The Kwama (also called Gwama and Komo), are a

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...

-speaking community living in the Sudanese-Ethiopian borderland, mainly in the Mao-Komo special woreda of the

Benishangul-Gumuz Region Benishangul-Gumuz () is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Er ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. They belong, culturally and linguistically, to the Koman groups, which include neighboring communities such as the

Uduk Uduk can refer to: * Uduk people, an ethnic group from eastern Sudan, south of the Blue Nile River. This ethnic group continues to identify as Kwanim Pa (uduk), and is the only ethnic group who can still relate to the Kemetic ancient people of moder ...

, Koma, and Opuuo. Although they traditionally occupied a larger territory, they have been forced to move to marginal, lowland areas by the

Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...

from the 18th century onwards. In some villages Kwama, Oromo and Berta live together. The Kwama are often called "Mao" by other groups, especially by the Oromo. The people who live in the southern area and near the Sudanese borderland often call themselves "Gwama" and use the term "Kwama" to refer to those living further to the south and in Sudan. These other "Kwama" are usually known by anthropologists as Koma or Komo (Theis 1995). In recent years, many people belonging to this ethnic group have been resettled by the Ethiopian state in order to provide them with clinics and schools.

Customs

The Kwama are

swidden Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. Th ...

cultivators. Their staple food is

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

, with which they make beer (called ''shwe'' or ''shul'' depending on the dialect) and porridge (''pwash'' or ''fash''). They also hunt (mostly duiker and warthog), fish, and gather honey. They drink sorghum beer communally with drinking straws from a large pot. Marriage was traditionally by

sister exchange Sister exchange is a types of marriage, type of marriage agreement where two sets of siblings marry each other. In order to get married, a man needs to persuade his sister to marry the bride's brother. It is practised as a primary method of organi ...

, although this custom is now receding. The Kwama are divided into clans, some of which are also divided into sub-clans. It is not allowed to marry a woman or a man from one's own clan.

Polygyny Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...

is widespread. They have ritual specialists and rainmakers (''sid mumun'' and ''sid bish''), who perform divination and healing ceremonies in huts called ''swal shwomo''. These often have a characteristic bee-hive shape, which is very typical of this ethnic group. For that reason, the Kwama refer to their traditional houses as ''swal kwama'', "swal" meaning "house". Vinigi Grotanelli describes some of them in his study of the Mao (Grottanelli 1940). The Kwama mainly adhere to Islam and

animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

traditional beliefs.

Notes

Bibliography

* Corfield, F.D. (1938): The Koma. ''Sudan Notes and Records'' 21: 123-165. * Grottanelli, V.L. (1940): ''I Mao. Missione etnografica nel Uollega occidentale''. Rome: Reale Accademia d'Italia. * Grottanelli, V.L. (1947): Burial among the Koma of Western Abyssinia. ''Primitive Man'' 20(4): 71-84 * Theis, Joachim: (1995): ''Nach der Razzia. Ethnographie und Geschichte der Koma'', Trickster Verlag, München, Germany

External links

Rosetta project

Kwama on the Ethnologue

Koma on the Ethnologue

Gwama language
{{authority control Koman peoples Ethnic groups in Ethiopia