ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
HYBRIDIZATION AND COEXISTENCE OF QALLU CABSA INSTITUION WITH ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY IN DEBRALIBANOS AREA
By
SERA BEKELE
JUNE 2009
HYBRIDIZATION AND COEXISTENCE OF QALLU CABSA INSTITUION WITH ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY IN DEBRALIBANOS AREA
BY
SERA BEKELE
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES OF ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF ARTS IN ETHIOPIAN STUDIES, INDIGENOUS CULTURAL STUDIES
JUNE 2009
ADDIS ABABA
ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
INSTITUTE OF ETHIOPIAN STUDIES
HYBRIDIZATION AND COEXISTENCE OF QALLU CABSA INSTITUION WITH ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY IN DEBRALIBANOS AREA
BY
SERA BEKELE
Approved by Board of Examiners:
Dr. Taddesse Beriso______
______
Chairperson/ Dept. Graduate Committee Signature
Dr. Behailu Abebe ______
Advisor Signature
______
Dr. Dereje Feyssa______
Internal Examiner Signature
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………i
Glossary of local terms………………………………………………………………..ii
Pronunciation key…………………………………………………………………….iii
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….iv
CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND
Background to the Study………………………………………………………………1
Research Objectives………………………………...... ……………………………..4
Research Methodology…………………………………...... …………………………5
Organization …………………………………………...... ……………………………6
Limitations ………………………………………………………....…………………7
CHAPTER TOW ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY AND QALLU RELIGIOUS INSTITUIONSAS NARRATED IN THE LITERATURE ………………………8
Introduction…………………………………………...... 8
Brief History of Orthodox Christianity: Introduction, Expansion and Interaction with other Religions ……………………………………………………………………...10 Introduction and Expansion………………………………………………………….10
Orthodox Christianity vis-à-vis Indigenous Religions……………………………….…………………………...... 11
Orthodox Christianity and the Oromo Religious Institution ………………...... 13
The Oromo religion: dynamics and continuity…………………………...... 13
Contemporary Qallu Religious Institution………………………………...... 15 Interaction with Orthodox Christianity ……………………………………...... 17
CHAPTER THREE OVERVIEW OF ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS INTERACTION IN THE STUDY AREA…………………………………………….………...... 20
The setting……………………………………………………………...... 20
Historical Overview of the Local Area………………………………...... 22
The Establishment and Development of the Qallu Cabsa Institution …...... 26
CHAPTER FOUR FEATURES OF HYBRIDITY AND COEXISTENCE IN THE STUDY AREA………………………………………………………………………………..30
Features of hybridity in the Study Area…………...……………………………………...... 30
Coexistence of the two Religious Institutions and Influence of Christianity on Qallu Cabsa…………………………………………...... 37
The foundation of Dabratsige Sunday school, a challenge to coexistence…...... 38
CHAPTER FIVE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY AND QALLU RELIGIOUS PRACTICES FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES…………………………43
Being Modern and Religious Practise in the Study Area…………………………..43
Hybridized Religious Practice and Ethnic Identity………………………...... 48
Marginalised groups and their relation with Qallu Cabsa and Orthodox Christian Religious Institutions ………………………………………………...... 50
Gender Relation with Qallu Cabsa and Orthodox Christianity…………...... 51
5.5 Hybridized religious practice from the point of view of generation…...... 54
CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION…………………………………………...... 57
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………...... 62
LIST OF INFORMANTS…………………………………………………...... 68
APPENDEX 2
MAP of the study Area………………………………………………...... 72
APPENDEX 3
ILLUSTRATIONS……………………………………………………...... 73
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks are due to my advisor Dr. Behailu Abebe for his comments while I was writing this thesis. I would also extend my thanks to my informants who provided me with all the information which I needed for the research.
I am so grateful to my mother Fantaye and uncle Amde for their unreserved support and care through out my life. I owe a very deep gratitude to my professors Dr. Roy W/t Eleni Zeleke and Dr. Hailu Habtu who have exposed me to most of the contemporary readings in the field of cultural studies.
My friends Hilina and her kids, Kelem, Netsanet, Lulayn, Binyam, Simeneh, Haweni, Ashenafi, Bruktawit and others whose names are not mentioned here, thank you for your support and encouragement.
I owe many thanks and appreciation to all IES library staff members for their kind cooperation in the process of writing my thesis.
i
Glossary of Local Terms
Ayyana- The spirit which possesses the Qallu/ Qaliti
Bea’ad Amlko- An Amharic term designating worship of non idols or alien beings
Dhalaga-A prayer and thanksgiving ritual
Galma- Place of worship in Oromo religion
Gudifecha- Adoption
Guramayle-An Amharic name used to designate mixture.
Hamechisa- This is a ceremony held in the galma of in order for children to be
blessed by the Qallu before baptism.
Mahlet- A ritual by chanting. It is held during the night time in churches.
Oromo-geber- this is a term used by the studied community to refer to those people
who were born from both Amhara and Oromo family.
Rikuset- A word which refers to pollution and impurity
Sahitat-Similar to Mahlet it is a ritual in the church but focuses on prayer than
thanksgiving
Senbet temari- Sunday school student
Silat-Vow
Tela- A locally prepared beer.
Tufta- A blessing Qallus give to their adherents
Xumano- Name of the place where the Qallu Cabsa is located
PRONUNCIATION KEY
The following brief guide is given to minimize the problem of pronunciation when reading Afaan Oromo expressions. Both the vowel sounds and consonant sounds are represented with some examples
Vowels
a – short – pronounced as /a/ as in laga /laga/ = river
aa – long – pronounced as /a:/ as in laagaa /la:ga: = throat
e – short – pronounced as /ɛ/ as in ergaa /εrga:/= message
ee – long – pronounced as /ɛː/ as in weedduu /wε:ddu:/= praise song
i – short – pronounced as /i/ as in ilkaan /ɪlka:n/ = tooth
ii – long – pronounced as /iː/as in shiifa / ši:fa /= sword
o – short – pronounced as /o/as in orma /orma/. = alien
oo – long – pronounced as /oː/ as in loon /loːn/ = cattle
u – short – pronounced as /u/.as in ulee /ulɛː/. = stick
uu – long – pronounced as /uː/ as in duula /duːla/ = warfare
® Long vowels are doubled orthographically
Consonants
c— pronounced as /c’/ as in cabsa /cʼbːsa/= name of the studied institution
q — pronounced as /k’/ as in qeesotumaa /'kʼsotuːma/ = the priests
x— pronounced as /tʼ/ as in xaarii /'tʼaː'riː/ = effort
dh— pronounced as /dʼ/ as in dhalaga /dʼelega / = prayer ritual
ph- pronounced as /pʼ/ as in naapha /'ñaːpʼa/→ enemy
sh— pronounced as /š/ as in shakkii /'šakkiː/→ doubt
® When doubled, consonants are highly stressed
Abstract
This research is concerned with religious coexistence and mutual influence, emphasizing on the analysis of syncretism/ hybridity. It aims at exposing a social reality and lived experience of communities. It is an antithesis of outlook of religions as ‘pure’ ‘authentic’ and ‘original’. Religions as cultural systems are treated as dynamic practices which are in a process of interaction with each other leading to hybridity/syncretism and change.
Orthodox Christian and Qallu religious institutions are one of the very good instances regarding religious interaction, mixing of practices and sharing of values. In an innovative and creative way, both coexist by mutually influencing each other. Hybridity of Qallu Cabsa with orthodox Christianity in Debra Libanos area, in which the study was conducted, is a case in point because of long established history of the two institutions. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used to do the analysis.
Thus, the major findings of the research revealed that the study area is characterized by religious hybridity/syncretism, mutual influence and coexistence of orthodox Christianity with Qallu Cabsa. The Oromo religious practice, Qallu, is witnessed crossing its boundary to incorporate the Amhara through its service and hence the complexity of ethnic identities. The research has also revealed that women are the most frequent visitors of Qallu Cabsa. There are different ways of practising the two religions by urban and rural adherents. Accordingly, people from urban areas tend to make their Qallu devotion secret while in the rural area the people practice both religions openly.
Chapter One
Background of the Study
Colonial Anthropology, through Functionalism and towards the end of colonial era through Structuralism (Mafeji, 1998), was interested in the study of the religion of non Western societies in search for ‘pure’ or ‘authentic’ belief systems and has frozen them. This was attributable to a theoretical assertion that non Western societies and their religions in particular are static, non interactive and not reactive to dynamics and hence stay intact. The search for ‘authenticity’ has negatively affected the study of religion as a dynamic and complex subject matter. Moreover, it overlooked its connectedness with other institutions in humans’ process of meaning making. In addition, it denied that religions could exchange different values if they exist together in a given society (Malfejit, 1968, Douglas, 2002 and Launary, 2006).
Post colonial scholarship and trends in modern Anthropology is challenging this taken for granted tendency of studying subjects which was done by traditional Anthropology; detached from the wider context as if they exist alone, pure and not interactive with other developments around them. It is challenged because it denied the so called traditional societies and their religion the feature of creativity and dynamism. There is a shifting terrain with regard to the study of culture in general and particularly religion in postcolonial theories. As one important cultural element in a society, there is an emphasis on the study of religion as a meaning producing dynamics that is always in a process of interaction with other forces in a society and not as a site of cultural authenticity (Launary, 2006, Malefijit, 1968).
Therefore, the main concern should not be about dichotomizing religion and other cultural traditions as right versus wrong, rational versus irrational, modern versus traditional, or high versus low. It is rather what makes sense for the subjects under discussion that has to be taken critically by doing away with universalizing value judgments and parameters to categorize certain cultural traditions. Thus, the conceptual framework of this thesis is driven from postcolonial theories of culture which opposes polarization of institutions. It is through hybridity that I analyse and interpret the data in way of showing that social realities cannot be framed within certain dichotomies of purity and authenticity but that they are mixed and hybridized. Hybridity is a term used by certain postcolonial scholars like Homo Bhaba to look at ambiguous and in-between spaces of identity that negotiates between power relations.
Thus, it is on the basis of this frame, that I evaluate the knowledge produced on the Ethiopian historiography in general and on religion in particular. Even though it is being rewritten and narrated at present, Ethiopia’s experience is explained as “linear and organic historical evolution” and is also categorized as “ la “grande tradition etatique” de l’ Europe et de l’ Asie.” (Bahru Zewde, 1999:232). As if the Ethiopian experience is something that can be reduced to continuity having a linear narration of its culture and history. This tends to explain Ethiopia as an exception and anomaly.
Christianity was/ is one of the parameters used to exceptionalize Ethiopia from Africa. In relation to religion, the construction of Ethiopian history used to be one sided which posited the country as a ‘Christian island’ characterizing its society by a homogenous Christian culture (see for example Ullendorff, 1960). In addition to its role in exceptionalism, the linear narration of Ethiopian Christianity has left other religions unrepresented in the realm of religious discourses. It has also abstracted narrations of hybridity which have resulted out of the fusion of different religious practices including Christianity. Hence, this mystification of Christianity as ‘pure’ and ‘authentic’ needs to be questioned and demystified. Teshale who challenges Ethiopian Exceptionalism has beautifully contextualized Ethiopia in the African continent by saying “Ethiopia [...] in culture and religious composition, [...] is a microcosm of Africa”(1995:i).
It is essential that contemporary studies of culture in Ethiopia need to be considered and posited within the African and even the global context. This context entertains cultural and religious heterogeneity and the resultant multiple identities. Authenticity is challenged and questioned by the notions of hybridity which are results of cultural mixing born out of interaction of various cultural as well as religious traditions (Gibbons, 2000). It would then be clear that it is problematic to refer to Ethiopia as a ‘Christian Island’ because it seems oblivious of people who belong to other religious sects. Such characterisation of Ethiopia denies the existence of Muslims as well as followers of other religions in the country. It also covers up hybridity. Thus, one has to be cautious while making such assertions like ‘Island of Christianity’ because it leaves non Christian societies i.e. Muslims and ‘pagans’ unrepresented in the realm of religion. (Tadesse, 1970).
As I have tried to indicate above, grand narration of Ethiopian Christianity has covered up the fact that Ethiopia is a country of diverse cultures as well as religious practices. These diverse cultural traditions and religions are interrelated in different ways and their relationship to one another is a complex one. One aspect of these relationships has been explained in terms of cultural hegemony of one cultural tradition over the other. This view overlooks the other aspect of cultural and religious contact and interaction which results in hybridity. However, this is a lived reality of the people and this aspect of the relationship has to be explained in its own terms. Moreover, there is no such a thing as ‘original’ or ‘pure’ so long as there is a continuous interaction of different peoples which results in exchange and mixing of different cultural traditions (Launray, 2006). Therefore, the hybrid traits of Orthodox Christianity with Qallu religious practice and influence leading to coexistence and often complex cultural formations are the main interests of this research. In line with this, the study tries to show that culture is not ‘static’, ‘pure’, ‘authentic’ or locally bounded but a force that crosses boundaries and one that is interactive leading to hybridity (Barker, 2008).
In addition, the practice of Qallu being left to the private realm and Orthodox Christianity occupying the official venue is a striking phenomenon that makes one to question what is modern and non modern, legitimate and illegitimate, central and peripheral in the Ethiopian religious context. Therefore, apart from researches conducted before, this research questions why the practice differs focusing on how the two religions are handled by worshippers, how meanings are produced, and it will try to investigate how the religions interact and also coexist in the same field.
The study area Debra Libanos Wereda, is one of the twelve districts found within the domain of North Shawa Zone Oromiya Region. The capital of the Wereda, Debretsige town, is situated 90 kilometres north from Addis Ababa. The Qallu Cabsa centre is located about three kilometres west from the town in a small village called Xumano. The monastery of Dabralibanos is found 15 kilometres from Dabretsige. The society in the Wereda is composed of Oromo, Amahara and Oromo Geber (mixture of Oromo and Amhara) as they are referred to locally. Agriculture is the main economic engagement of the people in the study area. The people in the study area are followers of Orthodox Christianity as their official religion together with the so called traditional beliefs. There are only a handful of Muslims and Protestants in Debretsige town.