Abstract:
The Gadaa system is a special egalitarian socio-economic and political organization of the
Oromo that has its origin in the age-system of the Horn of Africa. Gadaa assembly has been held
in the open air meadow (caffee) under the shade of the sacred evergreen sycamore tree (Odaa).
The major purpose of this thesis is to show the viability of Odaa Bultum Gadaa assembly values
and depict how membership to Odaa Bultum gadaa grades determined the social-political and
economic roles and responsibilities of individuals. The central problem on which this study
embarks is to put into consideration the interrelation of Oromo historical heritage and Odaa
Bultum Gadaa Assembly. It deals with the historical heritage of Odaa Bultum with the focus of
the progressions of Odaa Bultum Gadaa among the Harraghe Oromo society. The Oromo of the
area have been selected because of the continuous disastrous changes seen in the subsequent
times on the Oromo culture owing to the multi-faceted factors.
To keep the reliability of the data the researcher used full time including long time to the night to
arrange and transcribe the qualitative data into the computer and try to collect the documented
materials from aanaas and godinaa offices through photocopy and mail systems. The research
focuses on new site and relies primarily on in-depth interviews. About fifteen elders of different
aanaas in West Hararghe zone were interviewed to collect reliable traditions related to the
topic. The researcher interviewed some knowledgeable elders for about four hours at different
times. By the end of the study, 15 informants (13 males and 2 females) had been interviewed. The
informants were asked to reflect on Oromo historical heritage with special reference to
historical significance of Odaa Bultum Gadaa assembly. The study also involved focus group
discussions in which three to five participants discussed different aspects of Odaa Bultum Gadaa
assembly. Finally, a total of three such groups participated in focus group discussion.
The researcher observes society’s cultural, political, social and economic experiences by going
down into remote villages and contacting elders in the society. The information that was
collected from the elders was recorded on tape recorder, transcribed and qualitatively analized.
