Tag Archives: Ethiopia

Assistants to the Bride

Informant AM is a graduate student from San Jose California, whose family is originally from Ethiopia. There is a strong Ethiopian diasporic community in San Jose, where much of its traditions live on.

Text: 

“It’s not necessarily the younger cousins, it’s the ones that they think are next to get married. For example, my cousin got married, she’s 8 years older than me, but they assume I’m the next cousin to get married so I have to be her right hand woman — well it was me and my cousin because we’re around the same age. We call it ‘Protocol,’ but it’s like an assistant to the bride.”

Context:

Informant AM witnessed this tradition in primarily Ethiopian Orthodox Christian weddings. Ethiopia is a country with 36 million Orthodox Christians as of 2017, according to the Pew Research Center (Diamant). Ethiopian Orthodox culture, like many others, places heavy emphasis on the marriage. In Orthodox Christinaity, the marriage reflects the original bond of Adam and Eve and subsequent bonds between husband and wife, such as that between the biblical figures Abraham and Sarah. In fact, Ethiopians will often give a new couple a blessing which translates roughly to “May your marriage be like Abraham and Sarah’s.”

Analysis:

This tradition resembles other wedding traditions that intensify the importance of marriage in a community, such as the tradition where the bride throws a bouquet of flowers behind her, and the person who catches the bouquet is likely the person to be married next. Both traditions serve to intensify and perpetuate the importance of marriage in a community by encouraging the next person in line to consider marriage, and reflects the importance of marriage in the American and Ethiopian communities which practice this tradition. This tradition also reflects the syncretism which takes place when traditional Ethiopian weddings mix with their American settings. Informant AM mentioned that the assistants are labeled ‘protocol,’ but the word “protocol” is meant to be used in a sentence spoken in Amharic, a language in Ethiopia. Effectively, this English word has been adopted into the Amharic language as a result of its prolonged exposure. From my own observation, another word that fits this description is the word “program,” which Amharic speakers in the United States and Ethiopia slip effortlessly into their otherwise Amharic sentences.

Ethiopian-American Graduations

Informant RE is a sophomore in high school from San Jose, California, whose family is originally from Ethiopia. There is a strong Ethiopian diasporic community in San Jose, where much of its traditions live on.

Text: 

“On graduation parties Ethiopian families are invited by the graduate’s parents to a graduation party, and the parents have to schedule with other parents who have children who are graduating at the same time because they want the parties to be on different days. When they have their set day, they rent out a banquet hall and prepare traditional dishes to serve, but some people also just order it. When people come, you’re supposed to greet them as they come, they give you gifts, then everyone lines up to get food. After the eating, we dance, and we do a lot of different cultural dances. After the dances there are speeches with friends and family, and after the speeches there is more dancing and cake cutting.”

Context:

High school graduation is an important liminal period in numerous cultures marking the transition period from school into the workforce. In the United States, high school graduation is traditionally celebrated with an elaborate ceremony hosted by the school in which students wear special garments and walk across a stage to reflect their passage into a new period.

Analysis:

The Ethiopian-American community takes the graduation ceremony a step further with the more elaborate and highly formalized graduation party. As informant RE alluded to, despite having no official text, the folk celebration of the graduation party is solidified into a specific format, from the choice of location — either a banquet hall or a home — to the itinerary — traditional foods, then dancing, then speeches, then dancing again. The Ethiopian-American graduation party is a collective celebration which not only marks the transition of the graduate, but celebrates the shared culture and community that helped the graduate along the way.

Ethiopian Bride’s Nickname

Informant AD is a graduate student from San Jose California, whose family is originally from Ethiopia. There is a strong Ethiopian disasporic community in San Jose, where much of its traditions live on

Text: 

“The groom’s mom, or like closest maternal figure, comes up with a meaningful name for the bride. Some people have random ones like ብርሃን ናት (“birhan nat,” or “she is bright,” roughly). It’s supposed to be meaningful to how the groom’s mom feels towards the bride.”

Context:

Informant AM witnessed this tradition in primarily Ethiopian Orthodox Christian weddings. Ethiopia is a country with 36 million Orthodox Christians as of 2017, according to the Pew Research Center (Diamant). Ethiopian Orthodox culture places heavy emphasis on the family. Traditionally, the name that the groom’s mother gives to the bride is known as የዳቦ ስም,or ye dabo sim, which translates roughly to “name of the bread” or “bread name.” This name is traditionally given during an event after the wedding and wedding reception known as the መልሴ, or “melse.” The nickname is usually granted while breaking bread for everyone to eat, and each attendee must recite the dabo sim before being able to eat the bread (Habeshabrides).

Analysis:

The ritual re-naming of the bride is a symbolic aspect of an Ethiopian ceremony — from my own observation, as the bride rarely uses the name — but it reflects the influence of family on this important time: the groom’s mother— a family member not directly involved in the wedding itself — is granted the privilege of renaming the bride, and the name thus represents the interconnection of two families. Thus, the naming ceremony reflects not only the bonding of two individuals, but two families.

Works Cited:

Diamant, Jeff. “Ethiopia Is an Outlier in the Orthodox Christian World.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 17 Aug. 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/11/28/ethiopia-is-an-outlier-in-the-orthodox-christian-world/#:~:text=Ethiopia%20is%20an%20outlier%20in%20the%20Orthodox%20Christian%20world&text=The%20country%20in%20the%20Horn,largest%20Orthodox%20population%20after%20Russia. 

“Brides of the Blue Nile.” Habeshabrides, https://habeshabrides.com/culture/brides-of-the-blue-nile/. 

Ethiopian Tale – Wardit the Mule

Nationality: Ethiopian
Age: 28
Occupation: Investment Banker
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 1, 2021
Primary Language: Amharic
Language: English

Main Piece 

My informant told me the story of a beautiful mule named Wardit. Wardit was on her way to drink water from the river, when she met an admirer, a horse, on the way. The horse confesses his love for Wardit, and asks about her parentage. Wardit looked confused, and asked the horse why her parentage is important. The horse explains that it is tradition to marry someone from a good familial parentage. Wardit explains that her mother is the governor’s horse. The horse was delighted, and asked of Wardit’s father. Wardit then said proudly that her sister is the priest’s horse. The horse looked puzzled and asked once more of Wardit’s father. Wardit then said that her aunt is the village governor’s horse. The horse grew impatient and once again asked of Wardit’s father. Just then, Wardit’s father appears. He is an old, wrinkled donkey. He asks Wardit what she is doing talking to the horse. Wardit ignores him. Again, the father asks Wardit, and again, Wardit ignores him. The horse angrily asks Wardit who the horse is and why he disturbs the conversation. Wardit insists that she does not know the old, shrivelled donkey. The horse begins to kick the donkey to death. With his final breath, the donkey asks God, “Oh God, look at what has happened to me.” God speaks to Wardit and declares her barren and unable to have children. He says, “you have disrespected your father, so you shall bear no child.”

Context 

This tale is told to young children to teach them to respect their elders, as this is a very important manner to instill in children in Ethiopia.

Background

My informant was born and raised in Ethiopia. He explains that in Ethiopian culture, disrespecting one’s parents is considered a very heinous offense. He informed me that this also applies to any elders in or outside of the family. He explained that Ethiopians are very family oriented, thus many tales in Ethiopian culture aim to teach children to be obedient and prioritize their family. My informant learned this tale from his parents at a young age, which further reaffirms that this tale was told for educational purposes.

My Thoughts

I had never heard of this tale before, but it did resonate with me. We have the same family values in Armenian culture. I found it interesting that Wardit was punished by God, which suggests that disrespecting one’s parents is not only a social offense, but a religious one. According to my informant, religion is a non-negotiable aspect of society in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. This tale also communicates the importance of family values. Wardit was punished for not defending or claiming her father. According to my informant, disrespecting an elder, regardless of your relationship with them, is disrespectful and shameful. For more information on Ethiopian family dynamics, see the cited article from Cultural Atlas under the subheadings titled “Family” and “Household Dynamics.” 

Source:

Evason, Nina. “Ethiopian Culture.” Cultural Atlas, 2018, culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/ethiopian-culture/ethiopian-culture-family. Accessed 1 Apr. 2021.

Ethiopian Greeting Customs

Nationality: Ethiopian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 04/21/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Amharic

The informant is a good friend from one of my clubs. We had met up for lunch and she shared many of her Ethiopian traditions and customs with me, as well as some superstitions of her people.

Original Script

Informant: “When you say hi to people… It’s a mess! You have to do it in a line, right? Okay so what happens is… If I was meeting another family and I showed up with just me and my mom, she would meet the most important person in that group first. Like,  she would say hi to them, I’m standing behind my mom.”

Me: “Like the head of the family?”

Informant: “She says hi to the head of the other family first, then to the second person, then to the third person. And then when she’s done, I go do it. So like if… Say we came to someone else’s house, so if we’re the visitors, she would say hi to the most important person, and I can’t say hi to people. I say to people after she has done it, because she outranks me.” (laughs)

Me: “So you just stand back and just watch?”

Informant: “Yeah, I stand behind her while she greets the most important person, then when she moves on to the second most important person, I can go on to the first important person. And then my little brother is still waiting, and then when I’ve moved on to the second person, he can talk to that first person.”

Me: “Oh, so you don’t have to wait to go through the whole family?”

Informant: “Yeah, but you got to go through the thing in that order.”

Me: “And what’s like the type of greeting?”

Informant: “Well what we do is, we do the… um… it’s either a handshake and a hug, and then it’s three kisses on the cheek.”

Me: “Is there a specific cheek?”

Informant: “It’s um… Well from my perspective it’s that cheek, then that cheek, then that cheek (She points to my right, then left, then right cheek).”

Me: “Oh, so switching back and forth.”

Informant: “Yeah. And then you say the stuff.”

Me: “Wait, wait. If you’re the visitor, you have to kiss the person? Or they… it’s kind of mutual?”

Informant: “If you’re the visitor, you walk up to the person who’s just let you into their house. It’s very rare where you’re both randomly meeting each other. It’s usually because you are going to someone’s house, or to an event, like there will be a hostess or, like, a person to go say hi to.”

Me: “Is there a different custom when you;re both strangers? Like, your not in someone’s home?”

Informant: “If you’re both strangers, you don’t actually kiss. You kind of just… touch cheeks!”

Me: “Or if you’re like friends, meeting up in a  neutral place? Where no one’s, you know..,”

Informant: “Unless, they’re not really… I mean you can kind of tell when you’re looking at people, if they are traditional. Like, if I was meeting another seventeen year-old, I would say ‘Sup.”

Me: (laughs)

Informant: “I’m not, you know, going to go through the whole thing. But if I was meeting, like, a stranger who was maybe like thrity-five, I would say the greeting in Amharic, but I wouldn’t necessarily, like, kiss them, but I would definitely go for the hug, because the hug is like the first step. But if I was meeting some who was like older, who was like really traditional, who was like dressed the way, I know for sure that I have to be nice, and I have to do it. It ‘s usually, the older the person is, the more you kinda have to bow when you go in for it. When you say hi you kind of nod tot the person. So if it’s like someone your age, you might just go like that, (head nod). But if it’s someone who’s maybe seventy, you give a little more effort because you’re sort of recognizing that they’re older than you.”

Me: “So what’s the order again?”

The informant shows me the Ethiopian greeting, starting with the bow, then the hug, and lastly the kisses.

Me: “I thought it was very more like, BOW. (laugh)

Informant: (laugh) “Yes your majesty! No, it’s kind of more organic than that, ’cause you’re both doing it at the same time to each other, so it’s more… relaxed. It’s really relaxed, and it’s not nearly as formal. Even if it is a formal event, it’s just saying hi. That’s how we say hi, so it’s very… ’cause it happens so often, it’s not something that is really ceremonious every single time, ’cause it’s just like… Over the quantity it gets really relaxed, because you just do it so much.”

Me: “Would you do this with family members too?”

Informant: “Yeah, but not if I said hi to my mom in the morning, I’d just giver her a hug. But if I was seeing like my uncle for like a really long time, that’s how I would say hi to him.”

Me: “That’s awesome!”

Informant: “But not to my littler brother. If he came home from college, he would be like, ‘Sup.” You know, it’s kind of… and age thing.”

Background & Analysis

The informant is a student here at USC as well, and although her mother is from Ethiopia, she was born and raised here in California. However, she often goes back to Ethiopia with her mom to visit friends and family.

The greeting customs in Ethiopia are much more complex than I thought! It appears to be a combination of greetings from other areas around the world, like the bowing from asian cultures, the the hug from most latin cultures, and the cheek kisses from Europe. Whereas in America, a simple handshake will suffice, Ethiopans make a clear destinction between hierarchies just through a short gesture such as a greeting.