A history of interaction between dawuro and the surrounding communities (1800s-1990s)

Abstract

Ethiopia is often refered to as a country of Nations, Nationalities and Peoples. These many Nations, Nationalities and Peoples have lived together and developed their own cultural identities in their respective geographic region. Through their long history, they developed their own identities in which sometimes they shaped through interaction with other cultures. The main concern this research is exploring A History of Interaction between Dawuro and the Surrounding Communities (1800-1991).The Study focuses on the physical setting of Dawuro in relation to the neighboring communities,Origin and Settlement of the people,Social Stratification among the Dawuro People, Interaction of Dawuro with its neighboring regions, the history of commodity exchange and trade in the region, basic features of social life such as cultural marriage,beliefs,rituals,death and burial traditions. The research work also discusses some historical and cultural heritages of Dawuro,the contribution of past generation like traditional administration, justices system and dry stone walls.in additionto this, the study shows the general life conditions of the Marginalized manorties, Craftworkers and the formerly Hunter group of peoples intermes of their social, cultural, economic and political status inrelation to the broadersocial stratumof Dawuro. The research work is divided in to five chapters. The first chapter dealth with geographical location, physical setting, clan structure of the people, language and traditional beliefs.The second dealth with Origin and settlement of the people.The third dealth with the Interaction of Dawuro and the surrounding Communities.The fourth dealth with Early Commodity exchange and trade.The last chapter dealth with some Cultural values and Heritages of the people like Cultural Handcrafts, Musical instruments and Calender. Thus,this reseach work tries to show the historical facts on social,cultural,economic and political history of Dawuro from 1800-1991.Inspite of some challenges faced during data collection and analyzation,I have tried the best to enrich it with foreign and local written materials.Above all, Oraltradition is widely used to reconstruct peoples’ past. Besides,I was able to explore some documentary files from different governmental and private institutions. Finally, the views and ideas in this research work is fully belong to the researcher.