Hstory of kunama
Get Befekadu
of Kunama
Part I
WHERE ARE THE KUNAMA PEOPLE FROM?
Beginning with the Italian colonization of Eritrea, it has been written a
great deal on the Kunama people, their land, language, traditions, beliefs
and so on.
Neither the Italians, the British nor any other historian, up to the present
days, have been able to retrace the exact origin of the Kunama people.
According to the first studies done on this tribe, claim to have
detected some linguistic, cultural and other affinities with the Nilotic
populations of the eastern Sudan. This opinion is shared, or at least,
accepted by all those who, even today, continue to write on the Kunama
people.
Although such linguistic and other affinities have not yet been clearly
identified, one could state, with some certainty, that, apart from some
borrowed words, particularly from the Arabic language, no decisive
linguistic affinities seem to exist between the Kunama and the other Nilotic
languages.
If, therefore, there are no plausible linguistic similarities one cannot
think of cultural ones.
Though not denying some very remote racial linkage of the Kunama with the
Nilotic populations, the information on this is, for the time being, too
scattered and vague in order to be taken as a definite historical basis.
The past history of the Kunama people needs much deeper research and valid
arguments.
Due, perhaps, to lack of deep interest on the Kunama affairs
or because of their inability to look for other sources to substantiate
their studies, the Italian historians were content with the idea of somehow
grouping the Kunama people with their neighbouring populations.
Being Kunama ourselves, with this and subsequent papers, we
intend to look at the history of our people from our own perspectives.
Our first question goes: WHERE DO THE KUNAMA PEOPLE CLAIM TO HAVE
ORIGINATED FROM?
Our main sources of research and information are several elderly Kunama and
the orally transmitted Kunama history including traditions, beliefs and
claims.
The Kunama people are nominally divided into four main groups:
These are:
1. Kunama Aimasa, living in the western part of the provincial
capital town of Barentu (Barenku);
2. Kunama Barka, living along the river Gash in the south-eastern
part of Barentu;
3. Kunama Marda, residing in the north-eastern part of Barentu and
4. Kunama Tika, living along the river Gash in the southern part
of Barentu.
-2-
These divisions are based only on geographical grounds as well as on the
different Kunama dialects these groups have developed over the
years.
This means that, culturally, these four groups are and claim to be all
Kunama and descendants of the same Kunama ancestry.
One of the main factors which characterizes the Kunama people is their
"MATRIARCHAL " system of family relationship and this tradition is kept and
observed by all the four above-mentioned groups.
According to this system, each Kunama is the relative of his or her mother
and not that of his or her father.
We have used the term: "RELATIVE" to describe this close relation-
ship that ties the different members belonging to one's mother side, but we
have often been confronted, by some Europeans interested in the Kunama
customs and traditions, who would prefer to use terms like: "CLAN, CAST"
or othe terms indicating some kind of social class structure.
We, categorically reject such terms and idea because, we Kunama, do neither
have nor know any kind of hierarchy whatsoever.
All Kunama regard themselves and others as equal.
It is, infact, proved and stated that the Kunama is one of the few Eritrean
ethnic groups that never had a social stratum or practiced slavery.
Many elderly Kunama report that whenever their society had to carry out, won
a war and had taken some prisoners these were either immediately released
and returned to their defeated ethnic groups or they were incorporated into
the Kunama society by undergoing a simple ceremony.
The Kunama individual or groups of individuals who had captured the enemy
members would take these to the elders of their districts.
These Kunama elders would shave the heads of both the captors and the
captured; they would bury the hair of both groups together and,
finally, both groups would be ordered to stand against each other
and meet their naked breasts as a sign of reconciliation.
With this ceremony the prisoners do not only become members of the Kunama
society, but they are also automatically turned into the relatives of their
captors.
This practice obviously, shows how much the Kunama society values
human beings as well as their equality.
The Kunama, however, pay a high respect to and honour their elderly people.
They are regarded as the living archives of their traditions and cultural
heritage. All Kunama, regardless of the above-mentioned four divisions,
distinguish, among themselves, in terms of four other main sub-divisions
based on kinship.
These are: 1. Kunama Gurma;
2. Kunama Kara (or Karaua);
3. Kunama Serma and
4. Kunama Shua.
-3-
It is told and transmitted that these divisions came to being following a
ceremoniy during which these four main Kunama kinships were officially
recognized. Through their representatives, each kinships was given a portion
of a calf purposely slaughtered for that ceremony.
One femur (thigh-bone) of the calf was given to the Kara or Karaua kinship;
the other was given to the Shua;
the Gurma and the Serma kinships were given both shoulders of the calf
respect-
ably.
This meaningful partition of that slaughtered calf did lay not only the
foundations but it has become the symbol of each of the four kinships.
Whenever these perform their family cermonies they recall and carry out
their activities in the name of their symbolic part of that slaughtered
calf.
No matter how far and wherever he or she may be living, each member of
these kinships is expected to take part in all the ceremonies performed in
remembrance of a deceased person within one's kinship.
(There will be a paper, in future, over these ceremonies in
memory of a deceased member).
Each of these kinships has also a well-defined function or activity within
the Kunama society. They are seen by the other kinships only as service
providers having more of an organizational than hierarchical function.
The Kunama Kara, for instance, have been bestowed with the duty of settling
disputes, reconciling quarrelling parts and fining the culprits. They have
also the duty of calling for, organizing and carrying out one of the biggest
Kunama festivities known as "TUKA".
This event takes place every 20 or 25 years.
(There will be a detailed description of this festivity
in the future).
As the safekeepers of our history and cultural heritage, the elderly Kunama
interviwed, for our historical research purposes, range between eighty (80)
and one-hundred-and-ten (110) years of age.
These are well-known people who have always enjoyed a great respect in their
villages and districts. They are admired for their healthy and clear mental
state as well as for their knowledge of the culture of their society. These
persons originate from the above-mentioned four geographical divisions.
Asked where we Kunama had come from, the ninety-seven years-old
Galli Ela, stated that, "we Kunama come from AXUM", the ancient historical
town in the heart of the Ethiopean region of Tigray.
He went on to explain that a well-known Kunama by the name of
Bade/Baden/Bazen, used to live in Axum.
This name is also used even today, by the other neighbouring populations
like the Beni-Amer, to mean the Kunama people.
-4-
Galli Ela added that the first conflicts between the Kunama and the "DALA"
(today's Tigrigna speaking populations of the highland Eritrea), took place
at the times the Kunama were still living in the town of Axum and in its
surroundings. He explained that, because of their number, the "Dala"
overpowered the Kunama and, gradually, drove them southwards.
Addalla Udí, another 113-115 years-old Kunama, takes the
history of the Kunama people still further back than the Axumite times.
He said that, "at that time, the Kunama did not know any other than their
own race in their land. They neither knew nor had a government like that of
today".
Addalla Udí stated also that, "in those days, a man called DUNGGUL from the
Gurma kinship, used to be the most prominent Kunama".
What made this Dunggul famous, well-known and highly revered by all Kunama,
up to the present days, is his legendary birth, life and death.
(There will be a paper on this prominent Kunama in the future).
According to Addalla Udí, Dunggul, sometime during his life, had to lead the
Kunama to fight against the first intruders in their land.
Although he did not clearly specify how far the Kunama land had extended, at
that time, he reiterated his conviction that Axum was a Kunama town.
The name "AXUM" itself, many Kunama claim, had its origin in Kunama
language.
That town is surrounded by, and lies in the middle of five (5) small hills.
"AKUSSUMA" is the Kunama word for the FIFTH", thus meaning that,
"AXUM" is the town of the "FIFTH" hill.
This is, infact, the main argument that many elderly Kunama adopt to
substantiate their claim that "AXUM" was originally a Kunama town.
Other towns that are regarded as having names given by the Kunama and
carrying meanings in Kunama language, are:
the Eritrean towns of "ADDI-QUALA, MASSAWA and SEGENEITI".
"QUALA" is a tipical Kunama male name.
"ADDI" is a Tigrigna word for "village or town".
It is believed that "ADDI-QUALA" used to be called, by its first Kunama
inhabitants, "QUALA-SUKA".
"SUKA" is the Kunama word for "village or town".
"MASA" in Kunama language means "war or struggle".
"WA" means "eye".
MAS(S)AWA, therefore, means the city with the "war-eye".
The deep meaning of this city's name, according to the Kunama, is that,
being Massawa a sea-port covering a large horizon, it is in a position to
"keep an eye" on any incoming dangers including the possible influx of war
causing populations from across of the other side of the Red Sea coast.
"SEGENA" in Kunama means "ostrich" and
"ITA" means "house or a dwelling place".
-5-
SEGENEITI, therefore, means "the house or the dwelling place of ostriches".
As a matter of fact, Segeneiti is a little town that lies in a mountainous
area, surrounded, even today, by small forests which must have been an ideal
hiding or "dwelling place" for such birds in the past.
There are other names of Kunama villages or places that have the same ending
as SEGENEITI; for instance: Shingaleti, Shumaniti, Tuguliti, Uniti and many
others. All these names are a conbination of two Kunama words having some
semantic association with the terms like "dwelling places or landscape.
Some historians too sustain that a king called "BADEN or BAZEN"
used to reign in Axum. This is, infact, the same person that Galli Ela had
referred to as "BADE, BADEN or BAZEN". His wife's name was "KUNAME".
As stated above, the Kunama is a matriarchal society and this is
believed to explain the reason why the Kunama people call themselves with
their mother's name "KUNAMA", whereas the other populations, like their
neighbours, the Beni-Amer, who practice a patriarchal system of family ties,
refer to the Kunama as "BADA or BAZA".
It is certified that, the name of the Kunama king Baza is included and
appears, up to the present days, in the list of names of the Axumite royal
families preserved in the archives of that city. The Baza royal family is
said to be found under the title of "AZEI BAZA".
Some scholars, familiar with "GE-EZ" (the liturgical language of
the Ethio-Eritrean Churches), go so far as to state that, the full history
of the Kunama people had been written in Ge-ez and preserved or hidden in
one or more monasteries somwhere either in Ethiopia or in Eritrea.
It is, therefore, hoped that, one day this documented history of the Kunama
people will be discovered, made public and used to clarify the true origin
of their offspring.
All the historical accounts so far gathered from the Kunama people
themselves, seem to indicate that,though accepting the theory that,
racially, they belong to the Nilotic populations and, presumably, had
originated from the western part of the Nile River, they, however, claim to
be, if not the only ones, at least, the first inhabitants of the territories
today known as "TIGRAY and ERITREA".
In the future papers, we shall be concentrating our research, remaining
always within the material collected from the Kunama context, on the events,
circumstances, ethnic groups or individuals that had orchestrated and are
attempting, even today, to drive the Kunama people back to where these
groups
of individuals assume the Kunama had come from.
The paradox is that the same ethnic groups which had succeeded in driving
the Kunama people out of their former territories, are, even today,
constantly struggling to invade the Kunama land again thus preventing the
Kunama people from either reclaiming their lost territory or being left to
live peacefully in the land they are now occupying.
marba...@yahoo.com
>
> According to this system, each Kunama is the relative of his or her mother
> and not that of his or her father.
>
>
> ship that ties the different members belonging to one's mother side, but we
> (There will be a paper, in future, over these ceremonies in
>
> memory of a deceased member).
>
> Each of these kinships has also a well-defined function or activity within
> the Kunama society. They are seen by the other kinships only as service
> providers having more of an organizational than hierarchical function.
>
> The Kunama Kara, for instance, have been bestowed with the duty of settling
> disputes, reconciling quarrelling parts and fining the culprits. They have
> also the duty of calling for, organizing and carrying out one of the biggest
> This event takes place every 20 or 25 years.
>
> (There will be a detailed description of this festivity
>
> in the future).
>
> As the safekeepers of our history and cultural heritage, the elderly Kunama
> interviwed, for our historical research purposes, range between eighty (80)
> and one-hundred-and-ten (110) years of age.
>
> These are well-known people who have always enjoyed a great respect in their
> villages and districts. They are admired for their healthy and clear mental
> state as well as for their knowledge of the culture of their society. These
> persons originate from the above-mentioned four geographical divisions.
>
> Asked where we Kunama had come from, the ninety-seven years-old
>
> He went on to explain that a well-known Kunama by the name of
> Bade/Baden/Bazen, used to live in Axum.
>
> This name is also used even today, by the other neighbouring populations
> like the Beni-Amer, to mean the Kunama people.
>
>
>
> -4-
>
>
>
> (today's Tigrigna speaking populations of the highland Eritrea), took place
>
> Addalla Udí, another 113-115 years-old Kunama, takes the
> history of the Kunama people still further back than the Axumite times.
>
>
> Addalla Udí stated also that, "in those days, a man called DUNGGUL from the
> Gurma kinship, used to be the most prominent Kunama".
> What made this Dunggul famous, well-known and highly revered by all Kunama,
> up to the present days, is his legendary birth, life and death.
>
> (There will be a paper on this prominent Kunama in the future).
>
> According to Addalla Udí, Dunggul, sometime during his life, had to lead the
> Kunama to fight against the first intruders in their land.
>
> Although he did not clearly specify how far the Kunama land had extended, at
> that time, he reiterated his conviction that Axum was a Kunama town.
>
>
> That town is surrounded by, and lies in the middle of five (5) small hills.
>
> "AXUM" is the town of the "FIFTH" hill.
> This is, infact, the main argument that many elderly Kunama adopt to
> Other towns that are regarded as having names given by the Kunama and
> carrying meanings in Kunama language, are:
>
>
> "QUALA" is a tipical Kunama male name.
>
> "ADDI" is a Tigrigna word for "village or town".
>
> It is believed that "ADDI-QUALA" used to be called, by its first Kunama
> inhabitants, "QUALA-SUKA".
>
> "SUKA" is the Kunama word for "village or town".
>
> "MASA" in Kunama language means "war or struggle".
>
> "WA" means "eye".
>
> MAS(S)AWA, therefore, means the city with the "war-eye".
>
> The deep meaning of this city's name, according to the Kunama, is that,
>
>
> "ITA" means "house or a dwelling place".
>
> -5-
>
>
>
> SEGENEITI, therefore, means "the house or the dwelling place of ostriches".
> As a matter of fact, Segeneiti is a little town that lies in a mountainous
> area, surrounded, even today, by small forests which must have been an ideal
> There are other names of Kunama villages or places that have the same ending
> as SEGENEITI; for instance: Shingaleti, Shumaniti, Tuguliti, Uniti and many
> others. All these names are a conbination of two Kunama words having some
>
> Some historians too sustain that a king called "BADEN or BAZEN"
> As stated above, the Kunama is a matriarchal society and this is
> believed to explain the reason why the Kunama people call themselves with
> It is certified that, the name of the Kunama king Baza is included and
> appears, up to the present days, in the list of names of the Axumite royal
> families preserved in the archives of that city. The Baza royal family is
>
> Some scholars, familiar with "GE-EZ" (the liturgical language of
> of the Kunama people had been written in Ge-ez and preserved or hidden in
> one or more monasteries somwhere either in Ethiopia or in Eritrea.
>
> It is, therefore, hoped that, one day this documented history of the Kunama
> people will be discovered, made public and used to clarify the true origin
> of their offspring.
>
> All the historical accounts so far gathered from the Kunama people
> themselves, seem to indicate that,though accepting the theory that,
> racially, they belong to the Nilotic populations and, presumably, had
> originated from the western part of the Nile River, they, however, claim to
> be, if not the only ones, at least, the first inhabitants of the territories
> In the future papers, we shall be concentrating our research, remaining
> always within the material collected from the Kunama context, on the events,
>
> circumstances, ethnic groups or individuals that had orchestrated and are
> attempting, even today, to drive the Kunama people back to where these
> groups
>
> of individuals assume the Kunama had come from.
>
> The paradox is that the same ethnic groups which had succeeded in driving
> the Kunama people out of their former territories, are, even today,
> constantly struggling to invade the Kunama land again thus preventing the
> Kunama people from either reclaiming their lost territory or being left to
> live peacefully in the land they are now occupying.