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| − | The '''Ijaw''' (also known as the "'''Izon'''") are a collection of peoples residing mostly in the forest regions of [[Delta State, Nigeria|Delta State]], along the [[Niger River]] delta in [[Nigeria]], and numbering several million individuals.
| + | {{ethnic group| |
| | + | |group=Amhara |
| | + | |image=[[Image:Tewodros_Head.JPG|200px|]] |
| | + | |poptime=23 Million |
| | + | |] |
| | + | |rels=[[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity]] |
| | + | |langs=[[Amharic language|Amharic]] |
| | + | |related=[[Tigr]] |
| | + | }} |
| | + | 30.2% of the country's population according to the most recent 1994 census.<sup>[[#Notes|1]]</sup> They speak [[Amharic Ethiopia, and dominate the country's political and economic life. |
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| − | ==Linguistic Relationships== | + | ==Agriculture== |
| − | {{main|Ijoid languages}}
| + | About 90% of the Amhara are rural and make their living through farmirds were replaced by local government officials, who play a similar role. |
| − | The Ijaw speak 9 closely-related [[Niger-Congo languages|Niger-Congo]] languages, all of which fall under the [[Ijoid languages|Ijoid]] branch of the Niger-Congo tree. The primary division between the [[Ijo languages]] is that between Eastern Ijo and Western Ijo, the most important of the former group of languages being [[Izon language|Izon]], which is spoken by over 1 million people. There are two prominent groupings of this language. The first group in nominally termed "Western Ijaw" or Izon, and consists of "Western" Ijaw speakers (Kiama, Bomadi, Ekeremor variety), the Nembe dialect of Ijaw and Kolokuma (Yenegoa and the vicinity).
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| − | The other major group is [[Kalabari]]. Kalabari is an "Eastern" Ijaw language but the term "Eastern Ijaw" is not the normal nomenclature. Kalabari is the name of the Ijaws that reside on the eastern side of the Niger-Delta (Abonema, Buguma, Degema etc) and have mixed and lived with their [[Igbo]] neighbours for many years who form a major group in Delta State,hence their affiliation and involvement to the fight for greater oil control.
| + | Barley, corn, millet, wheat, sorghum and [[teff]], along with beans, peppers, chick-peas and other vegetables are the most important crops; in the highlands one crop per year is normal, while in the lowlandsossible. Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding. |
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| − | There are many other dialects of Ijaw which merit further treatment.
| + | Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant, and circumcise him if he is a boy {{Dubious}}. The mother and child remain in the house, for forty days after birth of a boy, eighty for a girl, before going to the church for [[baptism]]. |
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| − | ==Traditional Occupations== | + | ==Art== |
| − | The Ijaw were one of the first of Nigeria's peoples to have contact with Westerners, and were active as go-betweens in trade between visiting Europeans and the peoples of the interior, particularly in the era before the discovery of [[quinine]], when West Africa was still known as the ''[[White Man's Graveyard]]'' because of the endemic presence of [[malaria]]. Some of the kin-based trading lineages that arose amongst the Ijaw developed into substantial corporations which were known as "Houses"; each house had an elected leader as well as a fleet of war canoes for use in protecting trade and fighting rivals. The other main occupation common amongst the Ijaw has traditionally been fishing.
| + | Amharic art is typified by religious paintings. One of the most notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures. |
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| − | ==Ethnic Identity== | + | ==History== |
| − | Formerly organized into several loose clusters of villages which cooperated to defend themselves against outsiders, the Ijaw increasingly view themselves as belonging to a single coherent nation, bound together by ties of language and culture. This tendency has been encouraged in large part by what are considered to be environmental depredations that have accompanied the discovery of oil in the Niger delta region which the Ijaw call home, as well as by a revenue sharing formula with the Federal government that is viewed by the Ijaw as manifestly unfair. The resulting sense of grievance has led to several high-profile clashes with the Nigerian Federal authorities, including kidnappings and in the course of which many lives have been lost.
| + | Certain [[Semitic languages|Semitic-speaking]] tribes, notably the [[Agazyan]], built the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] around two millennia ago, and this expanded to contain what is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, and at times, portions of Yemen and Sudan. The Amhara inherit their religion and monarchical tradition from Axum, as do [[Tigray people|Tigreans]]. |
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| − | ==Ijaw-Itsekiri Conflicts==
| + | The region now known as "Amhara" in the feudal era was composed of several provinces with greater or less autonomy, including [[Begemder]], [[Gojjam]], [[Qwara]] and [[Lasta]]. |
| − | One manifestation of ethnic assertiveness on the part of the Ijaw has been an increase in the number and severity of clashes between Ijaw militants and those of [[Itsekiri]] origin, particularly in the town of [[Warri, Nigeria|Warri]]. While the Ijaw and the Itsekiri have lived alongside each other for centuries, for the most part harmoniously, the Itsekiri were first to make contact with European traders, as early as the 16th century, and they were more aggressive both in seeking Western education and in using the knowledge acquired to press their commercial advantages; until the arrival of Sir [[George Taubman Goldie|George Goldie]]'s National Africa Company (later renamed the [[Royal Niger Company]]) in 1879, Itsekiri chieftains monopolized trade with Europeans in the Western Niger region. Despite the loss of their monopoly, the advantages already held by the Itsekiri ensured that they continued to enjoy a superior position to that held by the Ijaw, breeding in the latter a sense of resentment at what they felt to be colonial favoritism towards the Itsekiri.
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| − | The departure of the British at independence did not lead, as might have been expected, to a decrease in tensions between the Ijaw and the Itsekiri. With the discovery of large [[petroleum|oil]] reserves in the Niger Delta region in the early 1960s, a new bone of contention was introduced, as the ability to claim ownership of a given piece of land now promised to yield immense benefits in terms of jobs and infrastuctural benefits to be provided by the oil companies. Despite this new factor, rivalry between the Ijaw and the Itsekiri did not actually escalate to the level of violent conflict between the two groups until the late 1990s, when the death of General [[Sani Abacha]] in 1997 led to a re-emergence of local politics.
| + | Some time in the late middle ages, the [[Amharic languages|Amharic]] and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] languages began to be differentiated. Amhara warlords often competed for dominance of the realm with [[Tigray people|Tigrean]] warlords. While many branches of the Imperial dynasty were from the Amharic speaking area, a substantial amount were from [[Tigray province|Tigray]]. The Amharas seemed to gain the upper hand with the accession of the so-called [[Gondar]] line of the Imperial dynasty in the beginning of the 17th century. However, it soon lapsed into the semi-anarchic era of [[Zemene Mesafint]] ("Era of the Princes"), in which rivalling warlords fought for power and the [[Yejju Oromo]] [[inderase]]s (or regents) had effective control, while [[Emperor of Ethiopia|emperors]] were just as figureheads. The Tigreans only made a brief return to the throne in the person of [[Yohannes IV]], whose death in 1889 allowed the base to return to the Amharic speaking province of [[Shewa]]. |
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| − | The issue of local government ward allocation has proven particularly contentious, as the Ijaw feel that the way in which wards have been allocated ensures that their superior numbers will not be reflected in the number of wards controlled by politicians of Ijaw ethnicity. Control of the city of Warri, the largest metropolitan area in Delta State and therefore a prime source of political patronage, has been an especially fiercely contested prize. This has given birth to heated disputes between the Ijaw, the Itsekiri and the [[Urhobo]] about which of the three groups are "truly" indigenous to the Warri region, with the underlying presumption being that the "real" indigenes should have control of the levers of power, regardless of the fact that all three groups enjoy ostensibly equal political rights in their places of residence.
| + | Historians generally consider the Amhara to have been Ethiopia's ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in [[Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia|Haile Selassie]]. Many commentators, including Marcos Lemma, however, dispute the accuracy of such a statement, arguing that other ethnic groups have always been active in the country's politics. |
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| − | ==Oil Conflict==
| + | One possible source of confusion for this stems from the mislabeling of all [[Amharic language|Amharic-speakers]] as "Amhara", and the fact that many people from other ethnic groups have Amharic [[Onomastics|names]]. Another is the fact that most Ethiopians can trace their ancestry to multiple ethnic groups. In fact, the last Emperor, [[Haile Selassie]] I, often counted himself a member of the [[Gurage]] tribe on account of his ancestry, and his Empress, Itege [[Menen Asfaw]] of [[Ambassel]], was in large part of [[Oromo]] descent. The expanded use of Amharic language results mostly from its being the language of the court, and was gradually adopted out of usefulness by many unrelated groups, who then became known as "Amhara" no matter what their ethnic origin. |
| − | The December 1998 All Ijaw Youths Conference crystallized the struggle with the formation of the Ijaw Youth Movement (IYM) and the issuing of the Kaiama Declaration. In it, long-held Ijaw concerns about the loss of control of their homeland and their own lives to the oil companies were joined with a commitment to direct action. In the declaration, and in a letter to the companies, the Ijaws called for oil companies to suspend operations and withdraw from Ijaw territory. The IYM pledged “to struggle peacefully for freedom, self-determination and ecological justice,” and prepared a campaign of celebration, prayer, and direct action '[[Operation Climate Change]]' beginning December 28.
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| − | In December 1998, two warships and 10-15,000 Nigerian troops occupied Bayelsa and Delta states as the [[Ijaw Youth Movement]] (IYM) mobilized for [[Operation Climate Change]]. Soldiers entering the Bayelsa state capital of Yenagoa announced they had come to attack the youths trying to stop the oil companies. On the morning of December 30, two thousand young people processed through Yenagoa, dressed in black, singing and dancing. Soldiers opened fire with rifles, machine guns, and tear gas, killing at least three protesters and arresting twenty-five more. After a march demanding the release of those detained was turned back by soldiers, three more protesters were shot dead including Nwashuku Okeri and Ghadafi Ezeifile. The military declared a state of emergency throughout Bayelsa state, imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew, and banned meetings. At military roadblocks, local residents were severely beaten or detained. At night, soldiers invaded private homes, terrorizing residents with beatings and women and girls with rape.
| + | ==Notes== |
| | + | #[http://bxabeg.people.wm.edu/Ethiopia.Census%20Portrait.pdf Ethiopia: A Model Nation of Minorities] (accessed 26 March 2006) |
| | + | # [http://www.ethiopar.net/English/basinfo/infoamra.htm FDRE States: Basic Information - Amhara], Population (accessed 26 March 2006) |
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| − | On January 4, 1999 about one hundred soldiers from the military base at [[Chevron Corporation|Chevron]]’s Escravos facility attacked Opia and Ikiyan, two Ijaw communities in Delta State. Bright Pablogba, the traditional leader of Ikiyan, who came to the river to negotiate with the soldiers, was shot along with a seven-year-old girl and possibly dozens of others. Of the approximately 1,000 people living in the two villages, four people were found dead and sixty-two were still missing months after the attack. The same soldiers set the villages ablaze, destroyed canoes and fishing equipment, killed livestock, and destroyed churches and religious shrines.
| + | ==Bibliography== |
| − | | + | * Wolf Leslau and Thomas L. Kane (collected and edited), ''Amharic Cultural Reader''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2001. ISBN 3-447-04496-9. |
| − | Nonetheless, Operation Climate Change continued, and disrupted Nigerian oil supplies through much of 1999 by turning off valves through Ijaw territory. In the context of high conflict between the Ijaw and the Nigerian Federal Government (and its police and army), the military carried out the [[Odi massacre]], killing scores if not hundreds of Ijaws.
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| − | Recent actions by Ijaws against the oil industry have included both renewed efforts at nonviolent action and militarized attacks on foreign oil workers.
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| − | ==Religion and Cultural Practices==
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| − | Although the Ijaw are now primarily [[Christian|Christians]], with [[Catholicism]] being the variety of Christianity most prevalent amongst them, the Ijaw have elaborate traditional religious practices of their own. Veneration of ancestors plays a central role in Ijaw traditional religion, while water spirits, known as ''Owuamapu'' figure prominently in the Ijaw pantheon. In addition, the Ijaw practice a form of [[divination]] called ''Igbadai'', in which recently deceased individuals are interrogated on the causes of their death.
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| − | Ijaw religious beliefs hold that water spirits are like humans in having personal strengths and shortcomings, and that humans dwell amongst the water spirits before being born. The role of prayer in the traditional Ijaw system of belief is to maintain the living in the good graces of the water spirits amongst whom they dwelt before being born into this world, and each year the Ijaw hold celebrations in honor the spirits lasting for several days. Central to the festivities is the role of masquerades, in which men wearing elaborate outfits and carved masks dance to the beat of drums and manifest the influence of the water spirits through the quality and intensity of their dancing. Particularly spectacular masqueraders are taken to actually be in the possession of the particular spirits on whose behalf they are dancing.
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| − | ==Food Customs==
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| − | Like many smaller groups in Nigeria, the Ijaws have many local foods that are not widespread in Nigeria. Many of these foods involve fish and yams. Some of these foods are
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| − | Polofia - A very rich soup made with yams and palm oil
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| − | Fried fish and plantain - Fish fried in palm oil and served with fried plantains
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| − | Gbe - The larvae of a palm tree beetle that is eaten raw, dried or pickled in palm oil
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| − | ==Sources==
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| − | * Human Rights Watch, “Delta Crackdown,” May 1999
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| − | * Ijaw Youth Movement, letter to “All Managing Directors and Chief Executives of transnational oil companies operating in Ijawland,” December 18, 1998
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| − | * Project Underground, "Visit the World of Chevron: Niger Delta," 1999
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| | ==External links== | | ==External links== |
| − | *[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=2430 Ethnologue: Ijaw Linguistic Tree] | + | * Lemma, Marcos (MD, PhD). {{cite web | title=Who ruled Ethiopia? The myth of 'Amara domination' | work=Ethiomedia.com | url=http://www.ethiomedia.com/newpress/the_amara_myth.html | accessdate=February 28 | accessyear=2005}} |
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| − | *[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/sokari/ American Museum of Natural History: The Art of the Kalabari Masquerade]
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| − | *[http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/nigeria1103/index.htm The Warri Crisis: Fueling Violence - Human Rights Watch Report, November 2003]
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| − | [[Category:Ethnic groups in Nigeria]] | + | [[Category:Ethnic groups in Ethiopia]] |
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| − | [[ja:イジョ]] | + | [[de:Amharen]] |
| − | [[sh:Idžo]] | + | [[es:Amhara]] |
| − | [[sr:Иџо]] | + | [[nl:Amharen]] |
| | + | [[sh:Amhara (narod)]] |
| | + | [[fi:Amharat]] |
30.2% of the country's population according to the most recent 1994 census.1 They speak [[Amharic Ethiopia, and dominate the country's political and economic life.
Agriculture
About 90% of the Amhara are rural and make their living through farmirds were replaced by local government officials, who play a similar role.
Barley, corn, millet, wheat, sorghum and teff, along with beans, peppers, chick-peas and other vegetables are the most important crops; in the highlands one crop per year is normal, while in the lowlandsossible. Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding.
Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant, and circumcise him if he is a boy Template:Dubious. The mother and child remain in the house, for forty days after birth of a boy, eighty for a girl, before going to the church for baptism.
Art
Amharic art is typified by religious paintings. One of the most notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures.
History
Certain Semitic-speaking tribes, notably the Agazyan, built the Kingdom of Aksum around two millennia ago, and this expanded to contain what is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, and at times, portions of Yemen and Sudan. The Amhara inherit their religion and monarchical tradition from Axum, as do Tigreans.
The region now known as "Amhara" in the feudal era was composed of several provinces with greater or less autonomy, including Begemder, Gojjam, Qwara and Lasta.
Some time in the late middle ages, the Amharic and Tigrinya languages began to be differentiated. Amhara warlords often competed for dominance of the realm with Tigrean warlords. While many branches of the Imperial dynasty were from the Amharic speaking area, a substantial amount were from Tigray. The Amharas seemed to gain the upper hand with the accession of the so-called Gondar line of the Imperial dynasty in the beginning of the 17th century. However, it soon lapsed into the semi-anarchic era of Zemene Mesafint ("Era of the Princes"), in which rivalling warlords fought for power and the Yejju Oromo inderases (or regents) had effective control, while emperors were just as figureheads. The Tigreans only made a brief return to the throne in the person of Yohannes IV, whose death in 1889 allowed the base to return to the Amharic speaking province of Shewa.
Historians generally consider the Amhara to have been Ethiopia's ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in Haile Selassie. Many commentators, including Marcos Lemma, however, dispute the accuracy of such a statement, arguing that other ethnic groups have always been active in the country's politics.
One possible source of confusion for this stems from the mislabeling of all Amharic-speakers as "Amhara", and the fact that many people from other ethnic groups have Amharic names. Another is the fact that most Ethiopians can trace their ancestry to multiple ethnic groups. In fact, the last Emperor, Haile Selassie I, often counted himself a member of the Gurage tribe on account of his ancestry, and his Empress, Itege Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, was in large part of Oromo descent. The expanded use of Amharic language results mostly from its being the language of the court, and was gradually adopted out of usefulness by many unrelated groups, who then became known as "Amhara" no matter what their ethnic origin.
Notes
- Ethiopia: A Model Nation of Minorities (accessed 26 March 2006)
- FDRE States: Basic Information - Amhara, Population (accessed 26 March 2006)
Bibliography
- Wolf Leslau and Thomas L. Kane (collected and edited), Amharic Cultural Reader. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2001. ISBN 3-447-04496-9.
External links
de:Amharen
es:Amhara
nl:Amharen
sh:Amhara (narod)
fi:Amharat
