The Somali groups

Different Somali groups increasingly inhabit the eastern part of the southern lowlands: mostly the Garri, but also the Digodia and the Marehan222. The Marehan belong to the Daarod clan family. They established themselves in the territory of Liban at first, during the Italian occupation (1936-41), and later during the Ethio-Somali war, as Siad Barre‟s soldiers. In the early seventies, their paramount chief, the Boqor, was reported to live in Negele. Their identity is closely related to the original Arab and Muslim root of all the Somali. This is a source of pride for them, but implies a derogatory connotation among their neighbours223. The Somali social and political system is based on segmental lineages strongly determined by clan affiliation (tol), complemented by a number of contractual obligations. The basic social unit is the reer, a close family group that is composed of several qoys (nuclear families). The reer is split into nomadic camps (reer guuraa) and wider ranging camel camps (geel jire). Herds are divided between nugul (ships/goats, milking, weak and young animals), that remain with the core family around the home area, and ishkin (larger stock – camels and cattle), that travel far for pasture and water in dry seasons and even further in bad season, such as in drought conditions224. A group of reer form a reero, while the tuulo (village) and the magaalo (town) are often the basis for the formal administrative structures, kebele and woreda. The clan is called beelo and is headed by a sultan or ugas or waber. The clan heads accept the decisions of elders known as bokorky, of which there are presently four, even if in the past they were much larger in number.

The strongest political solidarity is found within the dia-paying group, literally the blood price, meaning the lineage group that is called to share the payment of the dia, the compensation in case one of the clans‟ members kills anyone outside of the group.

Somali groups production system is mostly based on camels, but also on cattle, sheep and goats, while cropping is increasing. Camels are less vulnerable to drought than cattle, as they only require watering every 10-15 days. Therefore they can exploit wider areas where water

221 _{Farah A.Y., The Plight & the Prospects of Ethiopia's Lowland Pastoral Groups , in In search of cool ground:}

war, flight and homecoming in Northeast Africa, Allen T. Eds, 1996.

222 _{Piguet F., Des nomades entre la ville et les sables. La sédentarisation dans la Corne de l'Afrique, Paris -}

Genève, Karthala – Iued, 1998.

223 _{AGROTEC, Southern Rangelands Development Project - Studies and Surveys, Vol 2: Sociology and pastoral} economy. Appendix 2: Western Somali Lowlands, Imperial Ethiopian Government - Livestock and Meat Board, Rome, AGROTEC - CGR - SEDES Ass., 1974.

224

100

sources are rare. The camel-based production system is able to exploit bushy and shrubby areas, while cattle need herbaceous pastures.

The Somali kinship is therefore going from the dia-paying groups to lineages, clans, clan families (a purely symbolic reference) of two moieties of Somali, referred to as the two mythical ancestors225. The following figure shows the Somali genealogy, with details of the clans of the southern lowlands:

Figure 4. The Somali Genealogy

225 _{Pallottino Massimo, The Interplay of Power and Knowledge in Planned Social Change; From Policy Making} to Project Planning: a Case from Southern Ethiopia, Université de Geneve, Institut universitaire d'etudes du developpement, Thesis No. 19, March 2007.

101 3.2.5 The Garri

Garri are the prevalent Somali ethnic group in the target area, directly neighbouring the Borana territory. Besides several Somali dialects, they speak afaan Oromo, and in some cases they have developed social structures which resemble those of the Borana. The Garri make use of both Somali and Borana terms in order to indicate elements of the social institutions. They are descendants from the clan family of Hawiya and often related to the Rahanwein clan family226. The Garri consist of two moieties which are the ritual and political origin of the social organisation. Each one is further subdivided and segmented in clan and sub-clans:

Garri

Moieties:

Garri Tuf Garri Quranyowa

Clan:

Ali Adowla Aseri Furkesha Sub-clan:

1 Sabdowa 1. Kalwina 1. Bana 1. Kalwesha

2. Tauleh 2. Rermug 2. Kiliya 2. Darawa

3. Kalulah 3. Adonay 3. Urdeq

4. Maqaabille 4. Sukubtre

5. Meidah 5. Oitra

6. Kalmasa 6. Birkaya

7. Tubadi 7. Odkoya

8. Bursuni

Figure 5. The Garri Moieties and Clans

226 _{Schlee G., Gada Systems on the Meta-Ethnic Level: Gabbra/Boran/Garre Interactions in the} Kenyan/Ethiopian Borderland, in Conflict, Age and Power in North East Africa, Kurimoto E., Simonse S. Eds, Oxford - Nairobi - Athens, James Currey - EAEP - Ohio University Press, 1998. Garri genealogical affiliation is however not very well defined. According to Bottego (1895) they are known as „Garra Livin‟, „Garra Ganana‟ and „Garra Badia‟, and their movement is from their basis in the southern Somalia to the north-west. According to Barile (1937), the „Gherra‟ belong to the Hawyia; their origin is in Somaliland; from there, a migration would have brought them to Galwesh and Audegle (near Merca), where most of them find their base. Colucci (1924) classifies them as „pre-Hawyia‟, originally coming from Arabia, and then passing through Jart Adali (Tajura Gulf) to the lands of Livin and Hawyia. He also mentions a big presence of Gherra among the Rahanwein, as federated, or „halìfa‟ clans. Garri originally belonged to Hawyia or pre- Hawia groups, and were later assimilated to Rahanwein, by adopting their language (quoted by Pallottino 2007).

102

Garri are more closely related ethnically, culturally and linguistically to the Somali ethnic groups of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, than to Oromo speakers. They share strong economic, social, cultural, genealogical and linguistic ties with Somali groups, which are evident in the similarities of their oral tradition, history, language and the camel-based economy.

The socio-political organization of Garri is patriarchal and the descent is traced through the father‟s line. Ownership and inheritance of propriety, residence rules, political and religious leadership are dominated by the patriarchal structure. The concept of gender is related to role division: domestic activities are predominantly the sphere of women, while non-domestic ones are carried out by men227.

In many cases the names of the social institutions, as well as the names of other important aspects of daily life, such as for example those for identifying the succession of the rainy-dry seasons, or for identifying the titles of people responsible for the management of water resources, are those used by the Borana228. In the area around Moyale, the traditional leader of the Garri, the Sultaan, plays a somewhat representational role for other Somali tribes. Under the Sultaan, there are four Boqorqi, residing in Wachile, Arero, Negele and Moyale that help settle controversies concerning different clans.