I believe average people, misguided diplomats, stereotyped intelligentsia, and bureaucratic administrations will benefit a lot from another focus on the Sidama Land, its History, Culture and Economy.
We will all gain tremendously in terms of Humanism, Moral Values, Natural Life, and Angelic Ethos, if we come to know the Name of the Paradise we lost.
A great Sidama Intellectual, Wolassa Kumo, will guide us to the African Highlands of Sidama, and I feel safe to claim that through his lines we will all be able to finally identify what we all lost when the Sidamas lost their Freedom and Indepedence.
That is why today Sidama can be for all of us the name of Heaven we have long sought after. Before we reach it, we should help the tyrannized Sidamas make it available to the rest of the world.
And as his name, Wolassa, stands in Sidamic language for 'liberator', Mr. Kumo, struggling along with a great number of Sidama Intellectuals in the Diaspora, and many Sidama heroic fighters in the mountains of Kushitic Africa, will soon liberate our minds from the burdens of a hectic day in the megalopolises of pollution, opening the gates of the Paradisiacal Sidama: the land of the Enset.
Sidama: An Overview of History, Culture and Economy
By Wolassa Kumo
I. An Overview of the Sidama History
The Sidama people live in the southern part of the present day Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa. They belong to the people of Kushitic origin that occupy the vast area of north eastern and eastern Africa extending from the Sudan throughout the Horn of Africa to Tanzania. The most notable peoples of the Kushitic origin to which the Sidama people belong include, the Saho in Eritrea, Oromo, Hadiya and Afar in Ethiopia; the Somalis especially the Degodai tribe both in Somalia and Kenya; the Randle and Sakuye in Kenya and many others in Eastern and central Africa. The Sidama along with Agew and Beja were the first settlers in the northern highlands of the present day Ethiopia.
At present the majority of the Sidama people live in the Southern part of Ethiopia with notable geographical features like lake Awassa in the North and lake Abaya in the South. However, during the course of great popular migration from North and East to the South of Africa, some Sidamas were left behind and were later scattered into different parts of the country and even beyond. One example of such groups of people related to Sidama includes those who live around river Dawa in South Eastern Ethiopia and North Eastern Kenya. The Dawa river was the turning point in the history of the migration of the Sidama people from North to the South. These people now speak Somali language and identify themselves as Digodai, the clans of which include several clans in Sidama. The most notable of these clans is Fardano whose name is maintained both in Sidama and Somali Digodai tribe with out slightest modification. Other people that have even greater affiliation to the Sidama people and its culture and language and that were only separated most recently include Alaba, Tambaro, Qewena and Marako. These groups of the Sidama people live in the western vicinity of the present day Sidama land. At present Sidama has an estimated population of about 5 million.
Total area of the land where the majority of the Sidama people live is estimated to be about 15-16000 km sq. The capital city of Sidama, Awassa, is located 275 kms south of Addis Ababa. Land features range from low lands of about 1500 m a.s.l in the Great East Africa Rift Valley that cuts through lakes Awassa and Abaya up to 3000 m a.s.l in the eastern Sidama high lands of Arbegona, Bansa and Arroressa districts. The Sidama land is one of the most ever green and fertile lands in Africa. As a result, for centuries, the Sidama people led one of the most stable and self sufficient lives as an independent nation state in the north eastern Africa until the nation was conquered by the Abyssinian king Minelik II in 1893. Before the Abyssinian conquest, the Sidama people lived in indigenous egalitarian and democratic social, economic, political and cultural systems.
II. The Sidama Indigenous Political System
The Sidama nation was administered by the Moote system. Moote is the system of administration where Mootichcha who is equivalent to a King, is nominated by the family and near relatives for the position. The nominated Moote (the King) is presented to a Fichche, the Sidama New Year celebration, for Qeexala or popular demonstration. Qeexala serves both as approval and mass media to communicate the decision of the coronation to the general public. Then, the Mootichcha (the King) starts to carry out his duties and responsibilities. The Mootichcha is the head of political and administrative structure. The Mootichcha is assisted by Ga’ro, akin to king’s assistant, and hence next to the former in politico-administrative authority.
Fichche is the most celebrated Sidama cultural holiday which represents the Sidama New Year. The Fichche is based on the lunar system. Sidama elders (astrologists) observe the movement of the stars in the sky and decide the date for the New Year and the Fichche celebration. The Sidama New Year is therefore unique in that it does not have a fixed date. It rotates every year following the movements of the stars. Sidama has 13 months a year. And each of the months is divided equally into 28 days while the 13th month has 29 days. This is because the Sidama week has only 4 days and hence each month has 7 weeks instead of the conventional 4 weeks. The names of the 4 days in Sidama week are called: Dikko, Deela, Qawadoo and Qawalanka to be followed by Dikko completing the cycle of a 4-day week.
The Moote and Ga’ro rule in consultation with the council of people’s representatives known as the Songo. The Songo is similar to the modern day parliament. There was a great parliamentary democracy in the Songo. Agenda for discussion was forwarded by every member of the Songo and decisions were made by the members and forwarded to the Moote for approval. The Songo did not have written constitution. It was guided by the oral constitution which was handed over by generations and was learnt by all involved by heart. Moote was involved in over all political and administrative issues of the society including defence, provision of justice, and the like.
The defence side of the administration is handled by Gaadana or war leader. The Luwa system which involves both administrative and cultural aspects of the Sidama society was mainly responsible for the defence activities of the society. Luwa is administered by an age grade system where each grade rotates every 8 years. There are five rotating grades in the Luwa system: These are: Darara, Fullassa, Hirobora, Wawassa and Mogissa. The Malga clan in Awassa district adds Binancha as the sixth grade.
In the Luwa system, recruits stay outside of their homes for about 5 months. During this period, the recruits carry out military training and training on war songs like Geerarsha which is a counterpart of Geerarsa of the Oromo people. Luwa is ruled by a democratic principle and its leader is known as Gadaana (different from Gaadana-war leader). The deputy of Gadaana is known as Ja’lawa. Under Ja’lawa comes Murrichcha (division leader) who during wartime leads Murassa an equivalent of a military division. The Sidama indigenous defence system was therefore fairly well advanced. This was because of the threat of constant conflict with the neighbouring tribes for more cultivable and grazing lands.
III. The Sidama socio-economic culture
The cultural affairs of the Sidama society is handled by the Woma system. The Woma system has its own council known as the Womu Songo. Woma acts like a cultural and religious leader. He usually performs Kakalo (sacrifices) and other cultural and religious rituals including marriage and circumcision.
There were also other independent socio economic institutions which reflect a unique and egalitarian culture of the Sidama society. Among such institutions the most notable one is Seera. The Sidama Seera system is divided into two: the first refers to the broad concept of Seera as a social constitution which governs the Sidama social life based on the Sidama moral code of halale (the ultimate truth). John Hammer, an American anthropologist who studied the Sidama society extensively, stated that the Sidama moral code halale, provides the basis for distinguishing “good” and “evil” and in the broadest sense the term refers to ‘the true way of life’ (Hammer 2002). If an individual in a community is involved in wrongdoing but refuses to admit it or pay the prescribed fine, this may result in ostracism (Seera) where the recalcitrant becomes non-person as people refuse to work, eat or associate with him (Hammer 2002). Although there were no written procedures and enforcement mechanisms for Seera, individuals abide by it because of the fear of breaking the halale and being referred to God, by the elders, as a consequence.
The second concept of Seera refers to the narrower sub constitution created to facilitate cooperation among the community members in construction of houses. This type of Seera is usually referred to as Minu Seera (constitution for house construction). This is similar to the modern day constitution of building society’s but is more powerful because it is linked to the broader concept of Seera that is linked to the societal moral code of halale.
Another related Sidama social sub constitution is called Jirte. Jirte refers to the mechanism of community cooperation during death and other ceremonies. In Sidama, community members living in near by villages form one Jirte system. The Jirte system is comprised of 4-6 villages and is usually formed based on lineages. If a person dies, community members share the burden of looking after mourners until the mourning ends. The mourning usually takes one week. However, non Christian community members could organize remourning ceremonies based on the social status of the deceased. If a community member does not obey the Jirte system, he can be fined based on the principles of the larger Seera system. Jirte is a typical example of the present day voluntary community based organizations (CBOs).
The Sidama society also had unique systems of economic cooperation. The most notable of these are: (a) Dee-rotating labour contribution for farming, (b) Kotta- producers’ cooperatives, and (c) Shufo-rotating butter credit.
Dee is a voluntary arrangement to contribute labour during the farming season instead of farming on one’s plot individually. The labour pooling system usually involves manual digging of plots but can include oxen farming if all of the members have oxen and are willing to cooperate to rotate the farming. The labour pooling system starts with the elders in the groups and goes down to the youngest member. However, if any one in the system needs an urgent assistance, the members will skip the age based system of rotation. Dee is unique Sidama economic cooperation for which modern counterpart cannot be found easily.
The Sidama society also had what one may call an early form of cooperative movement called Kotta. Kotta is a voluntary farmers’ (producers’) cooperative and hence common ownership of given crops on a given plot of land. The Kotta can be limited to one year or can continue for several years and is purely voluntary economic arrangement. The output of the crops is shared among the Kotta members according to their contributions. The Sidama society had, thereof, had a model cooperative system in Kotta that could serve as an example of successful voluntary producers’ cooperatives.
The Shufo, rotating butter credit, is different from other economic arrangements in that it involves (a) commodity credit and (b) it is carried out exclusively by women. In Sidama society women could not own any property except butter. Therefore, when they are in a financial problem or have social occasions for which they need larger amount of butter, the other women living in the village can bring certain amount of the commodity and hand over to the needy women after taking the measurement of the size of the butter contributed by each woman. Another interesting feature of Shufo is that, not all women know how to measure the butter and keep the size of the butter each woman contributed in their memories for so many rounds. It needs exceptional talent to keep the size of each measurement in memory because none of the women involved are literate and can read and right. This was how the Sidama women fought both poverty and economic marginalization by men.
Before the Abyssinian conquest land in Sidama was mostly owned privately. Every household had access to land and was able to produce enough for its needs. Land outside of the private ownership was owned communally and was called the Danawa land. The Danawas were administered by the local Songos and were distributed to newly married men and new comers based on their needs. Communal lands in Sidama were properly conserved.
In that way the Sidama society was able to maintain sustainable socio-economic and socio-political system for centuries. However, most of these systems were disrupted as a result of the Abyssinian conquest in 1893 and the consequent brutal feudal system.
IV. Sidama and the Feudal System
After the conquest the Sidama society lost most of their democratic and egalitarian socio-political and socio-economic systems. They were subjected to an alien political domination. Alien culture and language were imposed on them while their culture and language were relegated as “uncivilized and backward”.
The conquering army of Minelik known by the name of Neftegna, carriers of guns, began to establish few garrison towns throughout Sidama to ensure a complete domination and subjugation of the people. The first commander of Minelik, Beshah Aboye, who encroached Sidama from the northern tip, by the side of lake Awassa, did not succeed to establish a permanent control over Sidama because of systematic resistance led by Baalichcha Worawo, the last King of Sidama. It was Luelseged, the second commander of Minelik who encroached Sidama through the eastern side of the boarder between Sidama and Bale Oromos, who was able to establish the first permanent settlement of northerners in the place called Hula. Leulseged succeeded in controlling Sidama because he waged a massive attack with superior military power and organization which was unmatched by the Sidama traditional weaponry. The Sidama people always resent that it was Luelseged who subjugated their nation and assassinated their king Baalichcha Worawo. Baalichcha Worawo was taken to the Konso land in South of Sidama near lake Abaya and was killed there.
As the conquering army continued to establish itself in Sidama land, the main stay of the Sidama economy, land, was taken away from its legitimate owners, the Sidama people, and was divided among the conquering neftegnas who became new landlords. This signified the beginning of the brutal feudal oppression in Sidama. The Sidama people were turned into virtual tenants whose lives completely depended on the mercy of these landlords. Three fourths of what they produced was robbed by the landlords and the Church which was an army of the Abyssinian administration. On top of the wanton economic plunder and exploitation, the Sidamas were reduced to virtual slaves where both heads of a household had to work for land lords both within Sidama and other parts of the country particularly the capital, Addis Ababa. Several people had been taken to Addis Ababa to provide slave labour to the landlords. Many of these people perished either on their way or in the capital. The writer’s uncle served as a slave labourer in Addis Ababa in early 1920s for over a year and had to travel back to Sidama on foot for over a month. He told the writer that he served the Amhara land lords for over a year in a settlement near Intoto, the northern part of the present day Addis Ababa, under very harsh conditions.
V. The Aftermath of the Feudal System
The brutal Abyssinian feudal system was overthrown by the popular movement in 1974. However, the popular movement was hijacked by the armed military junta which proclaimed the country a socialist state and ruled with an iron feast. The head of the Junta Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam established a close ties with the Eastern socialist block to help him implement misguided socialist economic policies and to suppress any resistance to its brutal subjugation of the rights of peoples.
The little freedom and prospects for economic development expected from abolition of serfdom and return of land to the tillers was immediately lost as a result of such misguided economic policies of collectivization and villagization. These not only brought untold suffering to the Sidama people but led to economic collapse the result of which was massive unemployment and impoverishment.
The Sidama people who have never accepted the Abyssinian conquest and its consequent brutal subjugation from its very onset have started to wage an organized armed struggle against the military regime beginning from its very inception in 1970s. The war between Sidama and the military regime that took place in the highland districts of Arbegona, Bansa and Arroressa between 1977-1983 claimed over 30,000 Sidama lives. Similar resistance struggle took place in northern Sidama in places known as Borrichcha in Shabadino district and Wotara Rassa in Awassa district in 1978. The socialist regime brutally crushed all Sidama resistance movements during the early 1980s and subjected the nation to untold suffering.
However, the socialist government had one positive contribution in Sidama. That was the construction of several elementary schools in many parts of Sidama and the building of few modern manufacturing industries in Awassa town such as the Awassa textile factory, the Awassa Flour Mills, the Awassa Ceramics Factory and several other smaller socio-economic infrastructures. Mass education for the rural people in Sidama began during the time of the socialist regime.
The second part of Mr. Wolassa Kumo essay will be published in a forthcoming article
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Note: In the picture we have a view of the famous Enset plant of the Sidama Land.
Orientalist,
Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, and
Islamologist, Historian, Political Scientist, Dr.
Megalommatis, 49, is the author of 12 books, dozens of
scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries,
and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes
more than 15, modern and ancient, languages. He refuted
Greek nationalism, supported Martin Bernal’s Black
Athena, and rejected the Greco-Romano-centric version of
History. He pleaded for the European History by J. B.
Duroselle, and defended the rights of the Turkish, Pomak,
Macedonian, Vlachian, Arvanitic, Latin Catholic, and
Jewish minorities of Greece, asking for the
international recognition of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus. Born Christian Orthodox, he adhered to
Islam when 36, devoted to ideas of Muhyieldin Ibn al
Arabi.
Greek citizen of Turkish origin, Prof. Megalommatis studied and/or worked in Turkey, Greece, France, England, Belgium, Germany, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Russia, and carried out research trips throughout the Middle East, Northeastern Africa and Central Asia. His career extended from Research & Education, Journalism, Publications, Photography, and Translation to Website Development, Human Rights Advocacy, Marketing, Sales & Brokerage. He traveled in more than 80 countries in 5 continents. He defends the Right of Aramaeans, Oromos, Berbers, and Beja to National Independence, demands international recognition for Somaliland, and denounces Islamic Terrorism.
