The following brief summary information was followed from the reserve by Gadaa Melbaa, Oromia: An Launch to the History of the Oromo People, 1999. The Oromo are also known by another name, Galla. The individuals neither call themselves or prefer to be called by this name. They always called themselves Oromoo or Oromoota (plural). It isn't known for several when the name Galla was given to them. It has been said that it was given to them by neighboring peoples, particularly Amhara, and various origins of the word have been suggested. Some say it comes from the Oromo expression 'gaiaana' interpretation river in Oromiffa. Others signify that it originated from an Arabic expression 'qaala laa'. A couple of other similar suggestions regarding the origin of the term. The Abyssinians connect a derogatory connotation to the Galla, namely 'pagan, savage, uncivilized, uncultured, foe, slave or inherently inferior". The word appears to be aimed at producing an inferiority organic in the Oromo.
Culture
The Oromo are one of the Cushitic speaking organizations of individuals with versions in colour and physical characteristics which range from Hamitic to Nilotic. A short look at the early record of a few of the peoples who have occupied north-eastern Africa sheds some light on the cultural origin of Oromo. The Cushitic audio speakers have inhabited north-eastern and eastern Africa for as long as recorded background.
The land of Cush, Nubia or the historic Ethiopia in middle and lower Nile is the house of the Cushitic audio system. It was almost certainly from there that they subsequently dispersed and became differentiated into independent linguistic and social groups. The various Cushitic countries inhabiting north-east and east Africa today are the consequence of this dispersion and differentiation. The Oromo form one of those groups which disperse southwards and then east and west occupying large area of the Horn of Africa. Their physical features, culture, terminology and other evidences unequivocally indicate the fact they are indigenous to the part of Africa. Available information obviously implies that the Oromo been around as a community of folks for a large number of years in East Africa (Prouty at al, 1981). Bates (1979) contends, "The Gallas (Oromo) were an extremely ancient race, the indigenous stock, perhaps, on which most other individuals in this part of eastern Africa have been grafted".
In spite to the fact that there are several signs and evidences that Oromo are indigenous to the part of Africa, Abyssinian rulers, court historians and monks contend that Oromo were new corners to the region and did not belong here. For example the Abyssinian judge historian, Alaqa Taye (1955), alleged that in the fourteenth and sixteenth ages the Oromo migrated from Asia and Madagascar, got into Africa via Mombasa and distributed north and eastwards. Others have advocated that during the same period the Oromo crossed the Red Sea via Bab el Mandab and disperse westwards. Abyssinian clergies even contended that Oromo emerged from water. Upon this issue, based on the points made in The Oromo's Words Against Tyranny, Baxter (1985) remarked, ". . . the contention that the first Oromo had actually emerged from water and therefore, had not developed to the same level of mankind as the Amhara (i. e. treating a myth of origins as a historical truth); or, more very seriously, that Oromo were overdue sides to Ethiopia and hence, by implication, intruders rather than so eligible for be there as the Amhara. "
The background of the appearance of the Oromo people in the sixteenth century in East Africa from outdoors is a fabrication and denial of historical facts. It really is a myth created by Abyssinian judge historians and monks, suffered by their European supporters and that your Ethiopian rulers used to lay case on Oromo place and justify their colonization of the Oromo people. Several authorities have suggested that the Oromo were in fact in the North-eastern area of the continent even prior to the arrival of the Habasha. Regarding to Perham (1948): "the emigrant Semites got in a continent which the North-East has been inhabited by the eastern sets of Hamites, categorised as Kushites, who also include the Gallas. " Paulitschke (1889) mentioned that Oromo were in East Africa through the Aksumite period. As registered by Greenfield (1965), Oromo reject the view that they were past due arrivals, ". . . old men between the Azebu and Rayya Galia dismiss converse of their being comparative newcomers. . . . . Their own (Abyssinians) oral record and legends verify the actual fact that Oromo have been surviving in Rayya for a long time. Beke (cited by Pankurst, 1985-86) quoted the following Lasta story: "Meniiek, the child of Solomon, . . . came into Abyssinia from the East, beyond the united states of the Rayya or Azebo Gallas. There's also data (Greenfield et al, 1980) that at least by the ninth and tenth generations that there were Oromo communities around Shawa and by about the fourteenth century settlements were reported around Lake Tana. The recent discovery,
(Lynch and Robbins, 1978), in northern Kenya of the pillars that Oromo found in the invention with their calendar system, dated around 300 B. C. , is another indication that Oromo have an extended history of existence as a community of individuals, in this part of Africa.
The so called "Galla invasion of Ethiopia" is also an account. It had been first written around 1590 by the monk called Bahrey and henceforth European historians and others almost invariably accepted this history as a fact. From his writing, it is obvious that he was biased against Oromo. The next quotation from Bahrey, (in Beckingham et al, 1954), vividly illustrates typical Abyssinian ethnic, spiritual and racial biases against Oromo. He began his book "The History of the Galla": "I've begun to create the annals of the Galla in order to make known the amount of their tribes, their readiness to get rid of people, and the brutality of these manners. If anyone should say of my subject matter, 'Why has he written a history of your bad people, being an would write a history of good people', I'd answer by declaring 'Search in the catalogs, and you will find that the annals of Mohamed and the Moslem kings has been written, and they are our enemies in religion". Actually it would appear that the main purpose of his writing was to encourage Abyssinians against Oromo. Bahrey, Atseme, Harris, Haberiand yet others description of what they called the 'Galla invasion of Ethiopia' as an avalanche, an abrupt overwhelming human wave that could be likened to a overflow or swarms of migratory locust is unrealistic and difficult to assume to say the least.
The Oromo's Tone of voice Against Tyranny argued that: ". . . the so-called Galla invasion of the sixteenth century was neither an invasion nor a migration. It had been rather a countrywide movements of the Oromo people. . . with the precise goal of liberating themselves and their territories from colonial job. It was nothing more or less than a conflict of countrywide liberation. " In fact the previous 2000 years were occupied with a gradual expansion of Abyssinians from north to south. This enlargement had been examined throughout by Oromo. It was only with the entrance of Europeans and their firearms that Abyssinians been successful in their southward enlargement mainly in the center of last century.
Abyssinian and Western european historians alleged that there was a sudden populace explosion in the Oromo community in the sixteenth century that enabled it to invade Ethiopia. The state lacks a medical base. Throughout that time no significant, if any, technical development such as discoveries or introductions of medications, new and increased tools for food creation, etc. took place in the Oromo community that could have been the reason for the rapid populace explosion. The Oromo community had no advantages of these types over neighbouring communities.
Different areas have been suggested as place where in fact the Oromo developed or differentiated into its unique community of individuals or ethnic group (Braukamper, 1980). Regarding for some ethnologists and historians, the Oromo country of origins was the south-eastern part of Oromia, in the fertile valley of Madda Walaabu in the present Baale region. This summary was come to mainly based on Oromo oral custom. Based on scanty anthropological facts, others have also directed to the coastal section of the Horn of Africa, particularly the eastern area of the Somali peninsula, as the utmost probable host to Oromo source. Bruce, an English traveller, suggested that Sennar in Sudan was the Oromo country of origins and they expanded after that. It should be noted here that lots of European travellers have recommended the origin of peoples, including Oromo, to be where they found some for the very first time, which in most cases happened to be peripheral areas.
There are several groupings of individuals in East Africa very directly related to the Oromo. For instance, the Somalis are incredibly similar in appearance and culture. The fact that the Somali and Oromo languages talk about between 30 percent and 40 percent of the vocabulary could be an indication that these two groups of folks became differentiated very lately. Other Cushitic-speaking organizations living in the same neighborhood who are carefully related to the Oromo are Konso, Afar, Sidama, Kambata, Darassa, Agaw, Saho, Baja and other communities.
Oromo have several clans (gosa, qomoo). The Oromo are reported to be of two major groups or moieties descended from the two 'homes' (wives) of the person Oromo represented by Borana and Barentu (Barenttuma). Borana was older (angafa) and Barentu junior (qutisu). Such a dichotomy is quite common in Oromo modern culture and provides some aspects of their political and interpersonal life. The descendants of Borana and Barentu form the major Oromo clans and sub-clans. They include Borana, Macha, Tuuiiama, Wallo, Garrii, Gurraa, Arsi, Karrayyu, ltu, Ala, Qaiioo, Anniyya, Tummugga or Marawa, Orma, Akkichuu, Liban, Jile, Gofa, Sidamo, Sooddo, Galaan, Gujii and many others. However, the truth is there is extensive overlap in the area they occupy and their community groups. And since matrimony among Oromo occurs only between different clans there is high amount of homogeneity.
The vegetation of Oromia runs from savanna grassland and tropical forest to alpine vegetation on the mountaintops. The forests contain a variety of excellent and valuable timbers. Oromia is known for its unique native vegetation as well as for being, the guts of diversity for most different species. For example, crops like caffeine, anchote (root crop), okra, etc. are indigenous to the area.
The Economy
Potentially, Oromia is one of the richest countries in Africa. Agriculture is the backbone of its overall economy. Still utilizing archaic methods, subsistence agriculture is the method of livelihood for more than 90 % of the populace. There are a number of farm pets or animals and crop plant life. Farm family pets include cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules, horses, camels and chicken breast. The Cushitic speaking areas of this region perhaps Nubians, are credited with the domestication of donkey and were the first ever to breed mules, (due to a cross between a donkey and a mare). The Oromo are expert in canine husbandry through their long custom as herdsmen. For a few, cattle-rearing (pastoralism) continues to be the main occupation.
Because of Oromia's advantageous climate and abundant soil, many types of vegetation are cultivated and normally you can find little dependence on irrigation. Normally one and sometimes two vegetation can be harvested on a yearly basis from the same field. Among the major food plants are cereals (wheat, barley, tef, sorghum, corn, millet, etc. ), fibre plants (cotton), root plants (potato, great potato, yam, inset, anchote, etc. ), pulses (peas, beans, chick-peas, lentils, etc. ), engine oil vegetation (nugi, flax, etc. ), berries trees (orange, mango, avocado, banana, lemon, pineapple, peach, etc. ), spices (onion, garlic, coriander, ginger, etc. - coriander and ginger also grow crazy) and a number of fruit and vegetables like okra which is indigenous to Oromia.
Many types of these important vegetation occur in a natural way in Oromia. These diverse crop plants are incredibly valuable natural resources. Oromo farmers have contributed to world agriculture by cultivating and expanding a few of the world's crop crops and in this way have found out new domesticated kinds. The primary cash crops are caffeine and chat (a stimulant shrub). Caffeine, a significant cash earner for many countries, has its origin in the forests of Oromia and neighboring areas. Specifically, Kafa and Limmu are considered centers of origin for coffee. It really is from here that caffeine spread to other areas of the world. Espresso was one of the export components of the Gibe areas. Wallagga and llubbabor regions of Oromia exported caffeine to the Sudan through the inland port of Gambelia on the Baro river and border cities of Kurmuk, Gissan, etc. Hararge, because of its advantageous location for communication with the outside marketplaces through the Red Sea, has been producing one of the best possible coffees for export. Caffeine has remained the principle export item, representing more than 60 per cent of the international cash flow of successive Ethiopian colonial regimes.
The country is also abundant with wild animals and plants. Many different species are found in the waters and forests of Oromia: different kinds of fish, hippopotami, and crocodiles. Land family pets include lion, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo, giraffe, outrageous ass, zebra, columbus monkey and elephant. There are a variety of wild animals that are located only in Oromia, such as nyaaia, bush-buck (special type), fox (from Baale), etc.
Various types of birds, many of them unique, are found around lakes and elsewhere. These creatures include attraction for visitors and natural experts alike.
The forests of Oromia are a source of excellent timber. Although the major part of the forests has been damaged since its occupation, some still remain in the south and western. However, this is threatened by mismanagement, particularly through the fast the broadening point out farms and resettlement programs. During colonization a large part of Oromia was covered with forest. This has been reduced for this 5-7 per cent. In addition to timber trees, medicinal plants and trees and shrubs producing different kinds of gums, increase in abundance. Myrrh, frankincense and gum Arabic are obtained from the crazy trees. Forests, besides being a source of timber, drugs and gum, are useful in the conservation of normal water and soil, so when shelter for animals. There is also an important aesthetic value.
Oromia has important calcium deposits. The gold mines at Adola and Laga Dambi in the Sidamo and around Nejjo, Asosa and Birbir river valley in Wallagga locations which were the major sources of earnings for Meniiek and Haile Selassie are being exploited using modern machinery. Other important minerals within Oromia are platinum, sulphur, iron-ore, silver precious metal and salt.
As early as 1900 Meniiek granted concessions to a Swiss company to mine platinum, gold and other minerals in Nejjo, Wallagga region. Later the Germans needed over. English, Russian and Italian companies extracted silver and platinum at Yubdo and neighboring areas in the same region. After some 60 years, the Soviet Union is continuing this business today in the same areas. It is known that large deposits of natural gas and oil exist in Baafe and Hararge areas. The Ethiopian federal government declared as 1986 the discovery of a fresh deposit of natural gas in Baale.
The a huge selection of hot springs dispersed over Oromia are also of monetary importance. A large number of people, including foreigners, visit these springs for their medicinal and recreational value. They may be a great potential source of thermal energy. Waterways, channels and springs are plentiful. The streams have many fails that may be used to create energy with little effort. The extent of this electric power could easily fulfill the energy needs of Oromia and many neighbouring countries.
