድ ላይ አጣምሮም

ማስኬድ እንደሚቻል (Malek 2012) ገልጿል። በአገር ውስጥም ሆነ በውጭ (በተለይ

በቅድስት ኢየሩሳሌም እና በመካ መዲና) ክብረ በአላትን በመንተራስ ወይም ቅዱሳን መካናትን ለመሳለም ጉዛ ማደረግ ወይም ከሚኖሩበት ቦታ ራቅ ወዳለ ቦታ መሄድ በአገራችን እየተለመደ መጥቷል። ተጓዦችም የተቀደሰውን ቦታ ስለረገጡ እና ስለሀይማኖታቸውም ጥልቅ የሆነ እውቀት በማግኘታቸው እምነታቸው ትርጉም ያለውና በጠንካራ መሰረት ይገነባል ብለው ያስባሉ።

3. የጥናቱ ውጤት እና ትንተና ቱሪዝም በኢትዮጵያ በዚህን ጊዜ ተጀመረ ብሎ ደፍሮ ለመናገር ተጨባጭ ማስረጃዎች

ባይኖሩም ከልደተ ክርስቶስ ከ980 ዓመታት በፊት ንግስት ሳባ ንጉስ ሰሎሞንን ለመጎብኘት



ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ያደረገችውን ጉዞ (1ኛ ነገስት፣ ምዕራፍ 10፣ ቁጥር 13) የመጀመሪያ

ሊሆን እንደሚችል ብዙ ምሁራን ያስረዳሉ። ከዚያ በኋላም አያሌው (2009) እንዳሰፈረው

በ4ኛው እና በ7ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን የክርስትና እና የሙስሊም እምነት መስፋፋትን ተከትሎ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ከግብጽና ከደቡብ አረቢያ ጋር ያደረጉት ግንኙነት ለቱሪዝም መስፋፋት እንደ ዋነኛ ምክንያት ይቆጠራል ብሏል። ከዚህ በኋላም ከኢየሩሳሌም፣ ከአሌክሳንደሪያ እና ከሌሎችም አገሮች ቁጥራቸው የማይናቅ ጎብኝዎች ወደ አገሪቱ መግባት በዚያን ዘመን የነበረውን የቱሪዝም እድገት በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ እንደጨመረው ምሁራን ያስረዳሉ።

የአገራችን ቱሪዝም ከጥንታዊነቱ አንጻር የሚጠበቀውን ያክል አድጓል ወይ የሚለው ጉዳይ

ግን አጠያያቂ ነው። World Economic Forum (2013) እንደሚገልጸው የቱሪዝም አካባቢዎች ደህንነት፣ የተመቻቸ ትራንስፖርት፣ ማረፊያ ሆቴሎች፣ ለቱሪዝም የተሰጠው ትኩረት፣ የመሬት እና የአየር ኢንፍራስትራክቸር፣ የቱሪዝም ኢንፍራስትራክቸር፣ የጉዞው

የቱሪዝም ዋጋ ተወዳዳሪነት የመሳሰሉትን መስፈርቶች በመውሰድ 140 አገሮችን አወዳድሮ

ኢትዮጵያ የያዘችው ደረጃ 120ኛ ነው። ይኸው መጽሄት ኢትዮጵያ እንዲህ አይነት ዝቅተኛ ደረጃ እንዲኖራት ያደረጓትን ምክንያቶች ሲገልጽ፣

▪ አርኪ ያልሆኑ ፖሊሲዎች፣ ህጎችና ደንቦች፣ ▪ የግሉ ሴክተር እንቅስቃሴ አናሳ መሆን፣ ▪ የተፈጥሮ እና ባህላዊ ሀብቶችን የመንከባከብና የመጠበቁ ሁኔታ ዝቅተኛ ክንውን ማሳየት፣ እና

▪ በቀላልና በተመጣጣኝ ዋጋ የሆቴሎች አለመገኘት ናቸው ብሏል።

በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ሀገሪቱ የቱሪዝምን እድገት ለማፋጠን የተለያዩ እርምጃዎች እየወሰደች

መሆኑን የሚያመላክቱ ሁኔታዎች አሉ። World Bank (2006) እንደሚለው

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የረዥም ጊዜ እቅድ በ2020 ከአፍሪካ ከአስሮቹ ቱሪስት መዳረሻዎች አንዱ መሆን እንደሆነ አስፍሯል። ይህንንም ለማሳካት ያመቸው ዘንድ የኢትዮጵያ ባህልና ቱሪዝም በቱሪዝም ፖሊሲው ውስጥ የሚከተሉትን ነጥቦች አስቀምጧል፤

▪ የቱሪስት መስህቦችን ማሳደግ፣ ▪ የቱሪዝም ሀብቶችን መጠበቅ፣ ▪ የቱሪስት መዳረሻዎችንና መሰረተ ልማቱን ማሳደግ እና ▪ ከፍተኛ ቁጥር ያላቸውን ቱሪስቶች መሳብና ቆይታቸውን ማራዘም ዋና

ዋናዎቹ ናቸው (Ministry of Culture and Tourism 2009:

38)።

3.1 የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን አካባቢያዊ ገለጻ ደብሯ በደቡብ ወሎ ዞን አማራ ሳይንት ወረዳ ልዩ ስሙ ሳይንት አጅባር ወረዳ ከአዲስ አበባ

በ653 ኪሎሜትር ርቀት ላይ ትገኛለች። ይኸውም ከአዲስ አበባ ደሴ 400፣ ከደሴ ከተማ



እስከ ቤተክርስቲያኗ ደግሞ 228 ኪሎሜትር ይደርሳል። እንደ ሳይንት ወረዳ ባህልና

ቱሪዝም (2002) ገለጻ ከወረዳው ተድባበ ማርያም ለመድረስ 225 ኪሎሜትሩን

በተሸከረካሪ 3 ኪሎሜትሩን ደግሞ በእግር ያስኬዳል።

የእድሜ ባለጸጋ ከሆኑት አባቶችና ከባህልና ቱሪዝም ቢሮ ለመረዳት እንደተቻለው እንዲሁም አጥኝው በምልከታ እንዳረጋገጠው ገዳሟ በገደል የተከበበች እና በጥርብ አለት

የታጠረች ሲሆን 12 የተፈጥሮ መግቢያና መውጫ በሮች አሏት። ከእነዚህ ውጭ ማንም ሰው መግባትና መውጣትም አይችልም። ቤተክርስቲያኗ አምባ ላይ ሆኖ በምዕራብ የምስራቅ ጎጃም ዞን ሞጣ ወረዳ እና በደቡብ ጎንደር ስማዳ ወረዳ፣ በሰሜን የመቅደላ ወረዳ፣ በደቡብ የወረዳዋ ከተማ አጅባር እና ታቦር ተራራን ማየት ይቻላል። በሌላም በኩል ገዳማይ የሚባሉ የአባይ እና የበሽሎ ገባር ወንዞች ከተራራው ግራና ቀኝ ከምስራቅ ወደ ምዕራብ ስለሚፈሱ ለአካባቢው ተጨማሪ የተፈጥሮ መስህብ ሆነውታል።

ምስል 1.የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን

ዳንኤል ክብረት (1999) እንደሚገልጸው ደብሯ በግራኝ መሀመድ ጊዜ ከተቃጠሉት

አብያተ ክርስቲያናት አንዷ ስትሆን በ1544 ዓ.ም ዐጼ ገላውዴዎስ እንደገና አሳንጸዋታል። አሁን ያለው ቤተከርስቲያን እንደ አዲስ የታነጸው በንጉስ ሚካኤል ዘመነ መንግስት ነው።

የሳይንት ወረዳ ባህልና ቱሪዝም (2002)፣ የቤተክርስቲያን ሊቃውንት እና በግልጽ ምልከታ ወቅት እንደታየው የደብሩ ዋናው መቅደስ ክብ የድንጋይ ግንብ ግድግዳ ሆኖ የቆርቆሮ ክዳን

የለበሰ ሲሆን ሶስት በሮችና 32 መስኮቶችን አካቶ የያዘ ነው። ግድግዳው ከድንጋይ እና ከኖራ የተሰራ ከመሆኑም ባሻገር በውስጡ ሶስት ክፍሎች አሉት። እነሱም ቅኔ ማህሌት፣

ቅድስትና ቅድስተ ቅዱሳን ናቸው። የግንቡ ቅኔ ማህሌት (የመጀመሪያው ክፍል) ከውጭ

ሲለካ ዙሪያው 88 ሜትር እንዲሁም ቁመቱ እስከ ጣራ ማረፊያው 7.50 ሜትር ነው።



3.2 የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን አመሰራረት ሉሌ መልአኩ (1997)፣ ዳንኤል ክብረት (1999)፣ ኅሩይ ባየ (2006)፣ የሳይንት ወረዳ

ባህልና ቱሪዝም (2002) ተድባበ ማሪያም የተመሰረተችው በዘመነ ኦሪት ሲሆን መስዋእተ ኦሪት ይሰዋባቸው ከነበሩት ቦታዎች ከእነ አክሱም ጽዮን፣ ጣና ቂርቆስና መርጦለማርያም ውስጥ አንዷ እንደነበረች ያስረዳሉ። ይሁን እንጂ ለዚህ ተጨባጭ የታሪክ ማስረጃ የለም።

ዋናው መሰረቱ አፈታሪክ ነው። እንደአፈታሪኩ ከሆን ተድባበ ማሪያም በ4518 ዓ.ዓ ከክርስቶስ ልደት በፊት እንደ ተመሰረተች እንዲሁም በንግስት ሳባ እና በንጉስ ሰሎሞን ልጅ

በቀዳማዊ ሚኒሊክ ዘመን በ982 ዓ.ዓ መስዋዕተ ኦሪት እንደተሰዋባት ይነገራል። ሊቀ ትጉሃን ደበበ አብርሃ (የግል ልውውጥ) እንደሚሉት ከሆነ በዚያን ጊዜም ቦታዋ ገሊላ ተብላ ትጠራ ነበር። እንደ እሳቸው ገለጻም ተድባብ ማለት ከግዕዝ የተወሰደ ቃል ሲሆን ድጋፍ፣ ጫፍ፣ መዛነቢያ፣ ታላቅ ጥላ ማለት ነው ትርጓሜውም ከላይ እንደ ቀስተዳመና ከታች እንደ ተራዳ በቀኝ በግራ እንደ ግድግዳ ምዕመናኑን የምትረዳ ማለት ነው።

በአፈታሪኩ አካሄድ፣ ቤተመቅደሷን በመጀመሪያ እንደመሰረተ የሚነገርለት አሚናዳብ የተባለው የቅዱስ ዳዊት የወንድሙ ልጅ ቤተልሄማዊው መስፍኑ ሳቤቅ ነው። በዚሁ አፈታሪክ በዚያን ጊዜ የተድባበ ማርያም ፓትሪያርክ ሊቀ ካህኑ አዛሪያስ እንደነበር፣ ሊቀ

ካህኑም ባወጡት ማሳሰቢያ መሰረት በቤተክርስቲያኗ ዙሪያ ያሉትን አካባቢዎች ለ12ቱ ነገደ እስራኤላዊያን መታሰቢያ ይሆኑ ዘንድ በእነሱ ስም እንደተሰየሙ ይነገራል። ስያሜዎቹ የሚከተሉት ናቸው፤ ታቦቱ ያለበትን እና አካባቢውን ገሊላ፣ ከተራራው ውስጥ የሚገኙትን ደግሞ ቢታንያ እና ደብረዘይት እንዲሁም ሌሎች ከቤተክርስቲያኑ በየአቅጣጫው የሚገኙትን ደግሞ ኮሬብ፣ ደብረሲና፣ ቃዲስ፣ ኬብሮን፣ ኢያሪኮ፣ ኢየሩሳሌም፣ የኤሌት፣ ደብረሊባኖስ፣ አርሞኒየም እና ደማስቆ። በርግጥ እንዚህ አካባቢዎች እስከ ዛሬ ድረስም በዚሁ ስማቸው ይጠራሉ።

3.3 የርዕሰ አድባራት ወገዳማት ተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን ታሪክ እና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች ቅኝት ተድባበ ማርያም በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት አስተዳደር መዋቅር ውስጥ ገብታ ትጫወት የነበረው ሚና ከፍተኛ እንደነበርና ይህ ተግባሯም እስከ ቀዳማዊ ኃይለስላሴ ዘመነ

መንግስት ድረስ ይከናወን እንደነበር የተለያዩ መረጃዎች ያስረዳሉ (ሉሌ መልአኩ 1997፣

ዳንኤል ክብረት 1999)፣ የሳይንት ወረዳ ባህልና ቱሪዝም 2002)። እንደ ዳንኤል ክብረት

(1999) ገለጻ፣ ቤተክርስቲያኗ በአብርሃ ወአጽብሃ ዘመነ መንግስት ንጉሱን ለማንገስ

የሲመተ ስነስርኣቱ ከሚፈጸምባቸው አራቱ መናብርት (አክሱም ጽዮን፣ ተድባበ ማርያም፣

ጣና ቂርቆስ እና መርጦለማርያም) ውስጥ አንዷ ነበረች። የሳይንት ወረዳ ባህልና ቱሪዝም

(2002) እና ዳንኤል ክብረት (1999) እንዳሰፈሩትም ጸሎትና ቡራኬው የሚከናወነው እና ስርዓተ ንግሱም የሚፈጸመው የአክሱም ንቡረ ዕድ ለነጋሲው ዘውድ በመድፋት፣

የተድባበ ጽዮን አለቃ ሰይፍ በማስታጠቅ፣ የመርጦለ ጽዮን ርዕሰ-ርዑሳን ልብሰ መንግስት በማጎናጸፍ እንዲሁም የጣና ቂርቆስ ሊቀ ካህናት ቅብዓ መንግስት በመቀባት እንደነበር



ገልጸዋል። ኅሩይ ባየ (2006) ቅዱሳት መካናት በሚለው መጽሀፉ እንዳሰፈረው፡-

የተድባበ ማርያም አለቃ ድርሻ ሰባቱን አናቅጸ ጸሎት ካደረሱ በኋላ “በዚህ ሰይፍ እውነተኛ ፍርድ ፍረድበት፣ የእግዚአብሄርን ህግ ጠብቅበት፣ የተበላሸውን አድስበት፣ የታደሰውን አጽናበት፣ አመጸኞችን ቅጣበት፣ ፈቃደኞችን ሹምበት፣ በዚህ ሁሉ አምላካችንን አገልግልበት፣ ይህን ስታደርግ በሚመጣው በዘላለም መንግስት ከእርሱ ጋር

ትነግስበታለህ” ብለው እንደሚሰይሙት ገልጿል። ሉሌ መልአኩ (1997) ደግሞ በላሊበላ ዘመነ መንግስት ንቡረ ዕድ፣ ሊቀካህናት፣ ርእሰ ርኡሳን እና ፖትርያርክ በተባሉ አራት ከፍተኛ ማዕረግ የተሾሙ ሊቃውንት አብያተክርስቲያናትን ከማስተዳደር ተግባራቸው በተጨማሪ ቀጥሎ የተጠቀሱትን መንግስታዊ ተግባሮችን ያከናውኑ እንደነበር በግልጽ አስፍሯል።

- የአክሱም ጽዮን አስተዳዳሪ ንቡረ እድ፣ የከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ዳኛ፣ - የላሊበላ ገዳምና የአካባቢው አብያተክርስቲያናት አስተዳዳሪ ሊቀ ካህናት የመንግስት አስተዳዳሪ እና ተቆጣጣሪ፣

- የመርጦለማርያምና የአካባቢው አብያተክርስትያናት አስተዳዳሪ ርዕሰርዑሳን፣ የቤተክህነት ጉዳይ ተጠሪ፣

- የተድባበ ማርያምና የአካባቢው አብያተክርስቲያናት አስተዳዳሪ ፖትሪያርክ

እንደሚባል ኅሩይ ባየ (2006) እና ሉሌ መልአኩ (1997) ሲገልጹ ደስታ

ተክለወልድ (1970) ደግሞ በትረ ያሬክ (የተድባበ ማርያም አለቃ፣ ሊቀጳጳስ፣

መጀመሪያ፣ አባት) በማለት አስፍሯል። ይህም ሰው የቤተክህነትና የቤተመንግስት ግንኙነትና ጉዳይ ፈጻሚ በመሆን ይሰራ ነበር።

ተድባበ ማርያም ከመንግስታት ጋር ከፍተኛ የሆነ ግንኙነት ያላት መሆኑን የሚያስረዱ ብዙ ማስረጃዎች አሉ። ለምሳሌ ከዚህ በታች የቀረበው ቅርስ ንጉስ ሚካኤል ለቤተክርስቲያኗ የሰጡት ዘውድ ነው። ዘውዱም ከወርቅና ከአልማዝ የተሰራ በመሆኑ ማራኪ ውበት አለው። የወሎው ንጉስ ሚካኤል ዘውዳቸውን ከማበርከታቸውም በላይ ዐጼ አንበሳ ውድም፣ አጼ ሚነጃሽም፣ ዐጼ ፋሲል፣ ዐጼ እያሱና ዐጼ ባካፋ በየዘመናቸው ሲጠግኗት

የነበረችውን ደብር በአዲስ መልኩ በ1906 ዓ.ም ጥቅምት 6 ቀን ተጀምሮ በ1907 ዓ.ም

ተጠናቆ ለአገልግሎት እንዲበቃ እንዳደረጉ ዳንኤል ክብረት (1999) ገልጿል። በተጨማሪም በደብሩ ውስጥ ከእንጨትና ከአሳ ነባሪ የተሰራ መንበረ ዳዊት ይገኛል። እንደ

ኅሩይ ባየ (2006) ገለጻ ከተድባበ መመስረት 280 አመታት በኋላ በእስራኤል የተነሳው ቅዱስ ዳዊት በባብሎናዊያን የእስራኤልን ከተማ በወረሩ ጊዜ የንጉስ ዳዊት መንበር ባቢሎን ተማርኮ ከሄደ በኋላ በዘሩባቤል ዘመን እንደተመለሰ የሚነገርለት ይኸው ቅርስ በኢትዮጵያዊው ንጉስ ዐጼ ዳዊት ቀዳማዊ ዘመነ መንግስት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ መጥቶ አሁን ተድባበ ማርያም ይገኛል። መንበሩም ከእንጨት፣ ከአሳ ነባሪ እና ከወርቅ የተሰራ ድንቅ ጥበብ የታየበት ነው። ከላይ የቀረበው የኅሩይ ባየ ገለፃ በአፈታሪክነት ሊታይ የሚገባው ነው። የዚህ አይነቱን ትረካ ከታሪክ ለማረጋገጥ ቀላል አይደለም። በዐጼ ዳዊት ቀዳማዊ ዘመነ መንግስት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ መመጣቱን ማረጋገጥ እንኳ ቢቻል፣ በእርግጠኝነት ቅርፁ



የንጉስ ዳዊት መንበር መሆኑን ማረጋገጥ ቀላል አይደለም። አፈታሪኩ እውነት ሆነም አልሆነም፣ ቅርፁ ግን በራሱ በጥልቀት ሊጠና የሚገባው ነው።

ምስል 2፡ ከወርቅ እና ከአልማዝ የተሰራ የንጉስ ሚካኤል ዘውድ



ምስል 3፡ መንበረ ዳዊት

በሌላም በኩል የተለያዩ ነገስታት ልብሰ ተክህኗቸውን ለቤተክርስቲያኗ አበርክተዋል። ከእነዚህም ውስጥ የአጼ ሚኒልክ፣ የአጼ ዮሃንስ፣ የንግስት ዘውዲቱ ልብሰ መንግስት፣ እንዲሁም የራስ ያዘው መርዕድ የራስነት ክብር ልብስ ባለወርቅ ዝምዝም ሙካሽ እና ሌሎችም ጥንታዊ ነገስታትና ካህናት ይገለገሉባቸው የነበሩ የሀር አልባሳት ይገኙባቸዋል።



ምስል 4&5. የነገስታት ልብሰ መንግስት እና አልባሳተ ተክህኖ



በሌላም በኩል አጼ ሠርፀ ድንግል ከይፋት ሱልጣኖች ጋር ሲዋጉ እንደማረኩት የሚነገርለት የነሃስ ነጋሪት እና የፖርቹጋል ወታደሮች ይዘዋቸው የመጡ መሳሪያዎች፣ አጼ ገላውዴዎስ የተዋጉበት ሳበው ጠመንጃ ወዘተ ታሪካዊና ለጥናትና ምርምር የሚጋብዙ ናቸው። በተጨማሪም አጼ ገላውዲዎስ ለዚች ገዳም ዘውዳቸውን አበርክተዋል።

ምስል 6. አጼ ገላውዴዎስ የተዋጉበት ሳበው ጠመንጃ

በሌላም በኩል ማን እንደሰጣቸው ለጊዜው ያልታወቁ በወርቅ ጣፋ ብቻ የተሰሩ፣ የወርቅ ጣፋ እና ሙጣ ያለባቸው ጋሻዎች እንዱሁም በብር እና በወርቅ ሙጣ የተሰሩ ሌሎች ጋሻዎች በቤተክርስቲያኗ ውስጥ በቅርስነት ተመዝግበው ይገኛሉ።

ምስል 7. ባለ ወርቅ ጣፋ ጋሻ





ምስል 8-10. በወርቅ ጣፋ እና ሙጣ እንዱሁም በብር እና በወርቅ ሙጣ የተሰሩ ጋሻዎች

3.4 የቤተክርስቲያኗ ሀይማኖታዊ ቅርሶች ቅኝት በቤተክርስቲያኗ ውስጥ ያሉት ሀይማኖታዊ ቅርሶቹ በተለያዩ ስእሎች ይጀምራሉ። ወደ መቅደሱ ውስጥ ሲገባ የመቅደሱ ግድግዳ በሙሉ ከስነ ፍጥረት እስከ ትንሳኤ ያለውን የመጽሀፍ ቅዱስ ታሪክን የሚያስረዱ እና በየዘመኑ የነገሱ ነገስታትን ታሪክና ነገረ

ሀይማኖቱን በሚያሳዩ ስዕላት የተሞላ ነው። እንደ ሳይንት ወረዳ ባህልና ቱሪዝም (2002) ገለጻ የስእሎቹ ንድፍ፣ የቀለም አጣጣል እና አቀማመጥ ጥንታዊ የቤተክርስቲያን ስዕል አሳሳልን ቀኖና የተከተለ ናቸው። ስዕሎችም በንጹህ መጋረጃ የተሸፈኑ በመሆናቸው አንዳችም ጉዳት እንደሌለባቸው ገልጿል (ዝኒከማሁ)። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ የጣሪያው ተሸካሚ ወራጆች በስዕለ ኪሩቤል የተሞሉ ናቸው።



ምስል 11. መቅደስ ውስጥ ካሉ ስዕሎች ውስጥ በከፊል

ከግድግዳ ስዕሎች በተጨማሪ የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን ህማማት እስከ ትንሳኤው የሚተርክ አንድ ወጥ የሆነ የብርና ሉህ ስዕል እና ቅዱስ ሉቋስ እንደሳላቸው የሚነገርላቸው የቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም ባለ ሶስት ተከፋች የገበታ ስዕሎች በሌሎች የሐገራችን ደብሮች እና ገዳማት የማይገኙ ምትክ አልባ ቅርሶች መሆናቸውን የሳይንት ወረዳ ባህልና ቱሪዝም፣

(2002) ያስረዳል። ስለዚህም ባግባቡ ሊያዙና ለእይታም በመቅረብ ለአገሪቱ የቱሪስት እድገት የበኩላቸውን አስተዋጽኦ ሊያደርጉ ይገባል።

ምስል 12. የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን ህማማተ መስቀል እስከ ትንሳኤው ያለውን ታሪክ የሚያሳይ የብራና ላይ ስዕል



ምስል 13-&14. ቅዱስ ሉቃስ የሳላቸው የቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም ስዕሎች



ቤተክርስቲያኗ ከተለያዩ አገሮች በሃይማኖት ግንኙነት ታደርግ እንደነበር የሚያሳዩ መረጃዎችም አሉ። ከዚህ በታች የቀረቡት ጥንታዊ አውዶች ከግብጽ ፓትሪያርክ በስጦታ እንደተሰጡ የሚነገርላቸው ናቸው። አውድ ማለት መስዋዕት የሚቀርብበት ከንዋየ ቅድሳት እቃዎች ውስጥ የሚመደብ ነው።



ምስል 15-17፡ በጀርባው እና ከውስጡ የአረብኛ ጽሁፍ የተጻፈበት አውድ

በእነዚህ አውዶች ላይ ያሉትን ጹሁፎች ከአዲስ አበባ ዪኒቨርሲቲ ከአረብኛ ክፍል ካሉት

መምህራን (አቶ መሐመድ ሰዒድ እና አቶ ዑመር መኮንን) ጋር በመሆን ለመተርጎም ተሞክሮ ነበር። ነገር ግን በአውዱ ላይ የተጻፈው የዐረብኛ ጽሁፍ ነጥብ አልባ ሆኖ በመገኘቱ ብዙ የትርጉም አከራካሪ ጉዳዮችን አስነስቷል። በዐረብኛ ጽሁፍ ውስጥ ፊደሎች ሲጻፉ በሁለት አይነት መንገድ ነው። አንደኛው ነጥብ ያለው ሑሩፍ ሙዕጀማ ሲባል ነጥብ የሌለው ደግሞ ሑሩፍ ሙህመላ ይባላል። ስለዚህም ነጥብ በመኖሩና ባለመኖሩ ምክንያት የትርጉም ለውጥ ያስከትላል ማለት ነው። በዚህም ምክንያት አውዱ ላይ ያለውን ጽሁፍ በትክክል ለመፍታት አስቸጋሪ ሆኗል። እንደ ምሁራኑ ገለጻ በዐረብኛ ያለነጥብ መጻፍ የተጀመረው ከብዙ አመታት በፊት ሲሆን አሁን ያለው ግን ትርጉም ለይ ነጥቦችን ያካተተ ነው። ከዚህ አኳያ ስንመለከተው ደግሞ ቅርሱ ከአንድ ሽህ አመታት በፊት የተበረከተ ነው ብሎ ማሰብ ይቻላል።

ለጽሁፉ ግልጽ የሆነ ትርጉም መስጠት አስቸጋሪና ለሌላ ምርምር የሚጋብዝ ቢሆንም የሚከተለውን ትርጉም ይይዛል ተብሎ ይታሰባል።

“ቢረስም…አል-ዓሊ አል-መውለዊ አል-መህዱሚ አል ዐላኒ ጦቢዓ ሓጂ አል-ሳ…”



ይህ አረብኛ ጽሁፍ ወደ አማርኛ ሲተረጎም፣

“ታላቁ በተከበረው አል-መሐመዲ አል ዐላኒ….የተጻፈ” የሚል ይሆናል። ነገር ግን ይህንንና በሌሎች ቅርሶች ላይ የተጻፉ የአረብኛ ጽሁፎች ሌላ ምርምር እንደሚያስፈልጋቸው መዘንጋት አያስፈልግም።

የተለያዩ ጥንታዊ የመጾር እና የእጅ መስቀሎች ከተለያዩ አባቶች የተበረከቱ እና በቅርስነት የተቀመጡ ሲሆን ከእነዚህ መካከል ለየት ያለው ባለሁለት ተከፋቹ የእጅ መስቀል እና የወርቅ መስቀል ይገኙበታል።

ምስል 18፡ ንዋ በግዑ ባለሁለት ተካፋች መስቀል



ምስል 19፡ ዝኒከማሁ



ምስል 20፡ የወርቅ መስቀል

በቤተክርስቲያኗ ውስጥ ብዙ ዘመናትን ያሳለፉ የብራና መጻህፍት ይገኛሉ። ከእነዚህም

ውስጥ፡-

- በቅዱስ ያሬድ የተደረሰውን የድጓ መጽሃፍ አዛዥ ጌራና አዛዥ ራጉኤል ምልክት እንዲኖረው አድርገው በእጃቸው የጻፉት ጽሁፍ፣

- በግዕዝ እና በአረብኛ ቋንቋዎች የተጻፈ ወንጌል፣ - የወርቅ ጉብጉብታ ያለበት ወንጌል (ወንጌለ ወርቅ) ፣ - በአርማይክ ቋንቋ የተጻፈ የሰሌዳ ቅዳሴ መጽሃፍ፣



- ገድለ አዳም የተባለ መጽሀፍ፣ - በ4ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን እንደተጻፉ የሚነገርላቸው መጽሃፈ ሐዊ እና ገድለ አብርሀ

ወአጽብሐ ወዘተ. በቅርስነት እዚሁ ደብር ውስጥ ይገኛሉ።

ምስል 21፡ ጥናታዊ የብራና መጻህፍት

ምስል 22፡ የወርቅ ጉብጉብታ ያለበት ወንጌል



ምስል 23፡ በግዕዝ እና በአረብኛ ቋንቋዎች የተጻፈ ወንጌል



ምስል 24፡ በአርማይክ ቋንቋ የተጻፈ የሰሌዳ ቅዳሴ መጽሃፍ

ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ኅሩይ ባየ (2006) የቅድስት ሀናን ጸጉር ጨማሮ የብዙ የብሉይ ኪዳን ዘመን የነበሩ ቅዱሳንና ነገስታት አጽም በደብሯ ውስጥ እንደሚገኝ አስፍሯል። ለምሳሌ፣ ሄሮድስ ካስጨፈጨፋቸው ህጻናት ውስጥ የአምስቱ አጽም፣ የቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስ እና የሌሎች

የ28 ሰማዕታት አጽም ጥቂቶቹ ናቸው። ከነገስታት መካከልም የቀዳማዊ ቴዎድሮስ፣ የአጼ

ሚናስ፣ የአጼ ይስሐቅ፣ የአጼ እስክንድር፣ የአጼ እንድርያስ ወዘተ. አጽም እዚሁ

ቤተክርስቲያን በአንድ መቃብር ቤት (በልዩ ስሙ እንቁላል ግንብ በሚባለው ቤት) በክብር አርፎ ይገኛል። ካህናትም ልዩ ስርአተ ፀሎት እንደሚያደርጉበት ይናገራሉ። የቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም እናት የቅድስት ሀና ጸጉር ነው ተብሎ የሚገመተው ጸጉር የተቀመጠበት

ገንቦ እጅግ ጥንታዊ እና በስነጥበባዊ ይዘቱ ግርምትን የሚፈጥር መሆኑን ኅሩይ ባየ (2006)

እና የሳይንት ወረዳ ባህልና ቱሪዝም (2002) ይገልጻሉ።



በአጠቃላይ የርዕሰ አድባራት ወገዳማት ተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን በውስጧ አካታ የያዘቻቸው ቅርሶች እጅግ በርካታ ናቸው። ዋና ዋናዎችን በጥናቱ ውስጥ ለማካተት ተሞክሯል። የጥናቱ ውጤት እንደሚያሳየውም፣

- ደብሯ በመንግስት አስተዳደር መዋቅር ውስጥ ገብታ ትጫዎት የነበረው ሚና ከፍተኛ መሆኑን፣

- ደብሯ በተፈጥሮ የታደለች እና ስትራቴጅካዊ ቦታ መሆኗ፣ - ብዛት ያላቸው እና ረዥም ዘመን ያሥቆጠሩ ሐይማኖታዊ እና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች ያሏት መሆኑ እና

- ቅርሶቹ የታሪክ፣ የስነ-ሰብዕ፣ የስነ-ማህበረሰብ፣ የስነጽሁፍ፣ የአርኪዎሎጂ ወዘተ. ተመራማሪዎችን የሚጋብዙ መሆናቸው ጥቂቶቹ ናቸው።

በመሆኑም ቅርሶቹ ለምተውና እንክብካቤ አግኝተው ጥቅም ላይ መዋል ቢጀምሩ እና ለተመራማሪዎች ከፍት መሆን ቢችሉ ለኣካባቢውም ሆነ ለአገሪቱ ቱሪዝም እድገት የሚያበረክቱት አስተዋጽኦ እንዲህ በቀላሉ የሚገመት አይደለም። በተለይ በቤተክርስቲያኑ ውስጥ ብዙ ዘመናትን ያሳለፉ መጻህፍት ጥንቃቄ እና ሃላፊነት በተሞላበት ሁኔታ በቤተመጽሀፍት መልክ ተደራጅተው ለጥናት ክፍት የሚሆኑበት መንገድ ቢፈለግ ከተለያዩ ያለም ክፍል የሚመጡ ሰዎች በአገሪቱም ሆነ በአካባቢው ብዙ ጊዜን ስለሚያሳልፉ ከቱሪዝም ኢንዱስትሪው የሚገኘው ገቢ በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ ይጨምራል።

ቅርሶቹ ለቅርስ ቱሪዝም እድገት ያላቸው አቅም ከፍተኛ ቢሆንም በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ ድረስ ትኩረት ያላገኙ መሆናቸውን ከጥናቱ መረዳት ይቻላል። ከእነዚህም ውስጥ፣

- የመንገዱ አስቸጋሪነት፣ - ቅርሶችን የሚጠብቅና የሚንከባከብ የሰለጠነ ባለሙያ ባለመመደቡ የብራና መጻህፍት የተደጎሱበት ቆዳ መላላጥ፣ የተኮተቱበት ክር ተበጣጥሶ የመገነጣጠል፣ አንዳንድ የወርቅ ፈርጦች ተነቅሎ የመጥፋት፣ የወርቅ ዘውዱ ላይ ስብራት መታየት፣

- ቅርሶቹ ይዘረፋሉ በሚል ስጋት ኃላፊነቱን ወስዶ ለጎብኝዎችና ለተመራማሪዎች ክፍት የሚያደርግ አካል አለመኖር፣

- በቂ የሆነ የማስተዋወቅ ስራ አለመሰራቱ እና - የሙዚየሙ የግንባታ ስራ ተጠናቆ ወደ ስራ ያለመግባት ጥቂቶቹ ናቸው።

4. ማጠቃለያ እና የመፍትሄ ሀሳብ በጥናቱ ውስጥ የሰፈሩት ቅርሶች ቤተክርስቲያኗ ለኢትዮጵያ ቱሪዝም እድገት ሊውል የሚችል እምቅ ሀብት ያላት መሆኑን ያመለክታሉ። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ከታሪክም ሆነ ከቅርስ አኳያ ለተለያዩ ምርምሮች የሚጋብዙ የአገር ሀብቶች መሆናቸውንም ከመረጃዎች ትንተና ለመረዳት ተችሏል። በሌላም በኩል እነዚህ ቅርሶች በዚህ ደብር ውስጥ መኖራቸውን የሚያሳዩ የማስተዋወቅ ስራዎች ቢሰሩ በተለይ የአገር ውስጥ ጎብኝዎች ሆነ የውጭ አገር ሰዎች ወደ ቦታው መጉረፋቸው እንደማይቀር አጥኝው ያምናል።



ከእነዚህ ያልተነኩ የቅርስ ቱሪዝም ድንግል ሀብቶች በተጨማሪ የደብሯ ስትራቴጅካዊ አቀማመጥ እና ተፈጥሮ፣ በዙሪያዋ ያሉ ታሪካዊ ገዳማትና ዋሻዎች፣ የታቦር ተራራ፣ የደንቆሮ

ፓርክ ወዘተ. ተዳምረው ቦታዋን ልዩ መስህብ እንዲኖራት አድርገዋል። ባጠቃላይ ቅርሶቹ ለምተውና ተጠብቀው እንዲቆዩ እና የአገር ውስጥም ሆነ የውጭ ጎብኝዎችን ቀልብ እንዲስቡ ለማድረግ፣

- ከሳይንት ተድባበ ማርያም ያለውን መንገድ ከሚመለከታቸው የመንግስት አካላት፣ ከረጂ ድርጅቶች እንዲሁም የህዝብ ጉልበት በማስተባበር የሚሰራበትን መፍትሔ መፍጠር፣

- የተለያዩ ሚዲያዎችን በመጠቀም የማስተዋወቅ ስራ መስራት፣ - አሁን በመሰራት ላይ ያለውን ሙዚየም የተለያዩ የባለድርሻ አካላት ተረባርበው ለአገልግሎት እንዲበቃ ማድረግ፣

- ቅርሶቹ በተገቢው መንገድ ተቀምጠው እና ተጠብቀው ለእይታ እና ለምርምር ክፍት የሚሆኑበት መንገድ ማመቻቸት እና

- የተቀመጡበት ቦታ ጠባብ ክፍልና ብርሃን የማያስገባ በመሆኑ ሙዚየሙ እስኪያልቅ ድረስም ሰፋ ያለ እና ንጽህ አየር ያለበት ክፍል ማዘጋጀት ያስፈልጋል።

ዋቤ መጻህፍት

ኅሩይ ባየ። 2006። ቅዱሳት መካናት። አዲስ አበባ፡ ያሬድ ማተሚያ ቤት።

ሉሌ መልአኩ። 1997። የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ታሪክ። አዲስ አበባ፤ ትንሳኤ ዘጉባኤ ማተሚያ ቤት።

ሰይድ አሊ። 1970። የግሸን ማርያም ሶሽዮ ኢኮኖሚ ጥናት። ደሴ፤ SWIUD፣ 2003። ያልታተመ።

ደስታ ተክለ ወልድ። 1970። ዐዲስ የአማርኛ መዝገበ ቃላት። አዲስ አበባ፤ አርትስቲክ ማተሚያ ቤት።

ዳንኤል ክብረት። 1999።የቤተክርስቲያን መረጃዎች። አዲስ አበባ፡ ማህበረ ቅዱሳን።

ዘመድኩን በላይ። 1992።ቅዱሳን መካናት በኢትዮጵያ። የ44 ጥንታዊያን ገዳማትና አድባራት ታሪክ። አዲስ አበባ፡ ንግድ ማተሚያ ቤት።

ክብረ ነገስት (ግዕዝና አማርኛ)። 1994። አዲስ አበባ፤ የኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎች ጥናትና ምርምር ማዕከል፣ ንግድ ማተሚያ ቤት።

የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ የቱሪዝም ልማት ፖሊሲ። 2001። አዲስ አበባ፤ የባህልና ቱሪዝም ሚኒስቴር።

Abdaziz, Khursiah and Abdullah, Fakhrul. 2011. Cultural Heritage

Tourism Development in Kota Lama Kanan, Kuala Kangsar,

Perak. Universititun Abdul Razak E-Journal. 3:2.



Alzua A. and Morrison A. 1998. Cultural and Heritage Tourism:

identifying niches for international travelers. The Journal of

Tourism Studies. 9፡2; 2-13.

Ayalew Sisay. 2009. Historical Development of Travel and Tourism in

Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Commercial Printing Enterprise,

IATA: Accredited Agent.

Bader, Malek. 2012. Religious Tourism in Jordan: Current situation,

future developments and prospects. A case study on Islamic

and Christian holy sites. MA thesis, zur Vorlage bei der

Mathematisch-Geographischen Fakultät der Katholischen

Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

Ermias Kifle. 2014. Challenges of Religious Tourism Development:

The Case of Gishen Mariam, Ethiopia. American Journal of

Tourism Research. 3: 2; 42-57.

Franklin, Adrian. 2003. Tourism: An Introduction. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd.

Goral, Anna. 2011. Research on cultural tourism development in

sacral and spiritual sites from the NESCO world heritage list.

International Journal of Heritage and Sustainable Development.

1:1; 49-59.

Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 2009. Tourism Development Policy.

Addis Ababa: Branna Printing Enterprise,

Ministry of Urban Development and Construction. 2011. “Urban

Heritage and Tourism Planning Manual.” Addis Ababa.

Sava, Cpriane and Caraivan, Luiza. 2012. The durable development

of cultural tourism in Timisoara and its surrounding area:

capitalizing on the existing assets and resources. Review of

Applied Socio- Economic Research. 4:2.

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New Delhi: Yes Bank Ltd.

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a public interest approach. Introduction. Journal for applied

anthropology in policy and practice. 11: 2/3; 2-8.



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World. Toronto፡ Channel View Publications.

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Heritage Guide, (4th Ed.) Tourism Stalls, IFT, UNESCO.

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http://media.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/finalannualreportp

df.pdf

መንግስቱ ታደሰ ሞላ

ደብረብርሃን ዪኒቨርሲቲ፣ ደብረብርሃን፣ ኢትዮጵያ




የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ታሪክን የተንተራሱ የትርክት ተቃርኖዎች ለማለዘብ የህዝብና ባህል መስተጋብር ታሪክ ምርምር ሚና

አውግቸው አማረ አጎናፍር

አጠቃሎ

ከ፳ኛው መ/ከ/ዘ ሁለተኛው አጋማሽ ጀምሮ የኢትዮጵያ ብሄራዊ ታሪክ በተገዳዳሪና ተፃራሪ

ትርክቶች መጠነ-ሰፊ ትችትና ክስ አስተናግዷል። ትርክቶቹ በተለያየ ደረጃና ለረጅም ጊዜ በተደረጉ አካዳሚያዊና ፖለቲካዊና ባህሪ ያላቸው የታሪክ አረዳዶች፣ ትንታኔዎችና ብያኔዎች ውጤት ናቸው። የዚህ ጥናት ዋና አላማ በኢትዮጵያ የረዥም አመታት ትርክትና

በኦሮሞ-ተኮር ትርክት መካከል ያሉትን ተቃርኖዎች ለይቶ በማውጣት ጠርዝ-ረገጥ አረዳዶችና ትንታኔዎችን የሚያለዝብና የጎለበተ ሳይንሳዊ መሰረት ላይ የተመሰረቱ ብያኔዎችን ሊያግዙ የሚችሉ የታሪክ ምርምሮች ለውይይትና ለቀጣይ የምርምር ስራዎች መጠቆም ነው። ለዚህም የሚጠቅሙ የታሪክ፣ የባህል፣ ቋንቋና ፖለቲካ ቀመስ ምርምሮች ተገምግመዋል። አተያየታቸውንና ሙግታቸውን መሰረት በማድረግም ለጥናቱ አላማ ግብአት ሊሆኑ በሚመቹ መልኩ ተቀምጠዋል። በጥናቱ መሰረት የተለዩት ተቃርኖዎች

ሁለት መሰረታዊ ጉዳዮችን ይዳስሳሉ። እነርሱም የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ሚና እና ማንነት (role

and identity) ናቸው። በተለመደው የታሪክ ጥናት ውስጥ ያለው ሳይንሳዊ ክርክር

እንዳለ ሆኖ የትርክት ግጭቶች በዋናነት ተመጋጋቢ የሆኑ ኢኮኖሚያዊ፣ ፖለቲካዊና ስነ-ልቦናዊ ምክንያቶች አሏቸው። በውጤታቸውም የፖለቲካ አመለካከት መካረሮች፣ ከፖለቲካ ተቃርኖ የሚመነጭ የኢኮኖሚ ቀውስና የማህበራዊ ባህላዊ ትስስር ድሮች መላላት አስከትለዋል። በድምሩም በጊዜ ሂደት የሀገሪቷን ህልውና በመስቀለኛ መንገድ ላይ አስቀምጧታል። ታሪክ ላይ ያሉ የተቃርኖ ቋጠሮዎችን ማላላትና አሳታራቂ ንባብ መተለም አስፈላጊ ሆኖ ተገኝቷል። ከፖለቲካው ይልቅ የኢትዮጵያውያን ማህበራዊ፣ ባህላዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ መስተጋብር ታሪክ አብሮነትን በሚያበለፅግ አተያይ ማጥናት እንደ አንድ ወሳኝ ግብአት ሊሆን የሚችልበት አቅጣጫ ተጠቁሟል። አስታራቂ ትርክት አካዳሚያዊ፣

ተቋማዊ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊና ርዕዮተ-አለማዊ ቅድመ ሁኔታዎችንም የሚጠይቅ ውስብስብና ሀብት የሚጠይቅ ግዙፍ የሀገር ግንባታ አካል ነው።

መግቢያ ዳራ ኢትዮጵያዊነት እንደ አሰባሳቢ ማንነት በአራት ዋና ዋና መሰረቶች ላይ የቆመ ነው። እነርሱም መሬት፣ ታሪክ፣ አንድ የጋራ የፖለቲካ ማዕከል ወይም የፖለቲካ ፍላጎትና የጋራ

222 | የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ታሪክን የተንተራሱ የትርክት ተቃርኖዎች…


እሴት ናቸው።1 የብሔር ማንነትም አራት መገለጫዎች አሉት። እነርሱም የብሔሩ ባህል፣

ቋንቋ፣ ታሪክና የደም ኃረግ ናቸው።2

የኢትዮጵያዊነት ማንነት በአንድ ሀገር ልጅነትና ዜግነት አምድ ከብሔር ማንነት ጋር፣ አንድ የብሔር ማንነት ከሌላው ብሔር ማንነት ጋር ሊኖረው የሚችለው ሰላምና ግጭት ከላይ በተጠቀሱት ዋልታና ማገሮቻቸው ላይ ባለ ምልከታና ትንታኔ የተመሰረተ ነው። በሁለቱ የማንነት መገለጫዎች ውስጥ በጉልህ ከአንድነት ይልቅ የልዩነትና ግጭት ምክንያት በዋናነት ታሪክ ላይ ያለ ትንታኔና አተያይ ነው። በታሪካዊ አጀንዳዎች ላይ የሚደረጉ ጤናማ የሆኑና ያልሆኑ ንትርኮችና ክርክሮች የሀገር ሀብት፣ የፖለቲካ ፍላጎትና የጋራ እሴት ላይ ያለ አቋምን የማስተካከል ወይም የማዛባት ተፅዕኗቸው እጅግ ከፍ ያለ ነው። በታሪክ ላይ ሚዛናዊ እይታ የሌለው የኢኮኖሚና ፖለቲካ ማህረሰብ በወቅታዊ ሀገርዊ አጀንዳዎች ላይ አንድነት አይኖረውም። ስለ ወደፊቱም ለመተለም ይቸገራል።

ይህ ጥናት ለ3ኛ ዲግሪ ማሟያ እየሰራሁበት ካለው የምርምር ሥራ3 የተመዘዘ ሲሆን ዋና አላማውም በኢትዮጵያ የረዥም ዓመት ብሄራዊ ታሪክና በተለይ ባለፉት ሀምሳ አመታት የተፃፉ የተጣረሱ፣ ሸውራራ፣ አግላይ፣ የተንጋደዱ፣ ከእውነት የራቁና፣ የተጋነኑ ወዘተ የታሪክ አተያዮችና ትንታኔዎችንና ብያኔዎችን ለይቶ በማጥናት በሳይንሳዊ የታሪክ ምርምር ብሔራዊ አንድነትን ሊያጠናክር በሚችል መልኩ ተቃርኖዎቹ ሊታረቁና የሚችሉበትን አቅጣጫ ለመጠቆም ነው። ከጉዳዩ ውስብስብነት የመነጨ በአንድ ጥናትና ባለሙያ ለመሸፈን አስቸጋሪ በመሆኑ የአሁኑ ጥናት በተባለው ነገር ላይ አንዲት ጠብታ ሀሳብ ማበርከት የአላማው ግብ መሆኑን ይገነዘባል። ጥናቱ በዋናነት በሙያው በሰለጠኑና ምርምር በሰሩ የታሪክ ፀሃፍት እና በፖለቲካ ልሂቃን የተሰሩ ጥናቶችን መረጃ አጠቃቀማቸውን፡ የታሪክ አተያያቸውንና፣ ሙግታቸውን፣ ትንታኔያቸውን፣ እንዲሁም ብያኔያቸውን በመገምገም ያበረከቱትን አስተዋፅኦ በማጉላት ያሉባቸውን ክፍተቶች ሊያሟሉ የሚችሉ ሌሎች የምርምር ስራቸውን ይጠቁማል። ንጥል ጥናቱ የኦሮሞ ልሂቃንና ህዝብ ታሪክ ላይ በአካዳሚያዊና ፖለቲካዊ ክርክሮች የሚነሱ ተቃርኖዎችን በመለየት ለልሂቃን ውይይት ለማቅረብና ህዝብ ለህዝብ አንድነትን የሚያጠነክሩትን ትርክቶች ለመደገፍ የታሪክ ምርምሮች መረጃ፣ አተያይና ትንታኔ ጥቆማ ያደርጋል።

1 ኢትዮጵያ ጥናትና ምርምር ኢንስቲቱዩት (EDF/ERPI), “የኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ማንነትና የብሄር ማንነት

መገለጫ መርሆዎች” (ዋሽንግን ዲሲ USA: 2017)፣ ገፅ.3።

2 ዝኒ ከማሁ

3 Awegichew Amare, “A History of Interaction and Integration in the

Ethiopian Christian Kingdom: The Case of the Oromo (16th-18th

Centuries),” PhD Dissertation in Progress, Department of History,

Addis Abeba University.

አውግቸው አማረ| 223


ተፃራሪ ትርክቶች በኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ታሪክ በማህበራዊ ሳይንስ እንደ አንድ የምርምር ዘርፍ እንዱሁም በፖለቲካው የጋለ የንድፈ ሀሳብ፣ የፍልስፍናና የትርክት ክርክር ከሚደረግባቸው ጉዳዮች አንዱ ታሪክ ነው። ልሂቃን ባለፈ ታሪክ ላይ የግድ መስማማት አይጠበቅባቸውም። ምሉዕ የሆነ መስማማትም ሊኖር አይቻልም። የተለያዩ መረጃዎች፣ ትንታኔዎቹ ላይ የሚንፀባረቅ የፀሃፊዎች ፖለቲካዊ

አቋም፣4 የታሪክ መረጃው የተፃፈበት ነባራዊ ሁኔታ፣ የተፃፈበት ዓላማ፣ እንዲሁም የታሪክ

አፃፃፍና አረዳድ እድገት5 ወዘተ በታሪክ ላይ የሚነሳ ወጥነት ያለው ምልከታና ትንታኔን ይፈታተናል። ባለፈ ኩነት ወይም ስብእና ላይ የተለያዩ አተያዮችንና አመለካከቶችን ማስተናገድ በሙያው የተሰማሩ የሚጠብቁትና የሚያከብሩት ባህሪ ነው። ይሁንና ታሪክን መፃፍ፣ ትንታኔን መደገፍ ወይም መሞገት የግድ መረጃና ምክንያትን እንዲንተራስ ከሁሉም

ይጠበቃል።6 ይህም ታሪክን ከሌሎች እውነትነት ከሌላቸው የፈጠራ ትንታኔዎች የተለየ ያደርገዋል። የታሪክ ምሁራንንም ከደራሲዎችና የፖለቲካ ካድሬዎች የሚለያቸው መስመር ነው።

የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ባለ ታሪክ ነው። የሕዝቡ ታሪክ ተፅፏልን? የሚል ጥያቄ ባለው የታሪክ

ምርምር ሥራ ላይ ያለውን የአካታችነት ጉዳይ የሚተቹ አሉ።7 የኦሮሞ ታሪክ በኢትዮጵያ ባህላዊና ዘመናዊ ታሪክ ፀሀፍት ትኩረት ስለተነፈገው በአግባቡ አልተፃፈም የሚሉም

አልታጡም።8 መሰል ትችቶችን የሚያቀርቡትም እንዳንዶች ከትችት የዘለለ ነገር የሌላቸው ሲሆኑ ውስን ልሂቃን የራሳቸውን አረዳድና ትንታኔ ይዘው ታረክ ሲፅፉ ይታያል። የሆነ ሆኖ እስከዛሬ ድረስ የተፃፉትን ሥራዎች መሰረት በማድረግ የሚደረግ ሙያዊ ግምገማ መሰረት የኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ ታሪክ የኦሮሞን ህዝብ ታሪክ በተመለከተ ያሉበትን ክፍተቶችና ጥንካሬዎችን ይረዳል። የኦሮሞ ብሄርተኝነትን የሚመግቡ የታሪክ ምርምሮችም ባለው የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ላይ የሚያነሱት ትችት አንዳንዶቹ ሀቀኛና ተቀባይነት ያላቸው

ሲሆኑ በአመዛኙ ደግሞ ጠርዝ የረገጡ የፖለቲካና ርዕዮተ-አለም አስተሳሰቦችና

4 Pietro Toggia, “History writing as a State Ideological Project in

Ethiopia,” African Identities, VII, V (2008), pp. 319-343.

5 James De Lorenzi, “Printed Words, Imperial Journey, Global Scholars:

Historiography and Cosmopolitanism in the Red Sea World, 1800-

1935,” PhD Dissertation, Department of History, University of

Pennsylvania, 2008; John Tosh, ed. Historians on History, 2nd ed. (Great

Britain: Pearson Education Limited, 2009).

6 John Tosh, The Pursuit of History (England: Pearson Education, 2002),

pp. 83-103.

7 Asafa Jalata, “The Struggle for Knowledge: The Case of Emergent

Oromo Studies,” African Studies Review, XXXIX, II (1996), pp. 95-123

8 Ezekiel Gebissa, Introduction to Contested Terrain: Essays on Oromo

Studies, Ethiopianist Discourse, and Politically Engaged Scholarship, ed.

Ezekiel Gebissa (Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press, 2009), pp. 1–20.



አመለካከቶች የገሯቸው ክሶች መሆኑን ይገነዘባል። በዚህ አረዳድ የተቃርኖዎች መነሻ ምክንያቶች መለየት፣ ተቃርኖዎቹን በዝርዝር ማቅረብ፣ የተቃርኖዎቹ ውጤት መገምገምና ሊስማሙ የሚችሉበትን ምልከታ መጠቆም ያስፈልጋል። ይህም እርስ በርስ ከመካሰስ ሚዛናዊ የታሪክ አረዳድ እንዲኖር ለውይይት በር ይከፍታል።

የተቃርኖዎች መነሻ ምክንያቶች በምርምር ተቋማት ከሚደረገው ጤናማ ክርክር ውጪ በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ላይ የሚነሱ የተቃረኑ ትንታኔዎችን ይዘው የሚቀርቡ ልሂቃን መካከል ያለው መሰረታዊ ገፊ ምክንያት

ኢኮኖሚያዊ-ወ-ፖለቲካዊ ነው። በታሪክ ላይ ያለን የጥቅም ግጭት መሰረት በማድረግ

የሚደረግ ግምገማ በፖለቲካው ውስጥ እየተካረረ የመጣውን የታሪክ አረዳድ እሰጥ-አገባ

በሚገባ ማስረዳት ይችላል። የታሪክ ሽሚያው አላማ አለው። “እኔ ብቻ ነኝ ሃገር

ያቆምኩት” ወይም “እኔ ብቻ ነኝ ተበዳይ” ትንታኔ ግቡ ያንን የተንተራሰ የፖለቲካ ፕሮግራም መንደፍና በዙሪያው ህዝብን ማደራጀት ነው። የሃገር ግንባታውን ታሪክ ለይቶ የማንበብ አላማ ለይቶ ለመጠቀም ነው። ታሪክን መርጦ የመርሳትም ሆነ መርጦ የማስታወስ አካሄድም ተመሳሳይ ግብ አለው። በዚህ የተነሳ አካዳሚያዊ ክርክሮች ሳይቀሩ ፖለቲካዊ ፅንፍ ይዘው ይገኛሉ። በሳይንሳዊና ፖለቲካዊ የታሪክ ትንታኔ መካከል ያለ መስመር የመደብዘዝና የመጥፋት ደረጃ የደረሰው ጥቅምን ለአንድ ወገን ሊያመጣ የሚችል ታሪካዊ ትንታኔ ተቋማዊ በመሆኑና ያንን የሚደግፍ አደረጃጀት ስላለ ነው። ታሪክን በተቻለ አቅም ከሳይንስነቱ ሳይወርድ በሀቀኝነት የሚፅፉ ውስን የታሪክ ፀሃፍትም ከሙያው የመራቅና የመሸማቀቅ አዝማሚያ ማሳየት ለሌሎች ተዋናዮች አካሄዱን ትክክል አስመስሎታል።

በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ላይ የሚታዩ ክፍተቶችን በጥናት ለማረም ያለው ውስን አቅምና ተነሳሽነት ለተቃርኖዎች ከፍ ያለ እድል ከፍቷል። ቀድሞ ከተሰመረው የትንታኔ መስመር ፈቀቅ ማለት ሙያውን እንደ ማጥቃት የሚቆጠርበት ሁኔታ አለ። በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ የአካታችነት፣ የምክንያታዊነትና የበደሎችና የድሎች እውቅና ጉዳይ በተለይ በኦሮሞ

ልሂቃን በተደጋጋሚ ክስ ቢቀርብም9 ይህንን ያማከሉ ጥናቶች ውስን ናቸው። የተሰሩትም ለውይይት ተደራሽ አይደሉም። ብሔር ተኮር ትንታኔዎችን በዕውቀት ፈትሾ የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ጥናት ጉባኤ አካል ከማድረግ ይልቅ እንደ አደጋ የማየት ዝንባሌዎችም አሉ። ግትርነቱን ሙሉ በሙሉ አካዳሚያዊ አንድምታ እንዳለው አድርጎ መውሰድና ኢኮኖሚያዊና ፖለቲካዊ ይዘቶቹን መዘንጋት የጉዳዩን ሙሉ ምስል አለማየት ወይም ትኩረት መንፈግ ነው።

የኦሮሞ ብሄርተኝነትን የሚያቀነቅኑ ልሂቃን በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ላይ የሚያነሷቸው ትችቶችና ትርክቶች ላለው መካረር ከፍ ያለ አስተዋፅኦ አላቸው። ሁሉም ባይሆኑም አብዛኞቹ

9 Mohammed Hassen, “Some Aspects of Oromo History that Have Been

Misunderstood,” The Journal of Oromo Studies, I, II (1994), pp. 77–90;

Asafa Jalata, “The Struggle for Knowledge: The Case of Emergent

Oromo Studies,” African Studies Review, XXXIX, II (1996), pp. 95-123.



ከሳይንሳዊ ታሪክ ጥናት ይልቅ ፖለቲካዊ ይዘት ያላቸው ናቸው። ፖለቲካዊ ይዘት ያላቸው በዋናነት ለሳይንሳዊ ታሪክ ትንታኔና አስታራቂ ይዘት ያለው ትርክት ይዞ ለመምጣት መሰናክል ሆነዋል። ለዚህ ደግሞ ዋናው ምክንያት የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ መረጃዎች ላይ ካላቸው ብያኔ ይጀምራል። በእርግጥ አንዳንድ ልሂቃን መረጃዎችን በሳይንሳዊ መንገድ

በመተቸትና በመጠቀም የታሪክ እውነቶችን አጥርተው ጥናትችን ይዘው መጥተዋል።10 ይህም የሚፈልጉትን የፖለቲካው አመለካከት ከመደገፍ ወይም ከመሞገት አላገዳቸውም።

ሌሎች ደግሞ በጅምላ የታሪክ ድርሳናትን “ድርሰቶች” ብለው ይፈርጇቸዋል። ውስኖቹ

ደግሞ ሁለቱን በንጽጽር ያቀርባሉ።11 በተለይ መረጃዎችን ተገቢ ባልሆነ ለዛሬ ትንታኔ ባላቸው ፋይዳ በመለካት እንዲሁም በቂ እና ታማኝነት ያላቸው መረጃዎች ላይ ያልተንተራሱና የተንሸዋረረ ዕይታ ያላቸው ልሂቃን ይዘውት የመጡት ትርክት አብሮነትን የሚሸረሽርና ተመጋጋቢ የፖለቲካ ፕሮግራም ማስፈፀሚያ ሲሆን ተስተውሏል።

ብሔርተኝነትን የሚደግፉ ትርክት በዋናነት ስለ ልዩነት (uniqueness) የሚሰብክ በመሆኑ ጠርዝ ረገጥነቱ ሊጦዝ ችሏል።

የኦሮሞ ልሂቃንን ትርክት ወይም አንድነትን የሚሰብኩ ልሂቃንን በተናጠል የማንቋሸሽና የሰሩትን ጥናት ከግምት ያለማስገባት፣ አንድነትን ለመስበክ የብሔር አመለካከቶችን ለመደፍጠጥ መሞከር፣ የብሔርን ጉዳይ ለመተንተን የግድ አንድነትን መሸርሸር፣ ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ከኦሮሙማ ተፃራሪና ተገዳዳሪ ሆነው እንዲሳሉ አድርጓቸዋል። ኢትዮጵያን ከኦሮሞ የማዳን ወይም ኦሮሞን ከኢትዮጵያ ማዳን የሚሉ የፖለቲካ አስተሳሰብ ተቃርኖዎች ተፈጥረዋል። ካለፈው ግማሽ ምዕተ ዓመት ጀምሮ የተያዘው የብሄርና

የሀይማኖት ማንነት ተኮር ንጥል የታሪክ ትንታኔ ኢ-ሳይንሳዊ ትንታኔና አረዳድን

አበረታቷል። የ20ኛው መ/ክ/ዘ የሀገር ግንባታ ሂደቱ፣ የመሬት ጥያቄ እና የብሄር ጥያቄ

ትንታኔ በሚወነጃጀሉ ልሂቃን መካከል ተግባቦት የለም። ባስም ሲል 20ኛው መ/ክ/ዘመንን

ወደ 16ኛው መ/ክ/ዘ ለመውሰድ 16ኛውን መ/ክ/ዘ ደግሞ ትናንት ላይ ለመሰካት ጥረት አለ። ትናንትን በዛሬ የመቃኘትና ዛሬን በትናንት መነፅር የማገት አደገኛ አካሄድ በሁሉም ካምፕ ተፈጥሯል። በአጠቃይ ውጤቱም ኢትዮጵያ ባብዛኛው በታሪክ በጥቂቱ ደግሞ በኢንዱስትሪ አለም ተሰንቅራ እንድትቆዝም አድርጓታል።

ተቃርኖዎች በዝርዝር የኦሮሞ ልሂቃን በብሄሪዊ ታሪክ ላይ እንዲሁም ሌሎች ልሂቃን ደግሞ በኦሮሞ ልሂቃን ስራ ላይ የሚያነሷቸው ቅሬታዎችና የሰሉ ትችቶች በተደጋጋሚ ቢቀርቡም የትኛውን የታሪክ ምዕራፍ እንደሚሸፍኑ በግልፅ ሲዘረዘር አይታይም። በጥቅል የሚደረጉ ፍረጃዎች

10 A very good example in this regard is a recent book by Mohammed

Hassen, The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700

(Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey, 2015).

11 Tabor Wami, Yäwugäna Dərsätočina Yätarik əwənätoč (Partisan

Fabrications and Historical Facts) Addis Abeba: Artistic Matämiya

Derijit, 2006).



የተወሳሰበና ለልዩነት ንባብ የማይመቸውን የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ የጅምላ ፍረጃ ተጠቂ አድርጎታል። በኦሮሞ ልሂቃንና የኦሮሞን ታሪክ በሚያጠኑ የውጪ ሀገር ምሁራን የተሰሩ ጠቃሚ የምርምር ስራዎችም ተገቢ ያልሆነ ትችት ሰለባና ትኩረት እንዳያገኙ አድርጓል።

የኦሮሞ ህዝብ በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ውስጥ በተመለከተ ያሉት ተቃርኖዎች ሲደመሩ ሁለት

መሰረታዊ ነጥቦችን ይነካሉ ፤ የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ሚና እና ማንነትን (role and identity)። በነዚህ ግዙፉ አጀንዳዎች ውስጥ የተጠኑ ጥናቶችን መሰረት በማድረግ በአብይ የታሪክ ሂደቶች ውስጥ ያሉት ለተቃራኒ ትርክቶች ግብአት የሆኑ የሙግት ልዩነቶች እንደሚከተለው ይቀርባሉ፤

ሀ. የኦሮሞ ህዝብ በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ውስጥ ያለውን እድሜ በተመለከተ፤ ከ16ኛው መ/ክ/ዘ

በፊት በክርስቲያኑ ግዛተ-አፄ ውስጥ ነበሩ በሚሉና 12 ከዚህ በተቃርኖ በሚቆሙት

መካከል13 ለዓመታት የቆየ አለመግባባት፣

ለ. የኦሮሞ ህዝብ መስፋፋትን በወረራና በአጥፊነት በሚፈርጁና፡ የራሱ የስልጣኔ አበርክቶት

እነደሌለው አድርገው በሚስሉና14 ይህንን ምልከታ በሚቃወሙ መካከል፣15

ሐ. በ16ኛው መ/ክ/ዘ እና 18ኛው መ/ክ/ዘ ለነበረው የክርስቲያኑ መንግሥት መዳከም የኦሮሞን

ህዝብ መስፋፋትንና ልሂቃኑን እንደአጥፊና ተጠያቂ በሚያደርጉትና16 የኦሮሞ ልሂቃን ታሪክ ለክርስቲያኑ መንግስትና በውስጡ ላሉት ግዛቶች አንድነት መጠናከር ያደረገውን

አስተዋፅኦ በሚያጎሉ፣17

12 Bahrey, "The History of the [Oromo]" In Some Records of Ethiopia, 1593-

1646, trans. and ed. C. F. Beckingham and G. W. B. Huntingford, pp.

111-29 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1954); Getatchew Haile, ed. and trans.

Yä Abba Baḥrǝy Dərsätoch Oromočən Kämimäläkätu Leloč Sänädoč Gara

[Abba Baḥrǝy’s Works and Other Documents Concerning the

Oromo](Addis Abeba: Addis Abeba University Press, 1995).

13 Mohammed Hassen, "The pre-16th century Oromo Presence within the

Medieval Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia", In A River of Blessings: Essays

in Honor of Paul Baxter, ed. D. Brokensha (New York: Maxwell School of

Citizenship and Public Affairs, 1994), pp. 43-66.

14 Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians (London: Oxford University Press,

1960), p. 76.

15 Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo of Ethiopia (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1994)

16 This view is dominant in many scholarly works of Ethiopian studies.

17 Shiferaw Bekele, “Reflection on the Power Elites of the Wäräšeh

Mäsfenate (1786-1853),” Annales d’Ethiopie, XV (1990), pp. 157-179; Brian

J. Yates, “Invisible Actors: The Oromo and the Creation of Modern

Ethiopia (1855-1913),” PhD Dissertation, Department of History,



መ. በኦሮሞ ህዝብና በሌላው ህዝብ መካከል የነበረውን ግንኙነት የጦርነትና ግጭት ታሪክ

ብቻ አድርገው በሚያዩና18 ከዚህ በተቃርኖ ሰላማዊ መስተጋብርን በሚደግፉ፣19

ሠ. የግጭት ይሁን የሰላም የጋራ ታሪክ የለንም በሚሉና የጋራ ታሪካችን እንደውም በአግባቡ አልተጠናም በሚሉ፣

ረ. የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ከክርስቲያኑ ግዛተ-አፄም ይሁን ዘመናዊ ሀገረ መንግሥቱ ጋር የነበረውን

ግንኙነት የተጨቋኝና ተገላይ ነበር20 በሚሉና ስርአቱ አካታች የነበረና ኦሮሞም ዋና

የልሂቃኑ አካል ነበር በሚሉ፣21

University of Illinois, 2002; Fitsum Yusuf, “A political history of

Wäräšeh Dynasty, 1786-1853,” M.A. Thesis, Debre Berhan University,

2013; Awegichew Amare, “Oromo Elites in Ethiopian Medieval

Christian Kingdom (1523-1769),” M.A. Thesis, Department of History

and Heritage Management, Debre Berhan Univerity, 2006; Amha

Kassaw, “A Political History of the Mammädočč Dynasty of Wällo

(1700-1855),” MA Thesis, Department of History and Heritage

Management, Debre Berhan University, 2017; Demeke Dubale,

“Interaction and Integration of the Oromo in North Shoa”, PhD

Dissertation in Progress, Department of History, Addis Abeba

University.

18 Mekuria Bulcha, "Beyond Oromo -Ethiopian conflict," The Journal of

Oromo Studies, I, I (1993), pp. 1-16; Asafa Jalata, “Oromo and Ethiopia:

State Formation and Ethno-national Conflict, 1868-1992 (Lawrenceville, NJ:

Red Sea Press, 2005); Bulcha, 2011, pp. 321-378.

19 Heran Serke Berhan, “Building Bridges, Drying Bad Blood: Elite

Marriage, Politics and Ethnicity in the 19th and 20th Century Imperial

Ethiopia,” PhD Dissertation, Department of History, Michigan State

University, 2002; Brian J. Yates, 2010; Brian J. Yates, “Acculturation in

the Däga: Local Negotiations in Amhara/Oromo Relations,”

International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, VI, 11(Fall/Winter 2010-2011).

20 Many Ethiopianist scholars treated the Oromo as “historical objects or

have ignored them because of their subordination and powerlessness”

(Asafa, 1996, p. 95.)

21 Getatchew Haile, “The Unity and Territorial Integrity of Ethiopia,” The

Journal of Modern African Studies, XXIV, III (1986), pp. 465-487;

Hailemariam Larebo, “Kätarik Mädräkә: Lämähonu yäbәherә

bәhәräsäb čekona bäʾItyopya näbärä wey?” [History: Was there

oppression of nations and nationalities in Ethiopia?]. http://Walkait.com.

pp. 4-5; Molla Tikuye, "The Rise and Fall of the Yeĝĝu Dynasty," In



ሰ. የኦሮሞ የብሄር ማንነትና ባህላዊ ተቋማት በአገዛዞች ተጨፍልቀዋል22 በሚሉና ለዚህም ዕውቅና የሚፈልጉና ከዚህ በተቃርኖ የኦሮሞ ማንነት ላይ በግድ የተደረገ የማንነት ነጠቃ አልነበረም በሚሉ፣

ሸ. የኦሮሞን ታሪክና ማንነት በታላቋ ኢትዮጵያ የትርክት ማዕቀፍ ውስጥ በሚያዩና23 በዚሁ

ውስጥ የሚያታግሉ እንዲሁም ይህንኑ በታላቋ “ኦሮሚያ” ውስጥ የሚቃኙና ለነፃነት

የሚታገሉ፣24

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, eds.

Bahru Zewde, Richard Pankhurst, and Tadesse Beyene (Addis Abeba,

1991), pp. 197-216; Richard Pankhurst, “Ethiopian Dynastic Marriage

and the Béta Esra'él (or Falashas), Africa: Rivista Trimestrale di Studie

Documentazione Dell'Istituto Italiano Perl' Africae l'Oriente, LII, III (1997),

p. 445.

22 Many Oromo-centric studies assert the presence of assimilationist state

policies towards Oromo cultural identity. See also Admasu Shunkuri,

“The Influence of Abyssinian (Ethiopian) Political Culture on Oromo

Nationalism and Rebellion,” The Journal of Oromo Studies, II, I and II

(1995), pp. 65-73.

23 Ethiopian studies take this view for granted. Few among the contrbutors

to Oromo studies who worked under the Ethiopianist framework is

Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia:

1300-1700 (Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey, 2015). Many other

works in the academic circle also contribute to bring the Oromo case

within the wider nationalist discourse.

24 Mekuria Bulcha, Contours of the Emergent and Ancient Oromo Nation:

Dilemmas in the Ethiopian Politics of State and Nation-Building (Cape Town:

Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society, 2011).



ቀ. በ20ኛው መ/ክ/ዘ የተደረገውን የማዕከላዊ መንግሥቱን የግዛት መስፋፋት እንደቅኝ ግዛት

በሚመለከቱና25 ከዚህ በተቃራኒ የማንነትና የግዛት አንድነት ለመፍጠር የተደረገ ሀገር

ግንባታ ሂደት ነበር ብለው በሚሞግቱ፣26

በ. የአድዋ ድልን እንደ የአውሮፓውያን የእጅ አዙር ጦርነት በሚመለከቱና 27 የኢትዮጵያውያን የጋራ ድልና የአፍሪካና ጥቁር ህዝቦች የነፃነት ምልክት በሚመለከቱና

የኦሮሞ ጀግኖችን ታሪክ በሚዘክሩ፣28

25 Begna Fufa Dugassa, “Indigenous Knowledge, Colonialism and

Epistemological Violence: The Experience of the Oromo People”, PhD

Dissertation, Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education,

University of Toronto, 2008; Gufu Oba, “A Short History of Oromo

Colonial Experience: Part Two, Colonial Consolidation and Resistance

1935-2000,” Journal of Oromo Studies, VII, I and II (2000), pp. 87-108;

Mohammed Hassan and Richard Greenfield, “The Oromo Nation and

its Resistance to Amhara Colonial Domination,” in Adam and

Geshekter, Proceedings of the First International Congress of Somali Studies,

pp. 546-599.

26 Taklasadiq Mekuria, Yäʾityopya Tarik Kä aṣe Lebnä Dengel əska aṣe

Tewodros [A History of Ethiopia from aṣe Lebnä Dengel to aṣe

Tewodros]. Addis Ababa, 1953 E.C; Idem, YäʾItyopya Tarik kä aṣe

Tewodros əskä Qädamawi Ḫaylä Śǝllase [Ethiopian History from aṣe

Tewodros to Ḫaylä Śǝllase), (Addis Abeba: Berhanena Selam, 1963);

Idem, aṣe Tewodros ena Yäʾityopya andinät (Emperor Tewodros and

Ethiopian Unity) (Addis Abeba: Kuraz Asatami Direjit, 1981); Idem, aṣe

Yoḥannǝs ena Yäʾityopya andinät (Emperor Yoḥannǝs and Ethiopian

Unity) (Addis Abeba: Kuraz Asatami Derijit, 1982 E.C. ) ; Idem, aṣe

Mǝnilǝk ena Yäʾityopya andinät (Emperor Mǝnilǝk and Ethiopian Unity)

(Addis Abeba: Kuraz Asatami Direjit, 1983); Getatchew Haile, “The

Unity and Territorial Integrity of Ethiopia,” The Journal of Modern African

Studies, XXIV, III (1986), pp. 465-487. See also the academic works by

professional historians mainly of Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern

Ethiopia (1855-1991), 2nd ed. (Oxford: James Currey, 2001). Bahru makes

a strong naitonaist case for Ethiopia being a modern creation, with a

study of unificaiton, independence and modernization as major themes

since 1855.

27 John Sorenson, “History and Identity in the Horn of Africa,” Dialectical

Anthropology, XVII, III (1992), pp. 234-246.

28 For a brief discussion of the subject, see Bahru Zewde, A History of

Modern Ethiopia (1855-1991), 2nd ed. (Oxford: James Currey, 2001).



ተ. የኢትዮጵያ ሀገረ መንግስት ቀጣይነት የነበረውና ከ3000 ዓመት በላይ ታሪክ ያለው ነው

በሚሉና29 ቀጣይነት ያልነበረው (discontinuities) የአንድ ክፍለ ዘመን ዕድሜ

ያለውና የአውሮፓውያን የእጅ ስሪት ነው በሚሉ፣30

ቸ. የኢትዮጵያ መንግስትን ያገለገሉ ነገስታትና ልሂቃን የአንድ ብሄር ተወላጆች ነበሩ

በሚሉና31 የገዢው መደብ ህብረ-ብሔራዊ የነበሩና የኦሮሞ ብሄር ተወላጆችም ነበሩ

በሚሉ፣32

Similar readings can be located in scholarly studies on the campaign and

victory of Adwa by Raymond Jonas, The Battle of Adwa: African Victory

in the Age of Empire (Belknap Press, 2011), Brown, P.S. and Yirgu F., The

Battle of Adwa 1896 (Chicago: Nyala Publishing, 1996); Paulos Milkias

and Getachew Metaferia, ed. The Battle of Adwa (New York: Algora

Publishing, 2005); Ahmad Abdussamad and Richard Pankhurst, eds.

Adwa: Victory Centenary Conference, 26 February- 2 March 1996 (Addis

Abeba: Institute of Ethiopian Studies, 1998).

29 Hardliner Ethiopianists follow the antiquity and continuity of the

Ethiopian state as in Donald Levine, Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of

Multi-Ethnic Society (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974);

Harold G. Marcus, A History of Ethiopia (Barkeley, Los Angeles, Oxford :

University of California Press, 1994).

30 Bonnie Holcomb and Sisai Ibsa, The Invention of Ethiopia (Trenton, NJ:

The Red Sea Press, 1988). See also Johan Sorenson, Imagining Ethiopia:

Struggle for History and Identity in the Horn of Africa (New Brunswick, NJ:

Rutgers University Press, 1993).

31 Mohammed Hassan and Richard Greenfield, “The Oromo Nation and

its Resistance to Amhara Colonial Domination,” in Adam and

Geshekter, Proceedings of the First International Congress of Somali Studies,

pp. 546-599.

32 Donald Levine, Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of Multi-Ethnic Society

(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974); Hailemariam Larebo,

“Kätarik Mädräkә: Lämähonu yäbәherә bәhәräsäb čekona bäʾItyopya

näbärä wey?” [History: Was there oppression of nations and

nationalities in Ethiopia?]. http://Walkait.com; Heran Serke Berhan,

“Building Bridges, Drying Bad Blood: Elite Marriage, Politics and

Ethnicity in the 19th and 20th Century Imperial Ethiopia,” PhD

Dissertation, Department of History, Michigan State University, 2002;

Fekre Tollosa, Yäoromo ʾəna yäamara ʾəwunätäňä yäzärə mənəčə [The True

Racial Origin of the Oromo and the Amhara], (2008/2015/16).

http://walkait.com/



ኀ. ብሔራዊ ጀግኖችን ወደ አንድ ብሔር በሚጠቀልሉና ህብረ-ብሄርነታቸውን በሚቀበሉ፣

ነ. ለኦሮሞ ህዝብ ማንነት፣ አንድነትና ታሪክ የታገሉትን እንደ ጀግና በሚያከብሩና 33

ለኢትዮጵያ አንድነት የታገሉ የኦሮሞ ተወላጆችን እንደ ጀግና በሚዘክሩ፣34

ኘ. ለኦሮሞ ብሔር የታገሉትን የኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ጠላት አድርጎ የማየትና ለኢትዮጵያ የታገሉ የኦሮሞ ተወላጆችን የኦሮሞን አንድነት የሸረሸሩ ነበሩ የሚሉ፣

አ. በኦሮሞ ልሂቃን የተሰሩ ጥናቶችን ረብ-የለሽ አድርገው በሚያዩና35 አንድነትን የሚሰብኩ

ኢትዮጵያኒስት ሥራዎችን በተመሳሳይ መንገድ በሚፈርጁ፣36

ከ. የታሪክ መረጃዎችን በጥቅሉ የደብተራ “ድርሰት” በሚሉና የነዚህን ተቺዎች ጥናቶች

ደግሞ “የፈጠራ ድርሰት” በሚሉ፣

33 Mohammed Hassen, “Shaykh Bakrii Saphalo (1895-1980): A Prolific

Scholar and Great Oromo Nationalist,” The Journal of Oromo Studies, X, I

and II (2003), pp. 135-178; Volume XII of the Journal of Oromo Studies,

2005, is especially dedicated to Lambert Bartels (1915-2000), whose

works in service of Oromo studies is credited by generations of scholars.

34 See the nationalist studies on the battle and victory of Adwa of 1896. For

the discussion on the contradictory memory on military elites from

Oromo pedigree who served the Ethiopian state, a well-studied

scholarly article is produced by Brian J. Yates, “Christian Patriot or

Oromo Traitor? The Ethiopian State in the Memories of Ras Gobäna

Dače,” Northeast African Studies, XIII, II (2013), pp. 25-52.

35 James McCann, Book Review on Oromia & Ethiopia: State Formation

and Ethnonational Conflict, 1868-1992, by Asafa Jalata, The Journal of

Interdisciplinary History XXVI/II (Autumn, 1995), pp. 359-61. Refer the

dialogue on the issue between two Ethiopian professors of History,

Bahru Zewde and Ezekiel Gebissa.

36 Tabor Wami’s, Yäwugäna Dərsätočina Yätarik əwənätoč is an attempt to

reflect on the nature, objectivity/subjectivity of the sources of Ethiopian

history with a lot of scholarly reflections. As a whole subject, however,

the study equally poses damage to the historical importance of the

invaluable sources to Ethiopian studies.



ኸ. በታሪክ መስማማት ሥለማይችል የትናንቱን ትተን ለወደፊቱ እናተኩር በሚሉና 37

አስታራቂ ትርክት ይዞ መምጣት ይቻላል በሚሉ፣38

ወ. የኢትዮጵያ ታላቅነት በታሪክ ነውና ባለው ላይ እንገንባ በሚሉና የታላቅነት ዘመን ወደፊት ሲሆን አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ ለመገንባት የነበረውን የታሪክ አተያይና ተቋማት በማፍረስ አስፈላጊ ነው በሚሉ፣

ዐ. ኢትዮጵያዊነት የብሔር ካባ ያነገቡ የጥቂቶች መደበቂያ ነው እንጂ አቃፊ አይደለም

በሚሉና 39 ኦሮሞነትንና የኦሮሞን ባህል እድገት ለኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ስጋት

በገንጣይነትና አፍራሽነት በሚመለከቱ፣40

ዘ. በኦሮሞ ብሔርተኝነት ትርክትና የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ውስጥ “አይነኬ” እይታዎችና

ትንታኔዎች መኖር፣41

ዠ. የብሄር ማንነት ድንበሮችን እንደ የግዛት ድንበሮች (ethnic boundaries as

territorial boundaries) በሚወስዱና የህዝቦች አሰፋፈርና መስተጋብር ለዚህ አይነት አግላይ አተያይ ታሪካዊ መሰረት እንደሌለው በሚያስረዱ።

ተቃርኖዎቹ ያስከተሏቸው ውጤቶች ከላይ የተጠቀሱት የታሪክ ክርክሮች ወደ አካዳሚያዊ ውይይት ከመምጣት ይልቅ በፖለቲካ ልሂቃኑ መበሻሸቂያ ሜዳ መሆን ከጀመሩ ግማሽ ምዕተ ዓመት ተቆጥሯል። አካዳሚያዊ ይዘት ያላቸው ጥናቶችም ሲመግቧቸው ተስተውሏል። በዚህም የተነሳ ኢትዮጵያ ግዙፍ

37 This is frequently mentioned among the Ethiopian political elites who

prefer to the future, which is either an allusion to disregard for history,

collective amnesia about the past, as it has largely been understood as a

contested terrain and thus potential threat to national consensus and

democracy.

38 In a country like Ethiopia that is obsessed with its past and vulnerable

to the potential of the past in the future, disregarding history won’t be

the solution, as confessed by scholars elsewhere. Many commentaries

focus on developing balanced narratives.

39 Asafa Jalata, Oromummaa, Oromo Culture, Identity and Nationalism

(Atlanta, Georgia, Oromia Publishing Company, 2007); idem, “Being In

and Out of Africa. The Impact of Duality of Ethiopianism,” Journal of

Black Studies, XX, X (2008), pp. 1–26.

40 Though not explicitly appearing in their interpretations, some

nationalist scholars do not have the comfort in integrating ethnonational

narratives, as their framework is naturally supra-ethnic for reasons that

require further investigation.

41 “aṣe Mǝnilǝk II” and “Anole” are the two sacred names connoted

frequently in the vocabulary of both circles for interpretations of one

kind or another.



ፖለቲካዊ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊና ማህበራዊ ቀውስ አስተናግዳልች። በዚህ ጊዜ ኢትዮጵያን ጠርዝ ረገጥ የፖለቲካ አመለካከት መካረሮችን ተመልክታለች። ወደ መሀል የሚስብ ውይይት አለመኖር ትርክቶቹ ተፈጥሮአዊ የእውነትና እውቀት መሰረት መስለው ኋላቀር የጥላቻ

የፖለቲካ ፕሮግራሞች ምንጭ ሆነው አገልግለዋል። በማገልገልም ላይ ይገኛሉ። “እኛና

እነሱ” የሚል አስተሳሰብ በዜጎች መካከል ከተፈጠረ ጀምሮ የግለሰብና የቡድን ባህሪ ዋና መቃኛው የብሔር ማንነት ሆኗል። ይህም በኢትዮጵያውያን መካከል የመጠራጠር፣ የመፈራራት አየር በመፍጠር ለተደጋጋሚ ብሄር ተኮር ግጭቶች፣ ሞት፣ አካል መጉደልና መፈናቀል አስከትሏል። ከእያንዳንዱ ግጭት ጀርባ ክስተቶቹን የሚደግፉ ትርክቶች መኖራቸው ግልፅ ነው። ብሄር ተኮር ጥቃቶች በብሄርና ወቅታዊ የቋንቋ አይነት በዋጀው የማንነት ፖለቲካ መዋቅራዊ ድጋፍ በማግኘታቸው ጤናማ የፖለቲካ ስርዓት መገንባትና ለዲሞክራሲ ሽግግር ተግዳሮት ሆነዋል።

የፖለቲካ ቀውስ የኢኮኖሚ ድቀትን አስከትሏል። በፖለቲካ ተቃርኖ እየታመሱ ዘላቂ

የኢኮኖሚ እድገት ማስመዝገብ እንደማይቻል የኢትዮጵያውያን የግማሽ ምዕተ-አመት ጉዞ በቂ ማስረጃ ነው። የፖለቲካ ቀውስ በፖለቲካ ልሂቃንና ተቋማት ውስጣዊ ሙግትና ፉክክር መቋጨት ሲገባው ከዚህ አልፎ የማኅበረሰቡን ኑሮ የማናጋት ዕድሉ ከፍ ያለ ነው። ማንነትን መሰረት ያደረጉ ፖለቲካዊ ተቃውሞዎችም አሳታፊ ስለሆኑ ውጤታቸው ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሆኗል። በሂደትም የሰላምና ደህንነት መሰረታዊያን ሳይቀሩ አደጋ ላይ ወድቀዋል።

የተካረሩ ተቃራኒ ትርክቶች፣ በዚህ መሰረት የተቃኙ የፖለቲካ ልሂቃን የሚመሩት

ትውልድ፣ እነዚህን አስቀድሞ የመጣ ድህነት፣ የስራ አጥነትና ስራ-ጠልነት፣ በድምሩ መንግሥታት ሲቀያየሩ የኢትዮጵያውያንን አንድነት በብቸኝነት በአያሌው ጠብቆ የቆየውን ማህበራዊና ባህላዊ ትስስር ለመበጣጠስ ተገዳድሮታል። የመጨካከን ባህል ተመንድጎ የመንፈሳዊና የሞራል ክስረት ተስተውሏል።

ፖለቲካዊ ቀውስ፣ እሱን ተከትሎ የመጣ የኢኮኖሚ ኪሳራ፣ እሱን ተከትሎ የሚመጣ ሌላ ዙር የፖለቲካ ቀውስ፣ የዜጎችን በሰላም የመኖር፣ ንብረት የማፍራትና የመንቀሳቀስ መብት በመጻረር አጠቃላይ የሀገር ህልውናን አደጋ ላይ ጥሏል። ልዩነትን የሚያከብርና አጣጥሞ የሚያስቀጥል ተቋማትን መገንባት የማይቻልበት ሁኔታ በመፈጠሩ የተነሳ ብሄር ተኮር ትርክቶች የገነቧቸው መንግሥትና ተቋማት ሲወድቁ ህዝብንና አገርን ይዘው የመውደቅ አደጋ ተጋርጧል። ይህም የኢትዮጵያውያን የጋራ የሆኑ ሀብቶችን ሁሉ ለሌላ የፉክክርና ባለቤትነት መካረር ከቷቸዋል። የጋራ ታሪክ፣ የጋራ ቋንቋ፣ የጋራ ተቋማት፣ የጋራ ጀግኖች፣

የጋራ ባንዲራና ብሔራዊ በዓል፣ የጋራ ዋና-ከተማ ወዘተ የብሔሮችን ፉክክር እያስተናገዱ ይገኛሉ። ለጥያቄያቸው ቅቡልነት ለማግኘት ታሪካዊ መሰረት እየመዘዙና እየፈበረኩ በመሆኑ ታሪክ ትልቁ የኢትዮጵያ የውድቀት ሜዳ የተደገሰበት ሆኗል። ልሂቃኑም ችግሮችን ከማጉላት የዘለለ የመፍትሄ ሃሳብ ሲያቀርቡ አይታይም። የችግሮች ሁሉ መነሻ የሆኑ ትርክቶች ላይ ከጉንጭ አልፋ ክርክር የዘለለ ውይይት አለመኖሩ ጉዳዩ ስር ሰዶ ጡንቻ አፈርጥሞ ኢትዮጵያን መስቀለኛ መንገድ ላይ አቁሟታል።



የመስተጋብር ታሪክ ጥናት ለአስታራቂ ትርክት በሃገር አመሰራረት ሂደቶች ታሪክና በማንነት ላይ የተመሰረቱ ተቃራኒ ትርክቶችን

ማለሳለስና ማለዘብ ይቻላልን? የሚለው መሰረታዊ ጥያቄ ነው። ለዚህ ጥያቄ መልሱ እጅግ

ውስብስብ ቢሆንም ጉዳዩ ከሀገር ህልውና ጋር የተያያዘ በመሆኑ “ይቻላል” የሚለው ሌላ ምርጫ የለውም። ይሁንና ለዘመናት በጀትና ባለሙያ ተመድቦ የተሰመሩ ትርክቶችን ለማስማማት ከባለሙያና ሃብት በተጨማሪ ጊዜ የሚወስድና ሌሎች ቅድመ ሁኔታዎች እንዲሟሉ የሚጠይቅ ነው።

አስታራቂ ትርክት ይዞ ለመምጣት ያሉትን ዕድሎችና ተግዳሮቶች መገንዘብ ያስፈልጋል። በአሁኗ ኢትዮጵያ መሬት ላይ አንድነትን የሚሰብኩ ግለሰቦችና ሃይማኖታዊ ተቋማት ብቸኛ ዕድሎች ናቸው ማለት ይቻላል። ዕድሎቹን ተጠቅሞ መሬት የረገጠ ለውጥ ለማምጣት በቂ አይደለም። ምክንያቱ ደግሞ የጦዘ ዘውጌ ብሔርተኝነት፣ ማንነትን ያማከሉ የተገነቡ

ተቋማት መኖር፣ በየበታችና የበላይ ጨቋኝ ተጨቋኝ ላይ የተገነባ ህገ-መንግሥትና መዋቅር በዋናነት መጥቀስ ይቻላል። እነዚህ ተግዳሮቶች ነፍጥ ያነገቡ በመሆናቸውና ኢኮኖሚውን በቡድን መቆጣጠር የሚያስገኝላቸውን ጥቅም ስላዩት ከዚህ ፈቀቅ ያለ ትርክት ይዞ መምጣት የሚላተመው ኃይል ቀላል አይደለም።

ይሁንና በዚህ እንዳለ ያሉትን መካረሮች በአግባቡ በመረዳት የተቋማት ዕገዛ ከተደረገበትና ልሂቃንን አሳታፊ ከሆነ በሚከተሉት ክርክሮች ላይ በዕውቀትና ዕውነት ላይ የተመሰረተ ውይይት ተደርጎ ብያኔዎቹን ለኢትዮጵያውያን አንድነት መሰረት ማዋል ይቻላል። በመሆኑም ከዚህ በታች የተጠቀሱት ከታሪክ፣ ባህል፣ ፖለቲካና ኢኮኖሚ አንፃር የተቃኙ እይታዎች፣ ሙግቶች፣ ትንታኔዎችና የምርምር ጥቆማዎች አስታራቂ እይታና ትንታኔ ለመገንባት እንደ ግብዐት ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ መነሻ ነጥቦች ናቸው። ይሁንና ለሌሎች የለዘቡ ሳይንሳዊ እይታዎች ሀሳብ ያበረክታል በሚል እንጂ ብቸኛ አዋጪ አተያይ ነው ማለት አያቻልም።

በኦሮሞ ታሪክ ዙሪያ ጠርዝ የረገጡ ተቃራኒ ትርክቶችን ወደ መሀል የሚስቡ የመስተጋብር

ታሪክ ምርምሮችና፣ የባህል፣ የቋንቋና ፖለቲካ-ወ-ኢኮኖሚ ጥናት እይታዎች፣ ሙግቶች፣ ትንታኔዎችና ሳይንሳዊ የምርምር ጥቆማዎች የሚከተሉትን ያካትታሉ።

• የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ኢትዮጵያዊ መሰረቶች ላይ የሚደረጉ ጥናቶችን ማጎልበትና የነባርና-መጤ

ህዝብ ትርክትን መገዳደር፤ (ለዚህም ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ ይመልከቱ።)42

42 Wallis Budge, The Life and Miracles of Taka Haymanot (London, 1906);

Idem, trans/ed. The Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth (London,

1935); G.W.B. Huntingford, tran/ed, The Glorious Victories of Amda Seyon

(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965); O. G. S Crawford, Ethiopian Itineraries

circa 1400-1524 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press for Hakluyt

Society, 1958); J. Perruchon, Les Chroniques de Zara Ya'eqob et de Bae'eda

Maram rois d'Ethiopie (Paris: 1893).; Mohammed Hassen, "The pre-16th



• የኦሮሞ ህዝብ መስፋፋትን በኢትዮጵያ ፖለቲካዊ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊ፣ ማህበራዊ ሁኔታ ላይ ያሣረፈውን ተዕፅኖ ከተቋምና ሃገር አፍራሽ እይታ በማላቀቅ እንደ ማንኛውም ተፈጥሮአዊ የህዝብ እንቅስቃሴ መረዳትና ያስከተለውን የባህልና ሕዝብ ለሕዝብ መቀየጥ በበጎ ጎኑ ማጥናት፤ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ እንቅስቃሴና አሰፋፈር ከሌሎች ህዝቦች ጋር መዛመድና መጋባት በሂደት ለኢትዮጵያዊነት ማንነት ያበረከተውን አስተዋፅኦ

በጥልቀትና በስፋት መተንተን፤ (ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ ይመልከቱ።)43

• በ16ኛውና በ18ኛው መ/ክ/ዘ የመንግሥት መዳከም እንጂ መፍረስ እንዳልነበረ ባሉት ጥናቶች ላይ የበለጠ ማበልፀግ፤ የነበረውን መዳከም በፖለቲካ፣ በኢኮኖሚ፣ በማህበራዊ፣ ምዕራፎች በመተንተን ኦሮሞዎችን ጨምሮ የተዘረጋው ማህበራዊ ትስስር ሃገርን ከመበታተን እንደታደገ ማስረዳት፤ የየጁና ማመዶች የተጋቡ ቅይጥ ኦሮሞ የፖለቲካና ወታደራዊ ልሂቃን በጎንደርና በወሎ፣ የፖለቲካ ልሂቃን ጎጃም እንዲሁም የፖለቲካና ወታደራዊ ልሂቃን በሸዋና በጊቤ ያደረጉትን የሃገር ግንባታ አስተዋፅኦ ትኩረት

ሰጥቶ ማጥናት፤ (ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ ይመልከቱ።)44

• በኦሮሞና ሌላው ህዝብ መካከል የነበረውን የመስተጋብር ታሪክ አጉልቶ ማውጣትና በተለይም ከፖለቲካ ይልቅ ባህላዊ፣ ማህበራዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ትስስሮች ሕዝቡ ከሌሎች

century Oromo Presence within the Medieval Christian Kingdom of

Ethiopia," In A River of Blessings: Essays in Honor of Paul Baxter, ed. D.

Brokensha (New York: Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public

Affairs, 1994), pp. 43-66; Idem, The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of

Ethiopia: 1300-1700 (Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey, 2015).

43 Heran Serke Berhan, “Building Bridges, Drying Bad Blood: Elite

Marriage, Politics and Ethnicity in the 19th and 20th Century Imperial

Ethiopia,” PhD Dissertation, Department of History, Michigan State

University, 2002; Brian J. Yates, 2010; Brian J. Yates, “Acculturation in

the Däga: Local Negotiations in Amhara/Oromo Relations,”

International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, VI, 11(Fall/Winter 2010-2011);

Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia:

1300-1700 (Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey, 2015).

44 Tesema Ta’a, “The Political Economy of Western Central Ethiopia: From the

Mid- Sixteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries,” PhD Dissertation,

Department of History, Michigan State University, 1986; Shiferaw

Bekele, “Reflection on the Power Elites of the Wäräšeh Mäsfenate (1786-

1853),” Annales d’Ethiopie, XV (1990), pp. 157-179; Brian J. Yates,

“Invisible Actors: The Oromo and the Creation of Modern Ethiopia

(1855-1913),” PhD Dissertation, Department of History, University of

Illinois, 2002.



ህዝቦች ጋር በማይለያይ መንገድ እንዳቆራኙት ማሳየት፤ (ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ

ይመልከቱ።)45

• በአዲስ መነፅር እና የልቦና ውቅር ታሪክን መቃኘት፤ “የምንጣላበት የጋራ ታሪክ ስላለን

ነው።” “የጦርነት ታሪክ ያለን አብረን ስለኖርን ነው።” “ያልተነካካ ህዝብ ወዳጅም

ባለጋራም አይሆንም።” “ዘላቂ የጦርነት ታሪክ ስለሌለን ተጋብተን ተዋልደናል።”

ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ ይመልከቱ።46

• መረጃ የቀረበባቸውን በገዥ መደቦች ስር የተደረጉ ህብረ-ብሔራዊ ጨቋኝና ህብረ-ብሔራዊ ተጨቋኝ ትርክት መቀበልና ፍፁማዊ የሆነ እኩልነት ኢትዮጵያ ወደፊት የምታልመው እንጂ በታሪክ ያልነበረ መሆኑን መገንዘብ፤ (ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ


• የማንነት ለውጥ በዋናነት የሰላማዊ መስተጋብር ውጤት መሆኑን መገንዘብና ይህንንም በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ሆነ በሌላው የአቃፊነት ታሪክ ጋር የተገናኘ መሆኑን በአስረጂ ማቅረብ፤

(ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ ይመልከቱ።)48

45 Awegichew Amare, “A History of Interaction and Integration in the

Ethiopian Christian Kingdom: The Case of the Oromo (16th-18th

Centuries),” PhD Dissertation in Progress, Department of History,

Addis Abeba University; Demeke Dubale, “Interaction and Integration

of the Oromo in North Shoa”, PhD Dissertation in Progress, Department

of History, Addis Abeba University.

46 Theoretical literature on interaction, both peaceful and conflictual can

be followed in Judith Caditz, “Ethnic Identification, Interethnic Contact,

and Belief in Integration,” Social Forces, LIV, III (1976); Donald L.

Horowitz, 2nd ed. Ethnic groups in Conflict (London, Barkeley, Los

Angeles, University of California Press, 1985); V. Beresnevièiûtë,

“Dimensions of Social Integration: Appraisal of Theoretical

Approaches,” Ethnicity Studies (2003); Sinisa Malesevic, The Sociology of

Ethnicity (London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications,

2004); Janusz Mucha, “Toward an Interactionist Sociology of Ethnic

Relations,” Polish Sociological Review, CLXXVII (2012), pp. 25-26; Sevil

Baltali, “Culture Contact, Cultural Integration and Difference: A Case

from Northern Mesopotamia,” Stanford Journal of Archaeology, (N.D.).

47 Alem Habtu, “Ethnic Pluralism as an Organizing Principle of the

Ethiopian Federation, Dialectical Anthropology, XXVIII, II (2004).

48 Bekele Nadi, "Adoption Among the Oromo of Sawa," Ethnological Society

Bulletin, VIII (1958), pp. 83-91; Asmarom Legesse, Gada: Three Approaches

to the Study of African Society (New York: Free Press, 1973); H. Blackhurst,

"Adopting an Ambiguous Position; Oromo Relationship with

Strangers" In Being and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological



• የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ታሪክን በኢትዮጵያዊነት ማዕቀፉ ውስጥ ያደረጋቸውን ሂደቶች መሰነድና በኦሮሞ ብሔርተኞች ዘንድ ሳይቀር እየተተወ የመጣውን የቅኝ ተገዢ ትርክት ማፍረስ፤

• ከተበዳይነትና ተገዢነት በተቃራኒ ኦሮሞ የድልና የሀገር ሰሪነት ታሪኩን የኔ ነው ብሎ እንዲያከብር፣ እንዲኮራና ብሄራዊ ስሜቱን እንዲያጎለብት የተጨማሪ ጥናቶች አቅጣጫ መስጠት፤

• የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ታሪክ በኢትዮጵያዊነት ማዕቀፉ ውስጥ በመቃኘት ለተደረጉ ድሎችና በደሎች በመረጃ ላይ በመመስረት ዕውቅና መስጠት፤

• የአድዋ ድል የኢትዮጵያውያን ድል ነው በሚል ተገቢ ምልከታ ለሀገር የወደቁ የኦሮሞ የጦር ጀግኖችን መዘከርና ማክበር፤

• ኢትዮጵያ የረጅም ታሪክ ባለቤት ናት። በረጅም ዘመን መስተጋብር የተወራረሱ ባህል፣ ቋንቋ፣ ሃይማኖት ያላቸው ብሄረሰቦች ለዘመናት በሰላምም በግጭትም የኖሩባት ሀገር መሆኗን በሳይንሳዊ ምልከታ ማጎልበት፤

• ልሂቃን ከተለያየ ብሄረሰብ፡ ሀይማኖትና አካባቢያዊ ማንነቶች የተወጣጡ የዘመናቸውን የፖለቲካ ስርዐትን የዋጀ ሚና የተወጡ መሆኑን በጥናት ማጎልበት፤

• ልሂቃንና ዜጎች ከብሄር ማንነት ይልቅ በአካባቢያዊ ማንነቶች ራሳቸውንና ሌሎችን ይገልጹ እንደነበር ማጥናትና ይህም ከብሄርና ቋንቋ ይልቅ አካባቢን መሰረት አድርጎ ለሚመሰረት ፌደራላዊ ስርአት ታሪካዊ ዳራ እንድሚሆን በጥናት ማስረዳት፤

• ለብሔራዊ ጀግኖች ያለን አመለካከት ከወቅታዊ የፖለቲካ አጀንዳ ይልቅ በሰሩበትና በተሰውበት አበርክቶት በመመዘን መቃኘት፤

• ለኦሮሞ ህዝብ የታገሉ ጀግኖች የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ጥያቄን በኢትዮጵያዊነት ማዕቀፉ ውስጥ ትኩረትና ዕውቅና እንዲያገኝ እንዲሁም የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ታሪክ፡ ቋንቋና ባህል እድገት ባደረጉት አበርክቶት መመዘንና ታሪካቸውን መሰነድ፤

• የኦሮሞ ልሂቃን የብሔርተኝነት ትርክት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ጥናት የሚካተትበትንና ሳይንሳዊና ሙያዊ ትንታኔና ብያኔ እንዲሰጥባቸው የተደራጀ የታሪክ፣ የቋንቋ፣ የባህልና

የስነ-ልቦና ልሂቃን ፎረም ማዘጋጀት፤

• አስታራቂ ትርክት ይዞ ለመምጣት ባለው የትንታኔና አረዳድ ተቃርኖ ላይ በልሂቃን ፎረም የምርምር ጉባኤዎችን ማዘጋጀት፡ ውይይቱን ማዳበርና የምርምር ውጤቶችን ለአንባቢ ተደራሽ ማድረግ፤

• የኢትዮጵያዊ ብሔርተኝነት ትርክቶች እውነታነት ያላቸውን ተገዳዳሪ ትርክቶች ሊቀበል የሚችልበትን የአተያይና እና ትንታኔ መለዘብን ማዳበር፤

• ኢትዮጵያዊነት ከብሔር ማንነት ሳይቃረን የሚያቀርብ የትርክት ፕላት ፎርም ማበልፀግ። • የብሄር ማንነትን በመደምሰስ ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ለሉላዊነት ሃይሎች ጭፍለቃ አሳልፎ

የማይሰጥ የልቦና ውቅር የያዘ ትርክትን ማበልፀግ፤ (ጠቃሚ ምርምሮችን ከግርጌ


Enquiries. eds. Paul T.W. Baxter, et al. (Uppsala, 1996), pp. 239-250;

Ayalew Duressa, "Gudifachaa: Adoption Practice in Oromo Society

with Particular Reference to the Borana Oromo," M.A. Thesis,

Department of Social Anthropology, Addis Abeba University, 2002.

49 The tension between the international homogenizing force and the local

forces of identity is well articulated in Stuart Hall, David Held, Don



• የኦሮሞ ብሔርተኝነት በዋናነት በቋንቋና ባህል ላይ የተመሰረተ መሆኑን በመረዳት ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ሊያበለፅግ በሚችል መልኩ ማስፋፋትና ማጎልበት፤

• ኢትዮጵያ የተለያዩ ብሄሮች ድምር ብቻ አድርጎ መመልከትና ደማዊ ብሄርተኝነት የሚደግፈው ከሌላው ያልተነካካ ማንነት የሀገሪቷን ህዝብ እርስ በርሱ የተሰናሰነ ማንነት ታሪክ የሚቃረንና እውነታ የሌለው አተያይ መሆኑን መረዳት፤

• አካታች ኢኮኖሚ መገንባት፤

በታሪክ ላይ የሚነሱ ጥያቄዎች የሚመለሱት አንድም ወደኋላ አንድም ወደፊት ነው። የታሪክ ልሂቃን በታሪክ ላይ ውይይት ሲያደርጉና ወደፊት የሚያራምድ ትርክት ይዘው ለኢኮኖሚው አስተዋፅኦ ያደርጋሉ። አካታች ኢኮኖሚ የተዛቡ ምልከታዎችን ያለሰልሳል፣ ቂምና ቁስልን ይሽራል። ትውልዱን በተካረረው ፖለቲካ ከታሪክ ንትርክ መንጭቆ የማውጣት ኃይልም አለው።

• የሰለጠነ ፖለቲካና የዲሞክራሲ ተቋም ግንባታ

ብሔርን ከኢትዮጵያዊነት አስማምቶ መጓዝ የሚችልና ከማንነት ይልቅ በዜግነትና ማህበራዊ ፍትህ ላይ የተመሰረተ ስርዐት የዲሞክራሲ ባህልን ማዳበርና ከግለሰብ ይልቅ ተቋማትን መገንባት ይችላል።

• ከክርክር ወደ ውይይት

በታሪክ፣ ፖለቲካ ላይ የሚደረጉ ክርክሮች ወደ ውይይት ማደግ አለባቸው። ውይይቱን በዕውቀት እንዲታነጽ ለባለሙያው መተው ያስፈልጋል።

• ብሔራዊ የታሪክ ምሁራን ፎረም

ፎረሙ የልሂቃን ጉባኤ በትርክቶች ላይ የሚወያይና ለአብሮነት የሚበጅ አቅጣጫ የሚያስቀምጥ ይሆናል። በታሪክ ትምህርት እና በታሪክ ምሁራን ላይ በመንግሥት የሚደረጉ ደባዎችን ማረምና ታሪክን ለሃገር ግንባታ ግብአትነት በሚውል መልኩ ለማልማት አካታች የሆነ የታሪክ ምሁራን ማህበርን ማጠናከርና ብሔራዊ መግባባት ላይ ያተኮሩ ጉባኤዎችን ለማጎልበት የሚያስችል አቅጣጫ ይዘው እንዲመጡ ማገዝ ያስፈልጋል።

Hubert, Kenneth Thompson eds. Modernity: An Introduction to Modern

Societies (Great Britain: Blackwell Publisher, 1996). Increasing cases of

quest for recognition of identities is now the new challenge to

modernization theorists and Western democracies that thought

modernity would eradicate ethnicity. See Francis Fukuyama, Identity:

Contemporary Identity Politics and the Struggle for Recognition (Farrar,

Straus and Giroux, 2018).



• የሕዝብ ለሕዝብ ትስስርን የሚያጎለብት ብሔራዊ ፎርም ማደራጀት፤

ብዙዎቹ የሕዝብ ለሕዝብ ትስስር መድረኮች የልሂቃኑ መድረኮች ከመሆን አልፈው በሕዝቡ መካከል ያለውን የጠነከረ ግንኙነት የበለጠ ለማጎልበት ወጥነት ያለው ብሔራዊ ፎረም ማቋቋምና ከየሙያው በልሂቃኑ እንዲመራ ማድረግ ይገባል። የሕዝብ ለሕዝብ ትስስሩን በመንግሥትም ሆነ በሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ በመዋቅር ማውረድና የህዝቦች

መስተጋብርን የሚወክሉ ተቋማትን በተጎራባች አካባቢዎች (ክልሎች?) በቦታው መገንባት

ያስፈልጋል። ለምሳሌ ኦሮ-ማሌ ባንክ፣ ትግ-ማራ የባህል ማእከል፣ ኦሮ-አማ ብድርና

ቁጠባ፣ ኦሮ-አማ ሚዲያ፣ አማ-ፋር ወጣቶች መረዳጃ ማህበር ወዘተ የሚሉ ማህበራት ማቋቋም ሊጠቅም ይችላል።

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ኢትዮጵያ ጥናትና ምርምር ኢንስቲቱዩት (EDF/ERPI)። “የኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ማንነትና የብሄር

ማንነት መገለጫ መርሆዎች”። ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ፣ ዩኤስኤ፣ 2017።

አውግቸው አማረ አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲና ጎንደር ዩኒቨርሲቲ

አዲስ አበባ፣ ኢትዮጵያ







የመጽሃፍ ዳሰሳ

በመንግስቱ ታደሰ

ግርማ አውግቸው ደመቀ። 2011። ቋንቋ እና ነገድ በኢትዮጵያ። ቅጽ ሁለት። ፕሪንስቶን፣ ላውራንስቪል፣ ኒውጀርሲ፤ ኢኒስቲቲዩት ኦፍ ሴሜቲክ ስተዲስ/ውብታየ

አሳታሚ።

እንደ መግቢያ ግርማ አውግቸው ከዚህ በፊት በርካታ የምርምር ጽሁፎችን በግሉም ሆነ ከሌሎች ተመራማሪዎች

ጋር ለስነልሳኑ ማህበረሰብ አበርክቷል። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ “the origion of Amharic” የሚለው መጽሃፉ በአማርኛ ቋንቋ አመጣጥ ዙሪያ የቀረቡ የተለያዩ መላምቶችን በተጨባጭ ማስረጃ በመሞገት ተጨማሪ የምርምር ስራዎች ይሰሩ ዘንድ አመላክቷል። በሌላም በኩል ቋንቋ እና ነገድ በኢትዮጵያ፡ የኢትጵያ ህዝብ ማንነትና ቅድመ ታሪክ በተሰኘው መጽሀፉ የታሪካዊ እና የአይነታዊ የስነልሳን ጥናቶችን መነሻ በማድረግ በአጥጋቢ እና በተጨባጭ መረጃዎች ላይ ተመርኩዘን ወደ ማጠቃለያ መድረስ ካልቻልን የጥናት ውጤቶቻችን አከራካሪ እና አሻሚ መሆናቸው እንደማይቀር አመላክቷል። እንደ ማሳያም የሴማዊ ቋንቋ ተናጋሪ ቤተሰቦች ከቀይ ባህር ማዶ ተሻግረው ለመምጣታቸው በሰሜን ኢትዮጵያ አምሳያ ቃላቶች ከቦታዎቹ ስያሜ ጋር መኖራቸው መሰረታዊ መረጃ ተደርጎ ቢወሰድም በታሪክም ሆነ በስነልሳን ተጨባጭ ማስረጃዎች አስደግፎ ለመሞገት አስቸጋሪ እንደሆነ አስፍሯል። ይህ ደግሞ ከዚህ በፊት የተጠኑ ጥናቶች እንደገና በስነልሳን ምሁራን ቢፈተሹ ውጤቱ ሊቀየር እንደሚችል ከመጽሀፉ አጠቃላይ ይዘት መረዳት ይቻላል።

የመጽፉ አጠቃላይ ይዘት ፍተሻ ከላይ ከተጠቀሱት ስራዎች በተጨማሪ ደራሲው ተከታታይነት ያላቸው ነገርግን በራሳቸው ሙሉ የሆኑ አራት መጽሃፎችን ለማሳተም ራዕይ ሰንቆ ሁለቱን እውን ያደረገ ሲሆን የኩሻዊ ቋንቋዎችን

እና ተናጋሪዎቻቸውን እንዲሁም የኢትዮ- ሴማዊ ቋንቋዎችን እና የህዝቦችን ታሪክ ወደፊት ለማቅረብ ጠንክሮ እየሰራ ይገኛል። ይህ ሁሉ ሲሆን የደራሲው ዋና አላማ የተለያዩ ምሁራን በስራዎቻቸው ውጤት የሚወዛገቡባቸውን የኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎች በአይነትና በዘር ምደባ ዙሪያ ሳይንሳዊ የሆነ የስነልሳን ጥናት ላይ ተመስርቶ በተጨባጭ ማስረጃዎች በማስደገፍ ትንታኔዎችን ማቅረብ ነው።

ቋንቋ እና ነገድ በኢትዮጵያ ቅጽ ሁለት ውስጥ ያሉት ጉዳዮች በአምስት ምዕራፎች የተከፋፈሉ ናቸው። በውስጡም የኦሞአዊ፣ የአባይ ሰሃራዊ እና ምድብ ያለየላቸው ቋንቋዎች እና ህዝቦቻቸውን በዋናነት የዳሰሰ ሲሆን በኢትዮጵያና በኤርትራ ላይ ትኩረት አድርጓል።

250 | የመፅሀፍ ዳሰሳ


በመጽሃፉ የመጀመሪያ ምዕራፍ ቋንቋ እና ህብረተሰብን እንደ ርዕሰ ጉዳይ በማንሳት በቋንቋዎች መካከል ያለውን የውህደት እና የማንነት መቀየርን ጽንሰ ሀሳብ ወደፊት ስለሚተነትናቸው ቋንቋዎች እንደመንደርደሪያ ይሆኑት ዘንድ አጠር ያለ ማብራሪያ ሰጥቷል፤ እንደማስረጃም የአርጎባ ብሄረሰብን፣ ኦሞአዊ እና የናይል ሰሃራዊ ቋንቋ ተናጋሪዎችን ከጠቀሰ በኋላ ውርርሱም በእነዚህ ቋንቋዎች እንደማያበቃ አስፍሯል። የቋንቋውንም ሆነ የህዝቡን ቅድመ ታሪክ በይበልጥ ለመረዳት በሚደረግ ጥረት የታሪካዊውም ሆነ የአይነታዊው ስነልሳን ጥናት አቅም ውስንነት በቋንቋውና በህብረተሰቡ ውስጥ ያለውን መስተጋብር በውል ለመረዳት አዳጋች መሆኑን አመላክቷል።

በሁለተኛው ምዕራፍ ደግሞ ከዚህ በፊት በልዕለ-አፍሮኤዢያዊ ስር ኦሞአዊ ቋንቋዎች ይወርዳሉ ወይስ ለብቻቸው ተነጥለው ወይም ራሳቸውን ችለው ይቀመጣሉ ወይም እራሱስ እንደ አንድ

ቤተሰብ ሊታይ የሚችል ነው በሚለው ጉዳይ የእነ ፍሌሚንግ (1969፣ 1973፣ 1974፣ 1976 ሀ

እና ሐ)፣ ቤንደር (1971፣ 1975)፣ ሳዝ (1972)፣ ኒውማን (1980)፣ ታይል (2006)፣ ዞበርሲኪ

(1989)፣ ዲያክኖፍ (1996) የሚያነሷቸውን ሀሳቦች እያመጣ የራሱን ተጨባጭ ማስረጃዎች በማስቀመጥ ቋንቋውን ከህዝቦች ጋር እያስተሳሰረ ነገሮችን ከተለያዩ አቅጣጫዎች በመመልከት ይሞግታል። በሶስት ቡድኖች የተነሳውንም አጠያያቂ ጉዳይ ከክፍፍሉ፣ ከጥንታዊነቱ፣ እና ከባህሉ ጋር አቆራኝቶ የተለያዩ ማብራሪያዎችን ከነማስረጃዎቹ አቅርቧል።

በኦሞአዊ ቋንቋዎች ቁጥር ጉዳይ የተለያዩ ምሁራን የሚያሰፍሩት ሰፊ የሆነ የአሀዝ ልዩነት መኖሩን

አስረድቷል። እንደ ደራሲው ገለጻ፡- የዚህ ምክንያት ስለ ኦሞአዊ የንግግር አይነቶች የዝምድና ደረጃ እና እርስ በርስ ግንኙነት ያለን ግንዛቤ አጥጋቢ ደረጃ ላይ የደረሰ አለመሆኑ ብቻ ሳይሆን ውስብስብነት ያለው መሆኑን በመጽሃፉ ላይ ያስቃኘናል።

በሌላም በኩል በቋንቋ እና በዘዬ መካከል ያለው ግልጽ ልዩነት ወይም ድንበሩ ባለመታዎቁ እና በዘዬዎች ቅጥልጥሎሽ ምክንያት በኦሞአዊ ቋንቋዎች በተለይም በኦሜቶ የንግግር አይነቶች መሀከል ተመሳሳይ ሁኔታ መኖር ሌላው የልዩነቱ ማሳያ ነው። በዚህም ምክንያት በተለያዩ ምሁራን ቋንቋ ናቸው ተብለው የቀረቡት በጣም የሚቀራረቡ የዘዬ ዝምድና ያላቸው መሆኑን ደራሲው ማስረጃ እያጣቀሰ ያስረዳል።

በዚህ መጽሀፍ ናይል ሰሃራዊ ከምስራቅ ኩሻዊ ቋንቋዎች ጋር የተወራረሰ በመሆኑ በኦሞአዊ ንዑሳን ቤተሰቦች መካከል ያለውን ግንኙነት በግልጽ ለማውጣት አስቸጋሪ እና ውስብስብ መሆኑ ተብራርቷል።

ግርማ አውግቸው የኦሞ ህዝቦች ባህልና ቅድመ ታሪክ ጥንታዊነት ያለው በመሆኑ በንዑሳን ክፍሎች መሀከል ያለው ልዩነት መስፋቱን ከተለያዩ ማስረጃዎች ጋር እያገናኘ እንደምክንያትነት ያስቀምጣል። የኦሞአዊ ህዝብም ከሌላው ወረሳቸው የማይባሉ የእርሻ ተግባራት እንዳሉት ይገልጽና ምናልባትም እንሰትን ለምግብነት በማዋል የመጀመሪያዎቹ ሳይሆኑ እንደማይቀር አስፍሯል። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ በውስጡ ያሉትን ቋንቋዎች በስድስት ቡድኖች በመመደብ እና በእነሱም ውስጥ ያሉትንም ቋንቋዎች በመፈተሸ ዘርዘር ያሉ ማብራሪያዎችን ደራሲው ለመስጠት ሞክሯል።

ምዕራፍ ሶስት ደግሞ የናይል ሰሃራዊ የቋንቋ ቤተሰብን በውስጡ አካቶ የያዘ ሲሆን እንደ ቋንቋ የዘር ቤተሰብነት የሚያስወስዱት ባህሪያትን፣ የቋንቋዎችን የእርስበርስ ዝምድና እና ስርጭት የተቃኘበት ክፍል ነው።

ደራሲው የአባይ ሰሃራዊን እንደዘር የቋንቋ ቤተሰቦች ለመውሰድ ያለው መረጃ ልል እንደሆነ ከጠቀሰ

በኋላ በውስጣዊ ክፍሉም ዙሪያ እና ግሪንበርግ (1963)፣ ዌስተርንማን (1912)፣ ቤንደር (1975፣



2000 ለ)፣ ብለንች (2010)፣ ዲመንደል (2011) እና ስታሮስቷን (2016) በአብዛኛው ስምምነት ላይ እንዳልደረሱ ያደረጉትን ክፍፍል እንደማስረጃ በማሳየት አመላክቷል።

ናይል ሰሃራዊ ቋንቋ በርካታ የአፍሪካ ሀገራትን የሚሸፍን እና በኢትዮጵያም በአብዛኛው በምዕራቡ ክፍል እንደሚገኝ አስፍሯል። ነገርግን እንደ ቋንቋ የዘር ቤተሰብነት ለመውሰድ አስቸጋሪ መሆኑ፣ በዚህ ውስጥ ያሉት ቋንቋዎች የሚጋሯቸው ባህሪያት ማግኘት ከባድ መሆኑ፣ ባህሪያቱም ቢገኙ

እንኳ የዘር ስለመሆናቸው ለማረጋገጥ አሳማኝ ማስረጃ አለመገኘቱ ወዘተ. አከራካሪ ጉዳዮች

እንደሆኑ አመላክቷል። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ በሌሎች ሶስት ታላላቅ ቤተሰቦች ፡- አፍሮ- ኤሽያዊ፣ ኒጀር፣ ኮንጎ፣ እና ኮኻሽያን የማይመደቡትን ቋንቋዎች ሰብስቦ የያዘ ከመሆን የዘለለ አይደለም በሚል ወቀሳ እንደሚቀርብበትም አክሎ ጠቅሷል።

በኢዮጵያ የሚገኙ የናይል ሰሃራዊ ቋንቋዎች አሃዝ በተለያዩ ምሁራን የተለያየ ነው። ለምሳሌ ሀድሰን

(2017) አስራ ሰባት ናቸው ሲል፣ ዲመንተል (2011) ደግሞ 22 እንደሚያደርሳቸው እና ጫቡ ቋንቋን ደግሞ ምድብ ያልተገኘለት ቋንቋ አድርገው እንዳሰፈሩት ይገልጽና በሁለቱም ስራዎች

ያልተጠቀሱ እና ሰፊ ጥናት የሚያስፈልጋቸው ሌሎችን ጨምሮ ደራሲው ቁጥራቸውን 24 እንደሚደርስ መረጃ ይሰጣል። ከእነዚህ ውስጥም ከናይል ሰሃራዊ ቋንቋዎች ዝምድና የሌላቸው በኤርትራ የሚነገሩት ኩናማ እና ናራ እንደሚገኙ በመጥቀስ ስለቋንቋዎችም ሁኔታ ከሌሎች ዋቢዎች ጋር እያጣቀሰ ያስረዳል።

በምዕራፍ አራት ላይ ደግሞ እስከ አሁን የተለያዩ ምሁራንን እያወዛገቡ ያሉ እና ከሌሎች ዘር ቡድኖች ጋር የሚያስተሳስር አጥጋቢ መረጃ ያልተገኘላቸው ሁለት ቋንቋዎችን ያነሳል። እነሱም

ስያሜያቸው ወጥ ያልሁኑት ሻቡ/ጫቡ እና ኦንጎታ/ ቢራይሌ ቋንቋዎች ሲሆኑ ስለ ዘር ምድባቸውም ሆነ ስለ ሰዋስዋዊ መዋቅራቸው የተለያዩ የምርምር ስራዎችን እያጣቀሰ በሰፊው ያብራራል። ከዚሁ ጋር አያይዞም የምልክት ቋንቋን እንደ ቋንቋ ትምህርትነት መሰጠት የተጀመረበትን ታሪካዊ ዳራ በመዘርዘር የዘዬ ልዩነትም በተለያዩ የኢትዮጵያ ክፍሎች እንደሚስተዋል እና የመደበኛነት ጥያቄም የሚነሳበት መሆኑን ከጠቀሰ በኋላ ጉዳዩ ሰፋ ያለ ጥናት እንደሚያስፈልገው ያትታል።

በመጨረሻም በመጽሃፉ ውስጥ በጣም ጠቃሚ የሆኑ አባሪዎች፡- የዓጼ ይስሃቅ መወድስ፣ የአፍሮኤሽያዊ፣ የኢትዮሴማዊ፣ የኦሞአዊ፣ የኩሻዊ እና የጠፉ ቋንቋዎች እንዲሁም የአማርኛ ሆሄያት

ምርጫ፣ የመረጃ አጠቃቀስ፣ የእንግሊዝኛ ሙያዊ ቃላት እና የእንግልዝኛ/ ላቲን ፊደል አጠቃቀም፣

የመረጃ አጠቃቀስ፣ ሙዳዬ ቃላት፣ ዋቢ ጽሁፎች እና ቅሱም (ኢንዴክስ) ተካተውበታል።

በአጠቃላይ ደራሲው ከጥንት የመረጃ ምንጮች አዳዲሶችን እያስተሳሰረ ምሳሌዎችን እና ተጨባጭ መረጃዎችን እያመጣ መረጃቸው የሚያጠራጥሩትን ስራዎች ተጨማሪ ምርምር እንዲሰራባቸው እየጠቆመ የሚያልፍ ከመሆኑም በላይ በኦሞአዊ፣ በናይል ሰሃራዊ እና ምድብ ባልተገኘላቸው ቋንቋዎች ላይ የተለያዩ የጥናታዊ ጽሁፎችን ለሚያቀርቡም ሆነ ለቅድመ እና ለድህረ ምረቃ ተማሪዎች እንደማጣቀሻነት የሚያገለግል በመሆኑ ያለው አስተዋጽኦ ከፍተኛ ነው። ደራሲው

“የኩሻዊ ቋንቋዎች እና ተናጋሪዎቻቸው” የሚለውን ሶስተኛውን መጽሃፍ በቅርቡ ለንባብ እንደሚያበቃ ምኞቴ ነው።

መንግስቱ ታደሰ ሞላ ደብረብርሃን ዪኒቨርሲቲ፣ ደብረብርሃን፣ ኢትዮጵያ

STYLE SHEET JAAL urges authors submitting manuscripts to conform to these rules, except where there is strong reason to do

otherwise. In such cases, prior consultation with the Editor will be appreciated. JAAL cannot overemphasize that

improper presentation causes needless delays.

OVERALL MATTERS

Manuscripts written in English should use American spelling.

Authors should send an electronic copy of the manuscript in Pdf format. Authors will be required to submit, in case

of acceptance the final copy in Word or Writer.

Manuscripts must be doubled spaced with Times New Roman font; font size 12.

CORRECTIONS

JAAL exhorts authors to submit clean copy. Pages with many handwritten corrections are not acceptable.

Handwritten symbols, diacritics, and the like are acceptable if legible.

JAAL regards accepted manuscripts as virtually finished work, requiring minor corrections only. No major alterations

will be accepted after typesetting. Authors will receive proofs for correction of printer’s errors at JAAL’s expense.

Necessary minor alterations may be made at the author’s expense.

ORGANIZATION All

manuscripts should begin with an abstract of 100-150 words.

All reviews should begin with a full bibliographic designation of the reviewed book (see below for form), plus the

number of pages and the price of the book if available.

A table of contents may be required by the article’s length or complexity.

All lengthy manuscripts should have major headings; the use and number of sub-headings to increase clarity are at

the author’s discretion.

All linguistic examples must be numbered and they should be in brackets. When there is more than one example in a

single category, they must be listed in alphabetical order and separated by dots.

Footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout the text, and presented in the same page, i.e. typed at the foot

of the page. Acknowledgements appear before the numbered notes, and are distinguished with an asterisk.

Footnotes are for comments, not bibliographic references.

Tables, figures and maps should be identified as Figure 3, Map 5 etc., and their preferred place in the text clearly

indicated. Use explanatory ‘notes to the editor’ where necessary to make layout intentions clear. If word-

processing, use tab rather than multiple blanks in laying out a table.

Bibliographic references should appear in the body of the text, in abbreviated form and in parentheses, as follows:

(Author’s name date [: pages, if necessary])

The full reference should appear in a list of references at the end of the article, as follows:

FOR BOOKS, LIST

Author’s last name, first name or initials. Date. Book title. [Capitalize as in normal writing.] Place of publication:

Publisher.

FOR PERIODICALS, LIST

Author’s last name, first name or initials. Date. Article title. [Capitalize as above.] Journal t itle. Volume

number: inclusive page numbers.

FOR EDITED BOOKS, OR BOOKS BY SEVERAL AUTHORS, LIST

All editors’ or authors’ names, but names other than the first one will have the following order: first name,

initial, last name.

To distinguish between works by the same author published in the same year, put lower-case letters after the date.

FOR WEB RESOURCES, LIST

Hyperlink and date of access in addition to the author’s name and title of manuscript (if there are any).

USAGE

For general conventions, authors should follow the latest edition of the Modern Language Association (MLA) style.

Authors are urged to transliterate foreign scripts, using current American conventions. Foreign scripts should only be

used for a special reason. Authors who use foreign scripts, as well as rare phonetic or other symbols, should be

able to furnish the fonts in some form, preferably not handmade.

If a given language or language group uses its own terminology for categories, please define them in general

linguistic terms. It is important for JAAL to make its articles accessible to those who work in other areas of

linguistics.

Foreign-language and emphasized material should be underlined for printing in italics. For glosses, use ‘single’

quotation marks; “double” quotation marks are reserved for other quoted material or “so-called” expressions.

All fonts should be Unicode.

For additional details, please consult earlier issues or the Editor.

ARTICLES

THE SOCIAL BASIS OF BUNA (COFFEE) USAGE IN WALLOAssefa Balcha

CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARSI OROMO WOMEN TO CUSTOMARY CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACE RESETTLEMENT

Gemeda Hunde Wordoffa & Wako Gada Obse

የተድባበ ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን ሀይማኖታዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ቅርሶች ለቱሪዝም እድገት ያላቸው ሚና ፍተሻ

መንግስቱ ታደሰ

የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ታሪክን የተንተራሱ የትርክት ተቃርኖዎች ለማለዘብ የህዝብና ባህል መስተጋብር ታሪክ ምርምር ሚና

አውግቸው አማረ

REVIEWS

የመጽሃፍ ዳሰሳመንግስቱ ታደሰ

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and CultureISSN 0894-9824

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VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2 Winter 2019

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