0000000016 00000 n 0000013193 00000 n [1] It is also practiced by the Konso and Gedeo people of southern Ethiopia. He was the leader of qandala (army) and was elected by the people. Like modern parliaments today this Borana parliament would summon sittings to make, repeal or ensure that the laws were being followed. Hence when such event occurs, additional councilor (s) will be elected to fill the gap (serve as substitutes for deceased councilor (s). 0000001892 00000 n [17][18] In 2019, Bule Hora University launched a master's degree program in Gadaa studies. On the other hand, it allows the Boran people to watch the performance and credibility of the elected (de facto) leaders. It is a brick that most indigenous peoples of East Africa use to organize and structure their society (based on age relatedness). However, for the purpose of this study, it refers to the intergenerational relationship but quite different from its common understandings. They were the Gada class or the Warra Bora. The Oromo have used age-sets because generation-sets cannot be an effective means to mobilize troops and a quite distinct organization based on the closeness of age . The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content. As a result problem in a relation to incorporation of late or early born children often arises. Where the former is appointed (and works voluntarily) by a Gadaa councilor and it is an honorary position; the later may be effectuated involuntarily. Gada Arboora The term or the name given to the first and most senior institution of one of the three institutional pillars of Gada (Yaa'a Gada Sadeenii) Gada Sadeenii (the three pillars of Gada) in Oromo-Borana Gada system that function together as a single body. It is appropriate to discuss who can enter into gadamojjii and who is leaving. Married Borana men look in their direction them from afar, as they water the camels. The second has little to do with age. It is, therefore, wrong to conceive the idea of retirement or leaving the office here as in the west where a person is relieved from his or her official duties and s/he cannot come back to leadership positions. These requirements are similar in three aspects: both are formed every eight years; both pass from one stage to another; and in both active members pave position in both systems. Hence, the executive officers may put pressure on the conscripts to accept the offer. There is an intergenerational correspondence between the hemicycles that: the first Gadaa grade is linked to the fifth, the second is linked to the sixth, the third is linked to the eighth, the fourth is likened to the ninth, the fifth is likened to the tenth, and the sixth is likened to the liminal/final (Gadamojjii) stage. 0000012974 00000 n In his comparative analysis of East African age-sets system. In this regard, due to the rigidity of the Gadaa principle, the moment a member of the family fails to stick to the rules of timing for legitimate procreation, the whole generational chain is brought out of step. As to the question, how many Gadaa grades are there and how long do they exactly take, it has been differently approached by several interpreters of the Gadaa System. Today we seem to have forgotten these important rules, and cattle invade and damage forests every dry season. However, in the case of the Gadaa political system, as long as they (semi-retired men) are not declared individually incapable due to factors such as incapacity (physical or mental) and not fully retired (traditionally known as yuubomu that is after completing the four yuuba period); they have duty to serve as legal experts and advisers to Gadaa council in power. Fathers of the dabballes move from all the principal regions of the Boran to the area of the shrine. The Gadaa assembly takes place under a sycamore tree, symbolically representing its emphasis on dialogue and consensus. Herds of cattle or camels were not allowed to go there unless there was an extremely severe drought. Kurraa Jarsso Diddo is the next Abba Gada in Borana Oromo Gada System of leadership,Kurraa will be in power for the period of 2017-2025. Boranas also have special warriors that defend the community from any enemies. This system is not only well developed and well preserved among the Borana Oromo but also a viable socio-political system to date, comparable to no other region in Oromiya. By Ibrahim A. Elemo (M.D., MPH) The Borana Oromo has a very prominent traditional system of governance-the Gada System. The system covers political, social, economical and spiritual ways of life. 29-1 Introduction Ethiopia is said to have abundant potential water resources, all emanating within its territory. 0000013416 00000 n [14] It is the system with which the Oromo people have been governing themselves in a democratic way for centuries. The system organized male Oromos according to age-sets (hirya) based on chronological age, and according to generation-sets (luba) based on genealogical generation, for social and political and economic purposes. Furthermore, Abba Gadaa (the president) belonging to the outgoing Gadaa Council has to appoint (before handing over the power to the incoming Gadaa class) six men from among the ex-members of the Gadaa Council that are now in the semi-retired (yuuba) Gadaa grade. For instance, Haberland and Asmarom vary from the former model in that the fifth Gadaa grade (raba) takes five years and the seventh, eighth, ni1nth and tenth Gadaa grades (i.e. Of course, the legacy of ones family and the past accomplishments of a clan councilor has a great influence in the decision that is made to nominate the would-be councilors. Major Oromo clans have established the centers of their Gadaa at several places based on their territorial settlement. Each of the semi-retired Gadaa grades bears eight years period and in sum covers thirty-two years (i.e. Since Jaldessa Liban (the thende facto Abba Gadaa) kept the outgoing class waiting for three months the Borna consider this a most reprehensible failure of Gadaa leadership. One is a system in which the members of each class are recruited strictly on the basis of chronological age. Despite the Gadaa system being an egalitarian social system, women were excluded from passing through age-sets and generation-sets. the former is horizontal and refers to the collective, the latter is vertical and defines the responsibilities assumed successively throughout their careers. The grade passes from one stage of development to the next every eight years. Oratory, the art of public speaking, is highly valued in Oromo society; the forms of delivery, the wit of the speaker, his tone of voice, his posture, eye contact and ability to command the attention of the audience are skills to be honed and admired. As discussed elsewhere, a son born to a man at the fifth Gadaa grade (raba) will be introduced to the first Gadaa grade and such children are commonly named as daballe. Dabballes hair will never be cut and he will have a fictitious name until the naming ceremony (ceremony of passage to the second Gadaa grade) is undertaken. Though the nomenclature of each five cyclic Gadaa classes varies across the Oromo land, in essence, all are the same. No revealer today - the theme spells itself out in the clues. These elements pop up due to the fact that recruitment to an age-set requires, in systems like Gadaa, generational relationship and in connection with that issues like the time when a son may be initiated to the system and the interval between the father and son are inevitable. A few of them are pulling at their scraggly white and ochre beards while nodding in agreement. The other council-men bow in reverence. He takes a seat at the head of the council as he has done, for eight years, since the beginning of his rule. Moreover, Gada is transformed along radically different lines, what Asmarom calls a system of temporal differentiation of society having little to do with age. This is the Adula council; they have come to debate as to who should manage the wells. The assembly had the president, two vice presidents and. Participatory impact assessment of ticks on Borana cattle milk production was conducted from January 2010 to July 2010. Where a rightly born son perfectly fits into the principle, the late-born sons cannot, and the option they have is to run behind their elder brothers. To be nominated as a candidate as well as to be possibly elected the Borana consider the following criteria: personal qualities (skills such as courage, patience, open-mindedness, reconciliatory and orator); competence of the candidate among his peers and his knowledge (commitment for) of cultural values; antecedents such as betrayal, fraudulent, untruthfulness and others prohibits him from competing; historical achievements of his forefathers (the more his forefathers had accomplished positive deeds to the Boran and to the Gada System; the more the candidate owes high probability to be elected); the candidate has to have a positive image before his own clan and other clans; and recommendation from religious (Qallu) institution. Thus one can regard age-sets as one of the auxiliary institutions. 216 0 obj <>stream Ibrahim A. Elemo (M.D., MPH)* Book The role of traditional institutions among Borana Oromo, [] communities. Gadaa Council) remains intact. When it comes to the powers and functions of the semi-retired assemblymen, their power is limited to advisory services to the legislative body. The election process is known as lallaba (proclamation). The Aba Gada leaders of the Guji-Oromo people, an ethnic Oromo subgroup who inhabit southern Ethiopia, have declared the Shene-Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) - a group that operates in the bushes of Southwestern Ethiopia as an "enemy of the Oromo people". Oromo philosophy, art, and calendar are based on Gadaa as an expression of Oromo civilization. First and foremost, one has to be clear that Gadaa class refers to the group of people who share the same status and who perform their rites of passage together. Before proceeding to the discussion of Gadaa institutions it is necessary to clarify these conceptual understandings. of the abba gada - can be held by either moiety. Today we seem to have forgotten these important rules, and cattle invade and damage forests every dry season. <> Second, it is at this grade that future Gadaa councilors have to be elected. Consider the above diagram (a model and summary) of the Gadaa grades. Councils like these have sat down under similar circumstances in the gentle late afternoon sun, for the last five hundred years. Each one of the eleven Gadaa grades equally bears eight-year periods and they are based on genealogical generations. Both sets of groups pass from one stage of development to the next every eight years. However, others recognize the eleven Gadaa grades but they vary on the question of how long a Gadaa grade take in years. But still, there are Boranas who are Muslims and others who are Christians as well and they all value their system as an asset. 2 (Summer, 1956), pages 171-190, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics", https://www.peoplegroups.org/Explore/groupdetails.aspx?peid=14769, 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia, "The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boorana&oldid=1152099502, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 05:55. The late Donald Levine has said[26] that Gadaa is "one of the most complex systems of social organization ever devised by the human imagination". The nomenclature of the ceremony of passage to Gadamoojjii itself is known as the rite of incense exchange (qumbi wallraf udachu not balli walirrafuchu). micro wedding packages dfw; pygmy goats for sale in central illinois; My Cart q@7EabWzk[5 \ra:;t Jv*6Vx\liFQ$,eW\81+gdq LV=wQ,/Rn9/?J &8,PD+- Q+7VcAu `KT9p]^) t>D]jK*Vs0eOJgL^`5.2'Lx/!*YtJ4T-tF5i@A;G /q8v<6_ |g[8U. For example, according to Boran diction, the term Dulo dule signifies that the Gadaa class of Dulo (waging war and it was one of the five Gadaa classes) had conducted military expedition. Perhaps, the Age-set system might have imitated the natural course of human physical development to the structure the society. The council men bow in reverence. Legesse[24] has written that Gadaa is "one of the most astonishing and instructive turns the evolution of human society has taken". Another feature of senior gamme is their elevation to the Gada class. <> 3 0 obj @F% However, the Boran did adopt a practical solution to the gap created due to late born sons, commonly known as sons of elders (ilmaan jaarsaa); It refers to sons born to a man that has passed the stage of fatherhood, the Raba grade). Lastly, they remain as an informal group of friends and kinsmen rather than as members of a Gadaa class until they reach the third Gadaa grade. 0000009706 00000 n They are economically affected and politically caught between these colonial governments and many struggles between them. This committee includes members of the PP party in Oromia, members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF, of which the OLA is an outlawed splinter group), the Abba Gada council, and religious leaders. Copyright shujaa stories 2018, Childrens Program Saturday, April 13th, Venice Biennale Delegation x British Council (2022). In the Borana community, where many elements of the Gadaa system still exist, the assembly known as Gumi Gayyo (the assembly of multitudes) brings together every type of important living leaders, such as living Abba Gaddas, the qaallus, age-set councilors, clan leaders and Gadaa councilors, and other concerned individuals to make or amend or change laws and rules every eight years. In nutshell senior gamme had to undergo three main collective social activities (as part of Gadaa development): age-sets formation (hariyya), rendezvous (Walargi), and feast (nyachisa) ceremonies covering the entire eight-year period. Each one of the Gadaa class has diversity and unity. Russ Heltman. During the ceremony, the boy sang their age-set songs (tunnee) and the songs of Gadaa passage (mokkee). It is reasonable to question the reason why do most indigenous peoples of East Africa including the Oromo did organize social structure based on continuous age-groupings and periodic rituals? They live in the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region and Liben Zone of the Somali Region of Ethiopia, former Northern Frontier District of Northern Kenya,Tana River in the former coast province of Kenya and also in central Somalia. The society was structured into two distinct but cross-cutting system of the peer group. The first has nothing to do with genealogical ties. division 3 college athletic director salary. IDENTITY IN ETHIOPIA:THE OROMOFROM THE 16TH TO THE 19THCENTURY, When the GadaaDemocracy Rules in a FederalState, OROMO PEOPLEHOOD: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL OVERVIEW, Ethiopian Culture, Gadaa (The Orormo Democarcy), How Perfect Is Ethiopian Calander? There was no taxation under this system except that Gadaaleaders and their families were provided with necessary materials, such as food, cloth, and house. That is, in principle, a son always enters the system exactly forty years (i.e. The Borana age-set (hariyya) is an institution or organized on age and generational relationships. The system regulates political, economic, social and religious activities of the community. Besides, daballe are free and irresponsible groups. Attending power transfer ceremonies, rites of passages from one grade to another and other gatherings are meant to be as transparent as possible. Post author: Post published: December 1, 2021 Post category: usmc drill instructor speech Post comments: family tree vincent tan first wife family tree vincent tan first wife Every transition ritual at different levels has its own unique character, name, and procedure. For instance, the archaic nomenclatures to these Gadaa class orders are Birmaji, Horota, Bichile, Dulo, and Robale. Politically, it has a system of government where the overall leader is God himself and many unknown things are referred as 'Waqa Bekh', a sentence that can be equated to a Supreme Being knows. It is still able to preserve its structural values though various external challenges tested it to abolish or decline it through time. . Political Participation is open to all Borana, decisions are taken under the guidance of the ritual leaders, the Abba Gadaa and the councilors. In particular, the Boran oral tradition holds that the five cyclic Gadaa classes are derived from five natural governments: The Oromo believe that each Gadaa class in ascending to political power bring into all affairs the inclination which is appropriate to it, that is, each Gadaa class leads the people according to its natural tendency. Instead, they shall be disciplined verbally and psychologically. Even other children who take refuge to a home of daballe will also be excused from any form of punishment. The end of a discussion on issues was accepted without question and the Abba Muriti, the Father of Resolution, was present to make sure that those present in the discussion adhered to this requirement. There may be no refuge left for them in severe droughts. All Gadaa officials were elected for eight years by universal adult male suffrage. As younger men, some of these old men may have also sat in the Borana Assembly or the Salgan yaa Borana. an Abba bokkuu or Abbaa Gada. As discussed elsewhere, the two groups are cross-cutting structural units that operate as complementary institutions as long as both are represented by living members. Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more. Keywords: Gadaa, indigenous institution, Oromo, conflict resolution, Awash River Basin, Borana. Historically, the gada system most likely started out as a system of age-sets. While in the case of the former there will be the exchange of scepter (symbol of authority); in case of the later, however, they exchange incense which is the symbol of sacredness. The Abba Gadas: The Rich Ancient Borana Leadership System (2019) by Shujaa StoriesNational Museums of Kenya.
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