Abstract
This paper presents the values, knowledge and beliefs of the environment that are inscribed in the Oromo folksongs with particular reference to Eastern and Western Hararghe zones of Oromia regional state. The paper discusses the various contributions of the Oromo folksongs in conserving the environment. The paper is based on the qualitative data produced through face-to-face interviews, non-participant observations and document analysis of both published and unpublished sources. The data used in this paper were collected from 24 individuals of the community leaders, elders and sheekaas by using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The analysis of the paper is employed in functional, contextual and ecocritical theoretical models. In order to arrive at the various ideas of folksongs connected to the environmental conservation, some selected folksongs were carefully designated. The paper attempts to address the contexts in which the folksongs reflect the viewpoints of environment. It also tries to explore the role of Oromo folksongs and their implications in the efforts of wide-reaching environmental views. The position of this paper is that indigenous knowledge (Oromo folksongs) is an effective vehicle in supplementing the existing efforts of conserving the environment through imagery, metaphoric, and symbolic description. Based on the analysis, this paper addresses the association that the Oromo people have strong reflections of environmental conservation through its folksongs. On the basis of the contextual analysis, we classified the folksongs that have environmental implication into four sub-divisions: (1) for utilitarian reason, (2) for visualization, (3) for aesthetic values and (4) for morality purpose.
Highlights
The Oromo people are one of the largest Cushitic-speaking ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa who maintain their own culture, religion and history (Bokku 2011)
Oromo folksongs in the context of environmental conservation in this paper can be classified into the following four clusters: Environmental knowledge of folksongs for utilitarian purpose, environmental knowledge of folksongs for visualization/envisaging, environmental knowledge of folksongs for aesthetic values and environmental knowledge of folksongs for morality purpose
This paper has explored an understanding of how the Oromo view their relationship with their surrounding natural world through their oral literature
Summary
The Oromo people are one of the largest Cushitic-speaking ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa who maintain their own culture, religion and history (Bokku 2011). The Oromo possess fertile land along with its natural resources and live in suitable weather conditions (Bokku 2011). The present Oromo are estimated to comprise 40–50 per cent of Ethiopia’s population of more than 50 million (Keller 1995). The Oromo people speak Afaan Oromo which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family and is the most spoken language in Africa with no less than four dialects (Melbaa 1988). The Oromo people constitute one of the largest African nations who share a common culture, language and history. The Oromo have not developed written literature, their own history, customs, knowledge and beliefs have been maintained through their own oral literature (Bokku 2011)
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