Toward an Understanding of Justice, Belief, and Women’s Rights: Ateetee, an Arsi Oromo Women’s Sung Dispute Resolution Process in Ethiopia by © Leila Qashu A dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Ethnomusicology Memorial University of Newfoundland June, 2016 St. John‘s, Newfoundland Abstract This dissertation examines ateetee, a sung Arsi Oromo women‘s indigenous dispute resolution in Ethiopia, to demonstrate how music, as an expressive form, enables women to protect, promote and claim their rights, and to resolve disputes peacefully in a rapidly changing social environment. Though Arsi society is socio-politically male dominated, women have their own power through the ateetee ritual, their women‘s institution and the vernacular belief system. Ateetee is a highly political and power laden process, in which women travel to the offender‘s house singing insults, then sing in front of the offender‘s house until a reconciliation ceremony is held. At the ceremony they receive a cow as compensation, then the women finish by blessing the offender. I have demonstrated how this ritual process is a judicial process, through which women actively resolve disputes and uphold rights and respect they hold in Oromo society and under Oromo law. By examining this process from a local perspective, through the perspectives of the different participants, I have been analyzing the factors and circumstances that allow these musical rituals to remain relevant and effective means of dispute resolution, and to draw wider conclusions concerning how to foster restorative justice through the expressive arts. I have also explored some of the dramatic social changes that are affecting this ritual, including mainstream religions, government/political interferences, and urbanization/modernization. I spent cumulatively over two years in the field, with different communities in highland and lowland areas, and in the dissertation I have supplemented thick ethnographic descriptions and the voices of community members ii with video and audio recordings of interviews and rituals. Theoretically my research engages three main areas: vernacular feminism, indigenous spirituality, and legal pluralism. iii Acknowledgements I will try to be brief but there are many, many people and institutions to acknowledge and thank. I have been very fortunate to receive funding and support from a number of institutions and organizations. First I would like to express my gratitude to Memorial University for all the educational, logistical, and financial support over the years. I would also like to thank the French Centre for Ethiopian Studies and the Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing MRI team for the generous research grants (2010-2011). Finally, I cannot give enough thanks to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation for their incredible intellectual, emotional, and financial support for this project. Thank you for believing in me and in this research. I would particularly like to thank Josée St. Martin and Jennifer Petrela, for their continued support and friendship. I have been very fortunate to have received guidance and advice from a number of established scholars for this research. Some are mentioned in more detail in the dissertation. I have had conversations with Dorothy Hodgson with regards to this dissertation research. In addition to sharing some of her personal insight from experience of working with women in a similar area, with a feminist, anthropological approach, she has directed me towards some of the similarities with her work. Kay Shelemay has provided immense support and encouragement over the years for which I am very grateful. Many thanks to Ellen Waterman for her help as a dean, a scholar and a friend. The world of Oromo studies is quite small. I have had the great fortune of receiving information and guidance for this work from a number of scholars. Gemetchu Megerssa and Aneesa Kassam, both Oromo specialists and anthropologists, have been iv wonderful friends and mentors. I am very thankful for the many conversations we shared. Several other Oromo scholars have also contributed to my understanding of Arsi culture and this topic in particular. I had the fortune of meeting and becoming friends with Gemechu Geda, who wrote a dissertation on Arsi belief systems, and while we both conducted some field research together, he offered his knowledge and insight on Arsi culture and belief systems. Mamo Hebo, an anthropologist, met with me, discussed the topic and guided me toward the Kokossa district, his native area. Hussein Endeesa, who I have known since 2002 through the cultural offices, has offered support and research suggestions over the years. Several conversations with Marit Østebø, an anthropologist and development scholar, have given us a chance to discuss our research projects related to Arsi Oromo women. She first showed me ways in which Arsi women traditionally have more respect and rights than they may first appear to have. Thanks to Eloi Fiquet, and FX Fauvelle-Aymar of the CFEE. In Ethiopia I would like to thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and the Oromia government Culture and Tourism offices in Addis Ababa, Adama, Kokossa, and Worqaa for their support over the years. Thank you also to the employees who helped me with all the administration. There are many individuals to thank and without whom I would never have been able to complete this research. Diribia Begna in Worqa went above and beyond his duties as the head of the Culture and Tourism office to assist me during fieldwork. I am very fortunate to have had his family‘s support and friendship. Gemeda Galchu in Kokossa, Kababush in Adama and Simeneh Betreyohannes in Addis Ababa were also very helpful. Thank you to all the public schools, the churches, the mosques, and the government offices and their workers and v leaders for their time and logistical contributions. Special thanks to Woube Kassaye and his family for their warm welcome and support. Diriba Eticha, Buzu Tsegaye and Jeilan Mohammed and W. G. provided invaluable help with the transcription, translation and interpretation of my field recordings. I would like to thank all of my friends and interlocutors in Nansabo, Kokossa and Dhakka (Langano) districts. Special thanks to Tayere Godana, Hussein Ambo, Safaye Galchu, and Shuru Keroo. I mention many people who helped me, and with whom I spent time and developed friendships. But I will never be able to offer enough thanks for everyone who has helped me, shared their homes and meals with me, and guided me to understanding Arsi culture over the years. Thank you to all the ateetee women and other members of the Arsi communities who contributed to this research. Without my dissertation committee and co-supervisors this work would never have been completed. Thank you to Robin Whitaker for all our conversations and email exchanges. I am extremely grateful for all her illuminating feedback on such a tight timeline. I will reap the benefits from her advice for years to come. I do not have enough words to express my gratitude to Kati Szego and Bev Diamond, my co-supervisors. Thank you for generosity, your dedication, your time, and all your intellectual contributions to my development. I can only hope that I will one day be able to reciprocate in some way for everything you have done for me. Without Rebecca Draisey-Collishaw‘s amazing feedback, editorial suggestions, and friendship, this dissertation would not have been finished. And thank you to Marion MacLeod for your continual friendship and support. To my family in Ethiopia: Alima, vi Amina, Llamo, Ijaroo, Aliyee, Gobane, and Geda, thank you for inviting me to live with you back in 2002 and for continuing to show such support and friendship over the years. And thank you to my family here: Marian, Julie, Nadine, and Susie, Stan and Kami for all your love and support over the years. Thank you also to Marie-Laure and Emmanuel for your continued support. And to Mathilde and Marin for making us live and laugh. Finally, as always, my biggest thanks is for Luc for all your support and love. Without you I couldn‘t have finished. vii Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………...ii Acknowledgements ...…………………………………………………………………….iv Table of Contents …………………………………………………………..….……….viii Note on Oromo Transcriptions and Spellings in this Dissertation …………..….………ix Glossary of Oromo Terms ………………………………………………………………..xi Chapter 1: Setting the Scene: Introduction and Background on Ateetee ……….………1 Chapter 2: Women in Oromo Customary Law (Seera Ambaa) and the Gadaa System (Sirna Gadaa): Historic and Contemporary Spaces for Women‘s Expressions of Rights and Leadership …………………………………………………………………………..84 Chapter 3: Arsi Vernacular Beliefs ………………………………………………..….138 Chapter 4: Complexities and Negotiations in Relation to Social Changes ……………198 Chapter 5: The Agency and Power of Siinqee ………………………………………...260 Chapter 6: ―My Ateetee which Anguishes the People, this is not Mine… it is of the People‖: Restoring Balance through an Interethnic Ateetee Ceremony ...……………..302 Chapter 7: Singing for results …………………………………………………………355 Chapter 8: Concluding Remarks ………………………………………………………395 Appendix 1: Oromo Geography, History and Literature Review ……………………...419 Appendix 2: Different Types of Ateetee Ceremonies ………………………………….428 Appendix 3 Songs from Ateetee Fala in Guutuu Kokossa District …………………….429 List of Oral Informants