Welayta people

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Welayta
Wolaytta Dere Asaa
Omotic and Southwest Ethiopian
peoples.

The Welayta, Wolayta or Wolaytto (

Wolaytta, belongs to the Omotic branch of the Afro-Asiatic
language family. Despite their small population, Wolayta people have widely influenced national music, dance and cuisine in Ethiopia.

History

Wolayta chief Kawa Tona

The people of Wolayta had their own

Emperor Menelik II into the regions south of Shewa
during the early 1890s.

Hailemariam in Closing Plenary: Africa's Next Chapter - World Economic Forum on Africa 2011

The war of conquest has been described by

Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. The Derg afterwards restructured the country and included Welayta as a part of the province of Sidamo. The Welayta were previously known as "Wolamo", although this term is now considered derogatory.[5]

In 1991 the

Semien Omo Zone. The regional government claimed that the Welayta were so closely related to the other Omotic-speaking peoples of that zone that there was no justification for a separate Welayta zone. Welayta leaders, however, stressed that their people had a distinct language and culture and demanded a zone for themselves. In 1998, the regional government attempted to introduce an artificially constructed language, based on the various local North Omotic languages and dialects, as the new language of education and administration for Semien Omo Zone. This triggered violent protests by Welayta students, teachers and civil servants, which led to the withdrawal of the new language. In November 2000, the Welayta Zone was established.[6]

Wolaytta language

Main article:
Wolaytta language

Wolaytta is an Omotic language
spoken in the Wolaita Zone and some parts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia. The number of speakers of this language is estimated at 1,800,000 (1991 UBS); it is the native language of the Welayta people.

There are conflicting claims about how widely Welayta is spoken. The 'Ethnologue' identifies one smaller dialect region: Zala. Some hold that Melo, Oyda, and Gamo-Gofa-Dawro are also dialects, but most authorities, including Ethnologue and ISO 639-3 now list these as separate languages. The different communities of speakers also recognize them as separate languages.

Welayta has existed in written form since the 1940s, when the

Sudan Interior Mission first devised a system for writing it. The writing system was later revised by a team led by Dr. Bruce Adams. They finished the New Testament in 1981 and the entire Bible in 2002. It was one of the first languages the Derg selected for their literacy campaign (1979–1991). Welaytta pride in their written language led to a fiercely hostile response in 1998 when the Ethiopian government distributed textbooks written in Wegagoda
– an artificial language based on amalgamating Wolaytta with several closely related languages. As a result, the textbooks in Wegagoda were withdrawn and teachers returned to ones in Wolaytta.

The Welayta people use many proverbs. A large collection of them was published in 1987 (Ethiopian calendar) by the Academy of Ethiopian Languages.[7] Fikre Alemayehu's 2012 MA thesis from Addis Ababa University provides an analysis of Wolaytta proverbs and their functions.[8]

Welayta music

Welayta men wearing traditional clothing.

Welayta music plays a prominent role in national entertainment in Ethiopia. The unique and fast-paced Welayta tunes have influenced several styles and rhythm as it continues to shape the identity of Ethiopian musical diversity. Various famous Ethiopian artists from other ethnic groups have incorporated Welayta musical style into their songs, including vocalists Tibebu Workeye, Teddy afro and Tsehaye Yohannes. Just as influential are Welayta traditional dance forms that are often adopted by musicians and widely visible in Ethiopian music videos.[9]

Food

Traditional raw beef dish "kurt"

Raw beef, commonly known as “Kurt” is deep rooted cultural food by Welayta people. Little is known on the origin of raw meat eating habit. Minced raw beef called “Kitfo” by the Gurage people and Kurt are mostly served on special occasions such as holidays like "Finding of the True Cross" or "Meskel" holiday, celebrated annually on September 27 in Ethiopia. Moreover, Enset foods are traditionally incorporated into cultural events such as births, deaths, weddings, and rites of planting, harvesting and purification.

Currencies

Main article: Marchuwa

Wolaita people used different type of currencies through their kingdoms for trade purpose. Among them

US dollars.[10][11]

Notable people


See also

References

  1. ^ "Population Size by Sex, Area and Density by Region, Zone and Wereda : July 2022" (PDF). www.statsethiopia.gov.et.
  2. ^ "Population Size by Sex, Region, Zone and Wereda: July 2021" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  3. ^ "Population Size of Towns by Sex, Region, Zone and Weredas as of July 2021" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  4. ^ Sarah Vaughan, "Ethnicity and Power in Ethiopia" (University of Edinburgh: Ph.D. Thesis, 2003), p. 253.
  5. ^ Yimam, Baye (2002). Ethiopian studies at the end of the second millennium. Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University. p. 930. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  6. ISSN 1385-4879
    .
  7. ^ "Wolayteto Lemsuwa". Good Amharic Books. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  8. ^ Alemayehu, Fikre (May 2012). "An analysis of Wolayta proverbs: Function in focus" (PDF). Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  9. ^ "music in wolaita". www.researchgate.net.
  10. ISSN 2320-9186
    . Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  11. ^ Vanderheym, J.-Gaston Auteur du texte (1896). Une expédition avec le négous Ménélik : vingt mois en Abyssinie... / J.-G. Vanderheym; [préface de Jules Claretie].
  12. ^ "Centre for Economic & Leadership Development, Blog".
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