By Admasu Shunkuri
Americans usually ask their student guests and their new immigrants: Do you have Thanksgiving in your country? My own reply has not always been as persuasive as I or the questioners would have liked it to be. But, in fact, there is an elaborate form of Thanksgiving tradition among the Oromo of Ethiopia which ought to be told to the satisfaction of American curiosity. This essay attempts to explain the genesis of Erracha and its meaning and purpose for the Oromo cultural identity. It is hoped that the information in this discussion will enable Oromos and Ethiopians, in America and elsewhere, to say they have Thanksgiving holiday.
About the Oromo, it has been said that a cultural or social behavior in which they are equal or ahead of their ethnic counterparts in Ethiopia is their capability to assimilate. Their early conversion to Islam, later to Orthodox Christianity, and to the various protestant faiths, in the past 100 years or so, attest to cultural openness and mental flexibility of the Oromo. While the Oromo have assimilated with the Ethiopian officialdom, Islam, and Orthodox and Western Christendom, very few forms of Oromo cultural identity have been assimilated in the mainstream of Ethiopia’s social and cultural life. Erracha is one of the few mentionable exceptions being revived from dormancy and official neglect into recognition as a festive public affair.
About the Origin of Erracha
Erracha is an old Oromo tradition of Thanksgiving for which there are only few sporadic newspaper accounts and even fewer documentary information. Most contemporary knowledge about Erracha and its synonym, irresa, come by way of oral history passed down to generations. According to oral history, the Oromo are no new comers to the concept and consciousness of the existence of one supreme power over all nature. They called Him, Waqqaayyo, and worshiped Him as their creator and provider for their needs. This Oromo cognizance of God, being One and Supreme, is evidenced by the constant and frequent reference to Waqqa Tookiicha or Tookiicha Waqqayyo. It implies that there is only one God to whom all creatures belong and all humans bow in prayer and thanksgiving. Thus it appears that long before converting to Islam, Orthodox or the Western variety of Protestantism, the Oromo had a concept of a monotheistic God, who is divine, masculine, ever present, all knowing and all powerful. We can thus say that the forebears of the Oromo were no religious primitives, as their views of creation, religion, and attributes for God, have common features with other world religions including, Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
Further more, the Oromo reverence for ancestral spirits, Ayana, reveals their belief in the plurality of ways by which God would be manifest, sought and worshiped; in life after death and the immortality of the soul. The traditional Oromo theology also recognized the role and function of temporal intermediaries, divinely inspired priest, Qaallu, and priestess, Qaallitti. It is one example that the Oromo traditional religion was progressive on issues of gender equality in religious affairs. Seen in contrast, ordination of women for the priesthood has only recently entered the arena of consideration by the Catholic Church and protestant denominations. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church which has a long history of coronating and crowning women queens to rule the country, but has never been known to have had women leadership in ecumenical governance. Islam is even more silent on the issue. The major religions have more gender inequality than the Oromo tradition, either because they know women to be less righteous or because men are more self-righteous.
Official Day and Place of Erracha
As a general rule, the Oromo masses have known Erracha to be celebrated on a Sunday which, coincidentally, follows another Ethiopian national holiday, Meskel, an Orthodox tradition of commemorating the finding of The True Cross of Christ. The popular site of Erracha celebration is in the town of Bishoftu, known as Debre Zeit, the home of many lakes as well as being the hub of the joyful ceremony. Located between the cities of Addis Abeba and Nazareth, the Lake and the town of Bishoftu draw the largest crowds of visitors from other towns, as well as some from foreign lands. The waters of the lakes and the shades of old sycamore trees are the focal points of the ceremony, symbolizing the eternal presence of God in nature. Those reasons, among others, have given the lake and the town of Bishoftu, a status as an official location for the Erracha celebration.
The season of the holiday also has a special feature owed to Ethiopia’s climatic zone and the official calendar. September is the first month of a new year in Ethiopia when people make new plans or correct old ones for better futures. This time of the year brings a collective sense of blissful vigor, because the cold rainy months would be ending. It is the time when the sun shines the brightest and the flowers blossom everywhere; when the roads are dry for mobility to begin and commercial activities to resume after months of hibernation. It is well and as good as Erracha holiday comes at a time when there is plenty to be grateful, but it’s also a nervous time when children and parents prepare for the start of new school term. From my memories of working on the family farm during the months of winter vacation, September still stirs in me some mixed feelings. While happy at the brightness of things as a whole and the prospect of rest from working the soil in the drenching rains, I also felt nervous about returning to the harsh disciplines of the public schools.
Government schools in those days excelled at disciplining their students. The lashes and scolding meted out for arriving late, missing a day of school, or failing to arrive at correct answers to questions were tests of perseverance or banishment for young egos. I recall many bleeding backs and palms, including my own. For me, September was time for a break from the exacting chores of farm work, as well as a time of anxiety if I was going to last another year in school. In my time, the neighboring mission school was envied because corporal punishment was not employed as a disciplinary method. Of course, there were more other reasons for attrition than just the fear of strict disciplines. And some students still survived the trepidations at the public schools and went on long enough to succeeded, and later to give hope and be role models of support for younger relatives to go further in education and find fulfillment in life. But in those old days, few parents, if any, thought sending kids to school was a reason worthy of thanksgiving. Success in school meant little for the families whose livelihood depended on tilling the land and herding cattle. Contemporary students have better educated parents or relatives who would be role models and give them support in schools and careers. In fact, these days, many parents and older relatives would give thanks and celebrate scholastic or career achievement of siblings.
Meaning and Purpose: Galaata Galchuu
Regarding meaning and purpose, Erracha simply is an annual holiday, or a periodic event, consecrated for Thanksgiving, galaata galchuu. The synonym of Erracha, Irresa, infers the habit of daily prayers and blessings. For centuries, the Oromo have practiced this custom of thanking God for His benevolence, blessings and mercies. For God, Waqqayyo, gives the people their good health to work the land, till the soil and plant the crops; He sends the rains that moist the pastures for the cattle to feed, and for crops to grow and produce good harvest. As people who had seen and participated in Erracha explain the purposes for the festive celebration, the following examples illustrate that nearly nothing is taken for granted and no reasons are omitted from mention in the praises and prayers of Thanksgiving:
for God has led us safely through the dreary winter months
for He has enabled us to smell fresh fragrance of flowers
for He allowed us enjoy the fresh breezes of autumn winds
for He led and brought us from the old to the new year
for He made our crops and plants produce for our nourishment
for peace to prevail in homes, neighborhoods and in the land
for God to eradicate illness, pestilence and plagues
so there may be no hunger or famine on our land
so that those who have no children may have children
so that those who toil may prosper and succeed in life
When the throngs of crowds arrive in Debre Zeit and surround Lake Bishoftu, the town would be virtually besieged by multitudes of well-wishers and bliss-seekers. Or, to give another example, the Erracha ceremony is like Timkett, epiphany, an Ethiopian Orthodox tradition of collective baptism by the riverside. At the Erracha ceremony people pay up their due pledges and enter into new ones, submitting themselves to divine authority. The highest point of the event is the Thanksgiving dance known as hateetee sirbuu. It happens after sacrificial animals have been slaughtered and cooked and the foods are consumed and the thankful people are ready to dance. In accordance with the custom, the presiding officer, the main personality, for the hateetee ritual would be a woman chosen for physical and spiritual fitness, as well as for knowledge of tradition. Thus for those who travel long distances, the Erracha ceremony brings the sense of gratification similar to a pilgrimage to a religious holy place or a visit to a religious shrine.
Other Times and Occasions
It would not be the whole story to say that Erracha celebration is held only in one place, or just on one special day or month of the year. To the contrary, there are other localized reasons for thanksgiving occasions, and celebrations at local and regional levels are more frequent than being just once a year. My source for this remark is my lived experience and recollection of seeing Erracha preparations in the household of my grand uncle who lived and functioned well until he was over ninety years of age. While some relatives became Orthodox, and others converted to Islam or Protestant faiths, the grand uncle stayed steadfast with his traditional belief. Being senior in order of birth and having longevity, he was entrusted with the role of custodian and protector of the land, and he had authority to allocate plots to families according to need and ability to work. He also had the judicial function of resolving disputes among his own and the neighboring clans.
After reconciliation, parties to conflict would be ordered to prepare an observance of Erracha and resume hospitable relations. Non-compliance with the norms carried punitive social consequences, and the grand uncle enforced it because he was a father figure, as well as political and social leader. In my chores making trips to announce pending celebrations, I leaned the meaning and values of Erracha. The celebration in September, at Bishoftu, may be more known, but communities do hold thanksgiving ceremonies at various times and reasons, including Thankfulness:
for safe labor and delivery in child-bearing
for the rains of the planting season
for new crops and bounties of harvest
for alleviation of natural disaster: drought, floods, epidemics or plagues
for victory over hostile intrusions
for the healing and well being of the sick
for the multiplying herds population
for cows bearing calves, giving meat and milk
for the steers and oxen tamed to pull the ploughs
And it was common for non-Oromo settlers in the neighborhoods to participate in the festivities. People sang cheerful praises to Waqqayyo, thanking Him for His gifts of cattle, bread and land that sustain their lives. One of the common praise songs has the following refrain:
Nooruu yaa saawa, nooruu yaa buudeenaa;
siif Waqqayyof yoowanna geessee nafseenkoo.
Land and soil are praised for carrying and producing the food crops. Cattle are adored as givers of milk and meat; for their skins and hides tanned into bedding and clothing; and their horns and hooves made into cups and ornaments. In addition, dunk and urine from cattle and other farm animals are the best fertilizers that enrich the soil to produce good harvests; and dried dunks substitute for firewood with which to cook and heat the homes.
Contrast and Comparison in Practice
It was mentioned earlier that the bases of Oromo religion have considerable resemblance to those of other faiths. Similarities are even closer between Oromo practices and the main religious ceremonious in Ethiopia, such that conversion to Orthodox may not have been a radical transition for the Oromo. For example, the Orthodox ceremonies of Tebel, festive and prayerful rituals in honor of the Saints, share common features with the Oromo tributes to the ancestral deity, Ayana. The Oromo concept of waareega, sacrificial pledge for the Ayana, is similar with Orthodox selaat for the Saints. As we have already recalled, Meskel and Timkett, and Kulubi Gebriel, in Harer, are very popular religious events known and observed in Ethiopia.
While those and other Ethiopian holidays have enjoyed greater official support and sanction of the state church, Erracha is only recently beginning to attain comparable recognition. But of the many celebrations that Oromos and others observe in Ethiopia, Erracha is the only one designated for thanksgiving. Like the Erracha, the major Ethiopian ceremonies are held outdoors and generate great abundance of feasting dancing, singing, praying and praising God in thanksgiving. The Erracha, Meskel, Timkett and Kulubi are all collective spiritual exercises of extensive socialization in sharing the gifts of God. The events also involve rituals of washing as symbols of cleansing from the past and starting life anew. During Erracha ceremony, some of the most zealous ones even drive their cattle to drink of the hora, the salty water of the lake, presumed to heal the cattle from any diseases they might have contracted.
As people share foods and drinks freely and openly, the atmosphere of association during the festivities eliminates any feelings of estrangement or strangeness. Sacrificial promises, waareega, or pledges were fulfilled in cash, cattle, crops or other kinds of valuables. Cattlemen would offer up heads of their herds; merchants would give a portion of their profits; farmers give some measure of their produce; and artisans give their services and talents. In addition, community members make contributions for collective sacrifices, Irressa, whereby, sheep, goats and oxen are killed in Honor of God, and cooked and consumed in His praise.
The offering of animal blood is thus another similarity that this Oromo custom has with other religions that recognize blood as an essential sacrifice for atonement of sin. Consistent with the African tradition of ceremonial assemblage, people gather to partake in the solemn feast of thanksgiving, with a prayer offered by the eldest among them. It would not be the political officers of the Ministry of Culture or holders of university degrees; only the qualified traditional elders would initiate the prayer of thanks and ask for blessings. At an invocation for the ritual of breaking and scattering bread and pouring drinks back to the soil, the elder would raise his arms to the heavens and utter the words, Yaa Waqqayyo Hoo Quubba, “Oh, God accept our offering of thanks.” When the people in attendance repeat the words, Hoo Quubba, in unison, they mean “Amen!”, and God is praised and thanked as the source from whom all blessings flow, the original author of all life and giver of all sustenance.
Repression and Assimilation of Erracha
As was mentioned above, Erracha celebration is a cultural identity of Oromo origin which has gone through two contradictory social processes. On the one hand, the policies of the imperial officialdom and the institutions of the Orthodox christendom have discouraged and repressed Erracha as a pagan and heathen practice. Indeed, the political state and the state church of Ethiopia linked up arms so that Orthodox churches were built at sites where the Oromo held Erracha celebrations. Until very recently, no officials of Ethiopia’s regimes or the priests of the Orthodox churches have been known to observe the Oromo ceremony. Rather, Oromos had been warned and threatened against celebrating their thanksgiving, while ordered to obey holidays marked for the Orthodox Church and other secular commemorations named for Ethiopia’s rulers. Many incidents were known when armed police and soldiers had been dispatched to break up gatherings for Erracha ceremonies. At the same time, neither had the Sheiks of Islam or the patrons and leaders of the protestant churches been known as champions of Erracha or other Oromo traditional beliefs.
Thanks to the similarities that its ceremony has with some of the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, non-Oromos have been adaptive and receptive to Erracha. Thus in spite of official repression by the government and the state church, people of non-Oromo heritages have found some social and spiritual meaning in the yearly event of Erracha tradition. Settlers among the Oromo, Amhara and Tigrean, Christians and those of other ethnic and religious groups, have assimilated the Erracha celebration into their own cultures. As Erracha has transcended the ethnic boundaries, the ceremony in Debre zeit is said to attract as many non-Oromo as Oromo celebrants. It exemplified the degree of Erracha assimilation that an Amhara scholar paid his own money for the construction of the concrete wall around the sacred tree, making a sanctuary of the site of Erracha thanksgiving.
Some of the changes evident since the recent restructuring of government include that, Erracha attracts larger crowds; public officials attend the events; and the ceremonies are accorded security escorts. It also merits a mention that the elevated stature of Erracha has not caused any decline in the celebrations of other holidays. Indeed, constructions of churches and mosques are increasing as evidence of continuous growth in Christian and Muslim populations, and reflective of strong Islamic resurgence and Pentecostal movements among the Oromo. It appears the Oromo are experiencing a dual rebirth of identity, – “born again” in the sense of cultural nationalism and “born again” in the embrace of spiritual renewal. Whether for nationalist ideology or religious dogma, the Oromo ought to be mindful that faith without work has little redemptive value. But a more accurate analysis of identity tension for the Oromo is a task better left for the experts on the subject or, in my case, for another time and context.
Summary and Conclusion
Erracha was discussed as a testimonial that Thanksgiving is an essential feature of Oromo collective spirituality. The revival of its celebration came as the result of a long and costly national struggle in which some people gave their lives and others lost loved ones. The celebration of Erracha, and others like it, can bring some correction to the imbalance inflicted on Oromo identity formation. But, as in most human experiences, most of us simply ride the wave and pay little price, if any. There are also people who would risk nothing, but would be more critical and ungrateful toward those who had put their money, honor or life on the line to affirm the Oromo identity. It goes to show that heroic deeds have double jeopardy, the sacrificial risks taken and the thanklessness of the beneficiaries and those who stay on the sidelines. “The poor will always be with you,” as Jesus was said to have reminded his disciples, There will always be those who, given a hand, would still ask for both arms and demand both legs from those already maimed and exhausted. A permanent relevance of Erracha would be if it is practiced as a corrective for the behavioral anomalies, promoting positive self-concept and self-esteem for the Oromo to aspire to give to human culture and progress. Since the Oromo received Christmas and Easter from Western Christendom, Meskel and Timkett from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and Ramadan from Islam, Erracha is an opportunity for the Oromo to pay their dues to world cultures, and the ceremony is a chance for others to reciprocate mutual respect.
Finally, by way of conclusion, I extend credit to Mitiku Kura who interested me in this subject and sent some notes used in this discussion. In this, I have tried to provide some information to lay the foundation for Oromos and Ethiopians in America, Canada and elsewhere, Christians, or otherwise, to affirm their shared culture has a Thanksgiving tradition.
_________________________________________________________
Admasu Shunkuri, Ph.D., is a professor at New Mexico State University, Albuquerque, New Mexico.