Oromo’s are the indigenous people of Oromo-Ethiopia.

The Oromo speaks Afaan Oromoo.

 

 Anyone that used the term Oromo until 1994 were condemned to die by the ruling class of the mostly ethno-sematic heritage. After the continued struggle of the Oromo people and the Oromo political organization that was established outside of the country in 1973, the Oromo cultural identity and language are used openly.

The Derig Regime- the communist leader of Ethiopia was removed in 1991 with the help of the Eritrean People Liberation Front, Tigre People Liberation Front, and the Oromo People Liberation Front. It was only after the 1994 that using the Oromo language, culture, and identity was officially approved in Ethiopia. The Oromo people subscribed to their Traditional Religion, had the Gadda System of governance in their medieval history which consisted of elections of their leaders. An elected leader by Gadda System stays on power only for 8 years and also there is election every 8 years. From 15 to 17 century Oromo’s were the dominant players in every single part of Ethiopia politically, socially, economically and spiritually.  

 

The Oromo people became the first to welcome the persecuted Jews and Christians in history over the centuries, many Oromo people converted from Muslim to Christianity and Jews while some retained their Muslim beliefs. They have been one of the first people to accept and welcome the historic migrations of the persecuted people from the Middle East, Israel and Greeks.

The records suggest that the Oromo were pastoral people in their history, who stayed together. Their animal herds began to expand rapidly and they needed more grazing lands. They began migrating, not together, but after separating. They lacked kings, and had elected leaders called luba based on a Gadda System of government instead. By the late 16th century, two major Oromo confederations emerged: Afre and Sadaqa, which respectively refer to four and three in their language, with Afre emerging from four older clans, and Sadaqa out of three.

The demand for Ethiopian slaves in Arabia, Persian Gulf, Egypt, Ottoman Empire and elsewhere far outpaced the supply in the first half of the 19th century, leading slavers such as the Jabarti caravans to penetrate deeper into Ethiopia.  By the early 19th century Asandabo, Saqa, Hermata and Billo were the primary slave markets of Guduru, Limmu-Enaria, Jimma and Leqa-Naqamite respectively where long distance slave caravans and local traders met.  Exported slaves comes from all parts of the country, and in 1866 alone thousands of Christians were exported from Taka and Metema which were key outlets for Ethiopian slave exports. Since religious law did not permit Christians to participate in the trade, Muslims dominated the slave trade, often going farther and farther afield to find supplies. In the centralized Oromo states of Gibe valleys and Didesa, agriculture and industry sector was done mainly by slave labor. Slave labor became so large, that in states such as Gibe, Jimma, Gera and Janjero they constituted between a third to two-thirds of the total population.

The Oromo people are the largest nation in Ethiopia. Their population is dispersed over a large region.

The Oromo speak (Afaan Oromoo). 

Oromo people were traditionally and culturally homogeneous society with genealogical ties. They governed themselves in accordance with Gadda democracy. The Gadda system elected leaders from five Oromo (groups), for a period of eight years, for various judicial, political, ritual and religious roles. Retirement was compulsory after the eight year term, and each major clan followed the same Gadda system.  Under Gadda, every eight years, the Oromo would choose by consensus an Abbaa Bokku responsible for justice, peace, judicial and ritual processes, an Abbaa Sa’aa responsible as the leader for cows, and other positions.