Conflict in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church: Domination by Amaranet vs. Liberation through Oromummà
By Fayyis. Oromia*
I believe the ongoing conflict within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church represents an effort by Oromummà to strike back against more than 750 years of domination by Amaranet. This domination began when Yekuno Amlak declared Amharic the language of his palace. Since then, Amharic (Amaranet) gradually expanded across the lands of the Agaw (including parts of Gojjam, Tigray, and Gondar) and into Oromia, eventually reaching as far as the Indian Ocean during the reign of Emperor Amda Tsion.
In the 16th century, the Oromo Gadaa movement began to reverse this expansion and pushed northward as far as Tigray. Unfortunately, the Amhara regained control about 150 years ago under leaders such as Emperor Tewodros and later Emperor Menelik II. Following the formation of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) 50 years ago, the Oromo people began to challenge this long-standing dominance. We’ve had some success, and the current movement by Oromo Orthodox believers to liberate Oromummà from Amaranet’s religious dominance marks one of our most significant victories to date.
The next logical step is the promotion of Afaan Oromo as the primary working language of all federal institutions, replacing Amharic. As far as I am concerned, this step—along with consolidating Oromo power in the Finfinne (Addis Ababa) palace—is the strongest guarantee for the complete liberation of Oromummà from Amaranet’s cultural and linguistic dominance.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Horn of Africa is home to Cushitic nations of Oromo origin. The Cushitic peoples—Beja, Agaw, Somali, Afar, Sidama, and others—are all branches of the Oromo family. About 3,000 years ago, Semitization of northern Oromo regions began with the introduction of Judaism and later Christianity. Around 1,500 years ago, the Islamization (Somalization) of eastern Oromo followed. These religions brought with them not only new spiritual beliefs but also foreign cultures and languages.
Hybrid languages emerged as a result—Ge‘ez as a mixture of Hebrew and Cushitic, and Somali as a blend of Arabic and Cushitic. These new languages became sacred or official, while original Cushitic languages like Agawigna and Oromiffa were devalued. Most Agaw people abandoned their native language and adopted Tigrinya or Amharic. As a result, they lost their distinct identity in regions like Gojjam, Tigray, and Gondar. Likewise, many northern, central, and eastern Oromos abandoned Afaan Oromo and adopted Amharic or Somali.
The ruling class, from Yekuno Amlak in 1270 to Abiy Ahmed in 2018, included many Oromos who revered Amharic instead of honoring Oromiffa. These Oromo leaders effectively helped suppress their own people and language—a kind of tragic “own goal.” The OLF has worked to reverse this self-defeating pattern, and it has seen some success.
A day will come when we fully revere Afaan Oromo and elevate it to its rightful place as the primary language of the Ethiopian Federation and of the greater Horn region.
Thanks to Wàqa, Oromo political consciousness is shifting—from a colonial narrative to a Cushitic one. The colonial narrative was useful for mobilizing Oromos during the period of Abyssinian domination. But now that we have achieved a measure of autonomy, it is time to envision a broader, integrative, and democratic “Great Oromia”—a reimagined Ethiopia that reflects its Cushitic roots—as a viable alternative to secession.
Ethiopia, or Cushland (Oropia), has long suffered from a systematic campaign of anti-Cushitism over the past three millennia. Ethiopian nationalists must resist the Ethio-phobic version of “Ethiopiawinet” (Ethiopian identity) that has marginalized Cushitic peoples and cultures. We know that true Ethiopia = Cush = Oropia.
For millennia, Western powers and Abyssinian elites collaborated to build a pseudo-Ethiopia with a fabricated “3,000-year glorious history.” This version of Ethiopiawinet, designed to strip Ethiopia of its Cushitic essence, has included the following tactics:
– Replacing the monotheistic Cushitic faith of Wàqefannà with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, both by force and by manipulation.
– Creating Semitized languages (like Ge‘ez and Amharic) and promoting them as official religious and administrative tongues, while suppressing native Cushitic languages like Afàn Oromo and Agawigna.
– Undermining Cushitic symbols, such as the tricolor (Black-Red-White), and replacing them with others that symbolize de-Cushitization.
– Denying the existence of Cushitic civilizations or misattributing them to non-Cushitic peoples (e.g., labeling the civilizations of Egypt and Axum as Semitic).
– Assigning false ancestry to Cushitic leaders, linking them to the Solomonic or Muhammadan dynasties, thereby erasing their true Agaw or Oromo origins.
– Engaging in cultural and linguistic genocide by marginalizing languages and traditions in their own native regions.
– Systematically weakening Wàqefannà, the Cushitic belief in a single creator (Adera or Wàqa).
– Denying federal working language status to Cushitic languages like Afàn Oromo and Agawigna, in a deliberate attempt to undermine Cushitic heritage.
– Misclassifying Cushitic peoples as Omotic or Semitic, further distorting historical realities.
– Allowing Habeshanized elites, cloaked in the rhetoric of Ethiopiawinet, to continue suppressing Cushitic liberation movements.
– Promoting a version of Ethiopiawinet that is, in practice, anti-Oromo and anti-Agaw, rather than embracing the true inclusive Ethiopiawinet (Kushawinet).
– Writing fictional histories like the Kebra Nagast to Semitize the Cushitic legacy of Queen Makeda and her successors.
Due to this confusion between pseudo-Ethiopiawinet and true Ethiopiawinet, many Oromo nationalists now prefer calling the country Oropia, just as they renamed Addis Ababa Finfinne. Agaw and other Cushitic groups should also reject the de-Cushitized pseudo-Ethiopia and join in reviving the authentic, inclusive Ethiopiawinet rooted in Cushitic identity.
Two essential components of this revival are restoring Agaw culture and language across Agaw-Midir—not just in isolated pockets still speaking Agawigna. Encouragingly, today’s Oromo-led Ethiopia seems to be taking steps toward this re-Cushitization. The recent formation of a Cushitic solidarity front in Jijiga was a significant move in the right direction.
May Abiy Ahmed be the last Oromo ruler who suppresses the Oromo and disrespects Afàn Oromo. May Wàqa guide us in completing the re-Ethiopianization of Ethiopia—a return to its true Cushitic soul.
Galatôma!t
Read more: https://orompia.wordpress.com/2023/02/0 ... -oromumma/