The Oromo people are an Ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. Oromos speak the Oromo language as their mother tongue (also called Afaan Oromo and Oromiffa). They are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, constituting more than one-third of the population of Ethiopia.
Originally confined to the country’s Southeast, the Oromo migrated in waves of invasions in the 16th century. They occupied all of Southern Ethiopia, with some settling along the Tana River in Kenya; most of the Central and Western Ethiopian provinces, including the Southern parts of the Amhara region; and farther North, the Welo and Tigre regions near Eritrea.
Oromo Marriage Traditions
Source: Keefkoo tube
The Oromos have age-long marriage traditions inherited from earlier descendants. The parents of both the bride and groom have a great influence over the marriage.
This is a result of the customary vested in them, especially the groom’s parents have to conduct in-depth research on the lady’s family background.
This is to ensure that they are not related in any way. If they are satisfied, then a date is set for the two families to meet. The outcome of this discussion determines if the man and the woman will end up as husbands and wives.
The Oromos have six types of traditional marriage, Naqataa, Sabbat Marii, Hawwii, Butii, Aseennaa, and Dhaala. Among these, the only formally accepted marriage custom is betrothal.
The rest are informal, apart from Dhaala, a marriage necessitated by circumstances. However, each type of marriage is integral to Oromo wedding traditions. Subsequent paragraphs will enumerate and further elucidate the six types of marriage among the Oromo.
Naqataa (Betrothal)
This is an arranged form of marriage set by the parents of the bride and groom. The groom’s parents search for a suitable bride for their son, research to ensure no blood relations, and then make contact with the potential bride’s family through a mediator.
After receiving the mediator and hearing what he has to say, the girl’s parents impose a set of conditions to be fulfilled before the next meeting. Both parents then gather at a mutually convenient location for further negotiations. Once an agreement is reached, the couple gets engaged (betrothed). Subsequently, the parents set a wedding date.
Sabbat Marii
This is another form of marriage popular among the Oromo tribe. The Sabbat Marii is referred to as a forceful marriage. This kind of marriage involves asking for a girl, then breaching the appointment arrangements, or asking the girl for marriage without any prior arrangement.
In the first instance, a day is set for the betrothal ceremony, but the boy’s parents secretly decide to prepare the wedding feast on an earlier date, thus breaching the agreement. In the second instance, the girl’s family has no prior knowledge of the impending marriage.
Hawwii
When a boy remains ‘qerroo’ (bachelor) for numerous reasons; maybe he’s not handsome or from a family of low social status, Oromo wedding traditions allow his parents to look for a wife for him. Interestingly, this marriage does not require consent from the girl or her family – the boy’s parents are completely in control. This type of marriage is common with poor Oromo families.
Butii
This type of marriage (Butii) usually occurs when the boy is rejected by the girl’s parents or the girl herself, or the bride’s wealth and wedding gifts are beyond his capability. In either of these instances, the boy opts to abduct the girl against her wish. This abduction is familiar to low-income families who cannot afford to pay large amounts of bride price.
Aseennaa
This form of marriage encourages unmarried women, perhaps due to running off to their new homes. A woman in this type of marriage chooses an unmarried young man and discreetly runs off to his house in the dark. Most times, caught by surprise, the groom cannot reject the marriage for fear of being ostracized.
The next day, the girl’s parents are informed of the wedding. Unmarried girls carry out this form of marriage under pressure to marry or those who do not like their parents’ choice of marriage partner. Aseennaa is not very common these days.
Dhaala
This type of marriage, also known as ‘inheritance,’ usually occurs between a widow and her deceased husband’s brother (levirate marriage). The sole purpose of this marriage is to preserve the children of the deceased man within the family and save them from mistreatment by a stepfather. Dhaala takes place at least a year after the husband’s death when the woman is given her deceased husband’s brother.
Wedding celebration and Events
The families enjoy their children’s wedding ceremonies and say yeroo cidha dhala keenyaa itti arginudha (it is the time to see our children’s wedding). Both families begin to make wedding feasts, including Farsoo, Daadhii, Araqee, and food.
These preparations begin a couple of weeks before the date of the wedding. Fifteen or twenty days before marriage, the young girlfriends of the bride-to-be are invited to come to her house after dark to practice singing and dancing.
This is called Jaala Bultii. Oromo wedding is often an elaborate affair amidst feasting and merriment. On the purported day of the wedding, the couple’s parents prepare enough food and drink for the guest and well-wishers around for the ceremony to wine and dine till everyone is full. According to Oromo, a wedding with a shortage of food is deemed inappropriate.
Conclusion
The Oromo marriage is an elaborate socio-cultural event involving a long bond between the couple. In the olden days, pre-puberty marriage was familiar, but nowadays, this has disappeared.
Polygamy is practiced, but it is scarce. There is a system of dowry or bride price among the Oromo. In modern times, the influence of the family over marriage has eroded, and many traditional rites waned with Western civilization. Although some age-long institutionalized practices of the Oromo tribe still hold sway and are largely vague even in contemporary times.
