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Bete Gojjam
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The Omotic Shinasha tribe in Metekel | Gojjam & Wollaga History

Post by Bete Gojjam » 18 Dec 2019, 04:43



According to DNA testing the Shinasha peoples are almost identical to South Gojjam AmMara Peoples



Thus We can conclude Historically and Genitically the Omotic People of Benishangul are pure blooded Gojjames and thus Metekel should region Gojjam Zone



Therefore I call on the Government of Benishangul Gumuz to succeed Metekel Zone back into the Pocession of Bahir Dar, Shinasha 21% Amara 17.5% Awgni 11% all have ties to the AmMara Kilil and not the Gumuz peoples.



The Shinasha, also known as Bworo or Boro, are an ethnic group of Ethiopia. Their language belongs to the North Omotic family (see Omotic languages). They live north of the Blue Nile in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region former (Gojjam Province) and number around 33,000 individuals. Their neighbors in the area include Gumuz and Oromo peoples.


Oscar T. Crosby encountered a group of 600 Shinasha in 1901, living in "a few villages between the Durra and Wombera [rivers]." He described their houses and dress, and claimed that they made their living through "claiming great powers of necromancy, by menace of rain or drought, they force the Shankalis to yield up to them a part of their scanty store of grain, or meat, or honey."[1]
They may be identical with the Sientjo people, who are the subject of an article in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition of 1911. If this identification is correct, then according to Juan Maria Schuver (who visited the Sientjo in 1882), they are a people with a lighter complexion "than Europeans would soon become in this climate" Schuver noted, which he described as a "yellow skin".[2] Their unusual complexion led him to speculate that "all the region to the North of the Blue Nile was once inhabited by a white or yellow race and that the blacks, who have penetrated it, did so at the time they were fleeing their country from the Galla invasions?"[3]
The Sientjo lived in villages perched on the top of rocks in what is now western Wenbera woreda for protection from slave raids from Sudan; while Schuver was allowed access into one settlement, the inhabitants were obviously uncomfortable with his presence and repeatedly asked him "to remain content with my first visit to their mountain, as they were afraid of the Arabs following my example." Their women never intermarry with the neighboring peoples, who were of darker complexion. The Sientjo in Schuver's time were an industrious people, skillful weavers and smiths.[4]
Last edited by Bete Gojjam on 18 Dec 2019, 07:41, edited 7 times in total.

Bete Gojjam
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Posts: 976
Joined: 02 Nov 2019, 03:48

Re: The Strangest tribe in Ethiopia = Shinasha Peoples of Metekel Western Gojjam

Post by Bete Gojjam » 18 Dec 2019, 04:50




INTRODUCTION


The Shinasha is one of the groups of the
people, who are living in Metekel administrative
Zone of Benišangul-Gumuz Regional state. They
have different cultural, economic and social
practices that distinct them from others. The main
economic activity of the Shinasha people is
agriculture. They produce crops like sorghum,
millet, corn, pumpkins, cotton and others. In
addition, they reared various animals like cattle,
sheep and goats to satisfy their need of food
items like meat, milk and for market.
Furthermore, a small number of t
supplements their requirements by hunting wild
animals and gathering fruits and roots (Ashenafe,
1989). According to oral traditions of the society,
the Shinasha is one of the early settlers of the
region (informants). The Shinasha people have
their own language, which they called
Borenona’a. Borenona’a literally means the
Boro/Shinasha/ language spoken in most parts of
the Northwestern Ethiopia, in Metekel Zone of the
Benišangul-Gumuz Region.


An Overview of the Origin Shinasha People
The Origin of the Shinasha.
The Shinasha known by different names, like
Boro, Dangabo, Sinicho and Gonga. However,
the most widely used term to designate the
people by the rest of other ethnic groups of
Ethiopia is Shinasha. The term seems to be a
non-derogative Amharic designation, derived
from Shi- nna-shi which literally means the
multitudes of the people, who fled to and settled
north of the Abbay River. Oral informants of the
Shinasha confirmed that the word Shinasha was
given by the Amharä, when they attacked the
Damot area. The people of Damot asked one
another. “What is a clamor”? It was said that a
people become a multitude of Shinasha” or “shinna-
shi had come against us to war, invade and
plunder. Therefore, Shinasha is to say in the
Amharic language: shi na shi ye mihon tor
wereren. Literally means that Shinasha had
invaded us in thousands (Ibid). With regard to
this, Aleqa Taye asserted the Shinasha was
called Shinasha by the Amharä, because a large
number of people were uprooted in the highlands
in thousands. So Shinasha has the sound of the
Amharic word for Shi-nna-shi (Taye, 1987). This
assertion is also confirmed by local informants.
Thus, in the traditions of the people prior to this
period their proper name is Boro.
Historical documents revealed that the term
Sinicho is an Oromo designation for the Shinasha
people, to mean hot pepper. According to
Tessema Ta’a, the Shinasha people strongly
resisted the Oromo expansion into Wollega area.
It was most probably due to their stiff resistance
that the Oromo associated the Shinasha with ‘hot
pepper,’ ‘Sinicho’ (Tessema, 1980). My oral
informants confirm that in local districts of
Wonbara, they called them as “Sinicho” by the
settler Oromo of this area. Even, they further
assert that sometimes the Oromo called
Shinasha in the names of settlement places and
in name of Shinasha clans. For instance, the
following statement revealed this fact:
In Oromiffa Literally means
Ka’a lafa Dängäbo The Village of the Dängäbo
Ka’a lafa Sinicho Anifo The village of the Shinasha
clan of Anifo
Ka’a lafa Sinicho Indibo. The village of the Shinasha
clan of Endiwo
Dängäbo is also an Oromo designation for the
Shinasha people for who live in Metekel, Dängäb.
The term might have derived from the name of
the place, Dängäb. Thus, the term Dängäbo
indicated the settlement place of the Shinasha.
So, the use of the term was used when some
Oromo moved to this area, and they found
Shinasha and referred to call them in the name of
that locality.
According to oral traditions, Boro is thought to
be one of their ancestral father and they would
like to be called after him (Ibid). These informants
argue that their original name is not Shinasha,
but Boro and still call themselves as Boro. In
relation to this, they claimed their ancestor to be
Shao, who begot Ashinao, Assibo, Boro and
Gongo. The descendants of Shao are said to
have divided Gojjam among themselves Ashinao,
Assibo, Boro and Gongo taking Shashino, Assi,
Bure and Gwangwa respectively(Ibid). Later, some
of these groups moved further to the west and
reached as far as Guba. But written accounts do
not confirm whether these clans were direct
descendants of the present Shinasha clans or
not.
The term Gonga is familiar to the Shinasha
people. In other words, the term Gonga is
commonly used by the Shinasha people for many
centuries. However, different historical
documents described that the term Gonga
language was used by the people of Ennarya
(Hiop Ludolphs, 1982). For instance, D. Abbaddie
and Charles Beke stated that the Gonga
language was spoken around Nile Valley (in both
sides of the Abbay River) as far as Kafa to the
south (Werner, 1982). Therefore, Gonga seems
to be a common term representing Kafa, Sheka,
Bosha and Hinnaro dialects of the southwestern
region as well as the Anfillo and Shinasha
languages. It might have been for this reason that
early Portuguese traveler, Manuel de Almeida
used to Gonga to refer the Shinasha as one of
the native inhabitants of Gojjam. He also
mentioned Sinasse as a principal Gonga town but
it seems to be Shinasha settlement area
(Beckingham and Huntingford.1954). On the
other hand, there is a place name Gongo in the
districts of Bulän and in close proximity to Galasa
vicinity and also there is a name of Shinasha clan
known as Gongo. Therefore, these statements
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
117
suggested the long use of the term Gonga in the
Shinasha localities of Metekel.
Both Marvin L. Bender and Herald C. Fleming,
describe that the Shinasha is one of the Afro-
Asiatic branches of the Gonga language
speaking people of the Ethiopia(Bender,1969 and
Felming,1976).Thus, from above descriptions or
arguments one can easily understand that most
probably the same group of people is referred to
as the Shinasha. And for our historical concern
here, we would like to use the term Shinasha and
Gonga exchangeably in this article.
It is obvious that oral traditions and oral data
are the essential sources to reconstruct the
history of illiterate society. So most of the
Shinasha history is based on oral traditions. The
Shinasha society has its own oral traditions of its
origin.




Accordingly, the Shinasha people traced
their origin mainly to the Middle East. As local
traditions made it clear they trace their origin to
the land of Biblical Canaan from where they
migrated to Egypt due to lack of pastoral land.
They were led by Hamati. Hamati was thought to
be one of the sons of Canaan(Yohannis, 1940).
In addition to shortage of pastoral land; other
factors for their migration were believed to be
famine and conflict with local people. As a result,
they followed the course of the Nile River and
settled in the Central part of Ethiopia (Ibid).
Oral traditions indicate that they settled first in
Šäwa. But later on, due to over population and
conflict with the early settlers, they moved to
northwest crossing the Abbay river and settled in
different parts of Goĝĝam, particularly in Damot,
Guman, Šendi, Näfro, Dinigaš, Bure, Wämbärma,
Burešindy, Šašina, Gumär, Azäna, Gumyesuš,
Zigäm and surrounding areas(Informants). The
remaining groups of Shinasha were said to have
moved to Gonder and western and northeastern
side of Wollega (Nejjo, Mendi, Limmu, Amuru,
Wasti, Harro, Guduru, Jidda and Horro). Later on,
these clans were assimilated with the Oromo and
Amharä people in the area(Ibid). It was also said
that the other groups of Shinasha settled in the
Region of Southern Nations, Nationalities and
People (SNNPR) particularly in Sheka, Bosha,
Ennarya and Kafa Zones (Ali etal, 1998). Among
people in these places, Bosha and Ennarya were
assimilated by the Oromo in their respective
areas.

Bete Gojjam
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Posts: 976
Joined: 02 Nov 2019, 03:48

Re: The Omotic tribe in Metekel | Western Gojjam

Post by Bete Gojjam » 18 Dec 2019, 06:21

Almost all of my oral informants unanimously
agree that the Shinasha were led by a man called
Shao when they were in Šäwa. It was under his
leadership that Shinasha dispersed into both
sides of the Abbay River and founded the Gonga
states. That means they integrated with other
Gonga groups. They settled for a long period of
centuries on both sides of the Abbay
river(Informants). To day, the Shinasha elders
argue that their relatives are also found in Sheka,
Anfillo, Bosha and Kafa, Southwestern Ethiopia.
They argued that there is a linguistic and cultural
similarity between them. Many researchers like
d’Abbdie and Werner J. Lange stated that the
Gonga people like Shinasha, Bosha, Ennarya,
Kafa, Anfillo and Sheka had historical,
geographical and cultural (language) relations.
But as far as the origin of these people is
concerned writers like Johnston and Bieber
stressed the Origin of the Gonga people to be
Egypt. However, Werner J. Lange opposed this
view and states that the states of the Gonga have
been ruled by the dynasties frequently claiming
descent from Tigre and occasionally tracing
origins to Israel or Yemen (Werner, 1982).
Particularly, concerning the origin of the
Shinasha people, Tsega
Endalew states that the origin of Shinasha to be
South of Goĝĝam particularly from the Southern
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
118
parts of Ethiopia, and they are one of Omotic
speaking people. According to him, the main
factors for the Shinasha to move out of their
origin were the Oromo expansion and raids of
Christian states. So, he summarizes this fact as:
The Shinasha claim their origin from outside
Ethiopia. However, they are one of the Omotic
speaking people and the outside Ethiopia theory
needs to be refuted. Pressures from the Christian
Empire, the Oromo expansion…forced Shinasha
of Southern Gojjam and Northern Wollega to
move into unfavorable spots and lowland parts of
Metekel (Tsega, 2006).
Recent traditions collected recently on the
issue showed the origin of Shinasha to outside
which seems to contradict with the views of
Tsega. Furthermore, concerning the origin of the
Shinasha people, I shared the views of my
informants because of the following facts; first of
all their physical appearance is entirely different;
most of the Shinasha people are light-skinned
when compared with their neighbouring people.
Secondly, their traditional beliefs, scarification
functions and the use of traditional medicine for
different purposes including Sorcerery might
have been influenced by the Egyptians while they
were in Egypt. It was also suggested that the
traditional Shinasha did not adopt either
Christianity or Islam but adhered to the traditions
of their forefathers. This assumption also tells us
as they came from outside. Thirdly, according to
Aleqa Taye’s explanations as stated above
traced the Shinasha origin to outside, Canaan, so
it seems quite logical because it is
correspondence with views of informants.
Fourthly, according to Bekele Woldemariam,
there was a strong relation between Shinasha
and other Gonga people (Kafa, Sheka, Anfillo,
Ennarya and others) due to their similar historical
origin, outside of Ethiopia. Recently, due to these
fact that, the representatives of Shinasha, Kafa
and Sheka had held a meeting in Metekel Zone
on September 16-18, 2007. They discussed
different issues like their origin, cultural and
language similarities and their historical relations
between them (Bekele, 2010). Therefore, from
this fact we can safely conclude the Shinasha
people have most probably similar historical
origin to outside as the case to other Gonga
people.
Besides, the views of oral informants there is
Sarah Vaughan. She stated that “Shinasha myths
of origin mention Canaan as the place of origin of
their ancestors, migrating from Egypt to Ethiopia,
where they arrived a Debra Libanos [Central
Ethiopia] before moving to their current
locations”(Sarah Vaughan,2007). Thus, she
traced the origin of Shinasha to be out of
Ethiopia.
The Shinasha Relation with Other Gonga
peoples (Kafa, Sheka and others)
The relation of Shinasha with other Gonga
people expressed in many aspects such as,
tradition of origin, language, settlement and other
related phenomenon’s. As far as the language
relation of Shinasha is concerned, the Shinasha
people are one among parts of the Gonga
language speaking group, living in northwestern
Ethiopia, Metekel, near the Sudanese border. As
mentioned above the term Gonga is described as
a language spoken on both sides of the Abbay as
far as Kafa to the south. It is divided into three
groups: Southern Gonga, Central Gonga and
Northern Gonga. The southern Gonga consists of
Kafa, Sheka, Ennarya and Bosha, spoken in
southwestern region in the vicinity of the Gojeb
River. Central Gonga represents Anfillo in
Western Wollega where as Northern Gonga
includes the Shinasha (Harold C. Fleming, 1976).
This seems to indicate Shinasha had very close
language relations with other Gonga people.
Their languages and the people themselves
generally referred to call by many writers as
Gonga.
According to Marvin L. Bender and Herald C.
Fleming, Shinasha is one of the Afro-Asiatic
branches of the Gonga language speaking
people of Ethiopia (Marvin Lionel. Bender, 1969;
Harold C. Fleming, 1976). Werner. Lange asserts
that the term Gonga is principally linguistic
categorization. That means he shared the idea of
Herald, Fleming by stating that Kafa, Sheka,
Bosha and Hinnaro dialects constitute southern
Gonga. While the Shinasha language of northern
Wollega and southern Gojjam form the Northern
Gonga (Werner and Lange, 1982).
Marvin L., Bender and Herald C. Fleming also
maintained that the same kind of relationships
existed among the above dialects and they made
the southern Mao (Anfillo) geographic and
linguistic evolution between the Kafa and several
Shinasha languages of northern Wollega and
southern Gojjam (Harold C. Fleming, 1976). But
Herald C. Fleming identifies northern Wollega
and southern Gojjam groups collectively as
northern Gonga including Guba, Boro, Naga and
Amuru (Ibid). He also describes that linguistic
similarity observed between Gonga people. The
following table indicates this fact.
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
119
Table 1: Gonga Language Cognate percentages.
Guba
Boro 81
Naga 83 81
Amuru 73 73 76
Anfillo 56 57.5 65 66
Bosha 52 54 58 55 61.5
Mocha 50 54.5 55 54.5 60 68
Kafa 46 48 53 51.5 53 70 69.5
Guba Boro Naga Amuru Anfillo Bosha Mocha
Adopted from Harold C. Fleming (1976)
Therefore, from above table shown you,
Shinasha (Boro) languages have similarities with
other Gonga languages. Based on this, with Kafa
48%, Mocha 54.5%, Bosha 54%, Anfillo 57.5%,
Amuru 73% and Naga 81%. As the result of
linguistic similarities, Shinasha (Boro) language
categorizes as Gonga language in general and
North Gonga in particular.
However, concerning some of names, the
available accounts, have different views. For
instance, according to Harold C. Fleming, Guba
referred to a place located in extreme south
western corner of Gojjam (Ibid). Today, it is one
of districts of the Metekel Zone in the Ethio-
Sudanese borderland. Boro refers to a location
south of Awngi [Agäw] in south central Gojjam
(Ibid). But it seems to be a settlement place of
Boro/Shinasha/itself. Naga indicates that before
1880’s, they were speakers of dialectics of the
Gumuz language around Limmu of Wollega
(Ibid). Whereas Amuru is a place located in
Wollega around Horro-Guduru (Informants).
However, oral traditions and written accounts
indicate Amuru as one of early settlement places
of the Shinasha. On the other hand, some groups
of the Shinasha crossed the Abbay and settled in
Gojjam. But most of the Shinasha, who remained
with Oromo in these areas, adopted the culture
and eventually assimilated. Although all these
places, which we have mentioned above don’t
refer present day of Shinasha, rather they refer to
early settlement places of the Shinasha. So they
seem to call them in the names of their
settlement places except Boro.
In the study areas of the Metekel, there is
striking similarity between the Kafa, Sheka,
Anfillo and Shinasha languages (Table 2) as
informants and some written accounts, which
further consolidate linguistically categorized
Shinasha as the parts of former Gonga kingdom
(Vinigi L. Grottanelli, 1941). Here some words:
Table 2: Striking similarity between the Kafa,
Sheka, Anfillo & Shinasha languages.
English Shinasha Kafa Sheka Anfillo
One Ekka Ekka Ekka Ikkä
Two Gita Guto Guto Guto
Three Keza Keğa Keğa Keĝĝo
Four Auda Audo Audo Auddo
Five Wussa Uča Uča Amitto
Six Širita Širrto Širrto Širrto
Seven Šewatta Šiwatta Šiwatta Šabatto
Eight Šemita Šimito Šimito Šimito
Nine Jidiya Yidyä Yidyä Yiringo
Ten Täča Ažerä Ažerä Aširo
Eleven Täča Ekka Ažeraikka Ažeraikka Aširekko
Twelve Täča Gita Ažerä gutta
Ažerä
gutta
Aširegutto
Twenty Hiya Hiyo Hiyya Hiyo
Thirty Šaša Šašo Šašo Šašo
Forty Abba Abbo Abbo Aribo
Fifty Ballikäsa Ačo Acho Ačo
Hundred Bälla Bällo Bällo Bällo
Thousand Kuma Humo Humo Humo
Front
(head)
Barra Barro Barro -
Enjera
(food)
Miša Mišo Mišo -
Cow Miza Mimo Mimo -
Ear Wazo Wano Wano -
Cloth Taha Taho Taho -
Javelin Gino Gino Gino -
Teeth Gašo Gašo Gašo -
Hand Kišo Kišo Kišo -
Stomach Mačo Mačo Mačo -
Water Aca /Acha Acho
Acho /
Asso
-
Mother Inda Inde Inde -
Dog Kana Kunano
Kuno
/Kunano
-
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
120
The above table illustrates that the Shinasha
is one among the several people of Ethiopian
interior speaking a Gonga language. For
instance, Shinasha and Kafa are very far a part,
but both have common terminologies. It is
possible to observe common terminologies
between Shinasha and other Gonga groups.
Therefore, Shinasha seem to have been part and
parcel of the Gonga population who once lived on
both sides of the Abbay River before their
disintegration.
According to traditions collected by Bekele
W/Mariam, the elders of Shinasha say that “Our
brothers, like Kafa people flew like a bird once
and all. The word ‘Kaffo’ means bird in both
Shinasha and Kafa languages. So the Shinasha
gave the name Kaffo to their brothers who left
them. Thus, the name Kafa, according to the
Shinasha elders is derived from Kaffo, the bird.”
(Bekele and Mariam, 2010). On the other hand,
this assumption led us to suggest that the
Shinasha people were later forced to leave and
separated from Gonga group (Kafa) and
dispersed to present areas .i.e. Kafa might have
left first and the Shinasha was assumed to be
last(Ibid).
In relation to language similarities and
terminologies of the Shinasha with Sheka and
Kafa, Bekele further describes as:
…Three languages (Shinasha, Sheka and
Kafa) have close relations but each word usage
of Shinasha language indicates as if it were done
in the near future, where as both Sheka and Kafa
languages indicated the present tense. Three
languages have similar starting pronouncing
sounds. For instance, Shinasha and Kafa
pronunciation sound relation is 71.6% and the
difference is 28.4 %( Ibid).
Moreover, Lipsky also shared the same idea
stating that “various dialects of the Kafa language
groups are spoken in western and southwestern
Ethiopia by more than 10,000 people. The major
divisions are Kafa and Shinasha within which
there are further dialectal sub-divisions” (George
Lipsky, 1962). Similar traditions collected by
Tsega indicated, “there was a place name
showing similarities…called Minjo in Wonbara
which is the name of the old (Minjo) dynasty of
Kafa”(Tsega, 2006). My informants also confirm
that not only name of a place which is similar but
also there were names of clans (ibid). The
following names of some clans in both groups of
people stated below reveal this fact.
Name of the
Kafa Clans
Name of the
Shinasha Clans
Boro
Boro (Proper name
of Shinasha)
Shauwnao Shawono
Hinnaro Ennoro
Hinnbaro Endemaro
Gusenawo Gusenao
Wasero Wošaro
Thus, names of clan’s states above illustrate
identical ones in accordance with the views of the
informants and written documents that I referred.
Moreover, the names of the clans in the above
table obviously pointed out the indistinguishable
ethnic origins and identity of the both groups of
the people. This means that many clan names
which are found in other areas of Gonga people
are also found in Shinasha like Ennoro, Boro,
Endemaro and so on. Therefore, all these
indicated either their common origin or they were
living together for the centuries in the past.
With regard to these oral informants argue,
that due to pre-longed separation of their
ancestors from the rest of Gonga language
groups, their original names of the clans and
languages was assimilated by other languages of
the non-Gonga groups in their respective areas.
The Shinasha looks like that of other Gonga
language speaking group claimed their origin to
the Middle East (Ibid). This means in general the
Gonga people have common history of origin and
language.
Equally, Bekele W/Maryam describes the
settlement patterns of Gonga people, they
inhabited north and south of the Abbay river and
these Gonga groups included Kafa, Sheka,
Hinnaro, Anfillo and Boro(Shinasha) (Bekele,
2004). He describes that these people had
common ethnic identity, cultural practices and
language. For instance, there is today a clan
name called Boro in Kafa, which is the proper
name of the Shinasha (Boro). He further argues
that on the basis of the traditions and historical
documents of the Gonga people; they traced their
origin to the Middle East mainly Ancient Israel,
Egypt and Yemen. At different period they
migrated to Ethiopia following the course of Nile
River and dispersed to Gondar, Gojjam, Tigray,
and reached to the southwestern regions of
Ethiopia. Furthermore, as he notes that in their
tradition, these groups of people claimed that due
to war and conflict at different period and Oromo
population expansions and pressure caused
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
121
them to have dispersed into various parts of the
country (Ibid).
My oral informants in the study area argue that
their oral traditions indicated that as they
departed from their Gonga groups and remained
north and south of the Abbay River (south of
Gojjam and Wollega respectively (Informants).
On the bases of the above arguments and
some accounts, one can suggest that the
Shinasha’s are members of the Gonga language
speaking people of Ethiopia (Edward Ullendorff,
1973). In relation to this, the Portuguese traveler
Manuel De Alemedia, states that “Gonga group
include: Kafa, Shinasha, Bosha or Garo, Mao or
Anfillo, Sheka or Mocha.”(Manuel De Alemedia).
It seems that the term Gonga is used to include
these people. Despite this fact that, Socio-cultural
and economic similarities of these groups of
people are not thoroughly studied. Therefore, it is
very important to investigate their relationship.
But it is beyond the scope of this study to give
detail of their relations.
Summary
The historical documents revealed that the
frequent raids of Christian kingdom in Gojjam and
adjacent territories pushed some Shinasha
groups into their present localities even prior to
15th century and later due to dynamic population
pressure in the 16thcentury, majority of Shinasha
pushed to hot lowland areas of Metekel.
The Shinasha oral tradition argues that in the
courses of expansion to areas of Metekel, as
claimed by tradition, Shinasha groups were led
by Abuguri. Abuguri was said to have the
knowledge of traditional medicine with which he
seized the people. On the other hand, Abuguri
was remembered for his special skill of making
javelins and swords and made the people to
settle in various areas of Metekel. Furthermore,
informants confirm that their early expansion and
settlement; as they were pushed the territories to
particularly Guba and Ethio-Sudanese
borderlands as well as in various localities of
Wollega and Gojjam.
The presence of the Shinasha in some
districts of Wollega and as they were also parts of
Gonga confirmed by different scholars and
travelers, who described the Shinasha as one of
early inhabitants together with Gumuz, Gafat and
the Damote people of the Wollega prior to Oromo
expansion to the region. Although, the Shinasha
of these areas was already dominated,
assimilated by Oromo following their settlement in
the above areas.
The other argument with regard to the
Shinasha as they were parts of Gonga state
before disintegration of the Gonga kingdom was
Harold, Fleming. He indicates that a large and
powerful kingdom of Gonga existed prior to the
16thcentury and this kingdom extended from
southern Gojjam to the southwestern highlands. It
weakened and disintegrated in the 16thcentury as
the result of the Oromo expansion into the
southwestern Ethiopia. Consequently, the Gonga
kingdom was divided into three groups (Southern
Gonga, Central Gonga and Northern Gonga), and
hence the southern Gonga cut off from the
northern Gonga to which the Shinasha belonged.
He also states that “Sinasse”, as an important
town of the heathen Gongas. Thus, according to
his explanation, “Sinasse” seems to have been a
settlement area of the Shinasha.
Moreover, as we have described above the
Jesuit Missionary, Father Antonio Fernandes,
who traveled from Gojjam across the Abbay from
Wämbärma to Ennarya in 1613-14, also
mentioned the Shinasha as part of the Gongas
and clearly described their presence on both
sides of the Abbay.57 This position is also
graphically represented in Almeida‘s map of
Ethiopia where the Gongas or Shinasha are
located on both sides of the Abbay.). In
early17thcentury, groups of Shinasha identified as
Gongas. This was further confirmed by mid-
19thcentury European explorers who visited and
recorded the existence of the different Gonga
groups in the valleys of the Abbay.
According to Antoine d. Abbaddie, who visited
southwestern Ethiopia in the 1840’s collected the
genealogies of the people of the area and he
explained most of the Shinasha lived in the
Amuru and Jidda regions of Horro-Gudru, and
their surviving descendants were known as
“Wäskäto, Qitiso, Siddo, Ma’afo, Asisi, Dabino,
Arnäy and Jarabru.”
As stated by Antoine d. Abbaddie, his
informants of Amuru, whom he met in Guduru,
explained that the Shinasha who lived in the
lowland of Amuru and Jidda districts used to pay
tributes to the Oromo. D’ Abbaddie was informed
that by 1843, the social conditions of the
Shinasha changed and they stopped paying
tribute to the Oromo. Thus, the Shinasha’s under
their leader Addo Ibsa left the lowland areas and
settled in the highland localities of the two
districts. From the above view, one can
understand that the Shinasha people were early
settlers and the Oromo who came later forced
them to pay tributes. This further indicated that
the Oromo forcefully subjugated the Shinasha. In
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
122
other words, D’ Abbaddie accounts reveal that
tributary obligation imposed on Shinasha of
Goĝĝam during the reign of Dajazmach Gošu
(1823-1839/40). It was due to some factors that
Shinasha groups escaped the heavy tribute they
paid to Goĝĝam rulers moved to south of Abbay.
More importantly, data collected by Oljira, in
Horro-Guduru asserted that, the Shinasha of this
area with the coming of their strong relatives from
Gojjam. Thus, the Shinasha of Horro-Guduru
declared their independence and expanded to
some parts of Amuru and Jidda. According to
Tessema, the Shinasha people were well
organized by their chieftains to resist the Oromo
expansion to Wollega. He also states that the
presence of Shinasha around the Abbay and
between Däbus and Didessa rivers and also their
further extension to Wonbara. This seems to
indicate that Shinasha were early settlers of
these areas before expansion of the Oromo
people.
In addition, Oljira notes that the Shinasha
people were the early inhabitants of Horro-
Guduru. He also described that they had made a
stiff resistance to Oromo expansion. He also
further states that they were able to put a bitter
and strong resistance, because they had a well
developed form of social organization. They
seem to have been relatively populous. In Horro-
Guduru the Shinasha is found in large numbers in
Amuru and Jidda districts in certain localities like
Luquma, Wäsht, Wa’al, Jawajä and Horro of
Jidda. In these districts the Shinasha lives closer
to Abbay river valley. The oral traditions collected
by Oljira also pointed that some Shinasha groups
moved from Limmu and Jidda districts crossed
the Abbay and settled in Metekel locality of
Dängäb area. This investigation reveals the early
existence of the Shinasha groups in Wollega
areas prior to their settlement in Metekel.
The local Shinasha sources reveal that the
Shinasha groups or clans like Ausära settled in
places Čarä and Qurä in the northwestern parts
of the Country. It was in such a way that the
name Čära is derived from one of the Shinasha’s
clan Ausära. Today, the Shinasha oral informants
from the study area traced that Čära as one of
their former settlement place. This argument is
prevailed in National Atlas of Ethiopia which
described that in the 1570’s and 1580’s the main
target of King Sarsa Dengil was to control various
people like Oromo, Falasha, Agäw, Shinasha and
Gumuz people in Begamidir, Wegera, [deleted],
Dembiya and Gojjam by the means of the
conquest.
On the other hand, the above mentioned fact
indicated the existence of the Shinasha people in
the northwestern parts of Ethiopia and their
assimilation with the local people. They were
forced to abandon their ancient culture; language
and even their identity by the dominant groups.
Nevertheless, these communities have still strong
memories of their Shinasha origins. Whereas,
those Shinasha’s who were displaced to Metekel
by Christian kings have maintained their identity
intact. This attributed to various factors, among
this, the region is very remote from the centre
and it was finally annexed at the end of the
19thcentury. This means the proximity of the time
that the Shinasha of these areas was
incorporated to Ethiopian empire.
Concerning early settlement and expansions
of the Shinasha, different travelers of the early
17thcentury confirmed the existence of Shinasha
on both sides of the Abbay river. For instance, as
we mentioned earlier in 1613/14 when Father
Antonio Fernades crossed the Abbay from
Wämbärma to Ennarya, he found the people of
Shinasha in both sides of the Abbay river. Thus,
this indicates the presence of these people in the
areas mentioned.
In general, historical documents asserted that
the two major political and demographic
developments, which occurred in the 16thcentury
along with the early Christian raids on the
Shinasha, might have led the majority of
Shinasha to be disintegrated from other Gonga
groups. They dispersed into their present areas.
Of course, details of Christian expedition against
Shinasha will be discussed next. But here I try to
high-light how these developments caused
displacement of Shinasha at various periods from
the rest of the Gonga language speaking groups
(Gonga people).
The Christian raids to the areas were with an
intention to exploit the gold; in which the region is
known historically. Besides, it ensure suzerainty
over the people that could be dated back to the
reign of King Yeshaq (1413-30), in early
15thcentury; who was thought to have made
campaign into Gojjam and Metekel in particular.
Tsega, who had made extensive research in
northwestern Ethiopia asserts clearly this as
follows:
Pressures from the Christian empire, the
Oromo expansions and the search for better
living conditions forced many Shinasha of
Southern Wollega to move into unfavorable spots
and lowland parts of Metekel. They sought refuge
in naturally protected areas as they were
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
123
subjected to slave raids. They moved into
malaria-infected into the Guba hills and then
gradually trekked further into Dangur Mountain.
These Christian raids became regular affairs
of the rulers after the reign of Sarsa Dengil (1563-
97).These rulers were interested in the region’s
resources, like gold and attempted to bring its
people under their control. The following reveals
this fact: “In the 1570’s and 1580’s the other
targets of Sarsa Dengil, were various Oromo
tribes in south and Falasha, the Agäw, Shinasha
and Gumuz People in Agäwmidir, Wegera,
[deleted], Dembiya and Gojjam.” This pressure
further pushed Shinasha to the lowlands of
present Metekel localities. According to Richard
Pankhrust the Emperor Sarsa Dengil, who was
better armed than his predecessors, under took
war expeditions against several people of the
western borderland. One of them was the
Shinasha. Therefore; both Pankhurst and Tsega
shared the same view concerning the expedition
of the Christian kings to subdue the Shinasha
and other minorities in the northwestern
borderlands.
Moreover, the campaign to these areas
became more intensive with the gradual shift of
the centre of the Ethiopian state into the Lake
Tana and Gondar regions in the 17th century. The
expansion of the Christian kingdom into the area
was aimed in exploiting its abundant resources
and slaves.
According to Taddase Tamarat, Kings such as
Sarsa-Dengil (1563-1597), Susenyos (1607-
1632), Fasilades (1632-1667), Yohannis (1667-
1683) and Iyasu the Great (1683-1706) had
successively conducted devastating campaigns
into the Metekel region. These rulers achieved a
final break-through and attacked minority groups
like the Shinasha and Gumuz through means of
indirect rule by appointing the Agäw chiefs over
them. However; they did not completely bring the
region under their control until 1898.
It sounds that these developments forced the
Shinasha to move in masses into the west of
Dura River, to their present Metekel localities. On
their way, the Shinasha fought and subdued the
Gumuz. Some of whom were forced to live in the
unfavorable lowland areas of this region, while
others continued to live with them in harsh way.
Thus, the Shinasha occupied places in Metekel
like Bulän, Gongo, Dängäb, Dora Jällä, Galasa,
Wagdi, Gasangasa, Dangur, Guba, Wonbara and
the surrounding areas. It also shows that the
earlier Christian raids into Gojjam and adjacent
territories might have probably forced majority of
the Shinasha groups to move to their present
localities.
Moreover, the Oromo settlement in the South
of the Abbay pushed the Shinasha population to
Gojjam to take refuge and these enriched the
Shinasha community already living in the north of
that River, Metekel. It should be noted that most
of the Shinasha were subdued and assimilated
into the Agäw, Amharä and Oromo people.
In 1570’s the Oromo frequently over run the
eastern parts of Gojjam, Damot, Agäwmidir and
even the lowlands of Metekel which was
occupied by the Shinasha and Gumuz. This
pressure from the Oromo people pushed the
Shinasha’s further to the lowland areas of
Metekel. As Taddase reveals that process of
prolonged warfare between the Oromo and
Christian kingdom, gradually forced the pre-
Oromo inhabitants of the southwestern regions to
move elsewhere and to take refugee. Many of the
diverse population of Damot, Gafat and Shinasha
fled across the Abbay into Gojjam and enriched
the ethnic composition of the province.
By the first decade of the 17thcentury, the
Oromo’s had controlled almost all the lands
between the Abbay and Ennarya. Much of the
present day Horro-Guduru was already
dominated by them and have made repeated
attacks on the Shinasha. Thus, by the beginning
of 17thcentury, the Gonga population in south of
the Abbay river was already dominated by the
Oromo, while the other groups living to the north
of the river were frequently victims of the slaveraiding
expeditions of the Christian rulers and
their local representatives. As Werner J. Lange
asserts that both pressure of the Oromo and
continuous raids of Christian rulers in the early
18thcentury resulted in the Shinasha/Gonga/
people to lose their independence. He further
describes that “Through repeated colonial
expeditions of the northern Christian empire into
Gonga territory in north and immediately south of
the Blue Nile, the political independence of the
Northern Gonga-identified in late 17thcentury as
the 21st kingdom of Ethiopia was ended by the
early 18thcentury.” At the same time it was during
this period that the expedition of northern
Christian state enforced large number of Gonga
people to seek refuge in the densely forested
highlands of southwestern Ethiopia and forcefully
pursue a way of life there lost to their kin in the
north. This period was historical period in which
the same members of Gonga groups (southern
Gonga) actually separated and began to lead
independent life from their relative Shinasha
Groups.
Abebe Ano Alula STAR Journal, July-Sep 2012, 1(3): 115-125
124
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to
Ato Taye Babilo, and Boro-Shinasha
Development Association their persistent
encouragement has been most valuable to me.
Especially Ato Taye Babilo in spite of his heavy
workloads he has always been ready to help me.
I am very grateful for his lofty contributions.

Bete Gojjam
Member
Posts: 976
Joined: 02 Nov 2019, 03:48

Re: The Omotic tribe in Metekel | Western Gojjam

Post by Bete Gojjam » 18 Dec 2019, 06:35

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