Oromo people

For the language, see Oromo language.
Oromo
Oromoo
Regions with significant populations
 Ethiopia 25,488,344 (2007 census)[1]
 Kenya 227,674 (2009 census)[2]
 Australia 2,030 [3]
Expatriates unknown
Languages
Oromo • Amharic • Tigrinya
Religion
Islam ~ 50%,[4] Ethiopian Orthodox ~ 33%,[4] Protestants and Traditional Religions
Related ethnic groups
Afar • Agaw • Amhara • Beja • Saho • Somali • Tigray • Tigre and other Cushitic peoples.

    The Oromo people (Oromo: Oromoo; Ge'ez: ኦሮሞ; ’Oromo) are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia, who are also found in northern Kenya and Somalia.[5][6] They are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa, at approximately 34.5% of Ethiopia's population according to the 2007 census,[1][7] while later estimates place them at around 40%.[8][6] With an estimated total Ethiopian population of over 102 million, the number of Oromo people exceed 35 million in Ethiopia alone.[9]

    Oromos speak the Oromo language as a mother tongue (also called Afaan Oromoo and Oromiffa), which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. The name was given as Ilm’ Orma ("Sons of Men" or an eponymous 'Orma') in the 19th century;[10] the present form is probably an obsolete plural of the same word orma ("person, stranger").[11]

    Origins and nomenclature

    Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Oromia Region

    The origins and prehistory of the Oromo people is unclear, in part because Oromo people lacked a written script, relied on oral traditions and did not write their own history prior to the 16th-century.[6][12] Older and subsequent colonial era documents mention Oromo people as Galla, but it was written by members of ethnic groups or missionaries generally hostile and at war with them. Anthropologists and historians such as Herbert S. Lewis consider these indirect literature as "full of distortions, biases and misunderstandings".[6][12][13]

    Historical linguistics and comparative ethnology studies suggest that the Oromo people likely originated around the lakes Shamo (Chamo) and Stephanie (Chew Bahir).[14][13] They are Cushitic people who have inhabited the East and Northeast Africa from at least the early 1st millennium. The traditional view, but one not universally accepted, is that the Oromo occupied most of the Horn of Africa and the coast of Gulf of Aden in the 10th century CE, until the Somali people arrived and pushed them out.[15][16]

    The first verifiable record mentioning the Oromo people by a European cartographer is in the map of Italian Fra Mauro in 1460, which uses the term "Galla".[14] The map was likely drawn after consultations with Ethiopian monks who visited Italy in 1441. It is a term for a river and a forest, as well as for the pastoral people established in the highlands of southern Ethiopia.[17] This historical information, according to Mohammed Hassen, is consistent with the written and oral traditions of the Amhara people which too refer to the Oromo people as Galla. The historical evidence therefore suggests that the Oromo people were already established in southern highlands in or before the 15th century, and that at least some Oromo people were peacefully interacting or in conflict with other Ethiopian ethnic groups.[17]

    After Fra Mauro's mention, there is a profusion of literature about the peoples of this region including the Oromo, particularly mentioning their wars and resistance to religious conversion, primarily by European sea explorers, Christian and Islamic missionaries as well as regional writers.[14] Fra Mauro's term Galla is the most used term, however, through early 20th century. The earliest primary account of Oromo ethnography, and often cited, is the 16th-century "History of Galla" by Christian monk Bahrey, written in Ge'ez language, who begins his treatise on the Oromo by introducing them with prejudicial terms.[14][18] The first known use of the word Oromo to refer to this ethnic group is traceable to 1893.[19] The historic term for them has been Galla. This term, stated Juxon Barton in 1924, was in use for these people by Abyssinians and Arabs.[20] The word Galla has been variously interpreted, such as it means "to go home", or it is a reference to a river named Galla. Another speculated origin, states Barton, for their historic name is from the Muslim tradition, which states that when Muhammad asked them to accept Islam, the chief of this ethnic group said "Gha la" or "no", thus their name "Galla".[20]

    Scholarship that followed Barton, states that the label Galla for them, in historic documents, is a stereotype and has been translated by other ethnic groups as "pagan, savage, inferior, enemy",[21][22][23] and "heathen, that is non-Muslim".[24][25] According to Didier Morin, the word Galla may have been a political term and derived from Galli, which means both "foreigners" and carries derogatory connotation "ordinary, commoner" as opposed to moddai or "high descent".[26] The term Galla was also used by European missionaries before the 1974 revolution without any derogatory connotations.[27] The Oromo never called themselves Galla, and resist its use. They traditionally identified themselves by one of their clans (gosas), and in contemporary times have used the common umbrella term of Oromo which connotes "free born people".[28]

    Horn of Africa in 1420

    While Oromo people have lived in this region for a long time, the ethnic mixture of peoples who have lived here is unclear.[29] According to Alessandro Triulzi, the interactions and encounters between Oromo people and Nilo-Saharan groups likely began early. Different groups have attempted to reconstruct a speculative origin theories, wherein either Oromo are presumed "heathen and expansionists who displaced another ethnic group", or the Oromo are presumed to be original people who were "displaced by others". However, persuasive evidence to support various speculations has been missing.[29] The original Oromos increased their numbers through Oromization (Meedhicca, Mogasa and Gudifacha) of conquered people (Gabbaro) from other ethnic groups, and in turn others conquered people from them and converted them to their side.[29] The native ancient names of the territories were replaced by the name of the Oromo clans who conquered it while the people were made Gabbaros or (serfs).[29] This, in part, was a Oromo response to preserve their identity, as they as the third major group faced forced mass conversion by the conquering armies of Christian Abyssinians or Islamic Sultanates, often at war with each other.[30][31][32]

    Oromo's are believed to have integrated over time with the people from different ethnic groups and religions of Kingdom of Damot, Kingdom of Ennarea, Sultanate of Showa, Sultanate of Bale, Gurage, Gafat, Ganz province, Maya, Hadiya Sultanate, Fatagar, Sultanate of Dawaro, Werjih, Gidim, Adal Sultanate, Sultanate of Ifat and other people of Abyssinian Empire after 16th century Oromo expansion.[33][34]

    History

    Main article: Kingdom of Jimma

    Historically, Afaan Oromo-speaking people used their own Gadaa system of governance. Oromos also had a number of independent kingdoms, which they shared with the Sidama people. Among these were the Gibe region kingdoms of Gera, Gomma, Garo, Gumma, Jimma and Leeqa-Nekemte and Limmu-Ennarea, as well as the kingdom of Jiren.

    Both peaceful integration and violent competition between Oromos and other neighboring ethnicities such as the Amhara, Sidama and the Somali affected politics within the Oromo community. The northern expansion of the Oromos such as the Yejju and, in particular the Arsi, to ethnic Somali and Sidama territories mirrored the southern expansion of Amharas, and helped influence contemporary ethnic politics in Ethiopia.[35] Also the great Somali expansion from the Ogaden plains west towards the Juba river led to conflicts with the Oromo.[36] In some areas, Oromos and Somalis were in competition for fertile territory and natural resources. Additionally, Eastern Oromos, who had adopted Islam, were along with Somalis and Afars part of the Muslim Adal Sultanate, which under Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi led a conquest of the Christian Abyssinian Empire.[36]

    Historian Richard Pankhurst describes the complex regional socio-politics that existed before the coming of European powers and the creation of Greater Ethiopia, now Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, as follows:

    Constituted a galaxy of states and polities, each moving in its own orbit, but significantly affecting, and affected by, the other entities in the constellation. Each ruler kept a watchful eye on his neighbors but would often exchange gifts and courtesies with them unless actually at war. Dynastic marriages were made whenever practicable, though these only occasionally crossed barriers of religion. Commerce, on the other hand, made little distinction between faith, and trade routes linked traditionalist, Christian and Muslim localities. Ethnic and linguistic communities remained largely distinct, but there was much cross-fertilization of cultures. This was true not only off the Ethiopian highlands and the Red Sea coastlands, but also further south along the Somali-Oromo frontier where later nineteenth century travelers reported the existence of bilingual trading communities.[36]
    Photograph taken by 10th Field Company Royal Engineers during the Magdala Campaign of 1867–8. Queen of the "Gallas" and Son

    In the first decades of the 19th century, three Oromo monarchies, Enarya, Goma and Guma, rose to prominence.[36] The collective area was known as Galla-land and comprised most of central and southern Ethiopia, including lands now held by other ethnic regions.[10] In the general view of Oromo people's role in Ethiopia, Ras Gobana Dacche is a famous Oromo figure who led the development of modern Ethiopia and the political and military incorporation of more territories into Ethiopian borders.[37][38] Gobana, under the authority of Menelik II, incorporated several Oromo territories into a centralized Ethiopian state. Some contemporary ethno-nationalist Oromo political groups refer to Gobana in a negative light. Before military integration, present day Ethiopia, Eritrea, and parts of Somalia were extensively linked commercially by local, long-distance and trans-frontier trade routes. These commercial routes connected Bonga, Jimma, Seqa, Assandabo, Gojjam, Begemder, Maramma, Massawa, Soddo, Shewa, Harar, Zeila and Berbera.[36] Some Oromo writers believe that the Oromo Ras Gobena and the Amhara Menelik II were the first two people in Ethiopia with the concept of a national boundary that would bring various different ethno-linguistic communities under a politically and militarily centralized rule.[39]

    "The two most important historical figures who signify the introduction of the concepts of national boundary and sovereignty in Ethiopia are Emperor Menelik II and Ras Gobana Dachi, who used guns manufactured in Europe to bring a large swath of Biyas (regions/nations) under a centralized rule."

    Ethnically mixed Ethiopians with Oromo background made up a small percentage of Ethiopian generals and leaders.[40] The Wollo Oromo (particularly the Raya Oromo and Yejju Oromo) were early Oromo holders of power among the increasingly mixed Ethiopian state. The later north-to-south movement of central power in Ethiopia led to Oromos in Shewa holding power in Ethiopia together with the Shewan Amhara.[41]

    "In terms of descent, the group that became politically dominant in Shewa – and Subsequently in Ethiopia – was a mixture of Amhara and Oromo; in terms of language, religion and cultural practices, it was Amhara."[42]

    Nonetheless, in many cases Oromo became part of the Ethiopian nobility without losing their identity.[43] Due to marginalization of the Oromos during Amhara rule, many changed their names to blend in with the Amhara population.[44] Oromo populations, who resisted Amhara occupation were subject to amputations and disfigurement.[45] Amharic sayings such as "Saw naw Galla? (is it human or Galla?)" highlighted Amhara's contempt towards the Oromo.[46] Both ethnically mixed Oromos and those with full Oromo descent held high leadership positions in Ethiopia. Notably Iyasu V was the designated but uncrowned Emperor of Ethiopia (1913–1916), while Haile Selassie I was the crowned and generally acknowledged Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Both these Ethiopian Emperors are ethnically mixed, with Oromo parents and lineages.[47] Haile Selassie's mother was paternally of Oromo descent and maternally of Gurage heritage, while his father was paternally Oromo and maternally Amhara. He consequently would have been considered Oromo in a patrilineal society, and would have been viewed as Gurage in a matrilineal one. However, in the main, Haile Selassie was regarded as Amhara: his paternal grandmother's royal lineage, through which he was able to ascend to the Imperial throne.[48]

    Before the rise of Emperor Tewodros member of the Yejju Oromo dynasty like Abba Seru Gwangul, Ras Ali I, Ras Aligaz, Ras Gugsa Mursa, Ras Yimam, Ras Marye, Ras Dori and Ras Ali II were the rulers of northern Ethiopia while the emperors with Solomonic dynasty were figureheads.[49][50] Tewodros's wife Empress Tewabech Ali was the daughter of Ali II of Yejju while Menelik’s wife Empress Taytu Betul, Ras Mengesha's wife Kefey Wale and Queen Zewditu's husband Ras Gugsa wolle as well as Ras Wube of Semien who also ruled Tigray and Bahr-Negash were all descendants of Ras Gugsa Mursa of Yejju. The last empress of the empire, Menen Asfaw, Haileselse's wife is from the Wollo Oromo ruling class and she is the granddaughter of Ras (Nigus) Mikael. While the Yejju Oromo nobles dominated Amhara, Tigray and Agaw provinces, Gondar’s court language was changed to Afan Oromo while maintaining Christianity as a state religion. Similar to the nobles and princes of Tigray and Agaw subgroups like Wag, Qwara and Awi these northern Christian Oromo nobles supported by the mainly Muslim Yejju, Wollo, Raya-Azebo Oromo armies ruled the empire while not losing their identity.[50][50][51][52]

    The Yejjus have built churches, appointed bishops, gave military titles to the empire's army and appointed regional chiefs under the name of the powerless emperors whom themselves are also appointed by these nobles.[50][51] Ras Ali II, father-in-law of Atse Tewodros, did intervene in the Church when Abuna Salama excommunicated the Nigus of Shewa Sahle Selassie during the ongoing dispute over Christology that had split the Orthodox Church into a number of hostile factions. Despite the intervention of Imperial Regent, Ras Ali II, Abuna Salama refused to lift the interdict, and Ras Ali finally arrested the Abuna in 1846 and banished him from Gondar.[53] Among the Yejjus, the great Gugsa of Yejju was briefly the most powerful political figure in Ethiopia, and it retained this status until 1889, when Menelik II was crowned emperor.[54] After the death of Ras Gugsa Mursa many of his descendants continued to hold key positions in the north and one of them is Taytu Betul who served Emperor Yohanes as his first minister after she helped him broaden his power base in northern Ethiopia through her family connections in Yejju Oromo area, Semien and Begemider. After her marriage with Menelik she served as an adviser and with her own 5,000 troops she went to the battle of Adwa.[55][56] She also named the newly founded capital city as Addis Ababa.[57]

    A 1908 map showing Galla-land. Galla is a historical term for Oromo people, but in contemporary times considered a pejorative.[58]

    By the 1880s, Menelik, king of Shewa (the later Emperor Menelik II) allied with Ras Gobena's Shewan Oromo militia to expand his kingdom to the South and East, expanding into areas that hadn't been held together since the invasion of Ahmed Gragn.[59] Another famous leader of Ethiopia with Oromo descent was Ras Makonnen Woldemikael Gudessa, the governor of Harar who served as the top general in the First Italo–Ethiopian War, playing a key role at the Battle of Adwa. He is the father of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I.[60] Other Oromo chiefs who allied their native clan's army to Menelik's Shewan central government includes Ras (Nigus) Mikael Ali, Sultan Aba Jifar, Kumsa Mereda, Habtegyorgis Dinegde, Balcha Aba Nefso and Jote Tullu; as an ally to the central government they also campaigned to the south to incorporate more territories.[61][62][63][64][65]

    Menelik preferred one of his two grandsons to takeover the leadership of the empire after him. Both of them were conceived from his daughter's political dynastic marriage with his top Oromo generals namely Ras Mikael Ali and Ras Gobana Dacche. Menelik saw his successor in W/Sagad Wadajo Gobena, his grandson from Ras Gobana's Son, and had him raised at the court as if heir to the throne. Wedajo Opposed the court education of his son and this dispute over child custody led to the divorce of his wife. This grandson of Menelik II was eliminated from the succession due to dwarfism.[66] Lij Iyasu, another grandson of Menelik conceived from his daughter Shoaarega and Ras Mikael Ali Aba Bula (also known as Mohamed Ali) became heir to the throne.[67] After Menelik's death he will appoint his father as king of north Ethiopia.[68] However, within a few years of his reign, Lij Eyasu would be overthrown by Shewan Mekuanents led by prime-minister and war minister Habte Giyorgis Dinagde, also an Oromo from Chebo clan; and they will make Zewditu Menelik as Queen and Teferi Mekonen (who also have Oromo decent through both his father and mother side) as heir and regent.[64][65][69][70] This decision angered Nigus Mikael and he mobilized about 120,000 soldiers, most of them armed with modern weapons, to invade Shewa and restore his son as emperor of Ethiopia, but his mainly Wollo army (composed mainly of Muslim Oromos) was defeated at the Battle of Segale in 1916.[61][71][72] Nigus Mikael Ali, father-in-law of Teferi Mekonen, was captured at the battle and sent to prison (Gizot) in Chebo area by the hand of Fitawrari Habte-Gyorgis; Lij Eyasu, on the other hand was captured after 5 years. When he was captured by Dejazmatch (later Ras) Gugsa Araya and his forces, it is significant that Dejazmatch Gugsa, the grandson of Emperor Yohannes IV, knelt on the ground and kissed Iyasu's feet before arresting him.[73][74]

    Demographics

    A rural Oromo dwelling.

    The Oromo people are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, estimated to be over 35 million people in 2016.[9] Their population is dispersed over a large region. They speak 74 ethnically diverse language groups. About 95% are settled agriculturalists and nomadic pastoralists, practising archaic farming methods and living at subsistence level. A few live in the urban centres.

    Oromos today are concentrated in the Oromia region in central Ethiopia, which is the largest region in the country in terms of both population and size. They are present in large numbers in other central, western and southern provinces of Ethiopia. Group members also have a notable presence in northern Kenya in the Marsabit County, and in the Welo and Tigre regions of Eritrea.[58]

    Subgroups

    The Oromo are divided into two major branches that break down into an assortment of clan families. From west to east. The Borana Oromo, also called the Boran, are a pastoralist group living in southern Ethiopia (Oromia) and northern Kenya.[75][76] The Boran inhabit the former provinces of Shewa, Welega, Illubabor, Kafa, Jimma, Sidamo, northern and northeastern Kenya, and a small refugee population in some parts of Somalia.

    Barentu/Barentoo or (older) Baraytuma is the other moiety of the Oromo people. The Barentu Oromo inhabit the eastern parts of the Oromia Region in the Zones of Mirab Hararghe or West Hararghe, Arsi Zone, Bale Zone, Debub Mirab Shewa Zone or South West Shewa, Dire Dawa region, the Jijiga Zone of the Somali Region, Administrative Zone 3 of the Afar Region, Oromia Zone of the Amhara Region, and are also found in the Raya Azebo woreda in the Tigray Region.

    Language

    The Oromo speak the Oromo language as a mother tongue (also known as Afaan Oromoo and Oromiffa). It belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family.

    According to Ethnologue, there are around 17,465,900 Oromo speakers worldwide.[77]

    The Oromo language is divided into four main linguistic varieties: Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Eastern Oromo, Orma and West Central Oromo.[77]

    Modern writing systems used to transcribe Oromo include the Latin script. The Ethiopic script had previously been used by Oromo communities in west-central Ethiopia up until the 1990s.[78] Additionally, the Sapalo script was historically used to write Oromo. It was invented by the Oromo scholar Sheikh Bakri Sapalo (also known by his birth name, Abubaker Usman Odaa) during the 1950s.[79][80]

    Religion

    Christianity was adopted in Ethiopia early in 340 CE by the Kingdom of Axum. Abyssinia was an early Christian kingdom that remained in power through the modern era. Islam arrived from the coastal region during the medieval era, across the Gulf of Aden, and led to the creation of warring Islamic sultanates such as Hadiya, Bali, Fatagar, Dawaro and Adal. These kingdoms and sultanates ruled or influenced the history of Oromo people.[31][32] The influential 30-year war from 1529 to 1559 between the three parties – the Oromo, the Christians and the Muslims – dissipated the political strengths of all three. The religious beliefs of the Oromo people evolved in this socio-political environment.[31] In the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, neither the Muslim controlled areas nor the Ethiopian Orthodox Church dominant areas would allow Protestant or Catholic missionaries to proselytize among them, and these missions focussed their efforts in the southern provinces of Greater Ethiopia where Oromo people following the traditional religions lived.[81]

    In the 2007 Ethiopian census for Oromia region, which included both Oromo and non-Oromo residents, 48.7% of its population were Christians, 47.5% were Muslims, 3.3% Traditional.[82] Among the Christians, Orthodox Ethiopian was dominant (30.5% of total regional population), followed by Protestants (17.7%) and Catholics (0.5%).[82]

    According to James Minahan, about half of the Oromo people are Sunni Muslim, a third are Ethiopian Orthodox, and rest are mostly Protestants or follow their traditional religious beliefs.[4] The traditional religion is more common in southern Oromo populations, Christianity more common in and near the urban centers, while Muslims are more common near the Somalia border and the north.[58]

    Adherence to traditional practices and rituals is still common among many Oromo people regardless of religious background. Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the name of God in the traditional Oromo religion, which only about 3% of the population of Oromia follows today; those who do usually living in the Borena Zone.

    Society and culture

    Gadda

    Oromo people were traditionally a culturally homogeneous society with genealogical ties.[83] They governed themselves in accordance with Gadaa (literally "era"), a limited democratic socio-political system long before the 16th century, when major three party wars commenced between them and the Christian kingdom to their north and Islamic sultanates to their east and south. The Gadda system elected males from five Oromo miseensa (groups), for a period of eight years, for various judicial, political, ritual and religious roles. Retirement was compulsory after the eight year term, and each major clan followed the same Gadaa system.[83] Women and people belonging to the lower Oromo castes were excluded.[84] Male born in the upper Oromo society went through five stages of eight years, where his life established his role and status for consideration to a Gadaa office.[83]

    Under Gadaa, every eight years, the Oromo would choose by consensus an Abbaa Bokkuu responsible for justice, peace, judicial and ritual processes, an Abbaa Duulaa responsible as the war leader, an Abbaa Sa'aa responsible as the leader for cows, and other positions.[85]

    Social stratification

    Like other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa and East Africa, Oromo people regionally developed social stratification consisting of four hierarchical strata. The highest strata were the nobles called the Borana, below them were the Gabbaro (some 17th to 19th century Ethiopian texts refer them as the dhalatta). Below these two upper castes were the despised castes of artisans, and at the lowest level were the slaves.[86][87]

    In the Islamic Kingdom of Jimma, the Oromo society's caste strata predominantly consisted of endogamous, inherited artisanal occupations.[88][89][90] Each caste group has specialized in a particular occupation such as iron working, carpentry, weapon making, pottery, weaving, leather working and hunting.[91][89]

    The castes in the Oromo society have had a designated name, such as Tumtu were smiths, Fuga were potters, Faqi were tanners and leatherworkers, Semmano for weavers, Gagurtu were bee keepers and honey makers, Watta were hunters and foragers.[88][92][93] While slaves were a strata within the Oromo society, they themselves were also victims of slavery. By the 19th century, Oromo slaves were sought after and a major part of slaves sold in Gondar and Gallabat slave markets at Ethiopia-Sudan border, as well as the Massawa and Tajura markets on the Red Sea.[94][95]

    Calendar

    Further information: Borana calendar

    The Oromo people developed a luni-solar calendar, which likely dates from a pre-16th century period and before the great migration because different geographically and religiously distinct Oromo communities use the same calendar. This calendar is sophisticated and similar to ones found among the Chinese, the Hindus and the Mayans. It was tied to the traditional religion of the Oromos, and used to schedule the Gadda system of elections and power transfer.[96]

    The Borana Oromo calendar system was once thought to be based upon an earlier Cushitic calendar developed around 300 BC found at Namoratunga. Reconsideration of the Namoratunga site led astronomer and archaeologist Clive Ruggles to conclude that there is no relationship.[97] The new year of the Oromo people, according to this calendar, falls in the month of October.[98] The calendar has no weeks but a name for each day of the month. It is a lunar-stellar calendar system.[99][100]

    Contemporary era

    Ethiopian Civil War

    The flag of the Oromo Liberation Front, founded in 1973

    In 1973, Oromo discontent with their position led to the formation of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which began political agitation in the Oromo areas. Also in 1973 there was a catastrophic famine in which over one quarter of a million people died from starvation before the government recognised the disaster and permitted relief measures. The majority who died were Oromos and Amharas from Wollo, Afars and Tigrayans. There were strikes and demonstrations in Addis Ababa in 1974; and in February of that year, Haile Selassie’s government was replaced by the Derg, a military junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam (a mixed Ethiopian with ethnic Konso heritage); but the Council was still Amhara-dominated, with only 25 non-Amhara members out of 125. In 1975 the government declared all rural land State-owned, and announced the end of the tenancy system. However, much of the benefit of this reform was counteracted by compulsive collectivization, State farms and forced resettlement programmes.

    In 1991, the Derg was replaced by the EPRDF. Initially, Oromo intellectuals and the OLF joined the transitional government alongside EPRDF. However, the TPLF branch of EPRDF created an Oromo party (OPDO) to marginalized the OLF and eventually expel it from the country. Despite increased harassment on Oromos, the OPDO presided over the advancement of Oromo language and culture over the last two decades. The TPLF is widely known to use this progress in Oromo cultural and linguistic empowerment as an achievement and a mandate for EPRDF rule the nation. However, most Oromos still do not believe they have political rights and many of them support the OLF and other opposition parties including the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).

    Human rights issues

    In December 2009, a 96-page report titled Human Rights in Ethiopia: Through the Eyes of the Oromo Diaspora, compiled by the Advocates for Human Rights, documented human rights violations against the Oromo in Ethiopia under three successive regimes: the Abyssinian Empire under Haile Selassie, the Marxist Derg and the current Ethiopian government of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), dominated by members of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and which was accused to have arrested approximately 20,000 suspected OLF members, to have driven most OLF leadership into exile, and to have effectively neutralized the OLF as a political force in Ethiopia.[101]

    According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Oromia Support Group (OSG) recorded 594 extra-judicial killings of Oromos by Ethiopian government security forces and 43 disappearances in custody between 2005 and August 2008.[102]

    Starting in November 2015, during a wave of mass protests, mainly by Oromos, over the expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia, over 500 people have been killed and many more have been injured, according to human-rights advocates and independent monitors.[103][104] The protests have since spread to other ethnic groups and encompass wider social grievances.[104]

    Political organizations

    Most Oromos do not have political unity today due to their historical roles in the Ethiopian state and the region, the spread out movement of different Oromo clans, and the differing religions inside the Oromo nation.[105] Accordingly, Oromos played major roles in all three main political movements in Ethiopia (centralist, federalist and secessionist) during the 19th and 20th century. In addition to holding high powers during the centralist government and the monarchy, the Raya Oromos in Tigray played a major role in the revolt inside the Tigray regional state, known as "Weyane" revolt, challenging Emperor Haile Selassie I's rule in the 1940s.[106] Simultaneously, both federalist and secessionist political forces developed inside the Oromo community.

    Presently, a number of ethnic based political organizations have been formed to promote the interests of the Oromo. The first was the Mecha and Tulama Self-Help Association founded in January 1963, but was disbanded by the government after several increasingly tense confrontations in November, 1966.[107] Later groups include the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), the United Liberation Forces of Oromia (ULFO), the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Oromia (IFLO), the Oromia Liberation Council (OLC), the Oromo National Congress (ONC, recently changed to OPC) and others. Another group, the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), is one of the four parties that form the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition. However, these Oromo groups do not act in unity: the ONC, for example, was part of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces coalition that challenged the EPRDF in the Ethiopian general elections of 2005.

    A number of these groups seek to create an independent Oromo nation, some using armed force. Meanwhile, the ruling OPDO and several opposition political parties in the Ethiopian parliament believe in the unity of the country which has 80 different ethnicities. But most Oromo opposition parties in Ethiopia condemn the economic and political inequalities in the country. Progress has been very slow with the Oromia International Bank just recently established in 2008 though Oromo owned Awash International Bank started early in the 1990s and with the first private Afaan Oromoo newspaper in Ethiopia, Jimma Times, also known as Yeroo, recently established. Though the Jimma Times – Yeroo newspaper has faced a lot of harassment and persecution from the Ethiopian government since its beginning.[108][109][110][111][112] Abuse of Oromo media is widespread in Ethiopia and reflective of the general oppression Oromos face in the country.[113] University departments in Ethiopia did not establish curriculum in Afaan Oromo until the late 1990s.

    Various human rights organizations have publicized the government persecution of Oromos in Ethiopia for decades. In 2008, OFDM opposition party condemned the government's indirect role in the death of hundreds of Oromos in western Ethiopia.[114] According to Amnesty International, "between 2011 and 2014, at least 5000 Oromos have been arrested based on their actual or suspected peaceful opposition to the government. These include thousands of peaceful protestors and hundreds of opposition political party members. The government anticipates a high level of opposition in Oromia, and signs of dissent are sought out and regularly, sometimes pre-emptively, suppressed. In numerous cases, actual or suspected dissenters have been detained without charge or trial, killed by security services during protests, arrests and in detention."[115]

    According to Amnesty international, there is a sweeping repression in the Oromo region of Ethiopia.[116] On December 12, 2015, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported violent protests in the Oromo region of Ethiopia in which more than 20 students were killed. According to the report, the students were protesting against the government's re-zoning plan named 'Addis Ababa Master5 Plan'.

    On October 2 2016, nearly 700 festival goers were massacred at the most sacred and largest event among the Oromo, the Irreecha cultural thanksgiving festival. In just 1 day, hundreds were killed and many more injured in what will go down in history as one of the darkest days for the Oromo people. Every year, millions of Oromo’s, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, gather in Bishotfu for this annual celebration. However this year, the festive mood quickly turned chaotic after Ethiopian security forces responded to peaceful protests by firing teargas and live bullets at over 2 million people surrounded by a lake and cliffs.

    Notable people

    Oromo distance running champion Kenenisa Bekele.
    Oromo track and field athlete Maryam Yusuf Jamal.

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 Central Statistical Agency (2008), "TABEL [sic] 5: Population size of Regions by Nations/Nationalities (ethnic group) and Place of Residence: 2007", Census 2007 (PDF), Addis Ababa: Central Statistical Agency, p. 16, Table 2.2
    2. ↑ "Population and Housing Census: Ethnic Affiliation". knbs.or.ke. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2015. 161,399 Borana, 66,275 Orma
    3. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014, The People of Australia Statistics from the 2011 Census, Cat. no. 2901.0, ABS, 30 Novemeber 2016, <https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/research/people-australia-2013-statistics.pdf>.
    4. 1 2 3 James B. Minahan (2016). Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World, 2nd Edition. ABC-CLIO. pp. 319–320. ISBN 978-1-61069-954-9.
    5. ↑ Merriam-Webster Inc, Frederick C. Mish, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, (Merriam-Webster: 2003), p.876
    6. 1 2 3 4 Ta'a, Tesema (2006). The Political Economy of an African Society in Transformation. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 17. ISBN 978-3-447-05419-5. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
    7. ↑ The CSA estimates a population growth of 7.6% between the time the census was conducted and the date of its approval: "Ethiopia population soars to near 77 million: census". Google News. AFP. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008. 'We carried out a census in May 2007 and it shows that there were 73,918,505 people at that time,' Central Statistics Agency chief Samya Zakarya told AFP.'But based on a projection of an annual growth rate of 7.6 percent, Ethiopia's population up to this month is 76,947,760.'
    8. ↑ Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press. p. 433. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
    9. 1 2 Ethiopia: People & Society, CIA Factbook (2016)
    10. 1 2 "Gallas" in Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed. 1911.
    11. ↑ "Oromo" in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
    12. 1 2 Ernesta Cerulli (1956), Peoples of South-west Ethiopia and its Borderland, International African Institute, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138234109, Chapter: History & Traditions of Origin
    13. 1 2 Lewis, Herbert S. (1966). "The Origins of the Galla and somali". The Journal of African History. Cambridge University Press. 7 (01): 27–46. doi:10.1017/s0021853700006058.
    14. 1 2 3 4 Tesema Ta'a (2006). The Political Economy of an African Society in Tranformation: the Case of Macca Oromo (Ethiopia). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 17–19 with footnotes. ISBN 978-3-447-05419-5.
    15. ↑ Tesema Ta'a (2006). The Political Economy of an African Society in Tranformation: the Case of Macca Oromo (Ethiopia). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 17 footnote 2. ISBN 978-3-447-05419-5.
    16. ↑ E. A. Wallis Budge (2014). A History of Ethiopia: Volume II (Routledge Revivals): Nubia and Abyssinia. Routledge. pp. 341, 364–370, 384–387, 413–419. ISBN 978-1-317-64897-0.
    17. 1 2 Mohammed Hassen (2015). The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700. Boydell & Brewer (Originally: Cambridge University Press). pp. 66–68, 85, 104–106. ISBN 978-1-84701-117-6.
    18. ↑ CF Beckingham and George Huntingford (1967). Some records of Ethiopia, 1593-1646, being extracts from the history of High Ethiopia or Abassia (Series: Oromo Peuple d'Afrique). Kraus Nendeln, Liechtenstein. pp. 1–7. OCLC 195934.
    19. ↑ Oromo, Merriam-Webster (2014), Quote: "Origin and Etymology of Oromo, (western dialect) oromoo, a self-designation, First known use: 1893."
    20. 1 2 Juxon Barton (September 1924), The Origins of the Galla and Somali Tribes, The Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society, No. 19, pages 6-7
    21. ↑ Mohammed Hassen (2015). The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700. Boydell & Brewer (Originally: Cambridge University Press). pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-84701-117-6.
    22. ↑ Susanne Epple (2014). Creating and Crossing Boundaries in Ethiopia: Dynamics of Social Categorization and Differentiation. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 193–194, 205–206 with footnotes 23–26. ISBN 978-3-643-90534-5.
    23. ↑ Asafa Jalata (1993), "Sociocultural origins of the Oromo national movement in Ethiopia", Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Volume 21, Number 2 (January), pages 275-276, Quote: "Ethiopianists distorted Oromo history by calling the Oromo "Galla" and degrading them as savage, pagan, slave, uncivilized (...)".
    24. ↑ Garland Hampton Cannon; Alan S. Kaye (1994). The Arabic Contributions to the English Language. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 60. ISBN 978-3-447-03491-3., Quote: "In Somalia, galla pejoratively named the Oromo language, a white European, or any heathen, i.e. non-Muslim; toubab is comparable in west and central Africa."
    25. ↑ Asafa Jalata (2002). Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization: Comparing the African American and Oromo Movements. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 95, 99–100. ISBN 978-0-312-29907-1.
    26. ↑ Didier Morin (2005). Walter Raunig and Steffen Wenig, ed. Afrikas Horn. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 432. ISBN 978-3-447-05175-0.
    27. ↑ Brian L. Fargher (1996). The Origins of the New Churches Movement in Southern Ethiopia: 1927 - 1944. BRILL Academic. pp. 272 footnote 82. ISBN 90-04-10661-8.
    28. ↑ Mohammed Hassen (2015). The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 3–4 with footnotes 14–18. ISBN 978-1-84701-117-6.
    29. 1 2 3 4 Alessandro Triulzi (1996). Paul Trevor William Baxter, Jan Hultin and Alessandro Triulzi., ed. Being and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological Enquiries. Nordic Africa Institute. pp. 251–256.
    30. ↑ Mekuria Bulcha, Jan Hultin (1996). Paul Trevor William Baxter, Jan Hultin and Alessandro Triulzi., ed. Being and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological Enquiries. Nordic Africa Institute. pp. 55–56, 55–56, 85–90.
    31. 1 2 3 Erwin Fahlbusch (1999). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-90-04-11695-5.
    32. 1 2 Tesema Ta'a (2006). The Political Economy of an African Society in Tranformation: the Case of Macca Oromo (Ethiopia). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 22–24. ISBN 978-3-447-05419-5.
    33. ↑ Richard Pankhurst The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. The Red Sea Press (1997) pp. 35–300
    34. ↑ Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir ʻArabfaqīh Futuh Al-Habasha: The conquest of Abyssinia: 16th century. (2003) pp. 1–417
    35. ↑ "Oromo and Amhara rule in Ethiopia" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    36. 1 2 3 4 5 W.A. Degu, "Chapter 7 Political Development in the Pre-colonial Horn of Africa", The state, the crisis of state institutions and refugee migration in the Horn of Africa: the cases of Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, Thela Thesis (Amsterdam, 2002)
    37. ↑ "Ras Gobena victory against Gurage militia" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    38. ↑ Donald Levine, Greater Ethiopia, the Evolution of a multicultural society (University of Chicago Press: 1974)
    39. ↑ "Gobana Dache's Participation in Building Ethiopia". Finfinnetimes.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    40. ↑ "Union of Amhara and Oromo in royal families". Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    41. ↑ "Oromo in Ethiopian leadership". Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    42. ↑ "Background and consequence of Oromos in Ethiopian leadership" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    43. ↑ "Ethiopian Oroo nobility". Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    44. ↑ Trevor, Paul. Being and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological Enquiries. Nordic Africa Isntitute. p. 32. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
    45. ↑ Bulcha, Mekuria. Flight and Integration. Nordic Africa Institute. p. 40. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
    46. ↑ Ahmad, Akbar. The Thistle and the Drone. Brookings Institution Press. p. 233. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
    47. ↑ Kjetil Tronvoll, Ethiopia, a new start?, (Minority Rights Group: 2000)
    48. ↑ Peter Woodward, Conflict and peace in the Horn of Africa: federalism and its alternatives, (Dartmouth Pub. Co.: 1994), p.29.
    49. ↑ Molla Tikuye, The Rise and Fall of the Yajju Dynasty 1784-1980, p. 201.
    50. 1 2 3 4 Chris Prouty Empress Taytu and Menilek II: Ethiopia, 1883-1910. Ravens Educational & Development Services (1986) pp. 27, 28 & 216 Google Books
    51. 1 2 Fikre Tolossa Nobles of Oromo Descent Who Ruled Ethiopia. Ethiopian Review (1992)
    52. ↑ Harold D. Nelson, Irving Kaplan Ethiopia, a Country Study, Volume 28. American University, Foreign Area Studies (1981) pp. 14 Google Books
    53. ↑ Abir, pp. 158f.
    54. ↑ Kim Wildman, Philip Briggs Ethiopia. (2012) pp. 312 Google Books
    55. ↑ Chris Prouty Empress Taytu and Menilek II: Ethiopia, 1883-1910. Ravens Educational & Development Services (1986) pp. 25 Google Books
    56. ↑ Chris Prouty Empress Taytu and Menilek II: Ethiopia, 1883-1910. Ravens Educational & Development Services (1986) pp. 156 & 157 Google Books
    57. ↑ David H. Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansky Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Scarecrow Press (2013) pp. 384 Google Books
    58. 1 2 3 Oromo people Encyclopedia Britannica
    59. ↑ Great Britain and Ethiopia 1897–1910: Competition for Empire Edward C. Keefer, International Journal of African Studies Vol. 6 No. 3 (1973) page 470
    60. ↑ Haile Selassie I, My Life and Ethiopia's Progress: The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie I, translated from Amharic by Edward Ullendorff. (New York: Frontline Books, 1999), vol. 1 p. 13
    61. 1 2 Paul B. Henze Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (2000) pp. 196 Google Books
    62. ↑ Chris Prouty Empress Taytu and Menilek II: Ethiopia, 1883-1910. Ravens Educational & Development Services (1986) pp. 45 Google Books
    63. ↑ Paul B. Henze Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (2000) pp. 208 Google Books
    64. 1 2 Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas, Reidulf Knut Molvaer Prowess, Piety and Politics: The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909-1930) (1994) pp. 370 Google Books
    65. 1 2 John Markakis Ethiopia: The Last Two Frontiers (2011) pp. 109 Google Books
    66. ↑ "Encyclopaedia Aethiopica- Google Books": Siegbert Uhlig, 2010. p. 1066.
    67. ↑ David H. Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansky Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia: 2013. p. 291.
    68. ↑ Harold G. Marcus The life and times of Menelik II: Ethiopia, 1844-1913 (1995). p. 262.
    69. ↑ Harold G. Marcus A History of Ethiopia. University of California Press (1994) pp. 111 Google Books
    70. ↑ Messay Kebede Survival and modernization--Ethiopia's enigmatic present: a philosophical discourse. Red Sea Press (1999) pp. 38 Google Books
    71. ↑ Philip Briggs Ethiopia (2015). p. 306.
    72. ↑ Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong, Mr. Steven J. Niven Dictionary of African Biography, Volume 2 (2012) pp. 214 Google Books
    73. ↑ Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas, Reidulf Knut Molvaer Prowess, Piety and Politics: The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909-1930) (1994) pp. 376 Google Books
    74. ↑ Solomon Kibriye The Plight of Iyasu and Ras Hailu of Gojjam 26, March 2003, end of 1st Paragraph
    75. ↑ "Oromo, Borana-Arsi-Guji". ethnologue.com).
    76. ↑ Aguilar, Mario. "The Eagle as Messenger, Pilgrim and Voice: Divinatory Processes among the Waso Boorana of Kenya". Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 26, Fasc. 1 (Feb., 1996), pp. 56–72. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
    77. 1 2 "Oromo - A macrolanguage of Ethiopia". Ethnorm. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
    78. ↑ "Oromo, West Central". Ethnologue. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
    79. ↑ R. J. Hayward and Mohammed Hassan (1981). "The Oromo Orthography of Shaykh Bakri Saṗalō". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. p. 44.3, 550–566.
    80. ↑ "The Oromo Orthography of Shaykh Bakri Sapalo". Retrieved 15 October 2010.
    81. ↑ Erwin Fahlbusch (1999). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-90-04-11695-5.
    82. 1 2 Census (PDF), Ethiopia, 2007 Archived 10 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
    83. 1 2 3 Tesema Ta'a (2006). The Political Economy of an African Society in Tranformation: the Case of Macca Oromo (Ethiopia). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-3-447-05419-5.
    84. ↑ Paul Trevor William Baxter; Jan Hultin; Alessandro Triulzi (1996). Being and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological Enquiries. Nordic Africa Institute. pp. 252–253. ISBN 978-91-7106-379-3., Quote: "gadaa government was a preclass institution based on democratic principles even though it did exclude caste groups such as smiths and tanners, and women (...)".
    85. ↑ Tesema Ta'a (2006). The Political Economy of an African Society in Tranformation: the Case of Macca Oromo (Ethiopia). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-3-447-05419-5.
    86. ↑ J. Abbink (1985), Review: Oromo Religion. Myths and Rites of the Western Oromo of Ethiopia by Lambert Bartels, Journal: Anthropos, Bd. 80, H. 1./3. (1985), pages 285-287
    87. ↑ Paul Trevor William Baxter; Jan Hultin; Alessandro Triulzi (1996). Being and Becoming Oromo: Historical and Anthropological Enquiries. Nordic Africa Institute. pp. 254–256. ISBN 978-91-7106-379-3.
    88. 1 2 Herbert S. Lewis (1965). Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. The Red Sea Press. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1-56902-089-0.
    89. 1 2 Eike Haberland (1993), Hierarchie und Kaste : zur Geschichte und politischen Struktur der Dizi in Südwest-Äthiopien, Stuttgart : Steiner, ISBN 978-3515055925 (in German), pages 105-106, 117-119
    90. ↑ Quirin, James (1979). "The Process of Caste Formation in Ethiopia: A Study of the Beta Israel (Felasha), 1270-1868". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. Boston University African Studies Center. 12 (2): 235. doi:10.2307/218834. ;
      Haji, Abbas (1997). "Pouvoir de bénir et de maudire : cosmologie et organisation sociale des Oromo-Arsi". Cahiers d'études africaines (in French). PERSEE. 37 (146): 290, 297, context: 289–318. doi:10.3406/cea.1997.3515.
    91. ↑ Asafa Jalata (2010), Oromo Peoplehood: Historical and Cultural Overview, Sociology Publications and Other Works, University of Tennessee Press, page 12, see "Modes of Livelihood" section
    92. ↑ Donald N. Levine (2014). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society. University of Chicago Press. pp. 195–196. ISBN 978-0-226-22967-6.
    93. ↑ Ernesta Cerulli (1922). The Folk-Literature of the Oromo of Southern Abyssinia, Harvard African studies, v. 3. Istituto Orientale di Napoli, Harvard University Press. pp. 341–355.
    94. ↑ William Gervase Clarence-Smith (2013). The Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century. Routledge. pp. 93–97. ISBN 978-1-135-18214-4.
    95. ↑ Ronald Segal (2002). Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora. MacMillan. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-374-52797-6.
    96. ↑ Said S. Samatar (1992). In the Shadow of Conquest: Islam in Colonial Northeast Africa. The Red Sea Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-0-932415-70-7.
    97. ↑ Ruggles, Clive (2006). Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth. ABC-Clio. p. 285-286. ISBN 978-1851094776. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
    98. ↑ Afe Adogame (2016). The Public Face of African New Religious Movements in Diaspora. Routledge. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-317-01863-6.
    99. ↑ Clive L. N. Ruggles (2005). Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth. ABC-CLIO. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-1-85109-477-6.
    100. ↑ Doyle, Laurance R. The Borana Calendar REINTERPRETED. Current Anthropology. Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, at NASA Ames Research Center, Space Sciences Division, M.S., retrieved: 7 April 2010.
    101. ↑ http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/uploads/oromo_report_2009_color.pdf
    102. ↑ "Human rights abuses under EPRDF" (PDF).
    103. ↑ "Ethiopian forces 'kill 140 Oromo protesters'". 8 January 2015.
    104. 1 2 "Unrest in Ethiopia: Grumbling and rumbling: Months of protests are rattling a fragile federation". The Economist. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
    105. ↑ "Migrations profoundly affected the Oromo unity". Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    106. ↑ "Raya Oromos inside the Weyane revolt of Tigray" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    107. ↑ Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia: 1855–1991, 2nd edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2001), pp. 261f.
    108. ↑ "Govt. continues rejecting license for Jimma Times Afaan Oromoo newspaper". Ethioguardian.com. 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    109. ↑ "Ethiopia's "government" attacks Macha-Tulama, Jimma Times media & Oromo opposition party". Nazret.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    110. ↑ Yeroo newspaper struggles to survive Archived 4 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
    111. ↑ CJFE award nominee Archived 25 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
    112. ↑ CJEE Jimma Times profile
    113. ↑ "Ethiopia's Largest Ethnicity Group Deprived of Linguistic and Cultural Sensitive Media Outlets". Rap21.org. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    114. ↑ "OFDM Press Release: The Massacre of May, 2008". Jimmatimes.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
    115. ↑ https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR25/006/2014/en Ethiopia: ‘Because I am Oromo’: Sweeping repression in the Oromia region of Ethiopia
    116. ↑ https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/006/2014/en/
    117. ↑ Bikila, Abebe. Olympics http://www.olympic.org/videos/abebe-bikila-barefoot-to-olympic-gold. Missing or empty |title= (help)
    118. ↑ "Ethiopia: Ali Birra not quitting music". Jimma Times. Jimma. 12 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
    119. ↑ "Ali Birra, Great Oromo Music". Ethiopiques. Buda Musique. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
    120. ↑ "Ali Birra, 50th Anniversary". SiiTube. SiiTube. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
    121. ↑ Mohammed, Abdulsemed (13 June 2013). "SEENAA BARREEFAMA AFAAN OROMOOTIIFI SHOORA DR. SHEEK MAHAMMAD RASHAAD" [HISTORY OF OROMO WRITING and the Contribution of Dr. Mohammed Reshad] (in Oromo). Retrieved 2 November 2014.
    122. ↑ "Derartu TULU". Olympic.org. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
    123. ↑ Tanser, Toby (19 April 2008). "Fatuma Roba: A Twisted Path to Living Legend". http://www.runnersworld.com/. Retrieved 2 November 2014. External link in |website= (help)
    124. 1 2 "Ethiopia Elects Dr. Mulatu Teshome as president". Awramba Times. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
    125. ↑ "Ethiopia parliament elects Mulatu Teshome as new president". Rappler. AFP. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
    126. ↑ Deqi-Arawit. "History Lesson: Malik Ambar". Retrieved 9 September 2016.

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oromo people.

    Further reading

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.