Gofa people

GoffaorGofaare anOmoticethnic group indigenous toOmo Valleylocated inEthiopia'sSouthern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.According to 2007 census there are 363,009 ethnic Goffa in Ethiopia, which make up around 0.49% of the country's total population. Traditional language of the Goffa is theGoffa language,which belongs to theOmotic branchof theAfroasiatic languages.

Gofa

The term Gofa originated from Gosha'smotherGoffe and the heroicKingGoba (meaning brave, strongwarrior) while he was ruling theGofaregion. According to the elders, there were three historical perspectives on the naming of the Gofa people. One perspective is associated with Gofa patterns of settlement: from ancient times the name Gofa was given to people who settled in themountains.The second perspective is that the name Gofa derives from a powerful warriorleader,originally named Kawo Gooba, which gradually became Gofa. There is also the third account from elders that the name Gofa is the original name of the people in the firsthomeland,Gibe, which is derived from the line of theancestralline of descent. This claim is further supported by thegenealogicalstructure of the Gofa people.

website

http://www.snnprsgofazone.gov.et/

History

There are two perspectives about the origin of the Gofa people. The first perspective is that someclans(qommos) are just native to the land, and call themselves "Bita Tusi", literally meaning "emerged out of the land itself". These clans include Goshana, Kalata, Gamo Maala, Hirara, and Maka. The other perspective states that there are also clans /qommosfrom the neighboring areas and settled in the area. This movement extended up to Bubula in the upperGibe River.These clans include Galo-Malla, Walayta Malla, Boroda-Malla, Ayka, Fastigara, Enigara etc. From the above two perspectives one can conclude that, however differently clans explain their origins in various ways, both groups settled in the area for a long period of time and identified themselves as Gofa. According to the second perspective the firsthomelandof Gofa was Bubula and Gibe in the upper valley of theOmo River.It is said that at a certain time in the past, from this original land the people moved towards Southern part following the Omo River basin. Immediately after they moved southward following the Omo River, they found their first settlement at Wurki, in today'sNorthwestern part ofDemba Gofa.There are several reasons cited as the cause for their southward movements. One of the pushing factors is unsuitable natural environment in the previous settlements. Besides, the search for suitable natural environment:pastureandfertileland can be sited as the pulling factors towards their current settlements. There are also various groups who come to the Gofa area from the surroundingethnicgroups. Informants mentions Shasha,Kolta,Zulu Kalacha, Waysara, Woide Dargintha, Woide Yallo, Layma and Tsanga Darara as the second settlement places of the Gofa. In most cases, the southward movement of the people was made under the leadership of their respective Kawo, the independent leaders of different Gofa chiefdoms/kingdoms,following the mountainous chain under the leadership of their Kawo until Kencho Gerera. Kencho Gerera is now located in Geze Gofa woreda between Berza and Kenchokebeles.The southward movement of the Gofa was notpeaceful.This was mainly because the most fertile favorable land chosen by the Gofa nationality to settle was not empty; there were settlers in the land. So, the contradicting interest necessitates some sort of conflicts between the one that opted to occupy the land and the previous settlers of the land. As most of the elders agree, others occupied the current Gofa – land. When the expanding Gofa nationality tried to occupy the landconfrontationoccurred. The others attempted to resist the expansion of the Gofa. However, since the expanding Gofa nationality were led by a unified command of the Kawo (literally king), they have the advantage to take most of the land. It is argued that there were continuous conflicts and disputes that resulted in the eviction of the others. On the conflict events between the expanding Gofa and the resisting inhabitants, two brothers ofBuraqaled the movement of Gofa. The one who become the successor of his father become one of the powerful Kawo called Kawo Gaamo Buraqa.

Culture and society

As it widely believed by the elders, the Gofanationalityhas two ancestral forefathers which are derived into two ancestral lines. The two ancestral clans are called Maala and Dogala. These two clans further subdivide into various groupings, calledqommo.Some of the groups orqommosunder Maala include Goshana, Ayka, Maka, Kalata, Borodamaala, Golomala, Buyla, Gaamo-maala, Sili-maala, Lontso-maala, and others. The groups orqommosunder Dogala include Zutuma, Worze, Gawuraro, Ayfarso, Amari, Gudarti, Muquriti, Sachi, Sawa, Ganji, etc.

The Gofa call theirfather"Aawa" and theirmother"Ayye". Daughters are calledmachoand sonsAde nayta.Malesiblingsare calledeshaandfemalesiblingsmicho.The Gofakinshipsystem in general follows the bifurcate collateral type; father's brother and mother's brother are differentiated asaayoandaawa,and from each other by the termsaawa ishaandawesho (awta)respectively. Likewise, mother's sisters and father'ssistersare differentiated from each other by the termsaaye michoandaawa michorespectively. Father's father is calledaawa aawaand father's mother asaawa aaye,while mother's father isaaye aawaand mother's mother takes the nameaaye aaye.

References

• Ethnohistory and Ethnography Study of Gofa Nationality by Markos Tekle and Walelign Tadesse, 2011 G.C.
• History of Gofa Nationality by Belayneh Gebremariam, 2005 E.C.
• Fleming, H.C. 1973. "Recent Research in Omotic Speaking Areas" Proceedings of the firstUSAConferenceonEthiopianStudies.Michigan:Michigan State University.