Gedeo people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (986,977 (2007 census)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ethiopia | |
| Languages | |
| Gedeo language, Amharic | |
| Religion | |
| predominately Protestant Christianity, Traditional, Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Guji Oromo, Sidama, Welayta |
The Gedeo (formerly known as the Darassa, pejorative name given to them by Amhara) are an ethnic group in southern Ethiopia. The Gedeo Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR) is named for this people. They speak the Gedeo language, which is one of the Afroasiatic languages.
According to the 2007 Ethiopian national census, this ethnic group has 986,977 members, of whom 75.05% live in the SNNPR and 24.84% in adjacent parts of the Oromia Region. Almost one in sixteen—6.24% -- live in urban areas.
The culture of the Gedeo is distinguished by two features. The first is the baalle, a tradition of ranks and age classes similar to the Gadaa system of the Oromo people. Beckingham and Huntingford describe the system as seven grades that span a 10-year period of birth, creating a 70-year cycle. Asebe Regassa Debelo provides oral traditions showing that the Gedeo acquired the practice from the Guji Oromo, with whom they have had, historically, a close relationship. On the other hand, their agricultural economy is based on cultivating ensete, as is their neighbors the Sidama people, whose language is closely related to theirs.
Besides the baalle system, before their conquest by the Ethiopian Empire in the 1890s, the Gedeo lived in a federation of three territories called Sasserogo, or "three Roga". These Roga, Sobbho, Ributa and Rikuta, shared one Aba Gada, which was similar to the Oromo office, and every eight years was passed to a new office holder in the next age set at a ceremony also known as baalle. According to Gedeo tradition, all leadership positions from Aba Gada at the top down to the office of Hyiticha were assumed at the baalle ceremony, while specific roles were held by specific clans or sub-clans.
The origin of the Gedeo is not well known. Tadesse Kippie Kanshie mentions one story in which the Gedeo trace their origin to the aboriginal tribe called Murgga-Gosallo, perhaps the earliest people to have lived in the area. Another Gedeo tradition traces their origins to one Daraso, who was the older brother of Gujo the ancestor of the Guji Oromo, and Boro ancestor of the Borana Oromo, two pastoral groups who live to the east of the Gedeo; this tradition may have its origins in an Oromo practice of mass adoption of indigenous ethnic groups, known as guddifacha. Daraso is said to have had seven sons from two wives, from whom were descended the seven Gedeo clans: Doobba’a, Darashsha, Gorggorshsha, Hanuma, Bakarro, Henbba’a and Logoda. These are organized into two classes or "houses": shoole baxxe (the senior) to which the first four belong and sase baxee (the junior) to which the last three belong. The shoole baxxee comprises more than twenty-five sub-tribes while the sase baxxe consists of ten sub-tribes, all of which are exogamous. To these seven clans specific roles were attributed, which meant only a given clan or sub-clan contributed members from its ranks for the role of leadership while other clans or sub-clans performed duties associated with ritual, traditional medicine, etc. Accordingly, the Aba Gada used to be chosen from the Logoda and Henbba'a clans.
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