Waaqeffanna is an ancient monotheistic religion that is indigenous to the oromo people. If a person commits a sin by disturbing the balance of nature or mistreating others, the society imposes punishment while the person is alive. It is noteworthy that the oromo people is a very religious sect with strong belief in a traditional god that is popularly referred to as waaq. One highly developed selfsufficient system which has influenced every aspect. Religions oromia and the oromo people oromo oromia.
Throughout long history they have developed their own culture, identity, religious cult and ritual performances. Pdf the magic beyond ritualexploring raaba ritual and. Before the introduction of christianity and islam, the oromo people practiced their own religion. On saturday, they celebrated their traditional religious festival, irrecha, at meskel square in the capital addis ababa. History of oromo oromia culture and tourism bureau. To this end, the researchers observed the ritual sites where the raabaa ritual takes place. A cultural representation of women in the oromo society 105 from traditional religion lewis, 1980 is also evident among the oromo. A history, 15701860 by mohammed hassen pdf, epub ebook d0wnl0ad this study deals mainly with the history of the oromo of the area the gibe region. It aimed to explore status of waaqeffannaa religion in interreligious interaction. The significance and values of indigenous rituals among. Oromoo are a cushitic ethnic group and nation native to ethiopia who speak the oromo language.
Additionally it explains some unique character of waaqeffannaa and. Federal democratic republic of ethiopia population and. The irreecha birra festival is celebrated in the month of september and irreecha. From thanksgiving ritual to strong symbol of oromo identity by. Today, the oromo culture is influenced by the many factors of life and fostered by the size of the population and large land areas with diverse climatic conditions. For the oromo today, gada constitutes a dynamic living culture that regulate contemporary oromo political, social, economic and religious life. The history of the oromo and the christian kingdom c. The followers of the waaqeffanna religion are called waaqeffataa and they believe in the supreme being waaqa tokkicha the one god. Bartels 1983 on oromo religious rituals, kelbessa 2001 on oromo rituals in conserving environment, gemechu, 2007 on ritual in blood price payment. Oromo history began in the sixteenth century when the oromo were actively recapturing their territories and rolling back the christian and muslim empires. The christian missionaries and their local agents assumed the oir to be idolatry. The arabic word rabbi is also used by the muslim oromo and others to refer to their supreme being.
In locating politics in ethiopias irreecha ritual serawit bekele debele gives an account of politics and political processes in contemporary ethiopia as manifested in the annual ritual performance. They claim to have descended from a single individual called arse. Marriage practices among the gidda oromo, northern. The cult of sheikh hussein of bale is one quasiislamic tradition that has survived. Historically, irreecha has been understood and practiced within the context of the oromo religion, waaqeffannaa a belief in one supernatural power.
The irreecha birra festival is celebrated in the month of september and irreecha arfaasaa in the. In the arsiland, the oromo traditional religion existed side by side with islam, as the latter was mostly tolerant in the past. Oromia, ethiopia, oromo boranaarsiguji, afroasiatic 1. The arsi in all zones speak the same language afaan oromo, and share the same cultures and traditions. Some ritual activities might be done by both sexes or sometimes there are different ritual activities which might be confined to a single sex. Some of them also follow islam and christian religion.
The story begins at a time when the medieval christian kingdom of abyssinia was rapidly disintegrating and ends shortly before the. This study deals with the oromo indigenous knowledge and its implication in the practices of natural resources management, with the focus on the natural resources that have been thought as fundamental and integrals of their entire lives. Oromo culture allows the equality of gender in many activities. Oromo have a very rich culture defined by everything from oromo language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Ethiopia has more than 80 language speaking groups and ethnic oromo is believed to have the largest number. Practicing monotheism belief in one god, the oromo people, do not tolerate that one expresses the slight doubt regarding the orthodoxy of their faith in the unity of. Among the cultural norms observed, the concept of wayyuu is the primary one. The other aspect of cultural syncretism is that the overwhelming majority of shoa oromo, who have long accepted orthodox religion, are also still amalgamating the christian religious practices with their own. Ecologically and agriculturally oromia region is the richest region in the horn of africa. Original oromo religion does not believe in hell and heaven. Paul kyalo school of humanities and social sciences mount kenya university p. Arsi oromo is one of the branches of oromo people inhabiting the oromiya region, mainly in the arsi and bale zones.
Oromos speak the oromo language as their mother tongue also called afaan oromoo and oromiffa, which is part of the. Marriage practices among the gidda oromo southwestern part of gojjam see map 1. They constitute more than onefourth of the countrys population. The oromo nation is one of the indigenous peoples of east africa. He is a religious and ritual expert who has a special relationship with one of the ayyaana, which possesses him at regular intervals. Asebe regassa phd candidate, bayreuth university introduction it has become evident since recently that the oromo across religious, political and geographical boundaries have converged together in celebrating an annual ritual festival called irrecha. Livestock products, coffee, oil seeds, spices, mineral resources and wild life are all diverse and abundant. The raabaa ritual is indigenous ritual practices which exercised by arsi oromo according to their baalli. This paper discusses the african traditional religion with a particular reference to the oromo indigenous religion, waaqeffannaa in ethiopia. Initiation rites and rituals in african cosmology prof.
Hence, gadaa is instrumental in examining and understanding the cultural and historical experience of the oromo people. The study was conducted among nole, maccaa oromo of west wallagga. These religious rituals have overshadowed the oromo festivities not because the latter ones were irrelevant to the oromo but because the oromo were coercively. Oromo heroes and heroines are the people who have done something important for the community. Oromia, ethiopia, oromo boranaarsiguji, afroasiatic. This volume of the journal of oromo studies is dedicated to the memory of fr lambert bartels, missionaryanthropologist who had studied the oromo religion for many years before he died in 2000 as the contributors to this volume clearly show, fr, bartels work is very important fbr understanding the rituals and. During the early twentieth century oromos lost their sovereignty to the. Bishoftu, a city in the oromia regional state of ethiopia, located fortyfive kilometres east of addis ababa, hosted yet another. On the occasion of religious rituals which mobilise large number of. Historically, irreecha has been understood and practiced within the context of the oromo religion, waaqeffannaa a belief in one supernatural power called. The warfare between the two communities entered the christian societys cultural universe and coloured what the chroniclers wrote. As a social institution, it functions as a mechanism of socialization, conflict resolution, judicial administration, religious expression and social harmony. According to the oromo traditional religion, waaqa has multiple attributes. The indigenous oromo religious traditions offered islam an african feature.
The amhara are one of the two largest ethnolinguistic groups in ethiopia the other group being the oromo. Download pdf beingandbecomingoromo free online new. However, the number of people who worship this traditional god has gone down due to the emergence of other types of religion such as christianity and islam. The oromo people constitute the largest ethnic group in ethiopia, or about 30 million people out of a total population of 60 million. Every transition ritual at different levels has its orommo unique character, name and procedure. Religious capabilities in rituals and songs collectanea instituti anthropos. While most of them would practice their oromo religion, they also combine traditional practices with islamic and christian religious practices. O box 3420, thika kenya abstract this essay is an analysis of the rituals in african cosmology.
As the belief systems and rituals at the shrine of sheikh hussein, sof umar guutoo, faraqqasaa, and the irreecha ritual indicate, religion among the arsi oromo can be arguably perceived as highly syncretistic and in constant transformation as a result of various religious, social and political developments throughout time. The amharic language is an afroasiatic language belonging to the southwest semitic group. Facts about oromo people, language, music, culture, flag. The galla do believe in spirits, and they hold a certain bird to be sacred, and they will run through the forest following the bird to see which way it turns in order to make a decision. Oromo religious ceremonies and gada ritual practices such as irressa, ateetee, nabi, boranticha, dhibayyuu, garanfata, ayyana, wedaja, and prayers, etc, are. It has become evident since recently that the oromo across religious, political and geographical boundaries have converged together in celebrating an annual ritual festival called irreecha. This thesis deals with the impact of culture, social setting and religion on the status. Wayyuu, siinqee and gora among the arsi and guji oromo. What makes the region even more special is that these cultural and natural resources are managed within an ancient traditional governance system, the gada system, which. Their original homeland, oromia, included most of what is now ethiopia and stretched into northern kenya, where some oromos still live. It also intends to introduce the reader with waaqeffannaas mythology, ritual activities, and how it interrelates and shares with other african traditional.
Volume iii, issue iv, april 2016 ijrsi issn 2321 oromo. The the amhara, tigre, gurage, wolayta and others from di. Irreecha the colors, the identity and the pride of oromo. Oromo religious, belief is based on the view that there is only one waaqa god. Oromo indigenous religion and oromo christianity hildok. But in the case of uke, there is little research done on the role of gender participation. Locating politics in ethiopias irreecha ritual brill. The word waaqeffanna derives from the word waaqa, which means the sky god in afaan oromoo. By asebe regassa introduction it has become evident since recently that the oromo across religious, political and geographical boundaries have converged together in celebrating an annual ritual festival called irreecha. It also intends to introduce the reader with waaqeffannaas mythology, ritual activities, and how it. Mobilizing various sources such as archives, oral accounts, conversations, videos, newspapers, and personal observations, debele critically analyses political processes and how they are. Gada system, an indigenous democratic sociopolitical system of the oromo. An arsi oromo womens musical ritual to empower women to protect their human rights and participate in societys social and religious life talilee b. They are the largest ethnic group in ethiopia and represent 34.
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