Daasanach people

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Daasanach
Dassanech Woman, Omerate, Ethiopia (1).jpg
A Daasanach woman
Total population
Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 48,067 (2007 census) [1]
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 19,337 (2019 Census) [2]
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia, Kenya
Languages
Religion
Traditional African religions and Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Nilotic peoples, [3] [lower-alpha 1] Aroid (South Omotic) peoples such as the Karo, [3] and Cushitic peoples (primarily of the Western Omo–Tana branch) [4]

The Daasanach (also known as the Marille or Geleba) are an ethnic group inhabiting parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan. Their main homeland is in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, adjacent to Lake Turkana. According to the 2007 national census, they number 48,067 people (or 0.07% of the total population of Ethiopia), of whom 1,481 are urban dwellers. [1]

Contents

A Daasanach man Warrior, Dassanech Tribe, Ethiopia (21256536462).jpg
A Daasanach man

History

The Daasanach are also called Marille, especially by their neighbours, the Turkana of Kenya. The Daasanach are traditionally pastoralists, but in recent years have become primarily agropastoral. Having lost the majority of their lands over the past fifty years or so, primarily as a result from being excluded from their traditional Kenyan lands, including on both sides of Lake Turkana, and the 'Ilemi Triangle' of South Sudan, they have suffered a massive decrease in the numbers of cattle, goats and sheep. As a result, large numbers of them have moved to areas closer to the Omo River, where they attempt to grow enough crops to survive. There is much disease along the river (including tsetse, which has increased with forest and woodland development there), however, making this solution to their economic plight difficult. Like many pastoral peoples throughout this region of Africa, the Daasanach are a highly egalitarian society, with a social system involving age sets and clan lineages - both of which involve strong reciprocity relations.

Language

The Daasanach today speak the Daasanach language. It belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. The language is notable for its large number of noun classes, irregular verb system, and implosive consonants. For instance, the initial D in Daasanach is implosive, sometimes written as <'D> or <Dh>.

Genetics

Population genetic analyses of the Daasanach indicate that they are more closely related to Nilo-Saharan populations than they are to most Cushitic and Semitic Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations of Ethiopia. This suggests that the Daasanach were originally Nilo-Saharan speakers, sharing common origins with the Pokot. In the 19th century, the Nilotic ancestors of these two populations are believed to have begun separate migrations, with one group heading southwards into the African Great Lakes region and the other group settling in southern Ethiopia. There, the early Daasanach Nilotes would have come into contact with a Cushitic-speaking population, and eventually adopted this group's Afro-Asiatic language. [4]

A 2021 study comparing a variety of Ethiopian populations discovered that the Daasanach people cluster closer to the Nilotic Nyangatom and the Aroid (South Omotic) Karo peoples than they do to most other Cushitic populations of Ethiopia. [3]

Daily life

Daasanach boys Dassanech Boys (49093655253).jpg
Daasanach boys

The Daasanach are a primarily agropastoral people; they grow sorghum, maize, pumpkins and beans when the Omo river and its delta floods. Otherwise the Daasanach rely on their goats and cattle which give them milk, and are slaughtered in the dry season for meat and hides. Sorghum is cooked with water into a porridge eaten with a stew. Corn is usually roasted, and sorghum is fermented into beer. The Daasanach who herd cattle live in dome-shaped houses made from a frame of branches, covered with hides and woven boxes (which are used to carry possessions on donkeys when the Daasanach migrate). The huts have a hearth, with mats covering the floor used for sleeping. The Dies, or lower class, are people who have lost their cattle and their way of living. They live on the shores of Lake Turkana hunting crocodiles and fishing. Although their status is low because of their lack of cattle, the Dies help the herders with crocodile meat and fish in return for meat.

Women are circumcised by removing the clitoris. Women who are not circumcised are called animals or boys and cannot get married or wear clothes. Women wear a pleated cowskin skirt and necklaces and bracelets. Women often marry in their late teens and men in their early twenties. Boys are circumcised. A man's wealth is determined by the size of his herd. Men with large herds often take multiple wives.

Media coverage

There are a number of variant spellings of Daasanach, including Dasenach and Dassanech (the latter used in an episode about them in the TV series Tribe). Daasanach is the primary name given in the Ethnologue language entry. [5]

See also

Notes

  1. The Daasanach along with the related Arbore form a branch with the Nyangatom (Teso-Turkanic) and the Karo (South Omotic) on the cladogram (a diagram used in cladistics) showing affinities between a wide sample of Ethiopian populations. See Supplementary Materials of López et al (2021), page 49. "Evidence of the interplay of genetics and culture in Ethiopia" . Retrieved 2024-04-09.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the northern border area of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-speaking peoples, Teso people also known as Iteso or people of Teso, Karo peoples, Luo peoples, Ateker peoples, Kalenjin peoples, Karamojong people also known as the Karamojong or Karimojong, Datooga, Dinka, Nuer, Atwot, Lotuko, and the Maa-speaking peoples.

The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region and southeastern Sudan in Blue Nile State. The Geʽez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have complex tonal systems. The languages have around 7.9 million speakers. The group is generally classified as belonging to the Afroasiatic language family, but this is disputed by some linguists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region</span> 1992–2023 regional state of Ethiopia

The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region was a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of five kililoch, called Regions 7 to 11, following the regional council elections on 21 June 1992. Its government was based in Hawassa.

The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in South Sudan. They are spoken across a large area in East Africa, ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of Tanzania. Their speakers are mostly cattle herders living in semi-arid or arid plains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rendille people</span> Cushitic-speaking group from Kenya

The Rendille are a Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the Eastern Province of Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Ethiopia</span>

The languages of Ethiopia include the official languages of Ethiopia, its national and regional languages, and a large number of minority languages, as well as foreign languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilemi Triangle</span> Disputed territory between South Sudan and Kenya

The Ilemi Triangle, sometimes called only Ilemi, is a disputed area in East Africa, claimed by both Kenya and South Sudan. Arbitrarily defined, it measures about 11,000 square kilometres (4,200 sq mi). The term "Ilemi" may more accurately be transcribed as "Elemi" in the Didinga language, signifying acceptance. This suggest that, in Didinga history, the region became favorable when they arrived, evidenced by the thriving health of the cattle that accepted the local vegetation, indicating a symbiotic relationship between the cattle's well-being and the area. The territory is claimed by South Sudan and Kenya. The territory also borders Ethiopia and, despite use and trespass into the triangle by border tribes from within Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government has not made any official claim on the area, instead agreeing that the land was Sudanese territory in the 1902, 1907, and 1972 treaties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toposa people</span> Ethnic group

The Toposa are a Nilotic ethnic group in South Sudan, living in the Greater Kapoeta region of Eastern Equatoria state. They have traditionally lived by herding cattle, sheep and goats, and in the past were involved in the ivory trade. They have a tradition of constant low-level warfare, usually cattle raids, against their neighbors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyangatom people</span> Ethnic group in Ethiopia and South Sudan

The Nyangatom also known as Donyiro and pejoratively as Bumé are Nilotic agro-pastoralists inhabiting the border of southwestern Ethiopia, southeastern South Sudan, and the Ilemi Triangle. They speak the Nyangatom language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqw people</span> Cushitic ethnic group from Arusha and Manyara Regions of Tanzania

The Iraqw people are a Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the northern Tanzanian regions. They dwell in southwestern Arusha and Manyara regions of Tanzania, near the Rift Valley. The Iraqw people then settled in the southeast of Ngorongoro Crater in northern Karatu District, Arusha Region, where the majority of them still reside. In the Manyara region, the Iraqw are a major ethnic group, specifically in Mbulu District, Babati District and Hanang District.

El Molo is a possibly extinct language belonging to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. It was spoken by the El Molo people on the southeastern shore of Lake Turkana, in northern Kenya. Alternate names to El Molo are Dehes, Elmolo, Fura-Pawa, and Ldes. It was thought to be extinct in the middle part of the 20th century, but a few speakers were found in the later 20th century. Most of the El Molo population have shifted to the neighboring Samburu language. El Molo also has no known dialects but it is similar to Daasanach.

The (Western) Omo–Tana or Arboroid languages belong to the Afro-Asiatic family and are spoken in Ethiopia and Kenya.

The Aroid or Ari-Banna languages possibly belong to the Afro-Asiatic family and are spoken in Ethiopia.

Hozo is an Afroasiatic language spoken mostly in the Kondala woreda of Mirab Welega Zone by peoples generically known as "Mao". There are smaller groups of Hozo speakers in Mana Sibu woreda. The term Hozo is usually understood by the Mao to refer to a clan. Hozo speakers prefer to call themselves Amo. Hozo and Seze are sometimes called Begi Mao. Hozo is spoken by roughly 3,000 people in Ethiopia. Hozo is also a clan in the Begi area. The Hozo language is also known as Begi-Mao and Mao of Begi. Its classification is Afro-Asiatic, Omotic, and Mao. The word Mao is Omotic and means ‘man; people’, occurring as [ma:ɪ] in Seze and as [mɔ:] in Hozo. Mao is frequently used as an ethnic term. There is a kind of Mao identity across language differences in Ethiopia. While it is generally accepted today that Omotic is one of the primary branches of the Afro-Asiatic family, the position of the four languages Hozo, Seze, Ganza and Northern Mao is still being discussed. The Mao languages are the least documented within Omotic, and Omotic itself is the least documented of the Afroasiatic groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konso people</span> Lowland East Cushitic ethnic group in southwestern Ethiopia

The Konso, also known as the Xonsita, are a Lowland East Cushitic-speaking ethnic group primarily inhabiting south-western Ethiopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwegu people</span> Nilotic ethnic group in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia

The Kwegu are an ethnic group that lives on the western banks of the Omo River in the newly formed South Ethiopia Region. Some members of the Kwegu also live on the eastern banks of the river among the Mursi. Previously they were hunter-gatherers, but today they are engaged in a mixed economy of hunting, farming, beekeeping, and fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arbore people</span> Ethiopian ethnic group

The Arbore are an ethnic group living in southern Ethiopia, near Lake Chew Bahir. The Arbore people are pastoralists. With a total population of 6,850, the Abore population is divided into four villages, named: Gandareb, Kulaama, Murale, and Eegude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Molo people</span> Ethnic group in Kenya

The El Molo, also known as Elmolo, Dehes, Fura-Pawa and Ldes, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the northern Eastern Province of Kenya. They historically spoke the El Molo language as a mother tongue, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Cushitic branch, and now most El Molo speak Samburu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Ethiopia</span> Occurrence and people throughout Ethiopian prehistory

Ethiopia is considered the area from which anatomically modern humans emerged. Archeological discoveries in the country's sites have garnered specific fossil evidence of early human succession, including the hominins Australopithecus afarensis and Ardipithecus ramidus. Human settlements in present-day Ethiopia began at least in the Late Stone Age, and the agricultural revolution took place in the third millennium BCE. Ethnolinguistic groups of Afroasiatic speakers and Nilo-Saharan speakers—defined by new ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identities—emerged around 2000–1000 BCE.

References

  1. 1 2 "Census 2007" Archived February 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , first draft, Table 5. A further 1,469 are recorded as being "Murle".
  2. "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics" (PDF). Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 López, Saioa; Tarekegn, Ayele; Band, Gavin; van Dorp, Lucy; Bird, Nancy; Morris, Sam; Oljira, Tamiru; Mekonnen, Ephrem; Bekele, Endashaw; Blench, Roger; Thomas, Mark G.; Bradman, Neil; Hellenthal, Garrett (2021-06-11). "Evidence of the interplay of genetics and culture in Ethiopia" (PDF). Nature Communications. 12 (1): 3581. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12.3581L. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23712-w . ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   8196081 . PMID   34117245.
  4. 1 2 Estella S. Poloni; Yamama Naciri; Rute Bucho; Régine Niba; Barbara Kervaire; Laurent Excoffier; André Langaney; Alicia Sanchez-Mazas (November 2009). "Genetic Evidence for Complexity in Ethnic Differentiation and History in East Africa". Annals of Human Genetics. 73 (6): 582–600. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00541.x. PMID   19706029. S2CID   2488794.
  5. Raymond G. Gordon Jr., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Ethnologue entry for Daasanach