The Oromo: Ethiopia's Largest People and Their Living Traditions

Every year, at the end of the long rainy season, hundreds of thousands of people dressed in white, many carrying fresh green grass and bright yellow Meskel daisies, walk to the shore of Lake Hora Arsadi in the town of Bishoftu, south-east of Addis Ababa. They dip the grass into the water and give thanks to Waaqa, the Creator, for bringing them through the dark, wet months into the season of light. They sing, dance and greet one another with blessings. This is Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group.

Who are the Oromo?

The Oromo are a Cushitic-speaking people of the Horn of Africa. They live mainly in Ethiopia, where they make up the largest single ethnic group, about a third of the population according to the 2007 census, and in smaller numbers in northern Kenya, where groups such as the Borana, Gabra and Orma live, as well as in Somalia and in diaspora communities worldwide.

In Ethiopia, most Oromo live in the Oromia region, the country's largest region by population and area, which surrounds the capital, Addis Ababa, known in Afaan Oromoo as Finfinne.

The Oromo are very diverse. Some are farmers in the highlands, growing teff, barley, wheat and coffee; others are pastoralists who herd cattle and camels in the lowlands. They follow different religions: many are Muslim, many are Christian (Orthodox or Protestant), and some follow the traditional religion, centred on Waaqa.

Afaan Oromoo

The Oromo language, Afaan Oromoo (also called Oromiffa), belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, related to Somali, Afar and Sidama. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa, with tens of millions of speakers.

For much of the 20th century, the use of Afaan Oromoo in writing, schools and publishing was restricted under Ethiopia's imperial and military governments, which promoted Amharic. Since 1991, Afaan Oromoo has been written in a Latin-based alphabet called Qubee, and it is now used in schools, media and government in Oromia. In 2020, the federal government announced that it would become one of several additional working languages of the federal state, alongside Amharic.

A few words of Afaan Oromoo:

• Akkam? — How are you?
• Nagaa — peace (used in greetings)
• Galatoomi — thank you
• Eeyyee / Lakki — yes / no

The Gadaa system

The Oromo are famous for the Gadaa system, an indigenous form of democratic governance based on age-grades, in which leaders are elected for eight-year terms and power passes peacefully from one generation-set to the next. We described it in detail in our story on the Gadaa system. In 2016, UNESCO inscribed it on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The anthropologist Asmarom Legesse called it one of the most remarkable democratic institutions in the world.

History

The Oromo have lived in the Horn of Africa for a very long time. In the 16th century, during a period of great upheaval in the region, Oromo groups expanded widely, moving into large parts of what is now central, western and eastern Ethiopia. Historians such as Mohammed Hassen have written about this expansion and about the Oromo kingdoms and states that emerged in the following centuries, such as those of the Gibe region, including Jimma, a powerful kingdom that grew rich from trade.

In the late 19th century, under Emperor Menelik II, the Ethiopian empire conquered most Oromo lands. This conquest, and the land loss, taxation and cultural suppression that followed, shaped Oromo history in the 20th century and remains a sensitive subject. Oromo political movements have campaigned for language rights, self-government and recognition, and Oromo protests played a major role in political changes in Ethiopia in the 2010s.

Irreecha

Irreecha is the most important Oromo festival. It is celebrated after the rainy season, usually in late September or early October, at Lake Hora Arsadi in Bishoftu and in a second celebration, Irreecha Tulluu, on hilltops such as Mount Furi near Addis Ababa. People give thanks to Waaqa for the end of the rains and pray for a good harvest and peace. The festival has become a powerful celebration of Oromo identity, attended by huge crowds.

Culture and values

Oromo culture includes rich traditions of:

• Oral literature, including poetry, proverbs and songs.
• Music and dance, with dances that often feature energetic shoulder and neck movements.
• The Siiqqee, a ceremonial stick carried by married women, symbolising women's rights and solidarity within the Gadaa system.
• Coffee, which is part of Oromo ritual life, including buna qalaa, a blessing ceremony in which coffee beans are cooked in butter.
• Safuu, a concept of moral and ethical balance, respect and order in relationships between people, nature and Waaqa.

Why it matters

The Oromo are one of Africa's largest peoples, with a rich language, a remarkable democratic tradition and a vibrant culture. Their history includes both great achievements and painful struggles for recognition. Learning about the Oromo is essential to understanding Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, and it shows how indigenous African institutions, like Gadaa, have much to teach the wider world.

Further reading

• Asmarom Legesse, Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System (Red Sea Press, 2000)
• Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570–1860 (Cambridge University Press, 1990)
• UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage — Gada system (inscribed 2016)
• Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, Population and Housing Census 2007