Some Notes on the Traditional Hadiya Women

Author(s): HAILE BUBBAMO ARFICIO

Source: Journal of Ethiopian Studies , JULY 1973, Vol. 11, No. 2 (JULY 1973), pp. 131-
155
Published by: Institute of Ethiopian Studies

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41988261

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Some Notes on the Traditional Hadiya Women
by HÁILE BUBBAMO ARFICIO

Introduction

In order to help the reader understand the traditional Hadiya

women, something must be said about the Hadiya peoples in general.
The Hadiyas have a very old history which, on the basis of recorded
Ethiopian history, seems to be as old as that of Ethiopia (Abyssinia)
itself.1 Today the majority of Hadiya live in southern Šawa in the
Administrative Awraja called Kambata. On the basis of recent popu-
lation statistics of the Ethiopian Central Statistical Office, figures given
by other researchers, and estimates made by local elders, chiefs, and
governors, the population of Hadiya within this Awraja is reckoned
to be about five hundred fifty thousand to six hundred thousand.2
Of this, the larger proportion is represented by the five major groups,
namely, the Soro (descendants of four brothers), the Badogo, the
Lémo, the Šašogo, and the Badawačo (Urusso, Haballo, Šammanna,
etc.).
1. Soro territory borders in the west on the Omo River, in the
south on Qambara, in the east on Kambata, and in the north on
Lémo.

2. Badogo territory borders in the west on the Omo River, in

the south on Soro and Masmasa, and in the east and north on Lémo.
3. Lémo territory borders in the west on the Omo River and
Badogo territory, in the south on Soro and Kambata, in the east on
Šašogo, and in the north on Endagañ and Énner.
4. Šašogo territory borders in the west on Lémo, in the south
on Alaba, in the east on a territory occupied by various clans of
Hadiya in Hayqočina-Butajira Awraja, and in the north on Urbarag
territory.

5. Badawačo Urusso, Haballo, Šammanna and other small groups

border in the south on Wälamo, in the east on Bilate River, in the
north east on Alaba, and in the north west on Kambata.

1 . F.A.W. Budge, The Queen of Sheba and her only son Menylek (London, 1922),
p. 165 and A History of Ethiopia , (London, 1928), I, 228.
E. Plazikowsky, "Historisches über die Hadiya" Z. Sch Ethnologie , Braun-
schweig (1957), LXXXII, 66- 96.
2 . According to the Elders, Chiefs and Governors the population of Hadiya within
the same Awraja is reckoned to be over % (three -fourths) of the total popu-
lation. On the basis of the rural population growth rate indicated by the
Central Statistical Office today the total population of this Awraja is estimated
to be 852,208 and % (three fourth) of this is about 639,156. M. L.
Bender "Languages of Ethiopia" Anthropological Linguistics , Indiana, 1971,
U. Braukämper, "Life and History of Hadiya" Ethiopian Herald (November
10, 1970), p. 2. Ethiopia. Central Statistical Office, Survey Report of Säwa
Province (Addis Abäba, 1966).

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 The second major groups of Hadiya people live in Hayqočina-
Butajira Awraja. Here there are about a quarter of a million of them.
The largest groups of these are the Sadémanna and the Warémanna
both of which are descendants of Bernado,3 the brother of Boyamo.4
The two groups and a third called Dukama live in Märäqo Wäräda.
Other Hadiyas know all the Märäqo groups as the Libido. Also there
is quite a large group of Hadiya people in Wälamo Awraja.
Here the subtribes of Hadiya, called Jawaro, Larrosso, Baragagé and
other names are estimated to be over sixty thousand people.

Although their number is not known, other groups of Hadiya

people live in Arussi and Balé provinces where they are linguistically
Oromised. There are some Hadiya people living in Wâlliso-Wâlqeté
and Abalté districts also. Those in the vicinity of Wälliso are called
Qabéna Hadiya, (Wämb-Hadiya)

Relationships between the Hadiya and other Related Ethnic Groups

Both Professor Haberland and Dr. Plazikowsky contend that the
Sidama, Alaba, Kambata, and Qambara racially, culturally, and
linguistically belong to the Hadiya group, otherwise known as the
Gudélla.5

Here something must be said regarding the word 'Gudélla' which

in the past had been used by Semitic speaking groups as an epithet
descriptive of Hadiya ferocity. In the course of time this word
came to be used in a pejorative sense. Such descriptions of one
group of people by another is indeed a common phenomenon. For
example, the Oyata tribe refer to certain clans within its community,
namely the Kambata, as the Kontoma (common people). The Hadiya
refer to the Kambata, the Aymalal, etc. as Gendé (land cultivators
unwilling to breed cattle and fight in battles) and to the
Oromo as Débanno; the Guragé to the (Lémo) Hadiya as Wokuonteb
(wild), the Wälamo to the entire Hadiya as Märäqo
Arabs, and Europeans to Ethiopians as Habaša and Abyssinians;
the Oromo (Galla) to the Amhara as Sídama; Hadiya, Amhara
and, others refer to the Yamma as Janjero and to the Dawro
as Kullo. Considering the whole Ethiopian Empire, many more
examples of descriptive names for a group given by outsiders can be

3. Bemado seems to represent Mehmad or Mehimad the father of Queen Eleni

and Mahiko. J. Perruchon, Les chroniques de Zar' a Jďeqob et d Bďeda Maryam
(Paris, 1893), pp. 16-20.
4. Boyamo the ancestor of the Soro (four brothers, namely: šako (šakanna),
Bošo (Bošoanna), Habarro and Hadé), šašogo and Urusso. Collectively known
as Boyammanna is on the basis of oral tradition confirmed to have made
himself adila (King) also he was the brother of Bemado. Therefore since both
oral tradition and the Chronicle of Empeor Zära Ya'eqob associate Boyamo
and Bamo with Emperor Zära Ya'eqob, logically Bamo was a distortion of
Boyamo, as Mehimad was distortion of Bimado.
L. Habaer "The Chronicle of the Emperor Zara Yaeqob" Ethiopia Observer t
(1961), V, 2, 153-162.
Täklä Sadek, Mekäreya, ! lhot '• h9°*iYl * ftflh * Ot *
A'HV » « (Addis Abäba, 1950 E.C.) II, 166-168. Budge, op. cit., T,
306.
5. E. Haberland, Galla Süd Aethiopien (Stuttgart, 1963), pp. 513-518.

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cited but with more population contact and fast growing national
consciousness, the once derogatory terms are today slowly falling into
disuse, and historically and psychologically valid ethnic names are
being accepted with good grace and understanding.
In consequence, as prejudice and narrow regionalism disappear,
Ethiopians have become more and more interested in the customs and
traditions of other Ethiopians. It is with a view to strengthening this
emergent spirit that the writer ventures to throw light on the traditional
Hadiya women. But before going into the subject matter, however,
a word of explanation as to why such a long introductory historical
background was needed is in order. Many clans and subtribes of
Hadiya people today live, though the concentration is in southern
Säwa, in several provinces of the Empire. Their separation and
subsequent contact with non-Hadiya groups might have considerably
altered some aspects of culture discussed here or even caused its comp-
lete disappearance. Therefore, this preliminary study has greater re-
levance to the Hadiya groups known as Libido, Šašogo, Badawačo,
(Urusso, Haballo, Šammanna), Soro, Lémo and Badogo, among whom
the female population is 48 . 1 per cent.6

LIFE CYCLE AND ACTIVITIES OF TRADITIONAL

HADIYA WOMEN

Sex Identification at Birth

According to the tradition of Hadiya when a woman gives birth

to a baby, the midwife and her assistants declare the sex of the new
born child by simply ululating four times for a baby boy, and three
times for a baby girl.7 On the fourth day after birth for a boy,
and on the third for a girl, there is a ceremony marking the occasion
of wobata , a symbolic ablution signifying that the hardships of pregnancy,
labour pain and bleeding are over.
On this occasion, early in the morning, the women in the neigh-
bourhood get together in the house of the woman who gave birth, and
ready themselves for the ceremony. Some of the women go to the
river to fetch water and wobata leaves while others remain in the
house and prepare moqa (porridge). At the river, the filling of the pots
with water and the pulling of the wobata creeper is marked by
ululating three times. When enough of the wobata leaves have been
collected and the pots filled, the women go back and upon arrival at
the house enter it ululating joyously. Now some of the women heat
the water with the wobata leaves in it. Then the heated water is
removed from the fire and set aside in order to let it cool. As soon
as the water cools down to the required temperature, two women

6 . This percentage is calculated from the figure given by the Central Statistica
Office Survey Report of säwa Province, 1966.
7 . Nowadays the usual reason given concerning the ululation of three times for
girls is that women are inferior to men. However, in former times the significan-
ce of three might have symbolized the triangular shape of the female sex
organ, which the Hadiyas of today seem to have forgotten.

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pour warm wobafa water on the groins of the confined mother,
ululating three times as they do so. Then her whole body is given
a thorough wash. The baby girl is also given a symbolic bath with
wobafa water. After the washing ceremony is over, women sit
around the prepared bowls of moqa. After eating the porridge the
women get up and dance baha which is a dance performed by
jumping and beating the hips and humming. This brings the wobafa
celebration for the baby girl and the mother to a close.

Naming

It is customary for Hadiya parents to express their attitude towards

the new born by giving a name which describes the circumstance in
which the parents lived, before and during the birth of the child.
Accordingly, within two months from the date of birth, the baby girl
is given a name on the basis of what the parents experienced during
the period of gestation. For example if both parents or one of them
become prosperous or had marked success in their efforts, the child
may be named Lombamé which means "you brought us dignity".
If, however, the mother became a widow during her pregnancy, the
daughter could be named Annsabé which, literally translated, means
"she who refused to coexist with her father." After the girl is given
her name, her head is shaven for the first time.

Suckling Period
The suckling period ( čissimma )8 for Hadiya children usually lasts from
two to three years. The attitude of mothers towards baby girls during
this period shows rather less welcome than that shown towards baby
boys on the ground that nursing female infants is not only un-
pleasant but also believed to have a debilitating effect on mothers.
The mothers complain that baby girls require more breast feeding
and constant attention. The real motive for such an attitude however
may be looked for in the preference of the male to the female
in Hadiya traditional society in general. Until the age of four the
little girl is in the čillommano stage or period of development. She
may be referred to as čillčé (pl. čilluwa). The next stage is the
ossomano covering the period from the age of four to seven. During
this period she is referred to as ošičé (pl. osso also applicable to
boys). Her entry into this stage marks her readiness to render service
to her parents, the kind of service she gives depending upon whether
she has brothers or not. If she has a brother her responsibilities
are limited to domestic chores only. If she has no brothers ready
to take responsibility, she may be required to tend her father's cattle,
though this kind of task for girls is very much deprecated by parents.
It is a common belief among the Hadiya that if a woman engage
herself in the activities of men she will in time lose her feminine qua-
lities and acquire male characteristics. Another reason why extra-domestic

8 . In former times perhaps for many centuries the traditional Hadiya women were
used to bottle feeding in addition to breast. This was demonstrated at the
Expo Hossana, by exhibiting the materials. Moreover, the Amharic word Tuto
appears to be derivative of Hadiya word Tunto for a baby bottle.

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responsibility for girls is met with disapproval is that it deprives them
of the opportunity for training in the more important matter of
culinary art. But she is urged to do her best both in the house
and out in the fields. In the house her service begins with running
errands or fetching things for her parents. Then as she grows physically
she may be required to do harder work such as drawing water,
fetching firewood, baby sitting, grinding and pounding grain and
preparing meals. From the age of seven to ten, she is in the gét-landičo
stage where her participation in domestic work steadily increases.
Otherwise there is nothing significant marking this stage. All this time,
that is until she gets to the next stage of development, she covers
only her back with soft smooth leather (landlata) leaving the front of
her body completely naked. But soon she will be ushered into the
most significant stage known as bušema.

Puberty

Puberty (bušema) normally begins at the age of twelve. However,

when early maturity and its attendant physical changes occur in some
individuals, a normal leather skirt can be worn at the age of eleven.
The period of puberty for the traditional Hadiya girl lasts from ele-
ven to thirteen years or from twelve to fourteen years depending
on the climatic region.

Adolescent Stage

The adolescence for a Hadiya girl ( landičo ) usually begins from the
time she starts wearing a skirt and girdle and lasts until she reaches the
bajjamé stage, the term bajjamé implies maturity. During the period
of adolescence, the young girl is very active; that is, she engages
herself in activities like cleaning the house and its compound and the
stables. At this stage, there is practically no domestic activity in which
she does not take part. She may even give help in the neighbourhood
in the preparations of feasts on the occasions of circumcisions and
excisions, engagements, and weddings. She benefits very much from her
usefulness to the community in the sense that she not only develops
an appreciation of good neighbourhood, but finds self-orientation and
self-fulfillment in her association with other girls who, like her, come
to help. Her contacts on such occasions, however, is not limited to
persons of her sex. Young men and boys consider it both a duty
and a privilege to entertain girls and to be entertained in turn by
them on such special occasions. Therefore boys pay frequent visits to
families in the process of preparing banquents for such occasions.
Their usefulness is not limited to keeping the girls constantly
amused. Boys do a lot of useful work: they transport heavy objects;
they split wood; and they chop gäso to pieces. But most important
for the girl is that she finds in a boy a dancing and singing partner
after the day's work is done.

Sometime during adolescence the young girl joins groups of

young boys of her age in her village, to organize a festival. The
summ-wečanča group consists of boys and girls of a given community,
and every member of the group is required to contribute money and

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materials necessary for the festival. According to tradition, boys
contribute money and a variety of cereals, and girls provide butter, arid
spices which they get from their mothers. Sometimes a girl makes
contributions out of her own earnings. She earns money by making
and selling baskets. Prior to the occasion a committee from the same
age group is elected to collect the necessary cash and materials. The
committee so elected starts making preparations for the festival in a
house provided by the community for this purpose. All the members
of the age group occupy this house for about a week. During this
period the following activities take place:

1. Both boys and girls choose their respective leaders, who will
distribute the work load among the members of the summ-wečanča.
Daily a certain number of boys are assigned in turn to the girls
with firewood for the preparation of food and cut grass for
mattress-making for the occasion. The girls take turns among themselves
to prepare meals and to get water from rivers or streams.

2. Throughout the week, members eat, drink, sing and dance day
and night and go on occasional picnics.

3 . At night the boys sleep in one half of the house and the
girls in the other half. The kind of food they eat, during the cele-
bration of summ-wačanča consists mainly of Ethiopian food such
as enjära , wät, and meat, etc. However, the celebration is brought
to its climax, by the preparation of a special Hadiya dish called bullo
which is prepared from the flour of barley, butter, different kinds of
spices and water. On about the sixth or seventh day of the festival,
bullo is prepared, and each sex group elects a committee to select
an appropriately descriptive age name ( gabat-summa ) suited to the
physical appearance of each individual of the opposite sex. The com-
mittee of the boys select age names for the girls and the committee
of the girls for the boys. Then the parents of all members are invited
to the festival and are first served enjära , and wät. The parents,
boys and girls take seats separtely, and the bullo which has
been already prepared is divided into three bowls and each group
is provided with one of bullo. Then the age names are an-
nounced by the respective heads of each sex group. Age names are
such as Doilličo (most handsome) and Šawičo (slim) for boys, and
Läga (tall), Galšawa (slim and tall like a gazelle), Adenqé (milky teeth),
Arasé (beautiful as wheat), Wâmmicé (well built) and Bomba (plump)
for the girls. After the name-announcement formality is over, all the
three groups eat the bullo from their respective bowls. In the
process of eating, each boy feeds a girl chosen to be his age social
companion and this process of feeding is reciprocated by each girl. After
eating the bullo the elders bless the members thus bringing the
festival to its conclusion. Hereafter, each young girl whose status
before this summ-wačanča celebration was known as gét-landičo (pl.
landa) which means a young girl, will henceforth be referred to as
bajjina ajfo-o landičo (maturing girl). Then the style of her dress is
slightly changed. She now begins to wear a little larger skirt and covers
her breast with something like a blouse made of cotton which covers
the front and back part of her body, from neck to hips. Each girl
treats the boy chosen to be her social (spiritual) companion as her

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protector, and the boy also treats her as his comforter. The parents
of both parties regard the other as part of the family. During
feasts, weddings and other occasions the parties render service
to the parents of the other assisted by their social group. Usually boys
help in cutting wood, building jagara (a temporary house) and at other
times they weed, or plough, etc. for the parents of their friend. Usually
the girl invites her boy companion to her house for a special meal.
The boy also buys some ornaments for her. After the celebration
of summ-wačanča the girl is very active in singing and dancing, at engage-
ments, weddings, excisions, circumcisions, market days, as well as
during the celebration of Šcíšiga (Easter) and Mäsqäla.

Excision

Excision of girls {land ballača) may take place from a few to several
years after summ-wačanča. Then the young girl reaches the age of bajjamé
(age of maturity) signified by a different hair style. The bajjamé is cele-
brated with the excision of the clitoris. For this occasion, the parents of the
girl prepare a rather moderate type of feast and on the eve of excision
people are invited to the feast. Boys and girls of the village are
invited by the girl while all the women of the village are invited by
the mother, and the men of the village are invited by the father. On
this occasion traditional dancing and singing takes place, both before
and after dinner. Married men and women participate only in sing-
ing, while boys and girls participate both in singing and dancing.
When the dinner is served the father, the mother and the girl attend
to their respective guests. Most of the young boys and girls spend
the night dancing and singing. The next day, very early in the morning,
usually a woman who is skilled in excisi on (f almanco) comes to perform
the operation. The young boys build a bed-like tower with bundles
of grass, in front of the house, on which the girl is placed. Then
a cotton coth is held as a curtain around the girl by the boys. The
excision is accompanied by warm singing meant to encourage the
girl to endure the pain as the skilled woman performs the operation.
During the short moment of excision9 the girl is blind-folded. When
the girl is brought down from the tower wrapped with cloth she is
then taken into the house in which women ululate. Then she is put
in a bed (made of grass and mats) near the fire. Here she stays for a
few days until the bleeding is over. Thereafter she enters a room
partitioned within the house, called dumma. In the dumma the girl
is fed with special food, at least five to six meals a day. A week
or two after excision she begins (tura agesima), meaning cutting the
finger nails short. This is to indicate that the girl is excised and there
by has aquired a new status.
The girl makes many varieties of household materials such as lämmata ,
(a table-like basket), illanco (sieve), wonšo (a large basket
with a small round sieve in the centre for filtering beer. She
makes several of each kind so that she can give one of each to her par-

9. The excision instrument is called hadima. After excision boiling butter is used
as antiseptics and for stoping bleeding.

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ents, and one lãmmata to her companion. She sells lhe rest in order
to earn money.
The length of girl's stay in the qonqona ( dumma ) usually it
two to three months; that is, since the usual time for excision is in
August, sometime in November all the girls of the same village excised
at about the same time get together and, accompanied by boys and girls
of their village, go in procession to market gathering places. During
the procession towards the market they sing continously but inter-
rupting the procession at frequent intervals. When they arrive at the
market place, they walk through it,10 crossing to the other end where
some women of their village who had come here earlier receive them
with ululation, and pour aydara on the feet of each excised girl as
prearranged. Afterwards all the girls together sing and dance near the
market place and about fifty to hundred metres away from it. Here,
during the performance of dancing and singing, the excised girls of dif-
ferent communities try to humiliate their counterparts by praising the
heroes of their respective communities and telling the wealth of their
respective parents and forefathers while belittling those of their oppon-
ents. However, later on they mingle together and continue to sing and
dance. At the same time the circumcised boys of different com-
munities perform qammiša (wrestling) to demonstrate the most well
fed from among them. In this game a pair or more of one group
wrestle a pair or more of the other group. In gammiša they use only
legs and heads. The victory or defeat in gammiša has great signifi-
cance, among girls and their respective communities relatives. After
this dramatic show of gammiša the boys of different groups also unite.
After this, boys and girls form their respective group. And this time
a dialogue begins between them, in the form of singing and šarimma ,
a verbal show-down between males and females diescribing the qualities
and usefulness of their respective sex groups. All these activities take
place from approximately 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Those that have come
from far distances usually leave the market place around 5
p.m. and begin the homeward procession. Others whose homes are
nearer to the market place, leave for home later. Also on their
way home, the girls are very often stopped by boys of different vil-
lages who try to impress the girls by performing gammiša elegantly.
Upon this performance of gammiša a girl who is impressed by a
certain individual, either because of his physical appearance,
or his good performance of gammiša , presents him with some gifts
of loša (beads). Sometimes this can be a basis for the girl
to have this very young man as her balalé sunnqanča bétto
meaning a kissing boy friend. So after all these activities each bal -
lačančo (each excised girl) comes back home sometime after sunset.
Thereafter with the exception of lâm-mérra (repeating the second
market) the celebrated period of ballača (excision) is over.
However, the excised landicé never enters any house in the village
unless and until she is decorated with a heap of butter on her head

10. According to tradition both boys and girls who are circumcised (incised) and
excised are regarded above the law until they have crossed the market once.
Therefore the marketers who happen to be on the way of the procession or
have kept certain materials on the way are forced to clear the way so that
the procession need not change direction.

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known as qollima by the woman belonging to the particular house she is
to enter, or else she is invited to a glass full of milk. Làm-mérra or
repeating the market can be either going to another market gathering
place during the following weeks or going to the same market gather-
ing place on a market day. According to the Hadiya custom every
day of the week is a market day but a market gathering day
takes place only once in a week. The excised girl has now
aquired a status known as bajjam - landičo (a matured girl). There-
fore she changes the style of her hair from that of habba (Afro)11
into a bajja style. The hair dressing of bajja style is indicated by
parting the hair and leaving a road-like opening on the frontal part of the
head. Her dress is made a little larger so that skirt on her right thigh
which was let open with a large slit is now let open only with a
small slit. She also at this time puts much decoration of beads known
as nadda,jénnatta, 12 and of shell called éréra on her ¡abbassa, fubbtiqo-ó
and qé(a (skirt). Moreover, she also wears a colourful necklace 'red,
white, blue and green beads' earings and multiple ringlets on all
fingers and toes as well as anklets. And on her way to the market
gathering places and back she carries a decorative umbrella datto-o
made of coloured palm tree leaves.

For the bajjam-landičo there is a given mode of behaviour,

pecause now the girl is virtually in the period of betrothal. She now
bartially misses activities enjoyed by unexcised girls because in the
tradition of Hadiya, flirting with or rape or kidnap of an excised girl
does not exist and sexual intercourse with an not excised girl is unknown
in the history of Hadiya. However illegal in traditional terms, all of
the above could happen to an excised girl. Therefore, she can only
go to market gatherings, weddings, excision or circumcision festivals
in a company of her relatives where, if she is beautiful, she may get
the traditional kiss by one or more boys of her choice. The traditio-
nal Hadiya kissing of girls by boys results in a virtual cut in the
middle of the lower lip.13 This is a socially accepted practice, but a
decent girl never gets a visible s car on her lip, but avoids getting an
externally visible scar. She either controls her friend in the process of
kissing or seldom allows her lip to be kissed. Any girl with an exter-
nally visible and large scar on her lip is regarded as being a cheap
girl, thereby causing her family to be ashamed of her. The lip-kissing
friends also exchange gifts; that is the girl presents to her lip-kissers sugar
cane, or lemon when they meet on a certain market day, us ually
fortnightly and she receives decorative ornaments such as beads or
combs from one or more of her kissing boy friends.

11. The hair styles of Hadiya girls are called bajja , habba (Afro),
gannallé (a combination of tonsure and Afro; they also insert combs of
various sizes and qualities made of woods, sheels, and tusks and decorated with
varieties of beads in their hair. In addition they also decorate themselves with
three stripes of tattoos made on chins, cheeks, and legs.
12. The traditional Hadiya women and girls carry aumbrellas both for shading
against the sun heat and decoration.
13. A well-trained and good mannered boy friend is expected to make a cut
on the lower lip of his girl friend by using one each of the upper and lower
incisor tooth.

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Bethrotal

As far as the Hadiya tradition is concerned, the betrothal (téhimma)

period begins after excision. However very rarely, the parents are
approached for a young and an unexcised girl. This is so either because
of her beauty or the wealth and good reputation of her parents,
many people are expected to compete for her. Even then, the expres-
sion of the parents is usually 4 4 how dare you come for so young and
an unexcised girl".
Nevertheless if the parents regard the approaching family with
favour, they usually tell them to come and visit them again some
time after excsion of their daughter and then they make arrangements
for their daughter to be excised rather earlier. As stated earlier, the
standard betrothal time is after a girl is excised and has become- a
bajjam - landičo. There are two ways for the bajjam - landičo to be
approached for marriage:
1 . Usually a matured young man finds his bajjam-landico
through various channels such as marriage relations of his sisters,
brothers or other relatives in his community. And having found her
and been assured of her will to marry him he requests his father through
his uncles or other relatives to approach the parents of the bajjam-
landico :

2. Sometimes the young man's parents, particularly his father,

with the help of people related to him finds a girl for his son and
before approaching her parents asks him his son for his agreement.
The boy may consent to the proposal of his father:
1 . If he thinks he has played and enjoyed his youth age enough
and therefore he is matured and desires a spouse;
2. If the girl being selected for him is beautiful enough to
impress him and his family members.
Of course, when a girl whom the young man has not seen yet
is being suggested to him he is also given a description of her physi-
cal appearance, colour, age, etc. as well as her family background.
Thus with these qualities in mind in case of complying he may agree
to some extent until after he has seen her. So in the case of go-
ahead and approach the parents of the bajjam - landičo the
father of the young man approaches usually the father of the girl in
question, requesting permission to come and see him concerning the
future of their respective daughter and son.
Then if the father of the girl as well as his wife and other
family members favour the young man and his family, an appointment
of a fixed date is given usually in one or two weeks time. In the
meantime the girl is given a hint about her prospective husband-to-be
including description of his physical appearance, age, colour and family
background. Then if the girl has not seen him yet, she uses all kinds
of methods and means possible in order to see her prospective hus-
band-to-be before the date of appointment on which her father is
expected to approve, disapprove or delay the decision.
Also girl's parents, particularly her mother, try hard to gather
as much information as possible concerning their future son-in-law and
his family, in addition to what they had been previously informed.

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 In former times a man intending to get married to a traditiona
Hadiya girl had to prove purity of blood and descendance from a
socially recognized family on his father's and mother's side for at
least seven generations. This barred marriage relation-ships, between
the Hadiya and their neighbours with exception of Oyata14 for many
generations. The reason being that among several tribes that lived
as neighbours, only the Hadiyas were concerned with this requirement.

On appointment day, be it in the morning or afternoon,

the father sits accompanied by the grandfather, uncles, brothers
and a few elders of the village, waiting for the guest to come;
The mother accompanied by her women friends takes a seat at a dif-
ferent place away from the men, usually near the kosa or dumma ,
Kosa is a sleeping place for parents, while dumma is a partition
within the cylindrical-shaped house used as a storage for the house-
hold materials and general goods.

When the father of the prospective husband arrives in the

company of wise and dignified elders and good speakers he stops first
somewhere in the village and asks the favour of someone, usually
a young man living in the neighbourhood, to go and inform the
girl's family that they have come that far and are waiting only for their
word of welcome. Upon receiving this message the parents and the
elderly relatives send back the messenger with instruction to tell them
to proceed. The guests having learnt of this, continue their way and,
upon arrival at the house where they are expected, they stop once
more just in the front of the house within a distance of some ten
to twenty metres away. Here they wait until they are instructed to
enter the house. When they are told to come in, they enter the house and
are guided to seats reserved for them as guests of the day.
After a short period of silence, the guests are asked to tell the reason
why they have come. The most wise elder among the guests then
explains idiomatically {boyansa) that they have come to ask the hand
of their daughter in marriage. One of the sages from the girl's relatives
then replies to this also idiomatically. However, sometime after ex-
changing such dialogues the matter is brought into the open, and the
approval of the girl's parents is asked. To this the father usually
replies that he does not want to approve the proposed marriage re-
lation before assessing the attitude of his daughter towards the proposed
marriage.15 Hence he suggests that there should be another date of
appointment which usually takes place in about two to four weeks
time. Then the guests, after being served some food and particu-
larly drinks, go back to their own community. In the meantime each
and every member of the girl's family including the bride-to-be herself
intensively tries to gather facts about the prospective husband in order
to be better informed about him and his family.

14. As well as Dubamo, Masmas, Énar, Hizia, Tigra, Janjero because most of
these tribes had a tradition of tracing their origin of descent unlike the
common Kam bata known as Kontoma.

15. He says so usually to indicate that his daughter is not easily or cheaply
obtained. Sometimes also to assess the consensus of his daughter and other
family members.

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 On the day of appointment the hosts receive the guest and announce
the agreement to establish marriage relationship between the two families
through their respective daughter and son. Thereafter, they discuss the
nature of qotta (marriage money). Having agreed on the nature of
qotta they arrange another appointmet both for gummaganna
(engagement) and payment of qotta , usually in two months
time. Then the guests are served with food and drinks. On
this day both the prospective bride and the bridegroom see each
other officially, though only for a short time. There is no written
agreement made, nevertheless receiving the payment of qotta is
equivalent to modern engagement practice. The procedure of engage-
ment is that before the guests are served with food and drinks the
prospective bridegroom presents to his prospective bride a decorative
necklace, armlet, anklet, multiple ringlets for all fingers and
earrings. His father also pays qotta either all in cash or some
in cash and some in kind. Thereafter food and drinks is served
and the ceremony of engagement is over.

Again on another day, usually a month or two after the engag

ment, the father of the young man with a few of his friends comes
and makes a request to the father of the girl to fix a wedding d
laddiš-balla. The father after having consulted his wife about a
wedding feast ( bolločoo - diggissa) announces the day of wedding,
which on the average may take place in two months time.

There are three different ways for a Hadiya girl to get

married: (1) Hé r ranča , (2) G ossane a, and (3) Laddissanča .

1. Hérranča-i s a form of marriage in which a girl who has disagreed16

with her parents concerning the choice of her husband, disappears from
her parents and hides in some place. From here the young man of
her choice causes her to be picked up by a group of his boy friends.
When she is brought to the village of her prospective husband, she is
kept in the house of a relative until the wedding feast is prepared.
As soon as the wedding feast is prepared, she is taken from where
she is being kept into the house of her husband-to-be and there she
gets married in a wedding ceremony which takes place in the house
of her husband's family.
2. Gossanča (kidnap) is an illegal form of marriage. A girl
is taken by force to marry a young man who neither she nor her
parents approve of. Gossanča of a girl takes place usually while
she is in a market gathering place, on her way to market, in the
forest while collecting firewood or at a river while drawing water. A
girl who is taken by force is usually kept in the house of a
person related to the young man intending to marry her. How-
ever, as soon as a wedding feast is ready, she is taken into the house
of her prospective husband where she gets married in a wedding
ceremony.

16. A girl may also get married to a man by hérranëa, if she is an orphan who
has neither parents nor money to get married by formal ceremony.

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 3. Laddissanča or laddiša - is a formal marriage in which the
bride is taken from the house of her parents after a formal wedding
ceremony. There are three different kinds of laddiša : (1) bolločo
( angača ), (2) illmoča , and (3) kiffa.

1 . Bolločo - {Angača) is a form of marriage in which the parents

of the bride invite the siffla or hammamota (the group selected to
fetch the bride), excluding the prospective son-in-law, to come and
fetch the bride for the bridegroom. On the wedding day when
both parents of the bride and the bridegroom have prepared
wedding feasts, a group of people called siffla consisting of usually
40 men from the community of the bridegroom go to the house
(mine) of the bride. When the siffla arrive singing and dancing they
are received by a singing group of girls, the receiving girls trying
to humiliate the siffla through their singing and šarimma or by
pelting them with rotten eggs and mud; the siffla also challenging the
girls but carefully and less daringly in comparison to that of the
girls. The girls are usually members of the bride's age group. The
sifflas are then invited into the house and entertained with food and
drinks. After that the bride with the dowry, usually in this type of
laddiša , consisting of a complete clothing for the bridegroom, some
presents of clothing for the parents of the bridegroom and various
kinds of household materials and furniture is entrusted to an individual
who is selected by the parents of the bridegroom and sent along with
sifflas for this very purpose. Then this individual puts the bride on
a saddled mule and since the bride is blindfolded he rides on
the same mule but sits right behind her back. When the siffla
with the bride arrive at the house of the bridegroom, singing and
dancing, the bride is receved with much ululation by the women, and
singing by men, women and girls of the village. The bride then stops
in front of the house of her father-in-law and refuses to enter until
the father of the bridegroom announces gifts of cattle and land to the
bridegroom known as haggar fisima , and ereffo - because much
of her livelihood will depend on it. After the announcement of gifts and
before she enters the house, two children, one boy and one girl of the
bridegroom's relatives, are brought and made to sit on both laps of
the bride, one on each lap. Then the bride is given to chew
roasted coffee berries soaked in boiled butter.

The placing of the children on the laps of the bride symbolizes

fertility. The combination of a boy and a girl indicates the desire
to have children of both sex. Both the butter and coffee berries
symbolize the chastity of the bride.
After the formalities are over the bride, who is blindfolded, is
guided into the house again in a climax of ululation. Within the
house17 she enters a dumma which is a room partitioned special-
ly for the bride and the bridegroom. However, when the bride i
about to enter the dumma she is stopped by the elder sister
of the bridegroom. According to the custom, the elder sister is
entitled to do so in order to obtain prizes from the bridegroom. She

17. For the bridegroom and his bride, a small house known as jagara is buil
within the compound of his parents. And it is within this jagara that a
qonqona or a dumma is partitioned.

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also has the right to reject certain kinds of prizes thereby refusing to
allow the bride to enter the dumma. However, as soon as she is
given the kind of prize, she allows the bride to enter the dumma.

2. Illmoca is in some way different from the bolločo and

sophisticated because in the case of illmoca the bridegroom is invited
by the parents of the bride to come with the siffla , and this time
the number of siffla is increased to about 60 persons. On arrival the
bridegroom is provided with a big bull or an ox which is slaughtered
after performance of a prayer in the presence of elders representing
both the bridegroom and the bride. Also the bridegroom spends
the night here in the company of siffla , and the next day when he
leaves, he takes home along with the bride a dowry known as
awansima or ušéimma , such as a mule for the bride, a horse for him-
self, clothings and dresses for new couple and his parents cattle
and all kinds of furniture for the establishment of the future home.
The sophistication of illmoca does not end here, for the bride with
an illmoča wedding ceremony is regarded superior to those women
married with a wedding ceremonies of bolločo or angača. Also
her status in illmoča marriage is respected and remembered through-
out her life.

3. Kiffa is the most sophisticated type of laddiša. For

kijfa the bridegroom is invited to the house of the bride
in a company of at least eighty men as siffla . This feast
is the greatest of all. As was in the case of illmoca the bride-
groom and the siffla spend the night in the house of the bride. The
members of the siffla are provided with special foods throughout the
occasion. In particular, the bride's mother presents jugs full of refined
and boiled butter for the siffla to drink. As soon as the jugs are emptied,
she refills them immediately. If all the members of siffla fail to finish
the butter provided to them by the mother of the bride, then the
siffla give a new name of honour to the bride. After this no
woman can claim to be superior to her during her entire lifetime.
Moreover, on the next day she is taken to her future home accom-
panied by the bridegroom and siffla along with a dowry much richer
than that of illmoča. On arrival at the house of the bridegroom she
is received by a large number of women and girls in a warmth of
ululation and by a great number of men and boys. Otherwise, after the
fulfilment of the outdoor formalities, the bride is taken into the qonqo -
na or dumma within the jagara The bride who had taken purgative
twenty-four hours earlier at her parents house spends the night without
food and drinks. However to fulfill the marriage, sexual intercourse
takes place during the same night usually around 4 to 5 a.m., and
traditionally, a virgin and proud bride, usually in pretension fights the
bridegroom in an effort to refuse sexual intercourse. However a clever
and strong bridegroom usually manages to take her virginity.
Sometimes when the bridegroom is unable to fulfill this by himself
the best man (sawo) assists him by holding her hands and unwrapping
her off her cloth.

The bride also cuts all the finger and toenails to more than
half-way into the nailroots. During her stay in the dumma the
bride is fed on special foods five to six times throughout the day.

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 While in the dumma the bride is not supposed to do regular
housewife's work. However, she makes many varieties of household
materials out of plant called meggera. Here she also learns all
the names of her husband's adult relatives and with some help given
by women who are usually the wives of her brothers-in-law, she finds
substitute names known as balluwiša 18 in respect of the people concern-
ed. Her stay in the dumma usually takes two months, however in
former times it is said that a bride was kept in a dumma for as
long as one year. If the dowry given by her parents is not satisfac-
tory, the bride is asked to leave the dumma earlier and do the
routine housewife's work. While she is in the dumma and even after
leaving it, she is addressed as edayičé (bride) for about a year or
two. Also there is a proper mode of behaviour. For instance, she is not
supposed to look at elderly men and women directly. Even if an
elderly man or woman come against her while she is engaged in
doing her housewife's work, she is expected to run away and
hide herself. This sort of embarassment happens to her in her own
house, outside the house, and on her trips back and forth to the
rivers and woody ard, during her activities of fetching water and fire-
wood. This evading of encounter with elderly people may continue
for several or many years, particulary if the bridegroom belongs to a
wealthy family. However, individuals may be allowed to see her upon
presentation or announcement of bride gifts known as errejfo .
During the period of edayano lasting from one to two years the dress
worn by the bride are trousers, lammaqa , (two fold toga); tubuqo
(blouse) and ornaments such as earrings, necklace, rings, armlets,
bracelets and anklets. These ornaments are made of brass and copper.
Hereafter she changes the style of her hair, and dresses from
that of bajjam landico to edayičo and finally to a méntičo
(woman) style. Some of the hair dressing styles of Hadiya women are
known as qunnana , kombboba, šurruba and qaffa. For sophisticated
hair dressing styles there are paid hair dressers (women). In the
case of dress she now fully covers her right thigh left partially open
before marriage. She also wears a long skirt or lammaqa made of
cotton a little below the knees.19

She is now referred as méntičé meaning woman and generally she

is addressed either by her age or real name but her father and
mother-in-laws call her by a new name given to her by them. Also
the elders of the village call her by the same name used by her
parents-in-law.

18. Balluwiša is a substitute name used to address the persons because addressing
by their regular name is regarded disrespectful. Examples: for Anéllo
substitute is Abéllo , for Amma - Gato , for Balla - Lawa , for Ado - Siša , for
Oyé - Sondje , for Hallito - Ivano. Plazikowsky, op. cit . 95-96.
19. According to Borelli and oral tradition of the Hadiya people, Hadiya women
used to wear materials made of foota (cotton) for their dresses until towards
the end of the 19th century. It seems that they adapted the wearing of the
qétta from the neighburing women of Kambata, Sidamo for a short
while. See J. Borelli, Ethiopie méridionale (Paris) 1890), p. 332.
E. Cernili, Peoples of Southwest Ethiopia and its Borderland (London, 1956)
p. 126.

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 The traditionally accepted age for a girl to get married is
eighteen and after. The average age of marriage is about 20 years and
a girl who is not married or at least engaged at the age of 22 is
considered unlucky saambé-landičo.
Bearing Children
In Hadiya tradition marriage is meaningful only when the wife
bears children. Therefore the most important thing expected to happen
during the first year or two after marriage of the young woman is
conception and bringing forth of a baby. So the young woman, her
husband, parents of the husband and the parents of the young woman,
every one of them pray for the fertility of the young woman.
When she becomes an expecting mother the respect and love of
her husband and his parents for her is increased very much. And
when the time òf delivery comes, she is usually taken to her parents
home,20
For a pregnant woman much preparation is made as the time of
delivery draws nearer. Some of these are the accumulation of butter
and hallama or janja (sponge prepared from the branches of
Musa ensete. So when the expecting mother goes to her parents home
she takes with her a large pot of butter, load of sponge
and some flour. When she begins to labour (tuča) the
women of the village specially related to her either by blood or
by marriage gather around her.21 And during the labour period all
disputes and grudges existing between her and any oné or between
her parents and any one is straightened out and forgiven. Men are
not allowed neither to enter nor to stay in the house of labouring
woman therefore the men smoke their pipes outside. An elderly woman
skilled in delivering attends the baby and her mother holding her
head prays for a smooth delivery. Women including her mother un-
loosen their girdles (sabbata or mačo) and washing their hands pray to
eddota (patron of mothers) for a fast and normal delivery. Men in-
cluding her father sitting in front of the house also pray to Waa (God)
while smoking gawa, a large stand pipe. And when she has deli-
vered the baby they continue praying for the delivery of the placenta
known in Hadiya as amma or làssaq Iurta because according to
the tradition the delivery is considered incomplete until the placenta
has come out. Of course, as stated earlier, as soon as the baby is
born the accompanying women ululate four times if it is a boy and three
times if it is a girl. According to the customary practice as soon as
the baby is born it is immersed in water brought in a large basin.
The placenta coated with flour or dough is buried in some corner of
the house. Then immediately the husband is informed of her deli-
very and also the sex of the new baby is told to him. If the baby
is a boy his joy is beyond description. However regardless of the
child's sex goes to his wife with a bull or an ox. And when he

20. According to the custom if a woman has a well-to-do family she is expected
to come to her parents to give birth to all children she bears, however, the
first child must be born at the mother's parents. This is practised by rich and
poor alike. In the case of poor families children other than the first child
may be born in the home of their parents. She usually goes to her parents
house about one month earlier.
21 . Alien women and men are expected not to come even to the compound of
the labouring woman.

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arrives at the house of his father-in-law he kisses his wife and then
immediately he slaughters the bull. Then a special drink prepared
from blood of a lamb, butter and milk is given to the young mother
to drink.22 For about two months the young mother is called erroneo
errannano. After the period of errannano she leaves her parents to
join her husband with the newly born child and accompanied by cattle
given as gifts by his grandparents on his mother's side. Upon
her arrival, family members and other relatives of her husband
receive her with ululations and ceremony. Particularly if the child
is a boy, gifts of cows, and horses etc. are announced for him
by his grand parents and others. Only then they are allowed
to see the new baby. On this day her husband slaughters a bull or
an ox in honour of his wife and a great feast is prepared for her
and her relatives who have come with her. Her parent-in-laws and
other related elders take part in the feast of the errando (confined
mother). The young mother is given a qannafa (a decorative
comb) by her women friends which she wears on her head in
order to indicate her status of motherhood. Thereafter the period of
errannano ends gradually in two or three months. After the baby
has been named, most people address the young woman as a mother of
so and so for example if the name of her son is Boyamo she is
addressed as Boyam-amma and if the name of her daughter is Ag-
gamé as Aggam-amma and if the child is called Santalé as Santal-
amma and so on, meaning mother of Boyamo, Aggamé and Santalé
respectively. Thus her new status of becoming a mother is indicated
even by the way she is addressed.

Once the young woman has acquired the status of a motherhood she
is respected and liked by everyone in the family and the clan. Also
once she is a mother she is eligible to celebrate eddotta (feast of the
patron of mothers). The procedure of preparing eddotta is as follows:
the woman celebrating it calls all eligible women of the village by
announcing that she has made up plans for a celebration of eddotta .
When the invited women come to her house in accordance with
the custom she provides them with raw materials such as barley,
butter, fermented barley and others. Having received these
the women prepare food including bullo , a special dish. Women
help preparing the feast of eddotta and on the day designated
for the feast they come to their host on the eve of eddotta
sometime late in the afternoon and spend the night preparing
the final part of the feast, filtering aydara, šammétá for drinks and,
grinding the semi-roasted barley for bullo . During that evening they
eat regular food. On the next day a very large quantity of
bullo is cooked and served to all women present as well as drinks.
After the meal of bullo the women dance baha (a dance of eddotta)
which usually signifies prosperity and abundance of wealth. Baha
dance is performed by the women jumping and beating their hips with
their hands while singing ahaa-baha in a form of humming. During
the performance of bahaa dance the hostess is surrounded in the

22. The drink is supposed to replace blood and energy lost at birth.

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middle by the dancing women. And at the end of the dance the rest
of the bullo is divided equally among all present This ends the
celebration of eddotta , which is performed every seven years.
The bullo prepared for eddotta is never eaten by males not even by
a male child.

Duties of a Housewife

The duties of a traditional Hadiya woman can best be described

on the basis of twenty-four hours. A good Hadiya wife gets up early in
the morning and cleans the house, sets fire, prepares breakfast,
grinds corn on a grinding stone for lunch, and then wakes up
her husband for a hot bullo or moqa (breakfast porridge). She
sometimes eats with him and the children are given their share
separately.

After breakfast at approximately 8 a.m. -9 a.m. the cattle are let loose
and then the housewife cleans the stable taking and distributing the
manure on the farm land as fertilizer. If she has a baby she washes
and feeds him. Then she gathers cuts, or splits firewood. She also
gets water from the river in a large pot, carrying it on her back, and
then sets the fire and cooks lunch for the family. If her husband
ploughs land away from his house she takes food for him to his
place of work where she also helps.23 Sometime late in the afternoon
she returns home with some firewood carried on her back. Then she
feeds and looks after the children, grinds corn, barley, oats, or wheat
for supper. When her husband comes home sometime around 5 or 6
p.m. she receives him in front of the house and takes from him
the farming tools. When he enters the house she provides him
with some light food. Around 6 p.m. she sees to it that calves,
sheep, goats and other domestic animals are brought in and tied at
the right place. After which she provides the cattle stalls with light food.

After this she begins to cook or bake food for supper which is
usually eaten sometime between 9-10 p.m. Having fed the family
she puts her children to bed and heats water and washes her husband's
feet. She works long after the husband has gone to bed and rises
earlier than anyone the next morning. This is only to show the routine
duties of Hadiya women. There are of course other duties performed
such as going to market to purchase, barter or sell certain goods;
visiting the sick and the bereaved and attending funerals. The women
wait on the expectant mother during her period of confinement when
they bring her addissa consisting of milk, ado šamméta , (a drink
made of milk barley flour and spices but without being fermented)
and special food. There are many more of duties of the traditional
Hadiya women not mentioned here for reasons of economy of time
and space.

23. Depending on climatic conditions the traditional Hadiya housewife grow

spices and certain aromatic plants in the back yards.

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Old Age
When traditional Hadiya women become old ( lommanno ) they get
honorific titles such as eddé , anna or daddé if their behaviour is in
accord with established Hadiya social norms. Externally, old age is
marked by the symbolic head cover, a special cap called qunnana.
Women with this cap on are accorded seniority and respect. They
gradually give up doing hard work finally restricting themselves to
sedentary types of duties as they advance in age. Even if they want to
continue doing routine work their children and grandchildren would not
allow them but perform the work themselves.

Death

The traditional Hadiya women are treated in a manner fit to their

sex even in death (ìého). At the interment, those who bury her must
see to it that her corpse lies down with its right side up and its left
down.24 The sex distinction is further reflected in the funeral dance and
songs. For instance in the funeral ceremony of a woman only ayé -
ayé sangamď dance is calmly performed in slow motion whereas in
the same occasion for a man the ayéwarqa , morraho , doyuko , hole ,
männco songs and dances and arradema are performed with heightened
emotional intensity. And moreover women's graves are left without the
tomb-hills built exclusively over men's graves.
Immediately after coming home from the burial of a man a sheep
is killed, by stabbing it on the lower part of the spine, with the hope
of helping the dead find favour and acceptance in heaven. The sheep
killed by the son or immediate relations of the deceased as anšita
is then thrown out in the field for fowls, and on the third day after
burial, only aggatta ceremony is performed both for women and
men by killing a cow and a bull respectively. However boh or
gabba 25 is performed exclusively for men by killing an ox or a
bull when convenient within one year's time.

Divorce

Among the traditional Hadiya people divorce (hollemma) is very

rare. However, certain factors causesing divorce are:
(a) since the Hadiya are exogamous if after marriage some
trace of blood relation is discovered,
(b) sterility,
(c) bearing only female children.
In case of sterlity usually the husband initiates a divorce and only
rarely the wife also initiates it in order to try her chance of bearing
children with another husband.

24 . The reason for burying her with her left side down is that firstly, this is the
position of a woman in her sexual relation with her husband, that is to say,
for a sexual intercourse, the man lies down on his right side and the woman
on her left for according to the belief of the Hadiya, a woman is (if she
is the first wife) expected to have the same husband in heaven. Secondly,
there is the argument that since woman is feeble and man strong he
lies down, in his grave, on his right and she on her left side.
25 . Boh is equivalent to t äs kar in Amharic society.

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 Sometimes a person who fails to prosper in cattle may think
that it is because of his wife's bad luck that his cattle do not increase,
are killed by animal diseases or stolen. Even if she has given him
children he may initiate divorce.
Possession by spirits becomes a ground for divorce. Woman
possessed by such spirits absents hereself from work and underta-
kes frequent preparation of feasts. As she becomes a semi-sacred person*
the husband looses the liberty of beating her.

Equality between Men and Women

Traditionally there is no equality with men for Hadiya women.
For instance a traditional Hadiya woman cannot take her share of
property neither from her parents nor her husband. Moreover, socially
she is regarded as inferior to a man. Therefore:
1 . A married woman walks forward without turning right of
left and looks down as she goes forward.
2. When elders or traditional chiefs come near by or when she
comes across them she is expected to hide at least her face.
In particular child-bearing women are not supposed to be seen
by adila (king) and anjjama (wise men who can interpret dreams and
riddles and who therefore are counsellors to the traditional adila).
The reason is that a woman who is seen either by an adila or anjjama
ceases to bear children, because their eyes are too strong. Of course,
this is done in respect of adila and anjjančo.

Načančd (bet) also called gadditanča

This is if two women usually wives of two brothers or cousins
each claim to have come from a wealthier, and superior family or clan
called in Hadiya mollo. To prove this they bet to go to their respective
homes and bring for example bulls, several milking cows, a horse for
her husband, a mule for herself and number of loads of cereals and
sometimes prepare feast for a hundred men. When each one of them
goes to her respective community, sometimes the issue becomes a
community issue and therefore, each one of them tries very hard to
defeat the other either by providing what has been betted or more.
Anyway, one of the women is bound to prove superiority over the
other on the basis of wealth that either her mollo or sulla has
provided her.
Once the jury of elders declares the superiority of one of them,
this automatically makes her husband also superior over the husband
of the defeated. Thereby also the mollo and the sulla are recognized
as superior over their counterparts.

Landisa

This is collecting aid by a married woman from the mollo (family at

large) sulla (clan) and sometimes gičo (subtribe) by landičo whose parents
belong to the aid-giving clans. This may take place when some kind of
catastrophy happens to her husband's and her proprty, such as fire
set by mistake or enemy. Even after she is married she is referred

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to as landičo by her mollo and sulla which collectively or individual-
ly make contributions in cash, cattle and cereals in order to compensate
for what was lost. Anybody refusing to co-operate in providing this
to the landičo from her family and clan is cursed by the woman who
is in need and this curse ( dunnča ) according to tradition is bound
to harm the person cursed or his family. Therefore to landisa
most people respond willingly and happily in order to boost the
moral and the prestige of their landičo. Others simply conform out
of fear. However, landisa which takes place usually very seldom is
a quite effective method, for Hadiya women to counteract catastrophes
and get their losses compensated.

Activities of Traditional Hadiya Women in Political Life

1 . In oral tradition it is stated that what impresses Hadiya

women about their husbands is a strong character and heroism more
than wealth. Therefore, in former times when their tribes or sub-tribes
were engaged in wars, their wives went behind them encouraging them
to fight bravely while at the same time performing certain ritual
acts. Women ululate when their men advance foreward in fighting and
make knotches on grass known as guff-guddima to prevent defeat.
This is often done on the land liberated or annexed so that the enemy will
not pass these knotches and advance to Hadiya territory. In the tradi-
tion of Hadiya a man is not obliged to kill another man in order to
get married. However, wives of those men who have killed lion, leopard
and elephant in hunting, or men in war are eligible to decorate them-
selves with special ornaments such as wearing sofa which is a cop-
per collar around their neck, and inserting special feather bailé on
their head. They also enjoy prestige among other women.

2. Historically certain Hadiya women are mentioned. Empress

Elèni (Haelena) was the daughter of Mehmad or Bimad26 and she was
married to Emperor Zära Ya'eqob. Thereby the atmosphere of peace
and tranquility was established between the christian kingdom and
the Moslems of Hadiya.

Moreover the same Elèni of Hadiya is said to have lived until

the reign of Emperor Lebnä Dengel and had attracted the Portugese to
come to Ethiopia. Thus when the two states exchanged ambassadors,
the age long isolation of Ethiopia was broken. Thereby Ethiopia
received military aid from Portugal when it was invaded by Ahmad
Grañ in the 16th century. Empress Elèni was a very intelligent and
great politician, about whom the famous German historian Hiob Ludolf
says she was prudent and 4 4 magni animi foemina" adding "durât adhuc
in Äthiopia prospera ejus fama."27 Elèni was not only a politician
but was also much loved and religious lady.

26. Bimado and Boyamo are said to be brothers, and Boyamo is also said to
have lived in the court of Emperor Zära Ya'eqob.
27. F. Alvarez, The Prester John of the Indies (Cambridge, 1961), I, 14; J. Ludolf,
Historia Aethiopica , p. 14.

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 2. Again during the first quarter of the 16th century F. Alvarez
states that he saw a Queen of Hadiya, who was said to have been
a strong and calculating politician. When she saw that her husband's
throne was threatened and in danger of being taken by her husband's
brother who was backed by a great number of people, she came to
the court of Emperor Lebnä Dengel and she was received by the
Emperor with full honour. She was also able to explain the precarious
political situation within Hadiya and has obtained 15,000 soldiers
headed by a Ras. When the soldiers proved unable to restore law
and order in the kingdom of Hadiya, the Emperor who was earlier
said to have been impressed by the calculating and unyielding morale
of the Queen of Hadiya led the army in person and went to
Hadiya to crush the rebellion and restore the power of the king
of Hadiya.
In addition, it is stated that the sister of this queen was engaged
to Emperor Lebnä Dengel but because of her two long frontal teeth
Lebnä Dengel made other arrangements and thus she was married to
a high dignitary.28
Also P. Paez states that sometime in the very early 17th century
Emperor Ya'eqob (Malak Sägäd) was engaged to a daughter of
Hadiya king whom he loved so much that even though they were
only engaged he treated her as his wife. Unfortunately Emperor
Ya'eqob died before they could be officially married,29
Finally, to indicate the continued importance of Hadiya women»
a mention should be made of the 19th century Lagibbé. Lagibbé was a
daughter of Agago, a traditional King or chief of the Jawaro subgroup
of Soro. She was married to King Damote of Wälamo, (1835-1845).
Her son King Gobé (1845-1886) was probably the most popular King
that Wälamo ever had. He reigned for more than forty years.30

Religion

The traditional Hadiya women were not required and, they never
joined, their husbands in the fast called sommano , a kind of fasting
the traditional Hadiya men used to practice when the people of Hadiya
were Moslem and belonging to the sect of Fanndano or Sommannano.
They usually fasted only twenty days31 a year as compared to thirty
days of fasting practiced by Moslems.

Summary
As can be seen from the above the traditional Hadiya women
were regarded as responsible for making life prosperous and
happy. Although men considered this to take place due to the good

28. Alvarez, op. cit. II, 427-436;

29. B. Tellez, The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia (London, 1710), pp. 51-52.
30. Oral tradition indicates that Queen Lagibbé took her brother Adayé to the
palace of Wälamo and trained him in administration under King Damote her
husband. Thus Adayé the son of Chief of Jawaro became the famous King
of the Soro. E. Cernili, "Note su alcune popolazioni sidama dell' Abissínia
meridionale", Rivista degli studi orientali (1925), X, 602-603.
31. Some say 20 days and others say 27 days and still others say six weeks.

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luck of women, in fact women brought wealth and prosperity by
working hard, and saving butter, cheese and cereals which they sold
in markets and made money which they gave to their husbands in
order to buy more cattle.
Women were respected and loved by traditional Hadiya men only
as long as they bore children, made their home prosperous and cooked
good food. For a Hadiya woman to be quick and the best cook brings
the highest reputation from all elders and chieftains, the kind of fame,
equivalent to that of a heroic reputation given to a man.
Family origin based, on pure blood and a wealthy and strong clan
or subtribe also were the sources of respect for Hadiya women.

For Hadiya women in addition to purity of blood and wealth,

personal strength and courage was the most important characteristics,
desired in their husbands.

However, nowadays since the great majority of Hadiya people

have become Christians, there is a considerable change in the attitudes
of both men and women towards each other and life in general.
That is to say that Hadiya women today enjoy a relatively better status,
vis-a-vis men. Even though only a fraction of girls go to school with boys,
both wifes and husbands fast during Christian lent, and since both husbands
and wifes are Christians täskar is performed for both. The women base
their choice of men for husband on economic criteria. Unlike in the
history of Hadiya, today the women can take their share of the pro-
perty in case of divorce. Daughters are legally eligible to claim a
share of their parents, property with their brothers. As I had mentioned
earlier, the women of Hadiya who used to wear materials made of cotton
until about the last quarter of the 19th century have adapted the leather
garments from the women of the neighbouring tribes. This was
reversed a generation or more ago and as a result one can observe
that the Hadiya women today wear again cotton dresses.

In conclusion the following facts emerge about Hadiya women.

1. Despite the fact that Hadiya women were generally looked
down upon by men their symbolic importance was great as is
shown by the response they won from their kin in time of distress.
The Hadiya woman was not only a wife but also the mother of great
men and the helper to her husband.
2. Hadiya women played a central role in the economic life of
Hadiya family she is not only working in the house and the fields, but
also provides cash through her sales at the market for purchases of do-
mestic animals.

3. Compared to the contribution of the woman to Hadiya

society, she has never been accorded the dignity she deserved in the
history of Hadiya.

Sources of Oral Tradition

I. Information obtained through questionnaires filled out and return-

ed from Šašogo, Badawačo, Soro and Lémo.

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IL Information gathered through discussions, correspondence and
interviews with :
Qäfiazmac Seyum Annoré, Governor of Soro and also (Balabat)
" Qintamo Soboqo, traditional Chief elder of Soro
Daña Aergogo Bijjamo, traditional Chief of Gabaranna of Lémo
" Hamífučo Wannoré, traditional Chief of Dubamo of Soro
Ginjjé Géribo, traditional Chief of Donga of Soro
Nunnišé Menta, traditional Chief and oral historian in
Šašogo
Qáňazmač Hilboro, Balabat of Šammanna (Badawačo)
" Jiqammo, Balabat of Haballo (Qorgga)
Endras Aersumo Tafféso, acting Balabat of Ussmano Soro
Gadabič Lačébo Abbamé, elder of Darrišo, Buriyé-Soro
Ašanč Ababa Bušéro, advocate and elder Balesa, Lémo
Hélliso Gujjabo, elder Ayqoanna, Lémo
Soladum Gémede Baruda, Bargagé, Qorgga
Asanč Ayälä Duballe, Lémo
Badine Ayanto Aersado, Badogo
Gadabič Dássaleñ Dayammo, Soro
Mol-Amma Wârqé Garade, daughter of Saroré, balabat of Soro
Mal-Amma Dobamé Abbamé, Soro
Gadabič Lollamo Lombébo, elder Ussmano Soro
Dan (Gadabič) Handiso Okoté, Chief and elder Gassoro, Soro
Ačanč Ersa Adada, teacher Lémo
III. Personal experiences and memories of the researcher.
In presenting this article I am very grateful to my wife, Wossenie
G. Sadeq who typed the manuscript and assisted me in tracing the
map, and to Ato Asfaw Biratu, and Ato Haile Wäldä Mika'él who
read the manuscript. Dr. Ulrich Braukämper, provided me with relevant
information and made available very considerable materials out of his
recordings which he had carried out during ten months field research
among the various subtribes of Hadiya.

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