The Guji Oromo are an
Oromo clan living
Guji Zone in southern
Oromia
Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa.
It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. They are distinguished by their agro-
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
lifestyle. According to a population projection from 2007, the total population of the Guji Oromo is above 5 million. The Guji have lived in their territory for many centuries. They claim that their cradle land is ''Girja''.
The Guji live in a fertile and natural resource-rich region in Ethiopia: the
Guji Zone in the
Oromia Region
Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa.
It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...
, which is named for them. The known gold mining area of
Adola
Adola is one of the Aanaas in the Oromia of Ethiopia. It is part of former Adolana Wadera woreda what was divided for Adola, Girja and Wadera woredas and Adola town. Part of the Guji Zone, Adolana Wadera was bordered on the south by Liben, on t ...
, the dense natural forest of Bada Magada, the
Nechisar National Park
Nechisar National Park (or Nech Sar National Park) is a national park in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. It is in the Great Rift Valley, within the southwestern Ethiopian Highlands.
Geography
The pa ...
and
Shakiso
Shakiso is a town in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Located in the Guji Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 1758 meters above sea level.
Two of the major mines of Ethiopia are located near Shakiso ...
-Adola evergreen forests are the natural areas which have been conserved by the Guji Oromo.
Language
The Guji speak an
Oromo dialect of the
Southern Oromo
Southern Oromo, or Afaan Oromoo (after one of its dialects), is a variety of Oromo spoken in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya by the Borana people. Günther Schlee also notes that it is the native language of a number of related peoples, su ...
variety.
Religion
In the Guji Zone where most Gujis are found, there are three major religions: original Oromo religion (
Waaqa
Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the ancient name for God in the Cushitic languages of both the Oromo people and Somali people in the Horn of Africa.Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, ''Culture and Customs of Somalia'', (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.6 ...
),
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. However, according to the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), 60% of the population said they were protestant
Christianity, and 2.11% said they practised
Orthodox Christianity
Orthodoxy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Late antiquity, A ...
. The remaining practiced cultural religion and Islam
Education
The Guji people are known for using a large number and wide variety of
proverbs in many social and conversational contexts.
[Tadesse Jaleta Jirata. 2009. A contextual study of the social functions of Guji-Oromo proverbs. Saabruecken: DVM Verlag.]
Notes
Sources
* Dejene N. Debsu. 2009. Gender and culture in southern Ethiopia: an ethnographic analysis of Guji-Oromo women's customary rights. ''African Study Monographs'' 30.1: 15–36.
* Loo, Joseph van and Bilow Kola. 1991. ''Guji Oromo culture in southern Ethiopia: Religious capabilities in rituals and songs''. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
* Taddesse Berisso. 2000. The Riddles of Number Nine in Guji-Oromo Culture. ''Journal of Ethiopian Studies'' Volume 33.1: 49–66.
{{Authority control
Oromo groups