Asafa Dibaba in Quest of Jaarsoo Waaqoo: the Quintessence of Oromo Poetry
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
June 23, 2007
In this article, we re-publish integrally Mr. Dibaba's chapter 4 in which he illustrates the ethnographic background of Jaarsoo's poetry and impacts of other oral poetic genres, particularly the dhaaduu recitative poems, on Jaarsoo's poetic contents. Through this key chapter, Mr. Dibaba offers us the key to understanding the symbols and the semiotics of a Masterpiece of the Contemporary Oromo Poetry.
An initiation into the Jaarsoo Waaqoo's poetry is preliminary to a comprehensive understanding of the Kushitic spirituality, which is expected to bring forth majestic results that will transform the face of Africa over the next few years. Mr. Dibaba does his best to scrupulously investigate the multi-faceted aspects of socio-political, economic and cultural relations Jaarsoo Waaqoo raises in his poems; he thus offers us a unique insightful – unrivaled by the work of any European or American scholar thus far.
Content Analysis of Jaarsoo Waaqoo's Poetry
the dreams of the native are always of muscular prowess; his dreams are of action and of aggression. I dream I am jumping, swimming, running, climbing; I dream that I burst out laughing, that I span a river in one stride…. During the period of colonization, the native never stops achieving his freedom from nine in the evening until six in the morning.
The colonized man will first learn this aggressiveness which has been deposited in his bone against his own people.
(Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth. 1963: 40)
Introduction
In Chapter 3 it has been argued that the geerarsa folk song and the dhaaduu war poetry have strongly influenced the poetic content and performance of Jaarsoo's poetry. In the present chapter the content of Jaarsoo's poetry (Finna San Gama I-IV) and its role as a social critique will be analyzed from a sociological perspective. The literary significance of Finna San Gama (Beyond Adversities) to sketch some defining criteria for and establish cultural and sociopolitical identity of Oromo literature is also examined in this chapter. Attempt is also made to provide some supporting idea for and put to practice the combination of social development theory or metatheory and the finna 'Oromo development theory' to avoid inevitable theoretical impasse in studying Jaarsoo's poetry. The first section discusses ethnographic background to the sociological study of FSG. It highlights influences of the environment and the sociocultural context on the poet and his work set in a given time and space. The second section sets a socio-political arena for the sociological analysis of Jaarsoo's poetry in the macro-political context of past and present Ethiopia. The remaining part provides a conclusion of theoretical and content- related issues in the sociological study of Jaarsoo's poetry.
Ethnographic Background
The Booran have occupied the present day areas of southern Oromia for at least four centuries. Their territory has been fluctuating based on ethnic and resource borders (Gufu Oba in Baxter 1996: 117). The Boorana share borders with the Somali clans to the east along the Ganale River, the Arsi to the northeast, the Gujii to the northwest, and the Massai, the Samburu and the Rendille to the south. They are divided into the two exogamous moieties of Sabbo and Goona who are by tradition herd people in contrast to many other Oromo cultivators further to the north. Rearing cattle, sheep and goats is the pastoral economic base of the Boorana proper (interview with Liiban, Dabbasa and Tarri, Feb. 2002). Ton Leus, in a prefatory note to his Borana-English Dictionary (1995) estimates the Boorana Oromo to around half a million. He adds that about 100,000 Boorana live in northern Kenya and they speak a southern dialect of the Oromo language. According to Borana social structure the primary unit of organization is the warra ‘household’, which is grouped to form the shanacha ‘homesteads’. The Ollaa ‘settlement’ is formed from clusters of such shanacha, and several ollaa build up a unit of re’era. District group or dheeda is formed from several re’era and composed of all members of the Boorana Oromo society and come under the rule of the gadaa sociopolitical system (Gemechu 1993; Asmarom 2000, 1973; Baxter 1996).
As regards to oral literature, the Boorana day to day life activities seem to be full of tales, songs, riddles and above all the oratory embellished by proverbs. The Boorana songs vary from faaruu ijoollee kuuchuu, love songs of boys who enter a hariyyaa--the same age group (Waakor and Dambal)-- to faaruu kuusamaa, songs in praise of women like Baxter’s weelluu of Arsi (1972) or Tasama Ta'a's weedduu of Wallaga (2000). Others are karilee, i.e., women praising men while fetching water or firewood, and on the jila/buttaa feast and gubbisa ‘name-giving ceremony'. Songs in praise of cattle, goats and horses sirba loonii, weedduu and yaamuu, sirba re’ee, sirba fardaa are sung both by men and women (interview with Haalakee; also in Ton Leus 1995: 289ff). There is also geerarsa: the gooba hunting song, and the dhaaduu war poetry (interview with Caalaa, Feb. 2002). Such a literary background added to the gadaa system1 must have influenced Jaarsoo Waaqoo from his childhood as a herd boy and that oral tradition is carefully woven into his entire oral literary fabric.
Jaarsoo's poetry shows that the gadaa center maintains a border of spatial integrity within which the Nagayaa Boorana 'the Peace of the Boorana could be operated. The Peace of the Boorana is the orderly running of public affairs and the non-violent settlement of disputes and conflict, an organizational feature that distinguishes Boorana pastoralism from other pastoral systems (interview with Tarri). In Boorana local politics, issues of central importance are the ability of their social system to organise large groups of people under Sabbo and Goona for socio-political, cultural and economic purposes. To mobilize resources and make orderly and legitimate decisions on natural resource management systems is also crucial (Helland in Baxter 1996: 137). This is the matter of political viability among the Boorana pastoralist community (ibid.).
The concept of political viability in Boorana pastoralism is characterized by two important features. One is, the issue of the Nagayaa Boorana / 'the peace of the Boorana'. The other is, the issue of territorial integrity, resource competitions and the management of scarce communal resources like pasture and the wells. Other concepts of viability of Boorana pastoralism, as discussed by John Helland (in Baxter ibid. 132-149) are economic and ecological viability. They rest on the orderly and peaceful resource management system, particularly grazing lands and well complexes, i.e., access to and the utilization of the resources between the Boorana and the neighbouring pastoralist communities through peaceful means.
Every effort by an internal or external force that disrupts those political processes in Boorana may also disrupt attempts made by the people to upkeep the fundamental economic activities on which the Boorana pastoralist community depends. To maintain well complexes and other resources that are at stake, the Boorana struggle to keep intact their political system, without which, according to Boorana community elders (Qampharre, Tarri, Dabbasa and Liiban), significant changes will occur to the pastoral production system. Such drastic changes in economic, ecological and political viability gradually results in resource competition, shifting identity or land disputes between the Boorana and the Somali, the Garri, the Gabra and others, which is the topical allusion in Jaarsoo's poetry.
Gunther Schlee interprets the resource-based conflicts between Boorana and other ethnic groups from the viewpoint of those resource competitors or 'outsiders', while Gufu Oba, Gemechu Megersa and John Helland seem to incline towards a Boorana view. A. Shongolo, however, in his article "The Poetics of Nationalism: a Poem by Jaarso Waaqo Qooxo", does not seem to take sides (Schlee 1984, 1992; see essays by Gemechu, Gufu Oba, J. Helland, and A. Shongolo in Baxter 1996). By G. Schlee's functionalist approach pastoralist communities communally share resources as long as resources are plentiful, but when there are shortages they resort to enter into conflicts to gain control over the scarce resource.2 In such conflicts, according to Schlee, the weaker party makes compromises and readily accepts the ethnic label of the enemy to become a client. However, Gemechu Megersa attacks Schlee's view based on two clear evidences: first, ethnicity is not something that people readily accept and discard as it suits them, just as a pragmatic solution to an everyday economic problem. Second, people do not automatically absorb/accept groups who do not belong to them (in Baxter ibid. p95).
Gemechu argues that an "Oromo is born with Oromumma" or Oromoness. To Gemechu Oromumma is by birth, not given by belief system alone. He asserts that ethnicity, identity and belief system are given with birth since, according to Gemechu, "the simplest definition of an Oromo would be that he/she is born of an Oromo father" (emphasis added)--the argument that may seem to render itself male chauvinism (see Baxter 1996:94). Hence, Schlee's functionalist approach "cannot help to explain the types of adaptations and transformations that have taken place in the different social and historical conditions in which the society has evolved" (ibid. p95). In terms of claiming identity one cannot be Boorana by birth alone, which seems a sheer contradiction with Gemechu Megersa's argument (interview with Tarri; see also Gufu Oba in Baxter ibid. p120). Gufu Oba's argument of Oromo identity is particularly from Boorana perspective, i.e., he shares Tarri's view of Boorana identity. Firstly, a Boorana without cattle cannot perform his social obligations, nor does he participate in rituals and therefore he is obliged to lose his Boorana identity (in Baxter ibid. p120). Secondly, a Booran who violates aadaa seera Boorana 'the Boorana law and custom' and the Boorantittii tenets, i.e., moral dimensions of peaceful well-being, respect for a common law and unselfishness is also subjected to lose his Boorana identity. He is considered 'nyaapha' or sidii, i.e., 'enemy'.
Thirdly, to the contrary, outsiders who adopt aadaa seera Boorana and the Boorantittii tenets can be incorporated into one of the two Boorana exogamous moieties, namely Sabbo and Goona to a particular sub-clan through some ritual transformation. In this view, in order to acquire access to resources an outsider may be incorporated into a Boorana clan as long as aadaa seeraa Boorana are not violated. Close clientship ties are also established through a provision of material support, finna or exchange of ritual materials like incense or qumbii to oppose common enemies. This incorporation mechanism promotes the Nagayaa Boorana 'the Peace of the Boorana' that guarantees inter-clan peace and maintains peaceful relationship between the Boorana and others (see also John Helland in Baxter p145ff).3
Perhaps this is what one can observe in the skeptic words below in FSG questioning the identity of those sidii (enemy) among the Boorana Guutuu or Guutuu Abbaa Liiban i.e., 'Boorana proper' (FSG I, p73):
Booranni ka dhibiit jiraa!
jabeessaa ofirraa eegaa
Booran Boorana keessatt' jiraa
many re-claim to be Boorana!
watch out! there is a Booran
within Boorana (today)
In such a social, political and economic context, every individual is responsible for the maintenance of common moral order throughout the Booranaland at all times. The lines watch out! there is a Booran / within Boorana (today) (lines 2&3) warn the Boorana Oromo to be cautious if there are 'wolves in ship skin' among the Booran, i.e., if there are sidii (enemy) re-claiming their previous identity while they still pretend to be Booran (lines 2&3).
Poetic Content Analysis
Poems in Praise of the Boranaland
In the poetic content of FSG there is an equal emphasis given to describing Booranaland: fields, trees, hills, wells, ritual sites, grazing and watering lands such as Gaayoo, Dirree, Liiban, Golboo etc. Thus the verses in FSG are descriptive: they depict with some poetic verve the rivers, mountains, trees, birds, beasts and cattle, generally the flora and the fauna of the environment.
In FSG III one can foresee the kind of society, the 'ideal republic', perhaps the poet would like to see established. But, meanwhile, the recital poetry rides one back to the Golboo plain, to the Dirree fields and to the Baddaa trees, the hills and the green pastures to capture once again the mood of the setting. The poetic lines below describe those guerrilla estuaries and a place called Booqee (p98):
tutu Booqee afranii
iji midhaantuu hinbahin,
ta lubbuu jibbaattu malee
ta akka duriitiin hingabin...
5Golboon ummata keennaa,
nu garam irraa deemna?
the four Booqee salt licks
not yet attracted attention
but that which eschew the soul
(of the martyr), not what had hitherto been…
Golboo is our land
how come we leave our land?
Thus, the poems describe the Booranaland and mobilize the society to reclaim the land (lines 5&6). In the description of the Baddaa4 relatively highland in Boorana, the beauty of the land is used so accurately, convincingly and effectively for the purpose of mobilising the people to defend their territory (lines 5&6), and more than that to actively involve in the liberation struggle. In FSG III, the Badda relatively green area is thus praised for its beauty (p99):
isin wari Baddaa sadeenii!
hindheessinaa warri gumaa sadeenii...
Baddaa bishingaa baaftu
Baddaa lafa hedduu caaltu
5miyooftuu akka bookaa
Baddaa urgooftuu akka midhaan doolaa
goggossinee irraa dhowwarraa,
worr' cufti garaachi boollaa
yoos amma irraa dhowwanna
hindheennu irratti doona!.
those in the three Baddaa regions!
you don't retreat.
Baddaa, rich in sorghum
Baddaa the Great Land of all lands in Boorana
and as sweet as mead,
Baddaa, as sweet as grain in doolaa,5
we defend our land courageously
Others, they are of hollow stomach
thus, we defend our land strongly
we never retreat, we defend our land!
In FSG the poet seems to be free to recite as he feels and sees things. In the above lines there is a strong element of commitment to an important and progressive cause (lines 9&10). This is due both to the subject matter the poet deals with, namely reclaiming the Boranaland, and to the ideological orientation, i.e., nationalist outlook. The confidence to declare the poet's vision without reservation can only be the result of putting theory into practice. As elsewhere argued in this study, in FSG, the poet not only spoke of the liberation struggle but he lived it and died for it.
Speaking of the Borana environmental zones, they are described not as a geographer would do but as a phenomenon perceived and conceptualized by the peoples themselves. In this respect, Baddaa is one of the three climatic zones representing broad conceptual categories employed by the Oromo in all the regions they occupy. Since the classification follows the high-low order in a vertical pattern highland is described "following the elevation of the land from its highest to its lowest point". Badda (highland) is the location roughly between 2000 to 3000 meters above sea-level. It is therefore the coldest region blessed with abundant rainfall, perennial rivers and forests. So being conducive for agriculture livestock production, Baddaa tends to be the centre for population concentration. The badda-daree zone is a temperate zone situated between 1,400 to 2000 m above sea-level.
The gammoojjii (lowland) is all the land area lying below 1,400 meters down to sea-level. This climatic zone is best characterised by unreliable rainfall and extreme scarce land and water resources. Thorn trees and similar other shrubs of the Baddaa, Golboo, and Dirree are typical gadamoojjii vegetations as also described in FSG. About 20% of the Oromo population live in the arid and semiarid region of the gammoojjii. The economic base of the population in the gammoojjii area of Oromia is pastoralism, which is also true to those Oromo in Kenya border. However, based on ecological and economic factors the gammoojjii zone may be subdivided into two: the Baddaa/the semiarid and the lower arid zone. There is the relatively highland region 'Baddaa', praised as an evergreen seat of Waaqaa. This is the upper semiarid where cattle/pastoralism and agriculture is a possible means of subsistence for its better vegetation resources. Whereas, in the lower arid zone there is extreme scarce water and grass. Camel pastoralism is therefore the main means of subsistence. The Baddaa that is praised in FSG is further sub-divided into three regions, recited thus: isan warr' Baddaa sadeeenii, 'you, from the three Baddaa reggions' (FSG III, p99), areas where some cultivation is possible in addition to pastoral production. These three regions are Baddaa Hiddii, Baddaa Gaamaduu, and Baddaa Areeroo.
John Helland's article "The Political Viability of Boorana Pastoralism" (in Baxter 1996:149) confirms what can be the base for the lament for Dirree in FSG. Helland says, the conflict "now is over the inclusion of Liiban within the newly defined Somali region of Ethiopia". Helland adds that the contest is also over "the recognition of the Garre as proper representatives of the pastoralists of Dirree (ibid.; interview with Tarri). The researcher's observation of speeches on the Simintoo/Liiban Reconciliation Conference, Feb. 2002, and interviews with community elders confirms the lament for the lost ritual sites and resource lands.
In FSG there is a deepest concern for the Fatherland and thus the lines below are used to adorn Baddaa (FSG IV, p100):
Baddaa gurraattoftuu
Baddaa yoo aduullee qabbanooftuu
Baddaa muka booraa
Baddaa biyyee bookaa
5Baddaa buna baaftu
Baddaa ilmeenn’ keenna dhaaltu
Baddaa biyyee bokoraa
Badaaa ka biyya Booranaa...
Baddaa, the land with fog and cloud
Baddaa, cool and suitable land even when sunny
Baddaa, the land of trees of different types
Baddaa, the land of soil sweet like mead
Baddaa, the land of coffee
Baddaa, our land, legacy to our children
Baddaa, a land of big and colourful soil
Baddaa, the land of Boorana, our land!
From the above lines one can see that the poetic style in FSG is conceptual, infused with ideas which have an ideological import. Thus the purpose is more than mere description of the Boranaland. The recital poem above portrays a sympathetic picture of the setting (lines 6&8). As this elevates the poet's object of contemplation, the style remains descriptive. The focus seems to be on images as words, as verbal expression, confining itself to the significance of an image purely as a linguistic form. Words of weather/climate, landscape, season and nature: land and landed resources: grass, water, tree, plain, hills etc. flora and fauna, in the poem describe Baddaa above. The description creates images that have a general appeal: Odaa, coffee, rain, water, etc. which in Oromo tradition represent finna, fecundity and abundance, perhaps the seventh and the last Oromo development phase called dagaa-horaa. These are public symbols with definite connotations. Thus, those images and symbols readily communicate the intended message, i.e., reclaiming the Fatherland, Oromia.
Resource-based Conflicts
The poetic content of FSG involves resource-based conflict in Boorana, conflict concerning national development strategies, and the political viability of finna Oromo and its continuity protracted between the past, present and future. Hence, the content of FSG II may be generally put into two sections. The first part deals with conflict resolution. That is, it is the maintenance of traditional micro-political system in Boorana, namely, Nagaa Boorana (the Peace of the Boorana). In the second part, the concern of the poetic content seems to be more with the Oromo sociopolitical life, i.e., finna, than with just local politics.
In the first section of the recital poetry Dhugaa and Cubbuu, i.e., Virtue and Vice are used in the Bunyan sense of allegory. Cubbuu is a resource competitor, in the analogy, representing the Somali, the Garri and the Gabra equally reclaiming not just the pastoral resources, grass and wells, but also land itself. Cubbuu demands legal and political recognition to live on and use the land as a legitimate pastoralist who lived on and used the land for generations (see FSG II, pp. 13-50).6
The second section of this part proceeds with the lament of Aayyaa (Mother) who abandoned her children, and her Ilmoo (Son) imploring her to come home. Hence, the dialogue is between Aayyaa Bilisummaa ('Mother Freedom') and Ilmoo ('Freedom Fighter') (see pp51-64ff). There is a dialogue about the 1991 election, during the Transitional Government of Ethiopia TGE, between the representatives of the OLF and the TPLF-subordinate OPDO, and the Boorana community elders (pp65-83ff). The last part of this second section is a call for the resource competitors and the young generation: boys and girls all equally to nullify the Abyssinian new 'divide-and-rule policy'. The call is for awareness about what is happening and is going to happen to the people and to unite and actively involve in the armed struggle to bring to an end the Tigre-led neocolonial rule (pp84-114). In this section, the researcher gives more emphasis to the poet's social analysis of resource-based conflicts between the Boorana and the southern communities.
FSG II, much like FSG I, is a social critique of the inter-ethnic conflict between Garri, Gabra, the Somali and Borana. The problem is not attributed to Garri, Gabra, and the Somali in favour of the Borana. In FSG the poet does not take sides. Rather, the recital poetry plays a great role to end the conflict and to maintain peace and social justice. This is well exhibited by the call to the resource competitors, FSG II (pp90-91)7
baruma hedduu
waliin dheeddani.
hintala walirraa fuutanii
soddaa, walirraa ceertani.
5mucaa soddaa kan kee dhale
boriyyaa tee ejjeeftani.
odoo inni abuuyyaa! jedhuu
gorraatanii biraa deemtani.
isan abbaa-obboleessaa,
mee lakkisaa hammeenna kana.
yet you herded together
for many years.
you marry girls from each other
as in-laws you revere each other.
yet it is the son of your brother in-law
that you kill the next day
as he pleads for mercy, saying "uncle!"
you slaughter him and go away.
you are affines and brothers,
put an end to this evil.
The FSG poetic social analysis about resource-based conflicts between the Boorana and other resource-competitors involves economic, social and cultural factors. Pastoral communities in the south, as in FSG, have every reason to unite rather than fight each other. More than the economic relationships, i.e., livestock as a major economic base (lines 1&2), the pastoralists are also 'in-laws' (lines 4&5) ‘affines and brothers’ (line 9). An obvious account of such a resource-based conflict portrayed in FSG II above is the possible observation that throws light on the social critique given in Jaarsoo's poetry. As a social critique FSG is not against the pastoral way of life. What is doubtless is that it is against the system (see FSG II, p93). In the recital poetry, the root cause of the frequent inter-ethnic conflict in the south has been the Abyssinian colonial and neo-colonial rule itself. Prior to the 1995 constitution that declares:
Ethiopian pastoralists have the right to free land for grazing and cultivation as well as the right not to be displaced from their own lands, peripheral areas inhabited by pastoralists were politically conceived as ‘no-man’s-land’, and therefore regarded as state property (cf. Proclamation No70 of 1944, Article 130 in the 1955 Revised constitution of Ethiopia). Hence, land was ready for reassignment to various non-pastoral uses such as national parks and large-scale commercial farms (e.g. the Awash Valley Authority). In the 1950s and 1960s “nine large national parks and wildlife sanctuaries were delineated juridically alienating the pastoral herders from their dry season niche (Yacob Arsano in Pastoralist Forum Ethiopia, 2000, p92). The pastoralists were labeled ‘wanderers’, literally ‘tikfattee’ (zallan) and categorized into nomadic 'herders’ and ‘nomadic-hunter-cultivators’.
Most of the areas inhabited by pastoralist communities in the south (the Boran, the Somali, the Afar, and others) were artificially arranged (interview with Dabbasa, Qararsa and Tarrii; see also Melakou in Pastoralist Forum Ethiopia, 2000:79). Accordingly, their communities were divided, their resources were confiscated, and their land reserved for game parks by the state exacerbating economic marginalisation (also the researcher's observation of Liiban/Simintoo Peace Conference, Feb. 2002). The fact that the pastoralist populations in the south have common destiny is articulated in the dialogue below. Cubbuu says (FSG II, pp46ff):
Dhugaa, na jibbaallee ooltuu
lafum' takkarratti dhalannee.
armaan durallee,
na qofaaninii, nu lachuu
5mala la walti dhahannee
armaan durallee qara...
Dhugaa, though you hate me
but we were born on the same land.
even hitherto,
both of us made an alliance
and reached some consensus
even before...
Though literally, Cubbuu and Dhugaa do not belong to the same origin in Oromo worldview, but both are in the same domain where either side should be tolerant to live in harmony with its counterpart (lines 1&2). The allusive remark Cubbuu makes, i.e., the Dhugaa-Cubbuu ‘alliance’: both of us made an alliance (line 5) perhaps refers to the same life style and the common destiny the southern populations share as pastoralists. The marginalisation that pastoralist communities face, as elsewhere argued in this study, is a ‘double face’ exemplified by the two extracts below. First, as pastoralists they are considered wanderers/nomads having no right to claim land use and tenure (pp91, 92),
warri horii ingoodaanaa
qubattanii gad hinteettani.
a cattle breeder is no fixed to one place
and thus you move from place to place
Second, as members of the dominated ethnic groups they are under national operation (p93):
odoo beettuu gaafattaa?
wayyaaneet' gidduu seenee
garumaa gar nu dhowwee, ...
why you ask what you know?
the wayyane interfered
and kept us apart, to divide us and rule us...
and (ibid.)
irreen hoomaa hinmidhaansituu,
tun waan ofumaa beettani!
power alone does not do good
is what you know!
An equally important point is perhaps the condition of autochthonous institutions deteriorated by the government institutions almost replacing the indigenous resource management and knowledge system. As presented in Jaarsoo's poetry, the implication of indigenous resource management system being overtaken by modern governmental structure is revealed in the social and economic resultant consequences: inner-clan resource competitions and inter-ethnic conflicts. Traditionally, the authority of land ownership lies with the Abbaa Gadaa, with the managers of water sources Abbaa Herregaa and grazing Abbaa Dheedaa. The Borana land sources are, in this regard, traditionally classified into ritual, salt licks, grazing, and water sources that there is no free and/or wasteland in Boorana. Traditionally land tenure rights are vested with all Boorana.
As a result of the complete neglect of mutual recognition between state and society in general, the general attitude of pastoralists to the center is one of suspicion and hostility. Consequently, they tend to view government as alien and unrepresentative of their interests and concerns, and, therefore, do not respect state boundaries created and demarcated. The three rhetorical questions put below ask, in a style more explicit and direct, the state-society relationship (FSG II, p49):
gaaffiin kiyya sadii:-
ta qaraa waan jettuu:
hiyyeessa hingalateeffatan
jenna moo
5waan galataatu
namaa hinta'u jenna?
gooftaan dhara hindubbatu
jenna moo
dharti gooftallee
10dhugaa jenna?
horii nama hamaatu
horata jenna moo
nami waa horate
inhammaate jenna?
I have three questions:-
the first says:
do we say,
the poor is not worth praising,
or praise is not
worth to man?
do we say,
the lord speaks no lie,
or lies told by the lord
are truth?
do we say,
a cunning person makes wealth,
or a wealthy person
is cunning?
The voice in the recital poetry above oscillates between the witty words putting each on separate poles: ‘poor/praise’, ‘lord/lies’ and ‘cunning/wealth’. One may interpret thus those hypothetical questions: if man is worth praising, that is normal. It is unlawful to contempt one because he is poor (lines 3-6). If the lord tells lies, that is disgraceful. His lies cannot be truth only because he is lord, however (lines 7-10). If the cunning makes wealth through looting, corruption or nepotism, that does not justify the source of wealth is always looting or corruption (lines11-14). The semantic relations between the three: the poor/cunning and the lord is power relation, which indicates the state-nation relationship at disequilibrium owing to unclear policies and state interventions (cf Wallace 1995). It follows that, the policy of land tenure designed as workable in the highlands is not by any means relevant to the lowlands without any severe implications. It is in this issue of sociopolitical, economic and cultural implications and resultant consequences that the poet's social analysis of FSG is anchored.
Finna San Gama is dialogic in its discoursal mode of communication and allegorical in its poetic style. The Dialogue is built on the Borana traditional rhetoric especially in Dispute Settlement and generally on the form of oratory where other ethnic genres, such as proverbs, are used to skillfully engage the audience in the subject matter. In this regard, the process of dispute settlement, conflict resolution mechanism and oratory in exercising the viability of the Boorana micro-political system, i.e., the Nagaa Boorana is further illustrated in FSG (cf. FSG II). The community elder says ( p15),
Dhugaan si himatte
Ihii
jidduun isin taa’aa….
tanaaf si yaame
Dhugaa has accused you
(of usurping her land)
I see
I mediate you, settle your case….
that is why we are here.
The content of the first section of FSG II (pp12-50) is dispute settlement (line 3). In the process of vindicating such cases as related to conflict over resource use and management (line 1) one may be proved honest when the other part is found guilty by the established norm. The modalities of such "dualism" of moral may require a detailed discussion of the sociocultural aspects of Boorana/Oromo life. FSG II exhibits a vast array of political and sociocultural issues. In Oromo religion Waaqa is the creator of all things and the source of life. Waaqa, in Oromo metaphysical worldview, has appointed to all beings their place in the cosmic order. And, according to the Oromo knowledge system, what is cubbuu (sin/vice), as clearly demonstrated in FSG II, is not violating just what is reduced into the Ten Commandments in the Bible. Cubbuu is violating that cosmic order of which Waaqa is the source, or the ayyaana divine being is the guardian. Hence, as in this first section of FSG II, violating others' birthright, usurping people’s property, intervening by force in others' sociopolitical, cultural and economic affairs are all to violate safuu, i.e., the cosmic order and to commit cubbuu (sin). The overall governing principle to maintain that cosmic order and to regulate the day-to-day life activities in certain orderly manner is the safuu knowledge system among the Oromo like the Ten Commandments. This is the Oromo worldview referred to in the allegorical poem.
In the dialogue in FSG II (pp12-50) the two contesters brought their case to Jaarsa (community elder). Jaarsa among the Oromo as in Boorana is of a very high importance for sociocultural and ritual purposes. According to Ton Leus in his Borana-English Dictionary (1995), in which he thoroughly discusses the details of linguistic and anthropological accounts of Borana Oromo, jaarsa is responsible for different areas: jaarsa biyyaa, jaarsa dheedaa, jaarsa maddaa, i.e. someone responsible for settling disputes, controlling graze land and managing water resources/wells, respectively. And, generally, for the management and use of natural resources including Land, as in the extract (line 3), and settling conflicts over resources jaarsa is a signpost among the Oromo and so is in Borana. That is why the Borana say ‘Dubbii Booranaa jaarsa Booranaatu namaa dubbata’, that is, ‘A Borana case is resolved by Borana elders’. And of course, there is also that ‘nami ganna diqqaa akka jaarsaa injira’, meaning, ‘a young man can also act as jaarsaa being wise and open-minded’ (cf. Leus 1995:476).
The kaleidoscopic structure of FSG is identifiable in the too formal too direct interrogatives, declaratives and imperatives in the dialogic mode of the communication below in FSG II (p12, 16-33):
Dhugaa -Dhugaa
yee -yes
at’ ta eennuu? -where do you belong?
5-ta Waaqaa -to God
Cubbuu Cubbuu
yee -Yes
ati ta eennuu? -where do you belong?
10 -tan Nam’–Adii -to ‘the White man’
isii Dhugaa, -Dhugaa,
dubbii tana dhageettaa? you listen?
indhaga’a -I do
lafti tan tee moo, this Land is yours or
15tan Cubbuu? Cubbuu’s?
tiyya mine
akkam tee? How yours (justify)?
irratti dhaladhe tiyya. -I was borne and bred here.
It is my land.
eeyyee -I see
20 -Cubbuu dhageettaa? -Cubbu, you hear
what she says?
Indhaga’a. -I do.
dhageettu dubbadhu -so answer
lafti dhaloota -the land (the Boranaland)
is her birthright
ta isiitiin akkasi. is true
25 -eeyyee -I see
duub isiin bulchuu -but she couldn’t
wallaaltee manage it
garaa namaa keessa she lies asleep
marattee ciifte. in people’s ‘Stomuch’.
an lafa abbaan bira rafu I got the land on which
30 argadhe. the owner is fast asleep
eeyyee -I see
dhuga dhageettaa? -Dhugaa, you listen ?
indhaga’a. -I do
dhageettu dubbadhu -so answer
35-an inciisa malee hinrafuu -if I lie I lie awake
an injiga malee hincabuu if I fall I don’t break
il’ dunuunfadhe malee if I close my eyes
hinbannee lost not my sight
wal dhabanillee Cubbuu and though we
disagree, Cubbuu,
40 akka irraa wal gorsuu it is wrong to lead
hin mallee. [each other astray.
Cubbu dhageettaa? -Cubbuu you listen?
indhaga’a -I do
dubbii kana nuu kori -lets postpone this matter
45 -eennut’ sii kora? who will handle it
for you?
Nam’–Adiit’ naa kora the ‘White Man’
maa sii kore? -why? Why the ‘White-Man’?
dubbii kana yoo -if you stretch the case
siin akkana yaatee any more
50 a’aa no no, I’m afraid
an lafa kanan dhaba…. I may lose the land…
The assertive statement made by Dhugaa that ‘Land’ belongs to her (lines 16, 18) is refuted by Cubbuu. Cubbuu says Dhugaa lies in human ‘stomach' (lines 26-30) and cannot manage land properly. Human 'stomach' to the Oromo is not just a physiological organ like "human heart"; "it is an image, a symbol, and above all the center of moral habits" (Sumner 1995:287). The fact that Dhugaa is from Waaqaa or God (line 5) and Cubbuu is from ‘earth’ (line 10) has its root in Oromo religion (Bartels 1983). The divinity of Waaqa 'God' is both on those uumaa in waaqaa (sky) and those on lafa /dachii, i.e., Mother Earth. Mother Earth is also called Haadha Margoo or the Green-handed Deity. Hence, Dhugaa or literally, 'Truth' is a hub around which the wheel of those three elements of Oromo knowledge system, namely, the uumaa, ayyaana and safuu revolve. What is more, Dhugaa in this poem is described by Cubbuu as weak, slow and passive or ineffectual (lines 26-30; cf. also FSG II p26) to which Dhugaa responds in a bitter and energetic tone saying: 'if I lie I lie awake’ / ‘if I fall I dont break' / 'if I close my eyes / I lost not my sight' (lines 35-38). The Oromo proverb describes dhugaa (virtue/truth) as 'Dhugaan qal'attullee hincittu', meaning 'Be as thin as it may, Dhugaa never breaks'.
As can be evidently seen in the poetic social analysis in FSG, among the Borana and other pastoralist communities in the south, the issue of land use and tenure is the normal cause of conflict. And the resultant effects of scarcity of grazing land and water resources cause inter-ethnic competitions which lead to armed conflicts among ethnic groups. One may also note the "tragedy of the commons”, where the two competitors choose to degrade the resource, though they know the loss they incur, however. Behind this text of resource-based conflict and conflict resolution is the problem of policy issues and state interventions. This is what seems to have constituted the content for Finna San Gama.
It is such a social and political problem existing among the people addressed in the recital poetry. Regardless of the ecological and religious differences, it is a call for a campaign to focus instead on the enormous common sociopolitical and economic problems that have stumbled the noble cause of sociocultural and economic developments while actively engaged in processes of national identity formation. In this respect, "national literatures and nations themselves are socially constructed," to borrow Sara M. Corse's words (1997) in a non-Corsian world, "under identifiable political and historical circumstances". This can be seen in the sociologically oriented study of Jaarsoo's poetry in which the process of constructing the nation and national literature is interwoven.
Part of the force of the poems in FSG comes from the rhetorical questions forwarded sometimes followed by immediate responses as in the dialogue in FSG II and sometimes not as in the lines below (FSG III, p28):
ijoollee tan tee tun maaliif
tokkollee waa hinbaratin
bittaa, ati horii kanaatiif
ilumayyuu hinbanatin?!
why among your children,
at least one has not gone to school?
you know, it is because of these cattle you herd
that you go blindfolded?!
For an important category of imagery some parts of FSG draw much on the animal world as that of Jaldoo and Kinniisa in FSG III. Imagery in FSG II, to the contrary, mainly comes from the cosmic worldview of the Oromo, which is an indicative of the metaphysical common knowledge system of Oromo society. Added to its dialogic poetic style, in FSG is the point of influence of political events during and before the poet's time, and the preoccupation with socio-economic problems of the people. As in FSG III, there is a dialogue about the fierce combat between Jaldoo (Monkey) and Kinniisaa ('a Swarm of Bee'). The combat is between Jaldoo coming down from a mountainous region in the highland to cut beehives and eat honeycombs by force and 'a Swarm of Bee' fighting to defend their territory.
Summarily, the issue of conflict over resources, particularly land seems to be the center of the content of FSG. In the texts, in this study, attempt is made to consolidate the recital poetry on the basis of oral popular form of dispute settlement. The dialogic communicative mode and allegorical representation of the Oromo worldview in FSG, one may conclude, is an indicative of the depth of Oromo philosophy of life and the beauty of artistic values that necessitate the study of Oromo literature from a sociological perspective. Such influences of Oromo oral tradition in Finna San Gama (I-IV) establish the identity of Oromo literature as having some didactic role.
Social and Development Issues
Social development theory and the finna theory of Oromo development phases are relevant to the sociological study of Jaarsoo's poetry. Positive approach is concerned with how development takes place. Normative approach is concerned with how development ought to take place. The distinction between the two is 'what is' and 'what ought to be'. In its normative aspect, a process of growth that does not lead to the fulfillment of basic human needs, and more than that to freedom of expression, self-realization in work is said to be a travesty of development, i.e., not real development. Jaarsoo's poetic social criticism in the four tapes presented in this study is more concerned with what ought to be than what is. Thus, Jaarsoo’s poetry as a social critique of finna Oromo follows a normative approach.
The didactic role of FSG originates in the Oromo tradition of teaching with songs, riddles, proverbs and folktales. That is, the narrator's conception of himself as more perceptive and sensitive in his society (line 1 below), perhaps as a visionary, as a poet, might have influenced the recital poetry to assume a didactic role. This can well be exhibited in FSG I where the danger of alcohol, generally labeled farsoo among the Booran, is satirized as one most serious social problem that impedes development. The poetic lines below are from FSG I (p2ff):
duuba, Boorana an sitti himaa,
farsoo la fulaan dabartee
badii tan tee tana:
halaknii guyyaa machooftaa
5 daadhii booka taan naqattee
birrii tan loon moonaa yaaftaa
garuu, deemtee la naagaddee?
now, Boorana, listen to me!
if you drink alcohol,
here are your weaknesses:
you get drunk day and night
as you make mead and effervesce.
but you sell the cattle and empty the hedge,
or where else you bring the money from?
Farsoo is used to criticize the people as causes of their own socio-economic problems (lines 4-7). The people are ridiculed for selling cattle and effervescing: but you sell the cattle…or where else you bring the money from? they are interrogated (lines 6&7). Satire, like imagery or symbolism, is in the Oromo poetic vein. One may consider such examples as in the geeraarsa folk song. Because of the didactic inclination of the Oromo imagination in most Oromo oral poetry, as the dhaaduu war poem, there is interest in the poem above in social criticism manifested in satire. In the above poetic content there seems to be an atmosphere of social and economic crisis in which the narrator acts as a saviour/messenger who delivers his people an urgent message: now, Boorana, listen to me! (line 1). The message is urgent since the main concern is with the current poor social and economic condition of the people who, as recited in the poem above (line 6), sell their cattle to go to brothel and effervesce. To the above rhetorical question, farsoo is purportedly said to have responded thus (p4):
maa isan hinabaarre qara?
waan isanii tahe cufa beekaa:
daallichi na dhugu inqarooma,
abeebi na dhugu injannooma,
5mandiidi na dhugu inkasooma,
doorichi na dhugu inwayyooma
oorisaa sun keessaa aqooqa?
why don't you know man,
that I am so good to you?
the fool drinks me to become wise
the coward drinks me to become hero
the untamed drinks me to become well mannered
and, the sad drinks me to become fine--
I avoid all his worries?
In each of the above lines are antithetic expressions: fool/wise (line 3), coward/hero (line 4), untamed/well-mannered (line 5), and sad/fine (line 5). Those expressions are carefully woven into the poetic craft to effect semantic parallelism based on antonyms: that farsoo can turn what is unpleasant mood without the drink into a much better mood after the drink (line 6). The poetic social analysis of development and social issues in the poetry is marked by changes in the socio-political and historical conditions in the poet's environment. The changes have placed their stamp on the reciter's poetic imagination producing types of poetry that seem to characterize a developing society--developing in some way.
The structure of most of FSG, as in the above extract, changes from a statement to a rhetorical question as a forceful portrayal of ideas of defeat and submissive attitude of the present-day Boorana drinking farsoo (p15):
duub, Boorana sitti himaa now, Boorana listen to me!
farsoo yo fulaan dabarte if you drink farsoo
dadiin tan tee tana here are your weaknesses:
Boorana ati waan guddaa, Boorana, you are big enough
5gurr' kee Waaqat' sii gabbisee God has created you
so legendary
laf' kee Waaqat' sii bal'isee and your land so wide
bultumaan sidiin si marsitee unfortunately you live
surrounded by Others
waggaa waggaan si darbattii pushing you every year
laf' tee dansaa siin falmitee claiming your land
and land resources,
Abbaa Biyyaa hintaaneeree? now, have they not
become citizens?
Thus, the poetic content above operates on two levels giving two layers of meanings. On one level it portrays more emphatically the concern for the well-being of the people (lines 1-3). On the other level, the idea of reclaiming land and land resources, more than that, the Booranaland, is reflected on (lines 7-10). In order to convey two levels of meanings, there is a tone of a dramatized conversation in the question and answer form, though the conversation is one-sided. FSG I is not the only conversational and dialogic mode of narrative in FSG I-IV. What is unique to this recital poetry is that it is not just to blame the resource competitors and outsiders for the poor social and economic condition the people are put in, but also the people are responsible for what is happening to them.
By alternative/another development theory development strategies should be: need oriented (geared towards both material and non-material human needs), endogenous (stemming from the heart of the society which defines its sovereignty in its values and the vision of its future), self-reliant (that each society relies primarily on its own strengths and resources in terms of its members' energies and its natural and cultural environment), ecologically sound (utilizing rationally the resources and with the awareness of local ecosystems, global and local outer limits imposed on present and future generations). An attempt to define alternative/another development theory in terms of those principles is not to mean that in the alternative approach there is a universal path to development. There is the tendency that every society must find its own strategy compatible with its needs (in "Dimensions of Another Development", Ch. 5). Finna Oromo is such indigenous development phases that over-rule other economic and socio-political principles Jaarsoo laments in his poetry as protracted by external pressures.
While the people are criticized for adopting the naftanya's (soldier settler's) life style, in the poem below is also a satirical comment of the political ineptitude and economic mismanagement imposed by the Abyssinian rule. The lines below lash out at corruption (see lines 1 & 4) pointing out the bureaucratic malfunctions of the naftanya rule. The social evils of the system are recounted thus (FSG I, p38):
aaboo birrii shantami jiraa? -you got fifty Birr?
iyyoo! -no!
heec! deem asii! -go away!
nam' duwwaa dubbatut' jiraa?... who speaks without
a bribe?...
5kudhan bulii deebi'i, jedhiin come back after ten
daysdubbii dhibiit' biiroo jiraa. since there are other
businesses now.
korbeess' fidii kot jedhiin tell him to come with
a lamb then,
keessummaa jabduut man' na jiraa. I will be having a guest.
korbeess' kiyya hinkennu, inqoofti -I would rather die than
10 du'at' irra naa jira! to bring to you a lamb!
It is discernible in the poetic content above that the naftanya armed settler is so parasitic (lines 7&8) since he is not directly involved in the production system. The fact that the peasant failed to offer a bribe, fifty Birr in cash (lines 1&2), or fetch a lamb (line 7) so that his case will be handled properly indicates the historical relationships based on injustices under the Abyssinian rule. The economic greed of the ruling class is referred to as it perpetuates an oppressive feudal structure. The feudal relations depicted in FSG are the local version of stories about the gabbaar system extracting taxes and tributes from the peasant. In Boorana, in the further north, for instance, and to the north-west (Hiddii area), the system was based on share-cropping contracts between the feudal retainer and the tenants. Whereas, in the pastoral areas of Liiban and part of Dirre the Boorana families were obliged to supply the naftanya with corvee labour and tributes (interview with Dabbasaa).
One may hasten to add that in FSG it is not just a short poem that communicates effectively but also the move to and fro on a swing in a poem asking rhetorical but crucial questions (p44):
adoo hag fedhe hammaatee
yeroon chaarterii kun
nagaa nu hanqisaa?
hinhanqisu beeki aaboo!
5 bilisummaan teenna la dhiyaatee,
Waaqaa nuun gayi malee.
e'ee! si kadhaanne!
and thus, we pray to You!
even if it is a hard time for us
this time of the Charter
but would it deprive us our peace?
no, it never deprives us
our Independence is approaching
oh God! may our dream come true!
The narrator starts by asking in an apparently innocent manner how the fate of his people would turn out after the 1991Charter (lines 1-3) signed by the TPLF-led coalition parties of the then Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE). In the dialogue above the listener answers the vision of the Oromo should be one of hope to restore all the past cultural values and other legacies they have lost and to regain a state of well-being. Protagonists in Jaarsoo's narrative claim to have common heritage and shared destiny: oh, God, may our dream come true (line 6). The Boorana/Oromo image of Waaqa 'God' in FSG (line 6), is "a source of identity, of life-giving unity and continuity" (see Gudrun Dahl in Baxter 1996: 176). Parallel to the prayer and song of hope and determination (lines 6&7) there is a narrative below having a tone of nonchalant defiance (lines 4&5) that there is no peace and stability in Boorana ever since the Tigre's incursion (lines 1&2) into the area (FSG I, p44):
duub, kutaa Mooyalee keessatti
gaaf Tigireen laf' keenna seente kanaa
nami garii laf' teenna 'edhaa
lafuma durii Booranni irratti dhalatee
5 kan falmaa. afaanii hudduu 'saatii
gar-dhabani!
now, in Moyale
when Tigre intruded into Boorana
some re-claimed the Booranaland
the land that the Booran lived on
borne and bred on this land for ages,
Others claimed this, claimed that
we couldn't tell their head and their tail!
The felt forceful presence of the wayyane among the Boorana in 1991(lines 1&2 above) is what Shongolo declares as the "Tigre attempts of Abyssinian neo-colonialism" (Shongolo 1996:267, 268). Thus, the artistic purpose in the extract seems to convey the continuous 'divide and rule' policy of the Abyssinian rule in the south. Finna San Gama has a lot to do with the Oromo socio-political and economic history. The motif of economic and political dependence of the Oromo under colonial rule and the consequent Oromo nationalism is recurrent in FSG.
The poem also focuses on conflicts caused by unevenness of development. That is, certain regions are placed in more advantageous positions than others and, consequently, attract more investment and skill than others (cf. FSG II, pp59ff.), whereas people in the backwash regions are considered as reluctant citizens. Even today their protests are politicized and considered as mere ethnic violence, hooliganism or strictly speaking, terrorism. In FSG the poetic social analysis of nepotism or ethnic favouritism seems to be on a par with what development and conflict theorists claim. That is, the state tends to develop interests with the most commercialized regions since they provide the type of free-floating resources upon which the state depends for its function. What is more, the so-called 'state class' is often recruited from the same ethnic group which reinforces the biases as clearly recited in FSG III: when the government favours one tribe [the Habasha] / how come we battle each other? (p37).
Another development theory implies small-scale solutions than mainstream solutions to solve local problems and, for pragmatic reasons, Third World countries are said to opt for it (Ignacy Sachs 1980 and 1974, Stavenhagen 1986 in Worsley 1984:186, 187). The outcome of the mainstream development strategy is an explosion of ethnic violence, such that Jaarsoo Waaqoo describes in his narrative poetry. The strategy is based on 'people not things', which is ambiguous since "people consist neither of individuals nor of nation states" (ibid. p189).
While the influences of the West and such big regimes as the IMF and World Bank in the Third World in the name of grants are referred to (see ‘nam’-adii’, ‘white-man’ in FSG II above), issues of ethnic favouritism crop up in FSG again (FSG III, p81):
maddoo xuuxuu malee,
wayyaanee faatilleen
hattee luuguu malee...
we suck, we prey on what is too little
and yet, the wayyane live on
(stealing) our milk8
In the poetic lines above the wayyane is to blame for the poor life condition the Oromo are put in. Thus, as a freedom fighter the poet not only recited about liberation struggle but also he lived it and spoke it to his people with the voice of a strong zeal and commitment as can be further illustrated.
In the recital poetry, historical injustices, like the continuous aggression, conquest and genocide inflicted on the Oromo nation are recited. Rhetorical questions that elicit an emphatic answer 'yes!' are forwarded and statements full of images and idioms taken from Oromo oral tradition and from historical facts are used. The image of a beast of burden (line 3) below illustrates the continuous offence (FSG I, p50):
kanum dhufut' nu yaabbataa
garbummaan gad nu hindhiifnee.
haga harree harreen korteellee
lukaan ofirraa hindhiinnee. 5 akkum laafaa jabaan buusee
jalum ciifnee hinciniinne
they mounted us one after another
and we live under servitude ever since.
even a beast of burden kicks as if by instinct
when by force another beast of burden
comes on top of it.
or, even, like the week thrown by a muscular,
we daren't bite while lying under.
The generalized statements in the poem come from the preceding rhetorical questions (FSG I, pp48, 49, 50) and do not mention the object of criticism other than "we", an indicative of Oromo colonial collective experience and shared destiny.
There is a new shift of focus in FSG, though not a fundamental change, from the greater emphasis on the past to the present socio-political and economic deficiency of the nation. In what follows there is a shift from lamentation of the past to the song of defiance/refusal to succumb to despair under the neo-colonial rule by the TPLF and its surrogates as couched in a tone that speaks anger and determination (FSG I, p55):
Oromoo bilis' ba'uu
nam' tokkollee hinkadhatu...
Goobanaa barri kee dabree
kan balleessite hin'gartu?
5 akka gaaf Minilik kaan
Oromoo afaan itti hinhaqattu.
at ulee bofaan ejjeesani
biyitilleen mana ofiitti hingalattu
of eeggadhu Goobana
the Oromo do not beg for permission
to be an Independent nation...
Goobana, your days are bygone, 9
don't you see your wicked acts?
5 you can no more slur the name of the Oromo
like during the time of Menelik.
you are cursed, to be thrown
like a stick with which a snake is beaten
Goobana, watch out!
Goobana’ in this poem (lines 3&9), as elsewhere seen in FSG series, is a representational character, representative of the wayyane-subordinate OPDO. In the poetic line don’t you see your wicked acts? (line 4), attempt is not only to champion the pan-Oromo cause, but also to project the fearless and aggressive attitude of the Oromo towards the OPDO which represents the determination of the oppressed to resist neo-colonial rule (lines 1&2).
The poetry is recited in the Orwellian sense, to say, since the narrator satirizes his characters and uses allegory with a desire to push the world in a certain direction and to alter other people's ideas of the type of society that they should strive after, as Mutiso says (1974:4). The reciter seems confident that most of his public/audience share with him the same cultural background and suffer the same socio-political and economic deficiencies that constitute the content of the poetry.
Thus, FSG achieves even great power in the remaining part of the poems. The contribution of FSG to Oromo literature, particularly to Oromo poetry is substantial. This is because approach to the poetic analysis of social phenomena in the recital poetry lays fertile ground to establish defining characteristics of Oromo literature. That is, attempts made in FSG to establish the socio-cultural identity of Oromo literature/poetry are an indicative of the didactic role of Oromo literature reflecting the socio-political and economic transformation of the Orormo nation. In the context of this poetry the importance of its contribution lies mainly in the attempts made to reconcile the worldview and linguistic repertoire of a traditional society, namely, the Booran with the universal and collective life experience of the Oromo under the Abyssinian colonial and neo-colonial rule. Thus, the poetic social analysis in FSG focuses on the recurrent theme of resource-based conflict, sociaal and development issues and the discourse of colonial and neo-colonial issues. Dialogue, in FSG, is a poetic style, so much as it is the medium of nagaa Boorana, the peace of the Borana. In the poetry, the reciter "consciously used...a 'war of words' as opposed to a "war with arms" (Shongoglo 1996:269).
Colonial and Neo-colonial Issues
In the view of the poetic contents of FSG, the southern conquest was nothing other than colonialism. There could be different theses about Menelik's southern march to invade and subjugate the Oromo and others in the south, however (cf., Messay 1999). It is thus voiced in FSG I (pp48, 49):
waa gaaf Aatsee Minilik kaan of the time of Atse Menelik
badaa, an isaanti hinhimnee? oh, haven't I told you?
qawwee qabatee gad dhufee, armed and marched
to the south,
ilmaan Oromoo hinfixnee? didn't he massacre the Oromo?
5 ...nam'-adiin mal dhahatee didn't he consult white-man
yaada dhibii nutti hinfinnee? and brought to us things
that were newfangled?
Goobanaan nut' gargalee didn't Goobana turn to us,
Oromoo addaan hinfillee? and divided and ruled
the Oromo?
Oromiyaa maqaa jijjiiree didn't he change Oromia
Xoophiyaa jedhee hinhimnee? and re-named it Ethiopia?
The above lament in FSG I substantiates the colonial thesis. It is thus recounted: a century ago Menelik (line 1) cheaply won interests of the politically irresponsible Oromo military geniuses such as Goobana (line 7) and massacred a large number of the Oromo (lines 3,4,6). He also 'brought things that were newfangled' (line 6): imposed the new cultural, socio-political and production system on the Oromo who until then had lived according to the gadaa egalitarian system. The resources Menelik obtained by conquering and annexing the Oromo and Oromoland enabled him to build the Ethiopian empire (lines 9&10). In the poetic lines full of allusions above: the time of Menelik, armed and marched to the south, white man, and Goobana, one can observe that Menelik's conquest was made possible through foreign contacts, i.e., through the 'white man' (line 5), and had a serious effect on the Oromo and the southern populations (FSG IV: p135):
jabaa qaroon cufa our strong and enlightened ones
lafa akkan dhootanii they evicted, chased, massacred
foon isaa rumichaaf and offered the victims' flesh to hawks
allaattiif furanii threw to the vultures' sharp claws,
5 ilmaan Oromichaa …children of the Oromo
akkasiin dhabanii! were lost thus!
ganna dhibba tokko, one hundred years solid,
akkasum' baranii it has been a colonial legacy
biyya Oromiyaatti to see the flag of the colonial power
alaabaa hidhanii! flying full-mast on Oromoland,
in Oromia!
Using the words evicted, chased, massacred (line 2) and vultures' sharp claws' (line 4) FSG projects the lasting damages and heavy loses of human lives inflicted and the socio-political and cultural systems imposed on the Oromo for one hundred years solid (line 7). The severe human condition under the colonial rule is recounted: they [the colonial rulers] massacred the Oromo, evicted and chased them (lines 2-5). The poetry proves Messay Kebede’s argument (1999) that Ethiopian colonialism, like the European colonialism is a "violent process of conquest, annexation, incorporation and subjugation of peoples and territories involving massive use of manpower, technology and strategy whatever to overcome every resistant force of the victims" (p11). From the viewpoint of the colonial thesis it is agreed that the expansion triggered by Ethiopian economic necessity, though not on the same level with that of the European domestic economic needs, is equally colonial as that of its European counterpart.
FSG confirms the colonial thesis that both the European and the Ethiopian colonialism were motivated by the same imperialist causes. Below is a poem that recounts the vision of Menelik's alliance with the then European colonial powers competing in Africa (FSG I, pp48, 49):
qawwee qabatee gad dhufee, armed and marched to the south,
ilmaan Oromoo hinfixnee? didn't he massacre the Oromo?
nam'-adiin mal dhahatee didn't he consult the white-man
yaada dhibii nutti hinfinnee? and brought to us things
that were newfangled?
The motif of nam'-adii 'white man' (line 3) is very important in the poetry. It is strongly believed in the recital poetry that Menelik couldn’t have succeeded in conquering the Oromo without the European support (line 3). In FSG II the western intervention is condemned for having always favoured the Ethiopian colonial policies. Menelik's land policy, for instance, is the siisoo system in the south whereby two-thirds of the land was confiscated and declared state property. Whereas, the natives could claim only the remaining third (FSG I, p35):
lafti inni qotuu the land he tills
cufti ka daanyaa isaa! is the colonial agent's/landlord's!
hark' dhibba keessaa out of one hundred hands
tokkee qofat' ka isaa only one goes to the tenant
yoo xaasaan tokko bade if one xaasaa (a weight measure)
was missing,
isaabi gar' isaa he had to pay from his own share
of the crop
and, in FSG III (p41):
ebalu yaayyuu deegee beettaa. So and So is already
impoverished
ilaa waan nyaatee dhugu qabaa? you see, he has nothing
left to bite?
The above two lines indicate the consequences of such a major disruption and degradation of the traditional economic life of the Oromo and others in the south: poverty, resource competitions, environmental degradation and border conflicts that usually lead into enter-ethnic wars. The same exploitation and unrest has been evident throughout the successive historical regimes (FSG I, pp48, 49, 50):
waa gaaf Aatsee Minilik kaan of the time of Atse Menelik:
Oromiyaa maqaa jijjiiree didn't he Christianize
Oromoland
Xoophiyaa jedhee hinhimnee? and re-name it Ethiopia?
Hayila Sillaaseen dhufee didn't Hailesilassie do to us
haga kaan 'llee nu hinhanqifnee? much more evils
than his predecessor?
Mangistuun Tafarii 'jjeesee didn't Mengistu kill
Teferi [Banti]
reeffa lafa irra hinharkifnee? and drag the corpse
on the ground?
foon ilmaan Oromoo nyaataa and to grab their claws
at the flesh of the Oromo,
harraagessi hinkaakkifnee? didn't hawks cackle
and croak?
In the dialogic mode of communication in FSG, rhetorical questions are forwarded about what would be like the fate of the Oromo in the macro-political context of Ethiopia under the neocolonial rule. The plight of the Oromo under colonial rule is clearly articulated thus: ‘divided and ruled’ (FSG I, p48, line 8) and 're-named Ethiopia' (line 3 above). Whereas the traditional system of rist (inherited land) secured the right to land and to production for domestic consumption to each peasant in the north, the system of tenancy was introduced to the south. The siisoo (one-third) land policy made it possible for the state to hold large estate, to broaden cash crop production which stimulated new northern settlers among the Oromo (FSG I, p65):
Oromiyaa nagaa buufna 'etteetuu
achiin gaarren nutt' qubattee,
akka Oromoon bultee kaatuu
cufa keessa yaatee ubattee
5 qabeenna Oromiyaa keennaa
walumaan qabdee xuuxxatte.
to pacify Oromoland, to civilize the Oromo, as it were,
they ‘descended’ and settled among us,
then learned the Oromo and Oromoland, in and out
and at last they sucked the resources
of the Oromo and Oromoland
(like a vampire)
Following the Ethiopian colonial system, socio-cultural and political oppression became evident in the south. The first two poetic lines above show, the Habasha ‘descended’ and ‘settled’ (line 2) among the Oromo and imposed the hierarchical and individualistic system of the north predominantly Semitic population on the egalitarian and solidaristic population of the essentially Cushitic south, particularly the Oromo who up until then had lived by and exercised the gadaa democratic system. Of the origin of the Oromo (see Journal of Oromo Studies, 1998: 155-172), below are the poetic lines in FSG IV (p117):
garii gad hindhufnee,
bar kuma, lafti
asitti dhalannee guddanne!
we didn't come from the North, you know,
for thousand year, this is the very land,
where we were borne and bred!
The words 'bar kuma', literally, 'thousand year' (line 2) is not just to mean 'one thousand year'. It is rather to corroborate re-claiming the origin of the Oromo in the south so much as it is to illustrate picture of the invaders from the north as outsiders to the southern populations. The Oromo traditional, communal or collectivist system is demonstrated in FSG as despised by the northern class-based system oriented by imperial ideology of expansion. The poems above: ‘to pacify Oromoland, to civilise the Oromo…(line 1) ’ show the Abyssinian invasion of the Oromo and the southern population was, purportedly, not without a civilizing or pacifying mission. In the lines to follow, cultural oppression by the Ethiopian colonial power is no less depicted in FSG than the political and economic degradation of the Orromo. That is, the naftanya (armed settlers) not only forced the Oromo to enter the colonial political life but also Christianized them by force to effect assimilation (see lines 5 & 6 below). The past is recaptured thus (FSG I, p64):
barri durii kaan ya hafee!
akki gaaf durii dur qalloo.
seerri gadaa kaan ya galee...
Oromiyaan hindanadamannee:
5...irreen kirstinnaa kaatee
cufti aadaa ofii dhabdee!
the good old day is now bygone!
all that's in the past is no more.
the gadaa system is considered obsolete…
and Oromia is not yet recovered:
Christianized by force
and lost all the cultural legacies!
By the same historical derive as that of its European counterparts Ethiopian colonial expansion catered for its domestic economic needs through similar methods of conquest, administration, and surplus extraction. Theoretical abstractions supported by factual evidences prove what a certain scholar has said about the contribution of the southern peoples and the Oromo to the integrity and wealth of Ethiopian Empire. It is noted thus: without the blood and the sweat of the Oromo and the southern populations, first, the battle of Adwa might not have been won; second, Menelik II might not have built the empire (qtd. in Messay 1999:15; see also Asafa 1998, chapter 9 passim). Despite the recital poetry that raises Ethiopia to the level of a colonial power, but there is an assumption that a backward country such as Ethiopia cannot be on a par with European colonial powers which have a definite expansionist ideology.
By the theory of dependent colonialism, which is a classical form of neo-colonialism, colonial possessions are now no longer justifiable. It therefore holds that so much as European colonial powers have surrendered their colonial dominions in Africa "so too must Ethiopia release its conquest by according the right to self-determination" to the nations and nationalities it has still subjugated (Messay ibid. p17). Since the content of FSG, the researcher believes, is a socio-political and cultural standard bearer of the poet's people, it is not surprising that socio-political assertiveness in Oromo (oral) poetry is a predominant preoccupation, particularly in FSG. A unique identity seems to be curved for the Oromo as opposed to the outsiders (FSG III, p19):
eessatt' baqannee gallaa,
nullee laf' kanum qabnaa?
where else can we go,
we have this and only this land?
The poetic content of FSG is anchored in the sea of Oromo socio-political, cultural and economic milieu as the narrator declares ‘we have this and only this land’ (line 2 above). Hence, the issue of land is very important. Land ownership to the Oromo means wealth, dignity, stability and honour. It is also a symbol of identity. There comes a shift from the cultural and the political to the socio-economic matters as economic hardships become obvious in the penultimate line below referring to the highland (FSG III, p19):
lafti dhaloot keenyaa gaaraa,
waan nyaannullee keessaa 'garraa?
our native land is far north,
do we get anything to bite,
(if we happen to live there)?
The contents of FSG include the idea of a protracted liberation struggle and optimism in the minds of the majority of the Oromo symbolised by a humming voice of the multitude 'we' (FSG III, pp81-88) until the conclusive poetic line follows (p88):
hubattu malee waa hintahin! jedhe,
jaarsi guddatee waa bare.
do not get involved without any deliberation!
says an elderly man well experienced and matured.
Thus, FSG is a social and political satire in which the pace of the poem quickens and the various images come in quick succession one after another having an irresistible cumulative effect on the poetic content (cf. the issue of farsoo (alcohol) recited in FSG I, Cubbuu and Dhugaa (Vice and Virtue in FSG II). These can well be exemplified in FSG III by the interplay of multiple images and symbols such as Jaldoo (monkey) marching down from the highland mountainous region to cut beehives and eat honeycomb, and a Swarm of Bee chasing and ravaging the Monkeys (p19):
eessatti baqannee galtuu,
nullee laf kanum' qabnaa?
waan ati hinbeenne si barsiisa
ollaan wal dhabama qabnaa
5 lafti dhaloot keenyaa gaaraa,
waan nyaannullee keessaa 'garraa?
where else you think can we go,
we have this and this land alone?
I tell you what you do not seem to be aware of
We are not in good terms with the neighours
our native land is far north,
do we get anything to bite?
The issue of land and property right to land is an important issue in FSG (lines 1&2 above). Jaldoo (Monkey) say that they have nowhere to go since their “native land is far north” (line5), and they have nothing to bite lest they leave this land. Characters in FSG III are as allegorical as Dhugaa and Cubbuu in FSG II, except that Dhugaa and Cubbuu relate to the Oromo metaphysical view. The character 'a Swarm of Bee' in FSG III is the previous symbolic stance repeatedly appeared in FSG I (p32) used as a refrain:
maqaa irraa jijjiiran
gudayyoo biyyi isaa
gubbaan maqaan dhokate,
Oromoo tuuta kinniisaa
they changed the name
the name of the Great Land,
never heard was the name,
of the Oromo, of 'a swarm of bee'10
The refrain lifts the imagery to the realm of poetic excellence so much as it depicts the large number of the Oromo nation: 11 despite their numerical majority the Oromo are considered, politically speaking, the minority ethnic group, under the Abyssinian colonial/neo-colonial rule.
The joys and sorrows of the society as experienced by the poet himself, since he is the sensitive part of his society as a poet and a freedom fighter, is articulated bluntly. That is, the poet's socio-economic orientation throughout his poetry indicates the poet's commitment to social, ideological and class-consciousness. There is a marked concern about the desperate condition of his people and about the oppressed (pp22ff):
isii mee warri baranaa
qabsoo 'dhee raasaa seenee,
ka sa'i bilisum' teennaa,
dhaluu didee maseenee?
those who fled to the bush
and joined the liberation struggle,
our cows expectant of freedom,
they remained sterile?
The question in the lines our cows expectant of freedom / they remained sterile? (lines 3&4) produce effects of a tone of embarrassment arising from the very dim prospect of seeing 'freedom' (line 3). The question dhaluu didee maseenee? (remained sterile?), i.e., freedom is too late to come? (line 4) bears quite a desperate tone. The narrator is skeptical about the coming of freedom so much as once a cow has become barren, by that analogy, it does not bear a calf. However, a two-line verse from FSG IV (p149)
geette giseen! ka'aa barbaadaa:
bilisummaa, jiruu biyyee lafaadhaa!
it is time! get up and seek the unended quest!
freedom, independence and all that is finna!
reminds the researcher of one Oromo saying: obsaan aanan goromsaa dhuga, meaning, one who can wait in patience drinks even the milk of a heifer, which in turn echoes the adage better later than never.
Speaking of the current socio-political conditions in Ethiopia, the replacement of the Amhara-led previous successive regimes by the Tigre-led neo-colonial regime is also recited. The dictatorial EPRDF regime (lines 1&2) is thus described by the unfree and unfair elections (FSG III, 74):
mootummaa nat gubbaa jiraa!
mircaan' seer kiyyaan tahamaa
warr' boson jiru fayyaa nitii
kan filannoo kan didu beekaa
eger waraanaan hadhamaa
I am the dictator!
election is under my authority
those who boycotted are not sane enough,
watch out! anyone who rejects the election
will be harassed and executed
Such conflicting views are exploited to convey what the wayyane preaches and what it practices: in the name of democracy and free and fair election but harassment and execution (lines 4 &5) have become the rule of the day under the neo-colonial Tigre-led system.
As the poetic line 'I am the dictator' (line 1) shows one characteristic feature inherent to the neo-colonial order is that one ethnic group has dominance over the other(s). It is also characterised by interests of the "national" sabotaged by interests of the ruling ‘outsiders’ (line 2). One method of survival that wayyane uses in Ethiopia today, as in the lines below, is granted by assembling different ethnic groups and tribes along their linguistic and socio-cultural boundaries and then hatching many such PDO's as the OPDO, i.e., the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation. In the four poetic lines of FSG III the OPDO is described as the wayyane neo-colonial agents (line 3) in Oromia (p.77):
daallee na herreguut' jirtaa
gugguba na hinqabu mataan!
OPDO wayyaanumaa,
keenni imbarte malee afaan
you consider me as foolish
no branding is on me like cattle!
OPDO is a wayyane-subordinate,
but she learnt our language.
In this poem, only by virtue of their linguistic background (line 4) non-Oromos in the OPDO, with few irresponsible native Oromos, claim to work for the Oromo nation under the wayyane ‘nation building’ project. It is such a neo-colonial doctrine characterised by wayyane's political system of ethnic favouritism and foreign alliance that is strongly condemned in Finna San Gama 'Beyond Adversities'.
In the final analysis, the socio-political and economic condition of the Boorana, and of the Oromo in general, could improve if the people maintain their local and macro-political viability and defend their territorial integrity. The Oromo have had such a complex theory of social and cultural development as finna that well dictates Oromo literature and now, Finna San Gama I-IV. While he is reconstructing the past and deconstructing the present, as he has no confidence in the status quo, and foreseeing the future, perhaps it is the narrator's mission to direct the vision of his generation towards building free and independent Oromia State beyond all adversities. Thus, in the sub-section below the content of FSG as recounting the past and its role as actively commenting on the status quo and depicting the historical, social and cultural life situation of the Oromo will be analyzed.
Rethinking Issues of Nationalism
Like in other poems in FSG, in FSG IV there are also multiple trends. Some of these trends are conflicting: the national, tribal, human, personal and public concerns are not singled out. The tensions and the conflict of allegiance between the Oromo and other ethnic groups in the immediate environment are recited and issues of the Oromo liberation struggle throughout Oromia are repeatedly raised in the recital poetry.
Though there is a shift towards local politics in the middle of the recital poetry the focus is still on the pan-Oromo cause of self-determination including independence (FSG IV, p90):
lafee keenya abaaranii
laafa keenya jaalatanii.
jaalala goggoyidduu nu 'garsiisanii
qolee nu harraabanii,
5 teessum' goggoydduu nu 'garsiisanii
maas' keenna nu qotatanii,
fudhachaa lafa Oromoo...
they cursed our bone
and loved our land.
they pretended to love us
and licked us in the nape.
they became citizens, while we, subjects,
were pushed into the dry land,
thus, they annexed our fertile land…
The opening lines in the above poem (lines 1&2) make the route very clear as a prologue to the following descriptive and political verses. The theme of nationalism (line 5: they became citizens, while we…subjects) as in the above poetic lines is the major concern of the recital poetry that runs through the enchanting collection of the poems. In most part of FSG the recitation opens with the Oromo past and leads on to the present as it comparatively goes on to give the poetic social analysis. The purpose of the recitation seems to mark where "the rain started to beat" the Oromo while it forecasts when it would end. Thus there are repeated rhetorical questions to which there are no immediate responses as in the following lines in FSG IV (p. ibid.):
dhiibbaa dhuma hinqabneen,
akkuma Oromoon dhalatteen
durii duraan hinargamne
jijjiirama akka har'aa kana,
5 Oromoo!
at' fagoott' hingarree?
under a boundless pressure
in the history of the nation
experience non-existent hitherto
such changes as today’s challenges
Oromo!
never did you expect? never ever you
expected it to happen?
Perhaps unlike most other Oromo (oral) poetry, FSG can afford to be so forthright in the assessment of the contribution of each and every individual Oromo elite or otherwise. This is so because the reciter was there in the Oromo liberation struggle up until he died in 1994, and therefore what he says he says it from direct experience, as the poetic line below asks energetically with an authority: Oromo! / never did you expect? never ever you / expected it to happen? (lines 6,7).
As conveyed below the sacrifice of freedom fighters and individual martyrs is not the end of the struggle; it is rather the responsibility of each and every Oromo to be committed in and be serious about the liberation struggle to determine one's fate under the continuous neo-colonial aggression (cf. FSG III, p79). Get up! I awake you! it voices (line 1 below):
si dammaqsee lafaa ka'i!
gam' kan keetiin jirti hafoon,
atoo si qofa hinta'inuu
nama ka jaartiillee, akkoon
5 haa qorattu xiloo ofii,
WBO callaa miti marroon
get up! I awake you!
there remain a lot to be done on your side
and, not only you but
every old man and woman
should grind spear,
or, not the OLA (Oromo Liberation Army) alone.
It is said that the fight against enemies, both external and internal, has to be seen as an ongoing process (line 2) that one has to continue courageously and with full hope for a free and independent Oromia State. In the next extract a tribute is made to the Oromo martyr, Elemoo Qilxuu, and abbaa seeraa (a lawmaker), which declares that one has to start off the long journey where the martyr stopped up (ibid):
Abbaa Seeraa wareegamee,
faanum Elemoo Qilxuutii
seelee inni nut lakkise
fakkeenna qiiqqee hir'uutii.
5 eennut' seelee kan nuu guuta,
kun jabaa gabbisa irbuunii?
the law maker is martyred
following Elemo Qilxu
the unended quest that he left
is like an incomplete part of the body.
who will fill up the gap?
this renews the solemn promise.
Stretching far back his memory to 1973 one may recapture the early days of the OLF commencement in the following lines (FSG IV, p95):
ganni torbaatamii sadii
Oromoon jalqabamee
wal-dhageessi yayyabamee
kan egertii boruu yaadamee
5 finna lafaan yayyabattiif
jireenna Waaqaa argattii
dhala raa'achaaf eebbifattiif
baandiraa ka ofii 'rra dhaabatti!
the year nineteen seventy three,
Oromo‘ was launched
there was consensus reached,
and the future was planned:
for the foundation of finna
for worshiping Waqaa, source of life and continuity
for blessing our children to grow to meet the blast
and for planting the flag flying high full mast!
In the content analysis of FSG the use of a wide range of imagery is evident. Variety of imagery is used referring to animals and freedom seekers, named Abbaa Barbaadaa, Haa' Barbaadaa, i.e., the Father and Mother of Freedom Seeker, namely Barbaadaa/Murataa (see FSG III pp23ff). There are also other children who Abbaa Barbaadaa calls 'My Children': Garaa 'Stomach', Gurra 'Ear', and Karaa 'Road' (pp39ff). Unlike the determined and committed son, Murataa, those three are considered by their father as traitors, or in a more connotative term as 'Goobana'. To what Abbaa Barbaadaa asks what would be the fate of the Oromo under the Tigre neo-colonial rule, they unanimously answer 'We don't know!' (p66):
dukkan waggaa dhibbaa duunee
Oromo fuuldurri maal?
hinbeennu!
eega isin irri barraaqqattan,
5 gaafadhaa,
dukkan waggaa dhibbaa duunee
biyyi fuuldurri kee maal,
lafti dukkan duubaan bari'ee?
one hundred-year of darkness!
Oromo, what will be your fate in the future?
we don't know!
or after it is dawned,
I better ask, after
one hundred-year of darkness!
our people, what will be our fate,
is it dawn after the long night?
These rhetorical questions lead into another narrative which begins by 'lafa maaniin bariisise?' 'what the hell is dawn about?' (pp. 60-70), forwarded by the three 'children'. An extremely important set of images in FSG III is the category of images which projects mixed feelings of optimism and skepticism as in the above poetic lines. Such group of words as dukkana waggaa dhibbaa / 'one hundred year of darkness', fuuldura/'future' relate to certain time in history (perhaps the poet's own time) bringing about a better future, and time resolving current problems: Oromoo fuuldurri maal? / Oromo, what will be your fate in the future?
Finna San Gama is a kind of poetry that reflects the concrete reality of a people fighting for freedom and social justice. Jaarsoo's poetry is not made by an intellectual elite using revolutionary language devoid of practice. What is articulated in FSG is not based on mere abstraction; it is rather the result of active participation in the actual Oromo liberation struggle. Jaarsoo's poetry, one may argue, is therefore the meeting ground for theory and practice as the reciter is another Barbaadaa/Murataa, i.e., a freedom fighter himself. The people's sense of unity and purpose is called for to grow in the determination, to defeat the Abyssinian domination and build a new finna for a just society. In FSG III there are constant references to unity and determination (p66). The questions forwarded in the extract above (lines 1&2, 6&7) are not very rhetorical. Such questions sound to demand urgent answers:
dukkan waggaa dhibbaa duunee
Oromo fuuldurri maal?
one hundred-year of darkness!
Oromo, what will be your fate in the future?
In FSG III above, hope (line 2) is described as something achievable based on the observable progress of the struggle. Which is to say, hope is something unachievable on speculation and wishful thinking alone. Thus, a cow is satirized that it is an expectant but too late to bear a calf, while analogically speaking of the inconsistent but ultimate goal of Oromo liberation struggle, that is free Oromia (pp22ff).
Perhaps one last word in a refrain and choral repetitions was a call for unity of purpose (line 2) to see a free Oromia Sate (FSG IV, p149):
wal hinjibbinaa yaadaa yaadaa
tokkummaa yaadaa,
jiruu garboomaa ofirraa hadhaa
ilmaan Oromoo cuf garaa haadhaa
5geette giseen! ka'aa barbaadaa:
bilisummaa, jiruu biyyee lafaadhaa!
do not abhor one another, rather adore
think of unity with deliberation,
avoid sense of servitude and submissiveness
children of the Oromo, borne in the same womb
it is time! get up and seek the unended quest:
freedom, independence and all that is finna!
In FSG IV there is some degree of radicalism and commitment (line 5) as in other FSG poetry. The new trends in FSG IV, as in the above piece of poem, relate to themes, radical viewpoint, language and form which involves choral repetitions and songs. Choral repetition makes this last series very distinct from other Jaarsoo's poems. The songs and choral repetitions in the last FSG IV are said to be used to fill the little gap left incomplete by the tragic death of the poet and freedom fighter in the liberation struggle on Sept. 21st 1994 (interview with Tarrii, Qararsa, and Haalakee Feb. 2002).
To sum up: the content analysis of FSG I-IV has shown the usual tone of conviction and genuineness that one can observe. Issues of development, socio-political and economic problems come again and again in an ordinate manner in Finna San Gama. In the same manner, apart from national focus and trends there are regional issues: resolving resource-based conflicts and maintaining the Nagaa Borana (Peace of the Borana), issues of development, acute needs for education, and other similar social problems recited in FSG. The reasons for the regional difference are partly ecological and economic and partly socio-cultural set within the Ethiopian context of colonial and neo-colonial influences analyzed in this chapter. Thus, the liberation movement of the time of FSG was, or still is, response of the Oromo to the unpleasant state the people are put in. Turning inward, attempt in the recital poetry, FSG, is to criticize the Oromo to be mainly responsible for their problems, which makes it more plausible to talk about the poetry as a social critique.
Endnotes
1. The Boorana community is one of the Oromo society in which the gadaa system remains intact. Gadaa is the system which is interpreted by Asmarom Legesse (1973, 2000) as a politico-military system, which is denied by PTW Baxter, and M. Bassi who, to some extent, recognizes the limited political significance of gadaa (Asafa 1998:39). To Baxter, gadaa leaders do not exercise direct political power, and they do not control economic resources. Hence, gadaa, in this view, is a mere 'ritual and conceptual system' (Asafa, ibid.; cf. also Baxter 1978a: 1-36; Bassi in Baxter 1996: 150). However, to Jaarsoo Waaqoo, gadaa has political as well as legal functions, to which Gemechu Megersa contends (Gemechu 1993).
2. The resource competition may eventually lead into the ecosystem disaster called 'tragedy of the commons'.
3. Such an incorporation process 'Oromoomsuu' or Oromaization of outsiders for mutual socio-political and economic purposes in Boorana is what A. Triulzi, citing Asafa Jalata, calls moggaasa/guddifacha 'clan adoption' among the Macca Oromo (in Baxter ibid. p253). It should be also noted that because of the egalitarian nature of the gadaa system and the non-assimilative character of the Oromo culture Oromomsuu / guddifachaa, smooth shift of identity is not cultural and linguistic subordination of the clients, which the Habasha colonial expansion did to the Oromo. It is rather based on symbiotic relationship since, by the Oromo tradition, one should be willing to make such a decision as shifting identity.
4.Baddaa is the highland, mountainous region with fog, cold, and many trees. In Booranaland there are three important Baddaa regions. One is Baddaa Hiddii, the area around the place Hiddii Lolaa, south. The other is Baddaa Gaamaduu, in the area of Dho'qollee. The third is Baddaa Areeroo, the area of the small town of Areeroo, to the east
5. Big container made of Oryx, camel or cow skin
6. FSG II is part on the Oromo metaphysical worldview and is allegorical in style centering on the dialogue between Cubbuu and Dhuggaa, i.e. ‘Vice’ and ‘Virtue’. According to the underlying Oromo philosophy, and of the poet indeed, the former (Cubbuu) dwells in this world of becoming or in the shadowy image of this world. On the other hand, Dhugaa ‘virtue’ dwells in the world of being which is both transcendental and eternal, ‘iddoo-dhugaa’, ‘lafa du’aaf’ dullumi hinjirre’, i.e. ‘abode of truth’ ‘there where no old age nor death dwell’ as the Oromo call it (Bartels 1983; Gemechu 1993; Baxter 1996; Knuttson 1963).
7. Cf. Shongolo for this part of FSG II (in Baxter 1996:286).
8. In Boorana to milk cow during herding cattle in the day is luuguu, i.e., to steal milk, which is something very bad for the Boorran, and they say: "Hannati irra gooma, meaning, 'theft is not as bad (interview with Haala-kee; see also Ton Leus 1995: 549).
9. Goobana (ca.1821-1889), Menelik's warlord is the "proverbial quisling". Goobana's campaign did not include the Booranaland and he is "never mentioned" in Boorana oral tradition. However, Jaarsoo might have been informed of him as a historical personality took part in Menelik's conquest of the Oromo when he was a freedom fighter himself in the OLF (Schlee 1992; Shongolo 1996:271, cf. footnote no.13).
10. Of the metaphor 'a swarm of bee' the researcher contends with what Shongolo says: "it has many connotations: the Oromo are many and by working together in unity, they are also powerful (in Baxter p278). He adds, citing Haberland (1965), "In North East Africa bees are often a symbol of wealth and power connected with kinship".
11. It may be difficult to define 'nation'. In his article "The Development of Nationalism" Mohammed Hassen says, citing Alter (1989:11), that 'a nation may certainly exist without its own state, and a state without a unified nation' (cf. also Worsley 1984). Mohammed thus concludes that "The Oromo do not have their own state, and yet the existence of the Oromo nation is a recognized fact of political life" (see Mohammed's essay in Baxter 1996:72). As to what constitutes a nation some scholars agree that it is "language, culture, historical consciousness, mores, social communication and political goals" (Alter 1989:11 in Mohammed ibid.). Some also stress that 'members of a nation must feel they are bound together by a sense of solidarity, a common culture and national consciousness'. In this view a nation exists if 'a significant number of people in a community consider themselves to form a nation'. Hence, noting that he draws on Emerson, Mohammed goes on to add, the Oromo "are 'a community of people who feel that they belong together in the double sense that they share deeply significant elements of common heritage and that they have common destiny for the future'" (ibid.).
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