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Religion: Islam and Local Tradition
Population: 4 million (most in Ethiopia, about 150,000 - 175,000 in Kenya, 1998 census)
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Location: The Borana are part of a very much larger group of about 4 to 5 million persons of whom approximately 90,000 live in north central Kenya with the balance in Ethiopia. They are related to the Oromo in Somalia also.
They live in a large area of barren northern Kenya. About 44% of the Kenya Borana live in Marsabit District, into Tana River District, Garissa District and in Moyale District. The heaviest concentration live in the Sololo area of Marsabit District and in Moyale District. Those in Isiolo District are concentrated in Merti and Garba Tula.
History: The Borana are one of the resulting groups of Oromo migrants who left the southern highlands of Ethiopia in the 1500's. Most of the Borana and related peoples live in Ethiopia. The Oromo had migrated east but were pushed back by the Somali leading to a greater southern expansion. There are almost 4 million Borana people, most living in Ethiopia.
Identity: The word spelled Borana is pronounced with the final vowel silent. For this reason in many English sources the word is spelled Boran. In older literature the Oromo were also referred to by the name Galla.
The name refers to the people or their language and also means friend or kind person. Thus, a bad person may be told he is not Borana. In Ethiopia, the Boran group are commonly called Oromo, along with the other Oromo groupings in Eastern Africa.
The parallel "modern" phenomena of rapid population growth and decreasing availability of productive grazing land threaten the Borana people. Contacts with other nomadic peoples lead to clashes, sometimes bloody, for land. Also they have been increasingly dependent upon relief agencies for help, which is culturally repugnant to these proud people.
Because there are several peoples who now speak the Borana language, the Borana proper may be further distinguished as the Gutu Borana. Their language has been adopted by the Gabbra and Sakuye, who originally came from the same roots as the Somali and Rendille peoples. About 8,000 of the Ajuuraan also speak Borana.
Language: The Borana speak an Oromo language officially called Borana-Arsi-Guji, after the three major peoples who speak these three mutually-intelligible forms of Oromo. (In Ethiopia the speech form is commonly called simply Oromo, along with other speech forms of the broader Oromo grouping.) This language is in the Eastern Cushite family of the Afro-Asiatic languages. In Kenya it is usually called Borana.
Customs: The economy and life style are organized around cattle, though the formerly taboo camels are becoming more important, and they now herd sheep and goats. Young men do the daily herding while the women do all family nurturing. The homestead groups may be required to move three or four times each year, often as far as 100 km, because of the low rainfall and poor land.
Sturdy modular houses, constructed by the women, consist of interwoven branches thatched with grass all the way to the ground. This is in contrast with the Gabbra who weave mats to cover the framework. When movement of the homestead is required, the transportable portions are loaded onto the back of a camel or a woman and carried to the new location. They settle temporarily in groups of 10 to 30 houses.
Every aspect of their culture is captured in song and handed down from one generation to the next. Children are educated and enculturated through music.
Religion: Their traditional religion is monotheistic with communication through intermediary priests or "Qalla". The traditional name for God is Waq (or Wak). Islam has become influential in Borana society in the last 70 years. The Borana around Isiolo are radical Muslims. There has been some response to the gospel by Borana in Nairobi and Marsabit and in trading posts of southern Ethiopia.
Christianity: This large and ancient people have had only minimal contact with Christianity, due in part to their nomadic life style. Yet an indigenous church exists. Some observers have stated that Borana Christians appear placed to evangelize their own people and neighboring groups. There are about 25 Christian missionaries working with the Borana.
There is one Baptist church of Borana in Marsabit. Other churches working among the Borana in Kenya are Petecostal, Africa Inland Church and Anglican. One recent source reports about 300 Borana in Kenya are Christians (Field source, 2002). Most of these live in Nairobi. Some sources, on the other hand, have previously reported up to 10% of the Borana in Kenya are Christian.
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Bibliography
Baxter, P.T.W. Social Organization of The Boran of North Kenya. Oxford, U.K.: Lincoln College, 1954.
Isack, Hussein Adan. Kenya's People: Peoples of the North--Boran. Nairobi, Kenya: Evans Brothers (Kenya) Ltd, 1986.
Kjaerland, Gunnar. Culture Change Among the Nomadic Borana of South Ethiopia. Pasadena, California: Fuller Theological Seminary, June 1977.
Schlee, Günther. Identities on the Move: Clanship and Pastoralism in Northern Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya: Gideon S. Were Press, 1994.
-----. "Interethnic Clan Identities Among Cushitic-Speaking Pastoralists," Africa, 55(1), 1985.
Francis Omondi
Orville Boyd Jenkins
June 1996
Last updated 12 September 2005
Copyright © 1996, 2005 Orville Boyd Jenkins
Permission granted for free download and transmission
for personal or educational use. Other rights reserved.
Email: researchguy@iname.com
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