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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Summer 1976 THE DESPISED WEAVERS OF ETHIOPIA DEXTER LISBON BURLEY Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation BURLEY, DEXTER LISBON, "THE DESPISED WEAVERS OF ETHIOPIA" (1976). Doctoral Dissertations. 1138. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1138 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. 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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR I I 77-10,256 BURLEY, Dexter Lisbon, 1944- THE DESPISED WEAVERS OF ETHIOPIA. University of New Hampshire, Ph.D., 1976 Sociology, social problems Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan48 ioe © 1977 DEXTER LISBON BURLEY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PLEASE NOTE: Page 28 in the following dissertation contains broken and indinstinct print. Filmed as received. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS. THE DESPISED WEAVERS OF ETHIOPIA by DEXTER BURLEY A THESIS Submitted to the University of New Hampshire In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate School Department of Sociology and Anthropology August 1976 This thesis has been examined and approved. '1 IOL 1. Thesis director, Richard Dewey, Professor of Sociology ty J . P . / f < ^ Stephen Reyna, Assist/ant Professor of Anthropology Melvin Bobick, Professor of Sociology . , Loren Cobb, Assistant Professor of Sociology j O Douglas Wheeler, Professor of History TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One RURAL GAMU HIGHLAND PEOPLE................................................. 16 The Gamu Highlands The Local Peoples The Economy History Chapter Two URBAN GAMU HIGHLAND PEOPLE................................................. 36 Soro Meda History Dorze Soro Meda as an Urban Community Weaving in Soro Meda Chapter Three THE HIGHLAND PEOPLE AS A DESPISED ETHNIC GROUP . 65 Language Religion Past Status Weaving Weaving as a Caste-Like Stratum Chapter Four SOME THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS OF THE STATUS OF WEAVING. 91 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 103 APPENDIX(ES).........................................................................................................HI BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 147 GLOSSARY.................................................................................................................155 ILLUSTRATION Loom , ............................................... 28 TABLES Cost of Komblete ............................ 30 Weaving Time . ............................ 30 Occupation ........................................ 55 Occupations in Addis Ababa . 57 A lle 's Budget .................................... 61 MAPS Provincial Map of Ethiopia . 17 Location of Gamu Gofa ................ 18 Gamu Highlands ............................ 19 Ethnic Groups ................................ 24 Shoa................................................... 38 Addis Ababa 39 BIOGRAPHICAL DATA Name in Full Dexter Lisbon Burley Date of Birth 18 February 1944 Place of Birth Boston, Massachusetts Secondary Education The Cambridge School Collegiate Institutions attended Dates Degrees Marlboro College 1969 B.A. University of New Hampshire 1972 M.A. ABSTRACT THE DESPISED WEAVERS OF ADDIS ABABA by Dexter L. Burley The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question: Why are the Gamu Highland people livin g in Addis Ababa Ethiopia of a despised social status? The thesis f ir s t discusses some of the ethnographical characteristics of the Dorze and Chencha people liv in g in Gamu Highlands of Gamu Gofa Province in Southern Ethiopia. The thesis also presents material on the Dorze and Chencha people livin g in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The last two chapters address the question of why the Gamu High­ land people livin g in Addis Ababa, and th e ir occupation of weaving are both of a despised social status. The author gives specific examples of the discrimination against these urban weavers, and discusses some of the theoretical explanations for this discrimination. The conclusions reached are that the occupation of weaving in Addis Ababa is a Caste-like social position which is a remnant of the traditional s tra tific a tio n system of the founders of Addis Ababa. One of the attributes of the Caste-like social position of weaving is that i t is despised. INTRODUCTION The primary concern of this thesis is to explain why the peoples from the Gamu Highland of southern Ethiopia who live in the national capital, Addis Ababa, are of a "despised" social status. These people, who are collectively called "Dorze" by the urban population, are lite r a lly spit on, cursed at, and considered lesser men. The majority of these people who live in Addis Ababa are connected with the craft of weaving. Their principal product is the shamma which is the dress of the Amhara, the dominant ethnic group in Ethiopia. The shamma woven by the Gamu Highland people is in great demand in Addis Ababa, and to a lesser extent in a ll of Ethiopia. Because of the demand, these people receive an income which is high in relation to the rest of the population of the country. The shamma woven by the Gamu Highland people is a beautiful length of gauze-like white cloth with a heavy border of in tric a te ly woven patterns at each end. By any standards i t is a s k illfu lly woven and aesthetically beautiful piece of craftsman­ ship. Why is i t that the creators of such a beautiful product which is in such demand are assigned to one of the lowest social positions in the country? In other social systems occupations are usually given a low status because of an association with a product; for example, a garbage man with garbage, a plumber with sewage, a chimney sweep with soot, etc. In Addis Ababa there are many ethnic groups who are characterized by mundane or low status occupations such as taxi 1 driver, day laborers, and wood carriers, and yet these ethnic groups are not of "despised" status. In relation to the rest of the urban community there is no immediately obvious reason why the Gamu Highland people are of "despised" social status. I t does not seem to be logical that they would be despised because of an association with a product, and in relation to other sub-ordinate ethnic groups there does not seem to be any ju s tific a tio n for their despised status on ethnic grounds. My main concern in this thesis is to show that the despised status of the Gamu Highland people in Addis Ababa is dire ctly related to th e ir occupation rather than to th e ir ethnic a ffilia tio n . Un­ fortunately, the political and social upheaval occurring in Ethiopia prevented the completion of a ll aspects of my intended study. There­ fore, while my research is not exhaustive, i t is the working hypothesis of this thesis that the Gamu Highland people livin g in Addis Ababa would not be of a despised social status i f they were not weavers. This is not to say that the Gamu Highland people would be of a high social status i f they were not weavers, but

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