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SADAMA The Ethiopian people who refer to themselves as Sadama (adjective:
Sidamo) may number more than 600,000 and include several differing, but
related, ethnic groups in the southwest part of Ethiopia. Perhaps 10 pecent are
Muslim. They live in a trapezoidal-shape area marked by Lake Awasa, Lake
Abaya, the upper branches of the Loghita River and the Billate River. To the
north are the Arussi people; the Walamo are situated on the western boundary,
the Gugi and Darasa on the south and Jamjam (Northern Gugi) on the east. They
form part of the Highland East Cushitic language group.
Without adequate census data one can only speculate as to the present number
of Muslims in the Sidamo population. Though it is likely that the interethnic
trade of the last century would have provided the Sadama with some knowledge
of Islam, informants are of the belief that only recently (within the last 20 years)
have there been any significant numbers of converts. J. Spencer Trimingham in
his book Islam in Ethiopia reports Islam is professed among such Sidamo groups
as the Tamboro, Garo, Alaba and Hadiya. Since, however, Islam places more
stress on behavior than doctrine, it is possible to make an estimate of whether
the numbers of converts are increasing by observing the adoption of Islamic
clothing styles, performance of prayers and presence of mosques and cemeteries.
Based on these criteria there was a noticeable increase in the decade from 1964
to 1974. For example, by 1973 more men could be seen wearing turbans or
Islamic skullcaps. And the cemetery of one small town, originally designed for
both Muslims and Christians, had been completely filled with graves of the
former.
There is also an indirect indication of Islamic influence in the expanding
cultivation of kat (Catha edulis). The major cash crop of the Sadama since World
War II has been coffee, but by the mid-1970s a number of farmers were beginning
to realize a substantial portion of their income from the production of kat in
market towns like Yirgalem. (Kat is a plant whose leaves, when chewed, produce
a mild narcotic effect. It was introduced by Muslims for ritual purposes but is
now also used by others, particularly adolescent high school students).
Fundamental to understanding the Sidamo life is the symbiotic relationships