280 Gamo Religion
wearing white shoes or loving red dresses. In that
case, the Ga coffin maker would create a coffin
that looked like a white shoe or one that looked
like a red dress.
The Ga accept the idea that there is life after
death and the spirit (i.e.,Susuma) lives on when
the person dies. The rituals performed by the
family and the priests throughout the year are
done to ensure that the ancestors are revered in
the afterlife.
Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoDinka; Yoruba
Further Readings
Asante, M. K., & Nwadiora, E. (2006).Spear Masters:
Introduction to African Religion. Lanham, MD:
University Press of America.
Mbiti, J. (1975).An Introduction to African Religion.
London: Heinemann.
GAMO RELIGION
The Gamo people of southwestern Ethiopia are an
ancient people who have maintained much of
their traditional way of life. Their society is based
on caste systems, with a rigid structure that corre-
lates to the various traditional occupations. The
religious system is based on the social structure
that separates citizens who are farmers and
weavers from those who are ironsmiths, leather
workers, and stone carvers.
The Gamo believe in the role of the ancestors
in the survival of their community. Thus, all castes
are created to ensure that the ancestors’ wills are
carried out. Membership in a specific caste system
is ascribed from birth. People are born into a
caste, and there is no movement between groups.
Social mobility does not exist. Once you have
been born into a caste, you remain in that partic-
ular caste. Furthermore, each caste remains locked
into its caste in terms of marriage; this means that
each one is endogamous, in that people do not
marry outside the caste.
The Gamo believe that the farmers and
weavers, who are called mala, are the highest
occupations, and that the potters, themana, the
ironsmiths, and leather workers, thedegala, are of
a lesser caste because the farmers and weavers
work with the materials that are essential for food
and clothing. They believe that the growing of
crops is a sacred occupation and that the weaving
of clothes is also sacred and therefore fundamen-
tal to the society. In contrast, those who use mate-
rials such as iron, stone, or leather are considered
less pure than farmers and weavers. Although the
society is organized around these castes, the indi-
viduals born into them have come to believe that
their particular caste is their destiny.
Because the artisans, as opposed to the farm-
ers and weavers, are not full citizens of the Gamo
society, they do not have political rights and can
never be elected to leadership positions. Yet they
are considered significant for the society and
have taken their caste as normal, natural, and
destined. The artisans have a language of their
own that cannot be understood by other mem-
bers of the Gamo society. The society also
restricts the communication between the artisans
and the farmers because of ideas of impurity and
pollution. The Gamo people have a deeply held
belief that if any of the taboos against farmer
and artisan communication are broken, then
severe punishment would be inflicted on the
land. They sought to maintain a balance in the
society where the ancestors would not interfere
with the reproduction of children or the fertility
of the land because of some taboo brought about
by caste violations.
The religion of the Gamo is embedded in the
philosophy of ancestor respect that has been
handed down for many generations. Inasmuch
as ancestors are living members of the society,
they help to maintain order, harmony, and bal-
ance by ensuring that the requirements for good
behavior,woga, are followed. Some behaviors
are prohibited and must be carefully avoided.
Such goma, prohibited behaviors, may have a
disastrous effect on the society. A person who
violates the cultural or moral rules of the society
will cause untold suffering on the collective.
Thus, it is to the advantage of everyone that goma
are prevented.
The head of the village is called thechima, or
elder, and when the village,kebele, is prosper-
ous, it means that the people have followed the