The pragmatics of blessings in Gedeo (south Ethiopia)

The Gedeo, a Cushitic-speaking group in southern Ethiopia, have a long tradition of blessing expressions ingrained in their native cosmology. The pragmatics of the Gedeo people's blessing utterances are examined in this article. Pertinent information was gathered from knowledgeable senior community members through interviews, and focus group discussions conducted between November 2020 and December 2021. The technique of gathering data also included non-participant observations. We have thematically analysed the data based on the situations in which the blessings are expressed and used to convey the intended meanings in the specific contexts, The expressive functions of blessings in Gedeo vary from context to context as would be expected, but, interestingly, they frequently revolve around praising Mageno ‘the Creator,’ shielding fellow community members from harm, boosting the land's productivity, safeguarding the environment, and upholding the general well-being of the community. We conclude that, while blessings have diverse meanings depending on the context in which they are expressed, their overall purpose is to preserve communal harmony and order

The practices and dynamics of Baalle, an indigenous governance system of Gedeo (Southwest Ethiopia)

This article comprehensively examines the governance quest of the Gedeo people (a Cushitic-speaking people in southern Ethiopia) and their itineraries in building an egalitarian indigenous governance system locally called Baalle. The Baalle governance system is based on the distribution of political powers and social responsibilities across nine grades, each with a life span of eight years. Our analysis focuses on three aspects of the Balle system: essence, practices, and dynamics. We have analyzed the roles of the state in the dynamics of the Baalle system by considering the different historical phases of the Ethiopian state: the Imperial regime (1889-1974), the Derg regime (1974-1991), and the EPRDF regime (1991-2018). Data were collected through narrative interviews, observation, and focus group discussions from Baalle leaders and cultural consultants during several fieldworks carried out in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Based on our findings, we argue that Baalle is a complex indigenous governance system of Gedeo’s social structure that influenced their economic, social, political and spiritual life. Moreover, given the complexity of the Baalle system, the presence of governance institution (Songo) in all the three autonomous regional territories of the Gedeo, the practices of sustainable economy that combined forestry with agriculture, and the presence of dense population, we argue that the Gedeo qualify for being a state. Since the incorporation of the Gedeo into the Ethiopian state in the late 19th century, Baalle has been structurally subordinated to the central government, and its roles in the day-to-day life of the local community have significantly declined. Although the post-1991 political developments of the EPRDF made attempts to protect Baalle from extinction, its role is still reduced to playing only supplementary roles to state conflict resolution institutions and instruments