The Shinasha, also known as Bworo or Boro, are an ethnic group 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 Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Their language belongs to the North Omotic family (see

Omotic languages The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region and southeastern Sudan in Blue Nile State. The Geʽez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others ...

). They live north of the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

in the

Metekel Zone Metekel Zone is located in the current Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the south and southwest by Kamashi, on the west by Sudan, and on the north and east by the Amhara region. The Abay River which formerly defined the w ...

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 ...

and number around 139,000 individuals. Their neighbors in the area include Gumuz, Amhara, Awi and

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 ...

peoples. Oscar T. Crosby encountered a group of 600 Shinasha in 1901, living in "a few villages between the Durra and Wombera

ivers Ivers is the Name of the following people: *Alice Ivers (1851 - 1930), professional saloon poker player and faro player *Donald L. Ivers (born 1941), former judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims *Eileen Ivers (born 1965), ...

" He described their houses and dress, and claimed that they made their living through "claiming great powers of necromancy, by menace of rain or drought, they force the Shankalis to yield up to them a part of their scanty store of grain, or meat, or honey." In 2017, Bahir Dar University conducted a study of the Shinasha people's unique usage of a number of indigenous tuberous plants as food and herbal medicine. In the study, the Shinasha's main livelihood is described as subsistence farming, by plowing the land and raising animals.

References

External links

Christian influences on Shinasha oral traditionsEthnologue report
Ethnic groups in Ethiopia {{Ethiopia-ethno-group-stub