History 101: Fiction and Facts on Oromos of Ethiopia.

Ethiopians have been struggling for equal rights and democracy for decades. While it is important to report abooriut
Oromo people's backgroundand historical perspectives, it is however vital that that we report accurate information.
Instead of benefitingus, reporting inaccurate orbiased information can actually harm our struggle for democracy.
Instead of creatin national consensus and peace, it can instigate bitterness and anger.
Fiction #1:
"Between 1868 and 1900, half of all Oromo were killed, around 5 million people"
Fact #1:
This is one of the most repeated inaccuracies, usually told by Secessionist Oromos, radical Oromo Nationalst
politicians outside the country or pro-OLF history revisionist websites like Gadaa..com
However, the undisputed fact is that even the total Ethiopian population (the sum of dozens of
ethnic groups) was much less than 5 million in the late 1800s, let alone one ethnic group being 10
million. So claiming that 5 million ethnic Oromos were killed by Emperor Menelik's forces does not
add up. The truth is several thousand Oromos were in fact killed during battles of that era. It was not
a "genocide" as some politicians claim but it was a massacre of the ill equipped southern forces
defeated by the Shewan military of Emperor Menelik which had more European weapons.
Throughout those decades, the truth is more Oromos were killed by other Oromos than by nonOromos because competing Oromo Clans often traded for weapons to have an upper hand against their local
competitors, who were often their fellow Oromo and Sidama neighbors.
And it was not the first lop sided victory of that era in Africa because various communities from all corners of
Ethiopia had attacked one another during the "resource battles" and whichever group had more modern weapons had
the upper hand. To summarize, Professor Mengistu Paulos of Jimma University said it best when describing rightwing Oromo liberation philosophyccoun
Most fictional account of Oromo history blindly accepted as facts by some misled people are manufactured by
former politicians turned Pseudo-historians like OLF. Writer Asafa Jalata, who is renowned for abuse of paraphrasing
often with out-of-context citations. For example, while quoting the 19 th centrury Russian Alexander Bulatovich (who
provided and 'educated guess' of annihilation of almost half Ethiopian population by disease, famine and war,
including internal conflict between Oromo clans and with Abyssinians), the OLF-writer Asafa Jalata infamously
claimed half Oromo poputation was killed by 'evil 'Amharas. This was purposely done by Mr. Jalata to creat a
foundation for ethnic hatred between Oromos and Amharas. Ironically, even Mr. Bulatovich himself never had the
capacity nor the legitimacy to do a reliable census, as he spent just a couple of months walking around hunting
elephants in 1890.
Fiction #2:
....largely Muslim Oromo People
Fact #2:
This is a phrase seen in some media outlets but not most. Oromo people have never been a predominantly muslim
people. In fact, both Christaiantiy and Islam is not our ancestral religion because we have practical an indigenous
religion for century before.
Gradually, Islam and Christianity were both adopted (during Oromo migrations) by us and imposed (during conquest
of our lands by Abyssinian/Christans & Somalis/Islam) on us thru out history. Even today, both the two major
religions have equal representation among Oromos. The latest official 2007 census showed that around 48%of Oromos
practice Christianity (Both Orthodox & Protestant) while around 47%of Oromos priactice Islam. Yet, word on the
ground is that the Islam population might soon surpass Christianity among Oromos in the future because Orthodox
Christianity is decreasing inside Oromia.
Fiction #3:
Abyssinians labeled Oromos the derogatory word Galla
Fact #3:

For many decades, this false statement has been used by Oromo separatists to creat emotional resentment among
Oromos against Semitic Abyssinains (Amharas, Tigrayans and Gurages). The fact is the derogatory word Galla was
first used by Arab and muslim Somalis to describe Oromos as gal meaning outsiders and pagans.
Muslims used this label during Oromo migration because Oromo people had their own religion which the Muslims
believed was paganism. Nonetheless , this derogatory word was gradually adopted and used by other Ethiopians.
Fiction #4:
Oromos were colonized by Emperor Menelik
Fact #4:
Another popular claim made by secessionist Oromo politicians (and usually repeated by foreign
journalists) is the fiction that Oromo people (as a whole ethnic group) were colonized by another
ethnic group. Usually, the slogan goes "Abyssinians colonized Oromos" etc. This claim is popular
among the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) organization and consequently among some Diaspora
Oromo nationalists living in America and Europe. While a different version or a re-arrangement of
the wording might still be truein general, the Oromo nation as a whole was never colonized by
another Ethiopian ethnic group. To start with, even a united one Oromo nation did not exist at those
times. All non-political historical textbooks show the existence of battles between multi-ethnic BUT
monolingual communities for many centuries through out Ethiopia. Even in northern Ethiopia
(traditional "Abyssinia") Oromos have migrated and mixed so much with Tigrayans, Amharas, Afars
etc for centuries that the "Abyssinia" state itself was never a one-ethnic state. In fact, even around
the 1700s, Rayya Oromos and Yejju Wallo Oromos conquered and dominated a portion of Amharas
and Tigrayans; and thus made Afan Oromo the official language of Abyssinia for that brief period.
Meaning: clans and ethnic groups have mixed up in Ethiopia for over a millennium but the dominant
ethnic group always imposed its language since it was convenient. This linguistic domination
however was not always as exploitive and as vilified as it is today; because many of the ethnic
groups living along trade centers and trade routes often spoke the languages of other ethnic groups
already, because there was financial or commercial incentive to do so. This is the background of the
region.
Therefore, when it comes to the Emperor Menelik era, all historians have argued that it is
more factual to say a predominantly Amharic language speaking community gradually conquered a
predominantly Afan Oromo language speaking community in the 1800s. So this does not mean an
Oromo ethnic group was conquered by an Amhara ethnic group. In fact, just like Amharas of the
north were divided,Oromos were also divided and in conflict among themselves. The obvious
evidence for this comes from the fact that the Amhara Emperor Menelik was imprisoned by other
Amhara regional kings when he was younger. And when he was freed, Oromo clans were also in
fierce battles amongst each other, so much so that the Tullama Oromo, Limmu and Macha Oromos
created an alliance with the Shewan Amharas of Menelik, leading to the infamous battles of 1880s
that led to this said alliance easily crushing the non-allied Oromos in various bloody wars. In short,
Oromos as a one whole were never colonized by exclusively non-Oromos. In fact, the original
founders of the OLF organization themselves never believed it so they did not emphasize the word
"colonization" in the beginning. But in the mid-1970s, OLF leaders needed to mobilize Oromos
against Emperor Haile Selassie (who was half Oromo himself) and to justify the call for "Oromia
independence" from "colonial Ethiopia." Therefore OLF had to create a bad cop-good cop scenario
for their convenience and simplified history for their people to create national resentment. This
helped OLF to portray Oromos as suddenly being colonized by this foreign ethnic group (Amhara)
that we (Oromos) have never came in contact with before. This is common tactic used by national
liberation movements around the world. The truth that most Ethiopians know is that Shewa based
Oromos and Amharas (ethnically mixed Ethiopians) were the main creators of modern Ethiopia. In
his book "Who are the Shoans," the historian and anthropologist, Dr. Gerry Salole once summarized
that:
"In terms of descent, the group that became politically dominant in Shewa (and subsequently
in Ethiopia) was a mixture of Amhara and Oromo."
In Conclusion, the above are 4 of the main issues that create confusion for foreign journalists who
report on Oromo people and Oromo politics in Ethiopia. While it is vital that al Jazeera and other

media outlets cover the current suffering of Oromos and other Ethiopians, it is necessary to report
responsibly. Otherwise, creating confusion and resentment between the younger Ethiopian
population causes more problems than solutions. In reality, not just Oromos, but all Ethiopians have
suffered under several governments and the only way they can achieve freedom and lasting
democracy is when united, not when divided by tribes or not when being polarized by historical lies
presented as truth. It is important that foreign media outlets make corrections or report accurate
information to avoid inflammatory statements that are destructive and counter productive against
Oromos and all Ethiopian people' ongoing struggle for democracy, development and justice.
Feqadu Lamessa is a former Adama University professor and writer.