Oromo Religion

The early non-Oromo writers have distorted the history of the Oromo. Without scientific research, they were speaking of the so-called Oromo migration of the 16th century. Against the unscientific thesis, of the early scholars, this work confirmed the Oromo to be not only the indigenous African peoples, but also belong to the Cushitic Africans who invented the first world civilization. Their egalitarian and holistic culture, the gadaa system is part of the ancient Cushitic civilization. It is the base for modern democratic system of governance. The root word of 'gadaa' is originated from ‘Ka’, the creator God of the ancient religion of the Cushitic Africans. From this very name, Ka originated the Oromo word “Waaqa”, which also means creator of everything. This shows that the Oromo are among the first nations who came up with the idea of monotheism. Therefore, this work disqualifies the missionary assumptions describing the Oromo Indigenous Religion (OIR) as Satanism and its religious experts, the Qaalluus as witchdoctors or sorcerers. This dissertation discovered many identical, similar, partial similar and few differing elements between the Oromo Indigenous Religion (OIR) and Oromo Christianity (OC). Also, the study identified many Oromo cultural elements that are compatible to Christianity, therefore must be adopted by the Oromo Christianity. According modern scholarship God revealed himself in every human culture and religion is part of human culture. Therefore, no religion can claim to be “the only true religion”. Based on this principle, this dissertation calls all leaders of religious institutions in Oromia, to change their attitude, develop culture of tolerance, conduct constructive religious dialogue, create the atmosphere of peaceful coexistence of all religions and establish sustainable peace that serves humanity.

A comprehensive exploration and analysis of the Oromo who although mostly living in Ethiopia also form a significant part of the modern republic of Kenya. Based on several years of fieldwork, research into historical archives, and collections of oral narratives, the work will be of interest to all students and academics studying the peoples of East Africa and their cultural, political and national identity. Particular attention is paid to ritual and religious aspects of Oromo life.

First full-length history of the Oromo 1300-1700; explains their key part in the medieval Christian kingdom and demonstrates their importance in shaping Ethiopian history.

The Oromo people are one of the most numerous in Africa. Census data are not reliable but there are probably twenty million people whose first language is Oromo and who recognize themselves as Oromo. In the older literature they are often called Galla. Except for a relatively small number of arid land pastoralists who live in Kenya, all homelands lie in Ethiopia, where they probably make up around 40 percent of the total population. Geographically their territories, though they are not always contiguous, extend from the highlands of Ethiopia in the north, to the Ogaden and Somalia in the east, to the Sudan border in the west, and across the Kenyan border to the Tana River in the south.Though different Oromo groups vary considerably in their modes of subsistence and in their local organizations, they share similar cultures and ways of thought.

The study of indigenous religions has become an important academic field, particularly since the religious practices of indigenous peoples are being transformed by forces of globalization and transcontinental migration. This book will further our understanding of indigenous religions by first considering key methodological issues related to defining and contextualizing the religious practices of indigenous societies, both historically and in socio-cultural situations. Two further sections of the book analyse cases derived from European contexts, which are often overlooked in discussion of indigenous religions, and in two traditional areas of study: South America and Africa.

The aim of these essays is to highlight the importance, variety and richness of the rituals and traditions of the Oromo people of Eastern Kenya. As such it continues the line of research started in 1994, when a group of Oromo and Western scholars met to discuss issues of Oromo history, identity and change.

Focusing on the issue of the Oromo national struggle for liberation, statehood, and democracy, this book critically examines the dialectical relationship between Ethiopian colonialism and Oromo culture, epistemology, politics, and ideology in the context of the accumulated collective grievances of the Oromo nation. Specifically, the book identifies chains of sociological and historical factors that facilitated the development of Oromummaa (Oromo nationalism) and the Oromo national movement. It demonstrates how the Oromo national movement has been challenging and transforming Ethiopian imperial politics, tracks the different forms and phases of the movement, and maps out its future direction. Currently, the Oromo are the largest ethno-national group and political minority in the Ethiopian Empire. They were colonized and incorporated into Ethiopia as colonial subjects in the last decades of the 19th century through the alliance of Abyssinian/Ethiopian colonialism and European imperialism. Since their colonization, the Oromo people have been treated as second-class citizens and have been economically exploited and culturally and politically suppressed. Despite the fact that Oromo resistance to Ethiopian colonialism existed during the process of their colonization and subjugation, it was only in the 1960s and 1970s that Oromo nationalists initiated organized efforts to liberate their people. Presently, Oromo nationalism plays a central role in Ethiopian politics.