Crisis, Moral Consensus, and the Wando Magano Movement among the Sadama of Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

This paper examines what happens when the moral consensus which makes for group cohesiveness breaks down and persons seek to effect a reform. The significance of the movement is first discussed followed by a description of ritual, dispute settling activities, and a consideration of historical antecedents. The Sadama dwell in an area approximately I70 miles south of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.2 They are between the Arussi on the north, Gugi and Darassa to the south, Walamo on the west, and theJamjam (Northern Gugu) on the eastern side of their domain. The population of this Cushitic speaking people may number close to 6oo,ooo.3 They live in numerous small compounds surrounded by gardens which are clustered along the edges of plateaus where their cattle graze. Subsistence is based on a mixed herding and horticultural economy, combining cultivation of the food staple Ensete edulus and other vegetable crops with the recent introduction of coffee as a cash crop. The Sadama are divided into patrilineal clans cross-cut by five generational classes (Hamer I970: 50-70). Each clan has a ritual head with mediatory functions and the generational classes have leaders with similar roles. The Aleta, however, who constitute the focus of this paper are composed of several clans with a single ritual head and a single generational class system. Authority rests with a number of elders' councils at the village, neighborhood, lineage, and clan levels. These councils known as songo make policy and settle disputes (Hamer 1972: 232-247). All the adult males are eligible to participate in these councils, although decisions are made by elders selected by the generational class system. In a Sidamo dispute evidence is heard by the elders and all participants of the council. If it is possible on the evidence to decide which disputant is wrong, the elders so decide and ask the wrongdoer to admit his guilt and end the case by compensating the other disputant and paying a token fine to the songo. In the event that the evidence is inconclusive, the elders seek to impress upon a suspect the importance of telling the truth for the sake of his kinsmen and out of respect for the traditional norms. Should their efforts fail they leave the decision to the creator sky god, Magano, the ultimate judge of right and wrong. If he has lied in protesting his innocence, this constitutes a curse on the suspected wrongdoer. When a disputant is dissatisfied with a decision of the elders he may appeal to a higher level of songo.