Life Trajectories and Changing Patterns of Marginalization Among the Smiths of Hararge,Ethiopia

Introduction

Smithing as traditional technology is as old as human civilization. Indeed, the development of different human civilizations has been linked to the discovery and use of metal to manufacture tools and implements that supported an agrarian economy and other sectors of life. In Africa there were ancient centers of smithing technology that transformed the livelihood of millions of peoples. Anigbogu and Onyima (2003) have identified a number of ancient centers of blacksmithing technology in Africa. They indicated that in Northern Nigeria, Taruga, 25 km west of Abuja, and the Nok culture, both of which date to the fifth century BC, were ancient iron smelting sites with lots of blacksmithing industries. Similarly, ethnographic studies in Cameroon established the existence of blacksmithing technology in ancient times (Kengne et al., 2015).

In North East Africa, Meroe was considered as one of the earliest sites in Africa where iron smelting was carried out with increasing intensity from about 200 BC until it was sacked sometime after 300 AD (Miller and Van Der Merwe, 1994). In many parts of Ethiopia too, traditional iron smelting and the making of iron tools for local usage were practiced for a long time. Archaeological evidence from Aksum indicates that smelting was probably practiced there in the third or fourth century AD (Thoresten et al., 2011).

In Dime, south western Ethiopia, Todd (1985) indicated that iron smelting continued up until the mid-1970s. Among the Ari, blacksmithing was one of the marginalized occupation vis-á-vis the cultivators and this occupation has been in practice for 4500 years up to the present (Van dorp et al., 2015). But a comparable example of longevity does not seem to have been found in Hararge region. Similarly, blacksmithing and the social position of the occupation is not well appreciated among the peoples in the southern parts of Ethiopia. The situation is too perplexing when we look at the eastern part of Ethiopia, where very little is known about this precious indigenous technology of forging iron and making different goods. Hararge is almost neglected and apparently there is no academic work directly dedicated to this subject. The only attempts were passing references by travelers, missionaries and some scholars such as the French traveler Martial De Salviac (1901: 178) and Richard Caulk who gives an insight into occupational groups (Caulk, 1977). Besides, the American geographer, Brooke (1956) made a passing reference to occupational groups in Hararge.

Therefore, there is a clear knowledge gap both spatially and thematically on the issues raised which demands more archaeological fieldwork. Historical, ethnographic and anthropological work is clearly required to fill thisknowledge gap on when this traditional technology started and the techniques employed in the production process in the study area. It is therefore critically important to engage in a study of the technical, social and commercial aspects of traditional iron forging to produce various goods.

This article, specifically focusing on iron forging, contributes towards bridging the patchy nature of research in Ethiopia, focusing on the social aspects of traditional smithing in Hararge. It focuses on the socio-economic positioning of smithing and the dynamics in the life trajectories among the smiths in Hararge. It attempts to discuss issues related to the identity and social origin of smiths within the larger Hararge Oromo social milieu by dealing with the status of smiths within the hierarchy of the dominant agricultural Oromo, the labor mobilization and economic benefits of smithing, and resource utilization in relation to the natural environment. It also attempts to address the major types of product smiths produce for market and the underlying factors for the continuity of smithing technology in Hararge, irrespective of the decline of traditional smithing in the country and the study area in particular. An attempt is also made to show the dynamics of the social status of smiths vis-á-vis the dominant agricultural community and the major challenges smiths are facing today.

This study covers East and West Hararge as a whole (see Figure 1). The present East and West Hararge zones are the result of a series of administrative reshufflings during the imperial and the Derg regimes which were identified as Hararge province. Hararge as a whole is located to the east of the Great Rift Valley which dissects Ethiopia roughly into two halves. It is characterized by diverse physical features including rugged terrain, steep hills and mountainous landscapes. Hararge plateau as a geographical region extends from the Chercher Mountains southeast of the Awash valley to the plains of Hargeisa in Northern Somalia (Brooke, 1956). The highlands of Hararge form the middle and Eastern section of the Ethiopian southeastern highlands. It consists of three major geographic regions: the Chercher or western highlands; the Garamulata or the central highlands; and the Harar or Eastern highlands (Brooke, 1956).

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Figure 1.

The study area.

Materials and methods

This research work is a survey of occupational groups, particularly smiths living in west and east Hararge villages. The study basically adopted historical and ethnographic methods. It is historical because we try to study smiths in historical sequence and hence facilitate our understanding of comparisons of smiths within and between groups over time. We also try to study the origin, development and gradual evolution of the culture and social institutions of smiths and occupational groups in general. In this regard, the level of segregation during the three successive Ethiopian regimes (the imperial, the Derg and Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front) and their economic wellbeing in this time frame will be analyzed. Ethnographic methods entail examining the behavior of the participants in a certain specific social situation and also understanding their interpretation of such behavior. These methods aim to interpret and describe the symbolic and contextual meaning of the everyday practices of smiths in their natural setting.

Data for the study is generated through primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are collected through techniques like in-depth interview, non-participant observation and focus group discussions (FGD). In-depth interviews were conducted with key informants, predominantly smiths who are the focus of this study. Informants from non smithing members of the surrounding community were also interviewed to achieve a balance of views across the community. Informants were selected on the basis of prior information from interlocutors who suggested they had ample information to share (see Appendix: List of informants for further information). Prior to fieldwork in the research sites and conducting interviews researchers prepared and revised the proposed interview checklist for the issues to be discussed. Interviews were held with several smiths and with other occupational groups living along with smiths. In treating the subject of marginalization, we have sought to adopt the perspective of the marginalized. However, we cannot claim to have represented them fully or adequately and have also reproduced aspects of the dominant groups’ perspectives. In order to keep originality of the information collected, we have used labels attached to the smiths that clearly demonstrate their marginalization i.e. Tumtu, which has derogatory connotations. The term is considered derogatory and unacceptable by the smiths. In the process we have sought to document the feelings of those involved and used terms which they themselves prefer. But these derogatory terms will be replaced by self-names or fall into disuse as marginalization is drastically fading as we observed and as was commented by informants.

In addition, through our observation of some elements of social interaction, the processes of smithing, their products, and group work, as well as labor mobilization, is critically observed. Three FGDs comprising six to eight individuals in each of the selected sites (Hirna, Kombolcha and Gurawa—one FGD in each site) were facilitated. Secondary sources were gathered through a review of related published and unpublished materials from different libraries. The information collected from all these ranges of data are decoded, analyzed, cross-checked, interpreted and presented qualitatively.

Since it is difficult to cover the whole west and east Hararge zones in this research work, we selected seven waradas (lower level local administration): four from east and three from West Hararge zones. The three waradas in west Hararge are Chiro, Gelemso and Hirna while Haramaya, Kombolcha, Garamulata, and Kersa were selected from East Hararge as our study sites. Harar town is also included as a study site as there were ancient iron forging communities in the emirate. These study sites were selected based on a preliminary survey for the presence of widespread smithing in which men play a key role. Compared to other occupational groups, the Tumtu are more numerous and their settlements are much more widely dispersed in agricultural Oromo settlement areas.

Introducing the Tumtu in Hararge

Hararge is predominantly occupied by three Oromo groups: Ittu, Anniya and Afran Qallo. (Hassen, 1973). The people are predominantly followers of the Islamic religion. Traditionally, the Oromo of Hararge practiced agriculture and animal husbandry as their dominant means of livelihood. But there are also occupational groups, artisan who are skillful in handicraft works (ogumma) and are collectively known as Ogeyyii, which means expert. These groups of handicraft workers are potters, iron smiths, weavers, tanners, woodcarvers and basketry workers (Informants: Legesse Bekansa, Mohammed Yusuf).

The extant literature on occupational groups in Ethiopia tries to analyze marginalized communities using three paradigms. These are the ethnic paradigm, the caste paradigm and the class paradigm (Freeman and Pankhurst, 2003: 8–19). In this work, the caste paradigm considers occupational groups as submerged remnants and waves of conquest that identified these remnant groups as a caste. This argument was advocated by Lewis (1962), among others, who argued in favor of the use of the caste concept specifically in the context of the horn of Africa. In the Ethiopian context, especially in the south, the three most prominent supporters of this paradigm for specific societies were Haberland (1964, 1984), Shack (1964) and Todd (1977). Similarly, Trimingham (1965) supports this paradigm by bringing the case of the Waradube on both the left and right side of the Wabishebele river in Arsi, Bale, Hararge and in the territory of Somali proper. Of course, among the Somali, they were called Adona, (literally slaves), hence undermining their social position. They are well known for hunting hippopotamuses and for basketry.

Likewise, a number of ethnographic and archaeological studies conducted in southwestern Ethiopia indicate that the different occupational groups like smiths, potters, and tanners are conceptualized as caste groups although not strictly speaking in the Indian sense of caste (Haberland, 1964, 1984; Shack, 1964; Todd, 1977).

On the other hand, Woyesa (2010, 2011) in his study of the Mecha Oromo in Jima and Wallaga does not identify the occupational group of which smiths are part and parcel as a caste or pariah. They belong instead to different Oromo groups and Bula further argues the origin of handcraft works among the Oromo could be traced back to the period before the Oromo population movement in the 16th century. Further, he argues that the Oromo already possessed iron tools during their expansion which was the key to their success in their population movement. But he attributes the marginalization and the low social position of the occupational groups vis-á-vis the pastoral and agricultural Oromo to the aftermath of the population movement and the resultant formation of a social hierarchy among the Oromo (Bula, 2010, 2011).

Based on these lines of argument, we can evaluate the social origin of occupational groups including smiths in Hararge. In almost all the study sites, the smiths claim they belong to the Shawan Oromo. The majority of the Tumtu in Hararge have come from Shawa and are Christian in religion (Informants: Abiyot Adugna, Dereje Abebe, Getu Garadew). We do not know exactly how and when the Shawan Oromo came. They settled in Hararge at various times because of a range of historical reasons but it is probable that the earliest settlement of Shawan Oromo smiths was associated with or after Menelik’s conquest. Some Shawan Oromo informants who practice smithing claim that they came to the area because of the presence of their relatives and wanted to make their fortune out of their skill, being persuaded by their relatives that there was an economic opportunity since there was a lack of specialty in smithing despite demand for these skills (Informants: Abiyot Adugna, Dereje Abebe, Getu Garadew). There is also speculation among informants that some of the Tumtu came as a means of escaping the consequences of serious crimes committed at home (Informants: Abba Gada Ahimed Mumed, Legesse Bekansa).

Apart from the majority of Shawan Oromo smiths, there are also groups of smiths who claim to belong to one of the Hararge Oromo clans, on which the cast paradigm we employed in this study could be applied. Informants argue that the earliest smiths in Hirna belong to the Ittu clan, while the smiths in Kombolcha claim that they belong to the Nole sub branch of the Daga group (Informants: Abba Gada Ahimed Mumed, Abdulaziz Hussein, Abdi Fara Mumed). In particular, the smiths in Hirna indicate they belong to the Ittu and that they learned the skill from a famous smith called Shide belonging to the Ittu clan who first learnt about smithing presumably from the Yemeni Arabs and became a prominent Tumtu. His family members also specialized in it and hence Wara Shide were the earliest smiths in the area (Informants: Abba Gada Ahimed Mumed, Abdulaziz Hussein).

In Garamulata, a group of smiths claim they belong to the Alla and they learnt the skill of forging iron from a certain Debu (Informants: Mohammed Yusuf, Mohammed Abdela). From the information we collected from informants, this Debu was a famous smith who used to live in Dire Dawa after being trained by the French and he in turn produced lots of disciples in Hararge. Our informants in Garamulata, Haramaya and Qarsa claim that they have learnt the skill from Debu (Informants: Abdi Yusuf Debu, Abdulhamid Mume Aliyi Mohammed, Mohammed Yusuf). Hence his line of disciples came to be called Wara Debu. ¹ No one exactly discusses the social origin of Debu. But from circumstantial evidence, the term Wara among the Hararge Oromo is given to a family probably with a different social origin but which has received social recognition in the area of residence. In relation to this, we can trace families and groups of people who are recognized as Wara by a prefix followed by their clan name, hence there are many clans referred to as Wara or mana among the Nole ² like Wara Gargadu, Mana Jarte, Mana Bundha, etc. They are considered by the Nole as Oromo but are different from the three sons of Nole – Mucha, Oromo and Halele.

It is apparent that the Oromo have high social prestige for their pastoral and agrarian practices and disdain other practices like artisanship. Among the Harar Oromo there are two groups – the hunters and the smiths – both of which do other craft work. Brooke (1956) argues that among the Harar Oromo, the hunters, which he generally called Watta, are tanners and smiths. Although the smiths are not mentioned explicitly in his discussion, it is apparent that they were part of these marginalized occupational groups.

These occupational groups are disfranchised from the normal political and judicial processes of their own host groups. Among the Oromo, under the Gadaa system, the smiths, tanners, potters, etc. might not have voices at council meetings and are considered to be under the protection of and rule of the elected leader of the council. Moreover, Assefa Jalata (2005; 2012) argues that through the Gadaa government based on democratic principles, the Oromo excluded the caste groups such as smiths and tanners.

Likewise, Richard Caulk opined that the existence of these occupational groups distinct from the Oromo could be traced back to before the Egyptian period, indicating their ancient origin. He says: “Oromo informants always mention outcast, but tolerated, groups of blacksmiths living in the countryside before the coming of the Egyptians” (Caulk, 1977: 374).

From this it can be argued that the ‘pure’ Oromo and the assimilated one are differentiated by their occupation. Among the Oromo, pastoralism and later on agriculture are the most prestigious occupations defining social categories. The fact that occupational groups were marginalized and their occupations were not respected and therefore not formally represented in the Oromo social institutions, indicated that they are remnants of the ancient surviving communities. The Oromo would not have excluded and given them a lowly social position had they been socially accepted as ‘pure’ Oromo.

One indication of the fact that they were remnants or a caste is the fact that they took their identity from the Oromo group among whom they settled. The assimilated occupational groups became part and parcel of the Oromo social organization to the extent that they considered them as clan members where they resided. Hence through time it became impossible to differentiate the assimilated Oromo from the Oromo proper. Furthermore, Marshal De Salviac supports the above idea when he said: “the conquering Oromo absorbed, far from exterminating, the aboriginal population who wanted to accept their law. These remnants of the ancient inhabitants are called Dhalata, ‘aborigine,’ and are inadmissible to the supreme charges as well as to the pilgrimage.” (De Salviac, 1901: 178). In addition, Woyesa’s assertion that the use of artisans helped the Oromo to succeed in their phenomenal 16th century population movement might be true. However, we cannot conclusively prove that the war instruments like spears were made by Oromo artisans considering the assimilated Oromo were also legally considered as Oromo because there is no mechanism for identifying the assimilated Oromo from the proper Oromo.

In Hararge villages, the common parlance used to designate smiths is Tumtu, a word derived from the Oromo root word tumu, i.e. to forge, and is considered by the smiths as derogatory. Although they have greater social acceptance than the Faqi or Dugdu (tanners) and Shagni (potters), they too were accorded a lowly social position in comparison with the agricultural Oromo. They were not given equal status with those from an agricultural background; as such, their socio-political role is congruent with this positioning. A miriga –a traditional Hararge song describing socio-political and cultural interrelationships (Woliye, 2019) – vividly describes the low social position of the smiths and other occupational groups, although the dominant agricultural Oromo use the products of these occupational groups. The miriga collected from oral informants runs as follows:

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Afaan Oromo	Gloss
Araddaa rooba hin qabne	A village without rain
Dirre furmaata hin qabnee	a bare plain land without any use
Tumtufi waata malee	It is the Tumtu (Smiths) and waata
Warri Sawwaa hin qabnee	Who do not have cattle for their living
Waan lammiin nama gootu	They are the ones who help us by producing agricultural and other important materials
Gowwaan takka hin hubannee	But we do not accord them commensurate social status
(Informant: Abba Gada Ahimed Mumed)

There is also one particular case where the Tumtu have a different background. One of the Tumtu whom we interviewed in Kombolcha town claims that he came from Wallo, Kamisse area, some time during the reign of Emperor Haile Selasse along with his father. He is now a well-known smith who added new technologies to the production process by modifying a water pumping dynamo to create a generator that can produce electric power replacing a goat skin bellow (Informant: Ibrahim Adem).

Settlement patterns and sites of the Tumtu

In contrast to the dense concentration of houses and compounds in the main village, the blacksmiths’ homesteads were relatively remote, situated a notable distance from the rest of the community. The Tumtu settled on the outskirts of the towns. They are found in rocky areas outside the town; land that is unproductive and unsuitable for agricultural activities, on steep slopes, on the outskirts of villages, close to forests or in ravines. This spatial marginalization is also observed in the segregations of smiths in market places. The market areas where the Tumtu sell their products are found outside urban centers. There are three possible reasons for this segregation. (Informants: Abdulhamid Mume, Alex Hanqeta, Mohammed Yusuf)

The exception to this general observation is the case of the Tumtu living in the towns of Harar and Haramaya towns. Even then, in the case of Haramaya and Harar, when the first well-known Tumtu settled in the town, they were granted rental of a site located on the border of the town at that time. It was only recent development that spatially extended the boundaries of these towns such that the Tumtu sites now appear to be in the heart of the towns.

Production processes and types of product made by local smiths

The blacksmith’s workshop is a small, round, stick-built structure built on top of a low, circular drystone wall. It has a vaguely conical, loosely-thatched roof, and the floor inside is covered with a carpet of grey ash, probably generated by years of forging in this tiny enclosed space. Through observation it is clear that smithing is entirely the preoccupation of men and is labor intensive. It is a three-man job that would involve the blacksmith and two others, most often his own sons.

One of the young men operates the bellows made of goatskin. These consist of two foot-operated goatskin bags connected to short and shallow subterranean iron pipes through which air is forced into the fire as the bags are rhythmically extended and contracted. The pipes are held in place by an arrangement of four stones, the smallest of which is positioned on top of the pipes at the point where they make contact with the charcoal. The other son acts as the striker, responsible for beating the hot iron with a large, rather unwieldy-looking hammer.

At the center of the operation, the blacksmith controls the heating process by periodically burying the iron in the burning charcoal where maximum heat is emitted. When it is hot enough, he withdraws the iron with iron tongs and holds it in the desired position on the anvil as he directs the striker to deal a series of blows. This process, from fire to anvil, is repeated every few minutes as the piece of iron gradually morphs into its destined form.

With the forge and simple hammer and chisels the Tumtu make new agricultural implements like spades (dongora, a steel-tipped digging stick about four feet in length, weighted by a detachable bored stone), axes, sickles, plough-shares, shovels (akafa), different sizes of knife, different shapes and sizes of mencha (hand sickle), etc. (see Figure 2). There is high demand for their products from the agricultural communities; without them, agricultural activity is literally impossible. In Hararge, in particular, it is uneconomical and unsuitable to use the ox-plow system as the plots an individual farmer cultivates are too small. Therefore, they use tools made by smiths like dongora, spades, and mencha which are indispensable for the Hararge agricultural system. They also provide maintenance services for hand tools brought to them for sharpening, fixing or shaping by farmers (Informants: Abdi Yusuf Debu, Abdulhamid Mume Aliyi Mohammed, Mohammed Yusuf).

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Figure 2.

Partial view of smiths’ products plough-shares (left) and axes (right) made by Tumtu in Hirna.

During our interviews, blacksmiths had explained that they practice iron smithing or forging only. They do not smelt the metal from ore and neither did their ancestors, from whom they learnt their knowledge. The ancient craft of iron smelting had not been practiced anywhere in the area within living memory. If there had been a source of smeltable ore in these parts, they assured us, they would have known about it. Instead, most of their iron for production processes comes in the form of scrap metal in different shapes and forms like balestra that are collected and bought from different urban centers like Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Harar and Adama where it is easily obtainable (Informants: Abdi Yusuf Debu, Abdulhamid Mume Aliyi Mohammed, Mohammed Yusuf, Ibrahim Adem).

The other raw material is charcoal that is used in high amount to heat the iron with maximum temperature. They often buy the charcoal from the local markets and in rare cases produce it themselves. There is no officially recognized market place for them to sell their products but they have generally established market places just on the outskirts of the towns (Informants: Abdi Fara Mumed, Abdi Yusuf Debu, Abdulhamid Mume Aliyi Mohammed).

There are some smiths who have tried to revolutionize their production process by adding some modern technology. The smith in Kombolcha has expanded the iron working by adding local technology to it. As observed during the production process, his production workshop, especially the heat-producing chamber, does not operate manually. He revolutionized the heat producing chamber, i.e. the use of the goatskin bellows, by modifying a machine from the water-pumping dynamo that local farmers use for irrigation purposes. By using this machine, he generated electric power so that the heat-producing chamber is powered by electricity (Informant: Ibrahim Adem).

The other Tumtu in Kombolcha also uses the same kind of locally adopted technology and he claims that he learned this technology from the French when he went along with them to Djibouti. According to this Tumtu, he belongs to the Hume sub-clan of the Nole clan. He further pointed out that his father was an adopted son to the clan and was not biologically born to the family in which he was brought up (Informant: Abdi Fara Mumed).

In Haramaya and Harar, the Tumtu have adopted a locally produced heat generating tool which uses electricity like the ones mentioned above. But they have also preserved the use of the bicycle to generate heat whenever electricity is interrupted, which is a common problem for them (Informants: Sultan Sheik Hussen, Aliyi Mohammed, Abdulhamid Mume).

In all of these cases, there is a sort of transformation and an attempt to modernize the production process of iron work. Hence technological variation is commonly observed among the Tumtu in Hararge while other occupational groups do not manifest technological variations and add creativity to the production process. The overall effect of these innovations is observed to increase production output. Smiths using these machines produce more agricultural equipment and hence increase their daily income. At the same time, the level of exposure to fire is reduced since they can operate remotely from the fire chamber.

Social interaction and trends in social change

In Hararge, people interact at both the individual and group levels. This interaction was the building block for peoples’ cultures. However, this interaction was historically shaped by status based on wealth and social position. Occupation was a factor in determining social position. There is a rigid social stratification and marginalization of occupational groups in Hararge. Available literature discusses marginalization and segregation in economic, political, social, cultural, and spatial dimensions among occupational groups in south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia (Freeman and Pankhurst, 2003: 8–19). These types of marginalization are also clearly observed in Hararge.

Economically, at least up to the 1975 land reform, some Tumtu informants narrate that they did not have access to land and the only way to engage in agriculture was to enter into tenancy arrangements with landlords or with families having excess lands. By engaging in stenancy arrangements, the Tumtu supplement their living through agriculture. In addition, the market places where the smiths,along with other occupational groups, sell their products have their own effects on their income since they were located outside the towns (Informants: Abdi Fara Mumed, Tujar Kemal). This was clearly observed during our field work in the research sites.

Socially, too, in earlier times especially during the imperial period, the smiths would not eat or drink with the agriculturalists and certainly there was no intermarriage between the smiths’ families and agriculturalists. There was also limited social interaction at social events like deaths and births. But compared to the tanners and the potters, the smiths faced less discrimination and tanners were the least respected. This situation has slowly changed over the years. Now the Tumtu eat, drink, participate in different social events like deaths with the agricultural Oromo. They also intermarry with the agriculturalists (Informants: Alex Hanqeta, Legesse Beqansa).

Their political participation in local administration was also severely limited. According to informants, families of potters were not elected to lower administrative levels like kebels (the lowest level of local administrtaion). Even during the much better regarded Derg regime, members of blacksmith families could not hold the position of leader of a peasant association, although they were allowed to become members of the association. People who are engaged in this activity are generally undermined by the agricultural community. Generally, there is rigid social stratification. This can be seen throughout three successive political regimes. During the imperial period, the segregation was highly significant, while during the Derg regime it became less so. Informants claim that the Derg tried its best to improve the living and working conditions of the smiths by creating cooperatives and providing some resources. Probably this was due partly to the Derg’s ideological orientation in creating a workers party and considering the occupational groups as potential allies. Since 1991, the smiths argue that there is no government support to enhance the trade and help them become more technologically advanced (Informants: Abdi Fara Mumed, Abdi Yusuf Debu, Abdulhamid Mume Aliyi Mohammed).

One other manifestation of the segregation of the smiths and of course other occupational groups was related to their settlement pattern. The smiths settled on the outskirts of the towns. They are found in rocky areas outside the nearby towns. They are given lands that are unproductive and are not suitable for agricultural activities, on steep slopes, on the peripheries of villages, adjacent to jungles or in valleys. This spatial marginalization is also observed in the segregations of smiths in marketplaces (Informants: Sultan Ahmed Alex Hanqeta, Legesse Beqansa).

Generally, segregations based on the social, economic, political, and spatial settlement patterns of smiths and other occupational groups like potters and tanners is generally declining in Hararge. Accordingly, marginalization is fading away and people are interacting which suggests that social stratification based on occupation is declining and the social position of these occupational groups is improving. In fact, the discrimination varies from occupation to occupation such that the smiths are better off, while tanners are the least socially accepted groups.

Challenges for the smiths in Hararge

Currently, the traditional iron smelting technology faces serious challenges and the practice of iron smelting is declining at an accelerating rate in the villages and towns of Hararge. Various factors are responsible for the decline in the traditional art of blacksmithing in the study area. These factors include:

Conclusion

Blacksmithing is one of the oldest traditional technologies in Hararge. Smiths make different products by using metal pieces collected from local markets as their main resource. Despite the importance of the items which smiths produce for the local agricultural sector, they did not enjoy the social prestige and value commensurate with their role from dominant agricultural Oromo communities. Perhaps one of the reasons is the social origin of the smiths for although they described themselves and were accepted as Oromo, they were not accorded the status that identity conferred by the dominant agricultural Oromo community. It is more probable that these occupational groups have an ancient origin with the autochthonous population who through time were assimilated to the dominant agricultural Oromo. Since identity is partly a social construction and can be negotiated, these occupational groups might have constructed their identity in line with the demands and criteria set by the Oromo in terms of language and other cultural practices.

Approaching the history of Ethiopian people from the vantage point of the voiceless by focusing on themes like social and economic events is timely and relevant in order to redress critical gaps in the mainstream historiography. In this regard, the history of occupational groups, especially of the smiths in Hararge, is an attempt and a step towards previlaging peoples who were not made subjects of histrical studies . Such kind of studies, therefore, are attempts towards and giving attention to the marginalized. Therefore, this tentative discussion of the identity, the economic position, the causes of marginalization and other details of the smiths in particular and occupational groups in general demands further study.