RECLAIMING "BROKEN PLACES"

Mountains & Mountain Ecosystems in Danger

(Ambo & Gudar Areas in Focus)

An Appeal for Action

Assefa Tefera Dibaba (PhD)*

assefa.tefera@aau.edu.et

(AAU, Indiana University)

1. SUMMARY

The present project aims to bring forward the voice and genuine perspective / practices of the people in and around Ambo & Gudar districts about policies and decision-making processes that affect their life directly and the environment in which they live. It is to draw the attention of governmental and non-governmental institutions in the area, policy advisors, and the general public to stop the unsustainable exploitation of the mountains and mountain ecosystems and to take remedial actions. Toward this goal a Team of experts, community elders, and ritual leaders will be formed to organize public occasions at the “broken places” (and sacred sites) near or on the mountains, which will involve ritual ceremonies, prayers, libations, songs, breaking bread together, and public discussions leading toward the restoration of the “broken places” based on the indigenous knowledge of the people in the area and on expert advices. Upon the public occasion/s, activities will include the status report of the mountains and their ecosystems; performing Orature (telling stories built around the place, songs, and rituals); suggested action for the restoration; and a resolution/declaration in the attendance of community elders, ritual leaders, the general public, international and local NGOs, governmental bodies, higher institutions and schools in the area, and the media, through an open invitation to all concerned individuals. The purpose of the occasion will be to empower the community, with special focus on youth and women, based on the Oromo “seven generations principle,” (seera akaakilee/abaabilee torbaa), that is, a decision-making process that meets the needs of the present generation without impairing the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs.

2. INTRODUCTION: Overview

This is an appeal for urgent action to stop the unsustainable and exploitative resource utilization of the mountains and mountain ecosystems around Ambo and Gudar areas, the western Tuulama Oromo districts. Upon my short visit to Ambo University (AU) for an academic purpose early this month (March, 2019) and a short stop at AU, Gudar Campus, with AU university administration and teaching staff, I observed that the Gorfo Mountain, north-west of Gudar Town, and the other mountain ranges and their ecosystems southeast of Gudar are facing a serious threat of degradation as a result of clearing and bulldozing, presumably for commercial and construction purposes.

A study shows that “Ethiopia as a real tropical mountain country has only 3% of its surface covered by forests,” the problem which is raising concern and exacerbated by “rapid population increase, uncertain land tenure, inequity in distribution of resources, and lack of strong and stable institutions,” among others (Hogger & others, 1992:238). Based on my quick observation and informal discussions with people from the area, the mismanagement of the mountain lands and ecosystems in Ambo and Gudar area includes clearing and bulldozing the mountains for construction resources (stones, gravels, and soil), and for fuelwoods, which are aggressive actions setting in motion irreversible damages to the ecosystems and to the surrounding plain. Hence, it is fair to argue that, people choose to maximize the utilization of resources in their immediate milieu not only because of political and socio-economic marginality and dysfunctions that cause impoverishment, but also because of an insatiable human greed for wealth.

In this proposal for an urgent action, I establish my argument on the Oromo “seven generations principle,” (seera akaakilee/abaabilee torbaa), that is, a decision-making process that meets the needs of the present generation without impairing the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs.

3. OBJECTIVES & SCOPE

The major objective of the present project is primarily to bring forward the voice and genuine perspective / practices of the people in Ambo & Gudar districts about policies and decision-making processes that affect their life directly and the environment in which they live.  

The Specific Objectives of the project include:

-to stop the exploitative and unsustainable resource utilization of mountains and mountain ecosystems near Ambo and Gudar unconditionally;

-to work on report about the current status of the “broken places,” i.e., abandoned sacred sites, endangered mountains and mountain ecosystems in the area;

-to set a plan of action and strategies for identification, documentation, restoration, and protection of sacred sites (mountains, mountain ecosystems, wellsprings, trees,) in the area;

-to organize public occasions at the designated “broken places” (sacred or profane);
-to perform Orature (telling stories built around the significant place, songs, and rituals)
-to plan for introducing eco-literacy, enhancing community resilience, and empowering the community with focus on youth and women

-to focus on the well-being of current and future generations of the area, which is an often-overlooked concern for sustainable environmental conservation;

-to pinpoint guiding principles for public policies that will enhance positive human-ecology relationship and, in so doing, to foster sustainable society and sustainable development for humans & nonhumans in the area  

4. MOUNTAINS & MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTMES

In general, the topography of Ambo, home to the Dada & the Abebe clans of Western Tuulama Oromo branch, is rugged with an exceptional degree of relief east-west. The Waddeessa to the north, Gorfo to the west, Goromti and Waqjira to the south, Cillimo to a relatively far east near Ginci, are a few of the elevated terrains running east to west, of which Waddeessa and Gorfo are said the two highest volcanic peaks near Ambo, which remains to be proved as yet.

Mountains

It seems generally agreed that “The simple and perhaps arbitrary approach of defining mountains to include all terrain that exceeds an altitude of 1000 m places a vast part of the earth's surface within this category” (Högger, 1992: 236). Mountains cover about 25% of the earth’s terrestrial surface, and about 13% of the global population (or 915 million people) live in mountains and 26% of people live on or close to mountains (CBD, 2003:iii). Over half of the 54 countries in Africa have mountain peaks that rise to 2,000 meters above sea level and 20% of Africa’s surface area is covered by mountains including the Ethiopian Highlands and the East Africa Arc (EAC, 2016:13). As part of the project, it will be a primary task for the team to establish a profile of the “broken places,” i.e., the endangered mountains and mountain ecosystems in the research area, including sacred sites, in the near future.

The primary services of mountains include the provision of water, climate regulations, and cultural significance, among others (J.M. Foggin, 2016). Christian Körner asserts that “Mountains, with their 24 % share of global land area, are the water towers of the world,” (Körner, 2003:1).” Mountains also serve as the habitat for many endemic and endangered species and ecosystems.

Mountain Eco-systems

 Mountain ecosystems are plant and animal species which are vulnerable to soil erosion, landslides, rock falls, mud flows, rapid loss of habitat and genetic diversity. An increase in the numbers of inhabitants close to or on the mountains lead to deforestation, cultivation of marginal lands, excessive livestock grazing, loss of biomass cover, and other forms of environmental degradation.

Added to the steep slopes, the fragile vegetation, and the very diversity of the area, presumably, clearing and bulldozing cause the mountain ranges highly susceptible to environmental degradation, erosion, and deforestation. The ongoing environmental devastation has raised an international concern as stated by Prieur-Richard: “During the long history of life, Earth has experienced several periods of mass extinction. But the current extinction “crisis” differs from the previous ones in that it is occurring at an unprecedented rate, and is the direct result of human activities,” (Prieur-Richard, 2003:24). In the context of a changing climate, there are reasons for the increasing concern about mountain ecosystem devastation, which include the “fragility of mountain ecosystems due to high geomorphic energy, steepness, isolation, and low temperatures, which cause vegetation growth and soil formation to occur very slowly. Thus, soils are usually thin, young, and highly erodible. Mountain ecosystems also need hundreds of years to recover,” (Kahlenborn, 2003:27). Hence, it is imperative to reconsider indigenous ecological practices used to balance sustainable and fair human-ecology solidarity in line with expert knowledge (Kransy 2015; Virginia 1999).

Oromo Indigenous Knowledge (IK)

According to the Oromo worldview (ilaalcha Oromo), sacred places and forests are believed to have been endowed with a cosmic agent called ayyaana. Ayyaana is a guardian care-taker for humans and non-humans on behalf of Waaqa (God), and a power responsible for sustaining Waaqaa’s order of nature on earth in line with the Oromo safuu (moral/social order) (Gemechu, 1993, Bartels 1983). Traditionally, it is widely believed among the Oromo that any violation of a culturally protected sacred object (place, animal/totem, or plant) is a taboo and provokes retaliation from the ayyaana of the sacred object (mountain, tree, wellspring, plain fields, forests, ancestral graves), which is manifested in the forms of recurrent droughts, crop failure, air-borne diseases, conflicts, heavy rain, and other social and natural disasters (Gemechu 1993).  

Those problems are often categorized as demographic disruptions due to infertility, environmental stresses by violent winds, and economic insecurity due to crop and livestock failures, which are believed to emanate from human violations of the natural order (safuu) and the entrenched violations of revered natural setting (Terefe & Waqtole, 2017:16). Based on their observation of the Oromo people’s belief systems and social norms about traditional ecological management practices—“eco-theology”—in Kuttaaye, Ambo District, Terefe & Waqtole share Workine Qalbessa’s view that the Oromo eco-theology “teaches a positive relationship between God, humanity and nonhuman creation,” focusing mainly on the “nature of God, spirits, beliefs, and the relationship between God and humans, and between humans and the natural environment” (Terefe & Waqtole, p16, citing Workine 2005, 2001).  

Natural disasters are believed to happen as consequences of human unfair relationships with the environment. Thus, in response to the punishment (dheekkamsa or wrath) for the trespasses and violations of safuu waaqaa (moral/social order of god), the indigenous people in the area perform prayers, libations, sacrifices, and more ritual performances at sacred sites designated for the purpose to appease ayyaana and, so doing, to ensure peace and stability (Terefe & Waqtole, 2017:24). The ritual performances involve paying homage to celestial bodies (moon, star, lightening, and sun) at sacred sites on elevated heights (mountains and hilltops), at riverbanks, wellsprings, and under sacred trees.

The Oromo resilience to survive environmental hazards “is an evidence of the applicability of indigenous knowledge to adjust their livelihood strategies to gradual changes,” although the “new global pressures have significantly changed people’s social, economic, political and environmental contexts (Terefe & Waqtole, 2017:24, citing Ilan Kelman 2009, Dekens, 2007).  However, there is a concern that “there is as yet no clearly developed framework demonstrating how [indigenous knowledge alongside scientific knowledge] may be integrated to reduce community vulnerability to environmental hazards” (Terefe & Waqtola, 2017:24). It should be noted that, instead of discussing the dichotomy between indigenous and scientific knowledge, it needs to focus on building a bridge across the two and integrating traditional and scientific practices which demand “a mutual understanding of the cultural, material, and epistemological basis of each” (Terefe & Waqtola, p25, citing Agrawal, 1995).

So, here I argue that it has become very crucial to consider the “multivocal voices” in contested “places,” the diversified, dynamic, and changing meanings, narratives, and competing histories and their multiple interpretations to alleviate the problems of ecological, sociopolitical, and cultural nature.  It is an attempt to reclaim “broken places,” that is, to restore places that are endangered by unfair human activities as by natural disasters (Kransy, 2015).

Next, I will focus on discussing the activities and expected outcomes of the present project which involves identifying the problem, deploying resources, integrating the traditional life practices and cultural performances with expert knowledge as part of the day-to-day activities to balance ecological and human solidarity in the research area.  

5. ACTIVITIES

The purpose of the present paper is to draw the attention of governmental and non-governmental institutions in the area, policy advisors, and the general public to stop the unsustainable exploitation of the mountains and mountain ecosystems and to take remedial actions. The best opportunity for the purpose is to organize public occasions at the sacred places near or on the mountains that involve ritual ceremonies, prayers, libations, songs, and breaking bread together, which will eventually lead to the restoration of the “broken places,” i.e., endangered mountains and mountain ecosystems, based on indigenous knowledge of the people in the area as well as expert advices. Upon the occasion/s, activities will include the status report of the mountains and their ecosystems; suggested action for the restoration; and a resolution/declaration in the attendance of community elders, ritual leaders, the youth, the general public, international and local NGOs, governmental bodies, higher institutions and schools in the area, and the media, through an open invitation to all concerned individuals.

6. PROJECT TEAM

To attain the project goal, it necessitates to form a Team of experts from governmental and non-governmental organizations, higher institutions and schools, community elders, and ritual leaders.

To come up with workable recommendations, to put sound and sustainable policies in place for development and conservation of the “broken places,” it requires to have a close understanding of the problem at hand from the people’s perspective and the indigenous practices used to alleviate the problem. It is not clear what knowledge is lacking and what indigenous and expert knowledge is available on which to base appropriate counter measures to ensure sustainable mountain and mountain ecosystem conservation.

7. EXPECTED OUTCOMES

It is hoped that the public occasion for stopping the unsustainable exploitation and restoration mountains and mountain ecosystems in Ambo and Gudar area will be monitored by Ambo University and the office of Environmental Protection Authority (Oromia) with a Team consisting of community elders & ritual leaders. This plan for conservation and restoration of mountains and mountain ecosystems near Ambo University will expand to other endangered areas in Oromia with a wider scope and aim of identifying and restoring threatened sacred sites, enhancing community resilience, and promoting ecoliteracy to empower the people to actively involve in decision-making processes about what affects their life directly and the environment in which they live. These continuous and collaborative activities will eventually lead to opening a venue toward a Center for Community Resilience & Ecoliteracy (ccrel) to articulate complementary, collaborative, and trans/interdisciplinary core projects.

In an attempt to maintain the well-being of the people and sustain the mountains and mountain ecosystems, the expected outcomes include raising the community’s awareness about the threats; laying ground to promote ecoliteracy & community resilience; providing a sound basis for sustainable natural resource management systems; planning for an immediate action for restoration, protection, and conservation; seeking the approval of a plan for immediate action; and working on report on the environmental and developmental conditions of the mountains and mountain ecosystems. 

8. CONCLUSION: An Appel for Action 

It has been stated that the Oromo worldview (ilaalcha Oromoo), which some call as Oromo eco-theology, is an eco-friendly Oromo perspective and assumes the Oromo seven-generations principle that every decision that the present generation makes (be it political, environmental, or sociocultural) has a long-lasting impact on the future of seven generations to come. Although it is to be further enriched by ethnographic encounters in the project area, from the quick observations made and based on existing relevant literature, we have seen that the importance of the Oromo indigenous knowledge (local/cultural knowledge) of ecology is that it is based on respect for life (humans & nonhumans). Thus, any local program for sustainable development, community resilience, and eco-literacy must therefore focus mainly on integrating the traditional life skills of youth and women with expert / scientific knowledge. Based on my personal experience, I made a proposition that the Oromo-Nature nexus is not just for a utilitarian function of the environment but an indispensable positive relationship handed down from ancestors, which the present generation is also obliged to preserve and hand it over to the next generation.

In this “call for action” an attempt is made to draw the attention of the general public, community elders, ritual leaders, governments and NGO’s, and higher institutions and schools towards:

-working collaboratively on the documentation, restoration / promotion, and protection of the endangered ecospace in the project area,

-identifying endangered sacred sites (and mountains & mountain ecosystems, wellsprings, trees),

-describing the traditional practices of land & land-resources management system/s;

-planning education (eco-literacy) for cultural survival, economic self-reliance, and community resilience, which will lead eventually toward founding a Center for Community Resilience & Eco-literacy / CCREL in schools and higher institutions in Oromia; and

-introducing the practice of restoring “broken places” (endangered sites) and building safest eco-cities and sound rural eco-spaces; and

-enhancing the development of eco-communication capacity

and, so doing, to empower the community, with special focus on youth and women, to involve actively in decision-making processes that affect directly their life and the environment in which

they live.

References

Assefa Tefera Dibaba. (2017). “Ecopoetics of Place: Reclaiming Finfinne, Past and Present (Oromia,

Ethiopia), a book chapter, coming soon, in a Diversified Environmentalisms Research Team (DERT), Indiana U. Also see here: https://eecopoetics.blogspot.com/search?q=ecopoetics+of+place

________________.  “Oromo Folksongs: An Ecopoetic Approach (Theory & Practice), Ethiopia/Northeast Africa.”

See on Ethnoecology.Com: https://eecopoetics.blogspot.com/search?q=oromo+folksongs

Dekens, J. (2007). “Local Knowledge for Disaster Preparedness: A Literature Review,” International Centre for

Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu.  

Desalegn Fufa. (2013). “Indigenous Knowledge of Oromo on Conservation of Forests and its Implications to

Curriculum Development: the Case of the Guji Oromo.” A thesis submitted to Addis Ababa University.

EAC, UNEP and GRID-Arendal. (2016). “Sustainable Mountain Development in East Africa in a Changing Climate”.

Foggin, J.M. (2016). “Conservation Issues: Mountain Ecosystems,” in Early Systems and Environmental Sciences.

Gemetchu Megersa. (2005). The Oromo World-View. The Journal of Oromo Studies Volume 12, Numbers 1& 2.Pp

68-78. 

Högger, Rudolf and Bruno Messerli and Peter Stone. (1992). “Mountain Agenda” – UNCED 1992 (UN Conference

on Environment & Development), Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Entwicklungspolitik [Online].

Kahlenborn, Walter et al. (2003). “Economic Compensation Mechanisms in Support of Sustainable Use of Mountain

Ecosystems,” CBD, 27.

Körner, Christian. (2003). “Mountain Biodiversity: Global Hot Spots, Regional Insurance, Local Lifelihood,” in CBD

Technical Series, No. 8

Krasny, Marianne E. and Keith G. Tidball. (2015). Civic Ecology: Adaptation and Transformation from the Ground

Up. Cambridge MA.

Nazarea, Virginia D. (1999). Ethnoecology: Situated Knowledge/Located Lives, Tucson, Ariz:  U. of Arizona Press.

Niekerk, Dewald van. (2011). “Introduction to disaster risk reduction,” USAID Disaster Risk Reduction Training

Course for Southern Africa.

Prieur-Richard, Anne-Hélène and Anne Larigauderie. (2003). “Diversitas: An International Programme of

Biodivrsity Science,” CBD Technical Series, No. 8, p24.

Rodman, Margaret. (1992). “Empowering Place: Multilocality & Multivocality,” in American Anthropologist 94(3)

640-656,  September.

Terefe Mitiku and Waktole Hailu . (2017). “The Role of Oromo Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Management and

Protection: the Case of Kuttaayee in Ambo District,” in International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding (IJMMU) Vol. 4, No. 5.

Workineh Kelbessa. (2001). Traditional Oromo attitudes towards environment: An argument for environmentally

sound development”. OSSREA social science research report series. Commercial printing enterprise. Addis Ababa. 

__________ .(2005). The utility of ethical Dialogue for marginalizedvoices in Africa. Discussion paper. Addis

Ababa University. 

______

*Assefa Tefera Dibaba (PhD) is an educator, poet, and researcher from Indiana University, USA. Currently based at Addis Ababa University, his research interest focuses, among others, on exploring Oromo indigenous practices to balance human-ecology solidarity (Oromo Cultural Ecology), on “Multivocal Locals & Reclaiming Places,” in which he examines diverse, dynamic, and contested narratives and their meanings, and histories and their multiple interpretations based in “place,” and how “place,” like “voice,” and “time” is a politicized social and cultural construct drawing on history and folklore of places. His PhD research from Indiana University titled “Ethnography of Resistance Poetics: Power & Authority in Salale Oromo Resistance Culture,” focused on exploring a creative nonviolent resistance used from “below” to subvert a hegemonic power structure. 

Dr Assefa attended and successfully accomplished three ecology courses from Cornell University, USA, after his PhD at Indiana University (2011-2015): 

“Environmental Education: Transdisciplinary Approaches to Addressing ‘Wicked Problems,’” Cornell U., (Feb. – April 2016);

“Reclaiming Broken Places: Introduction to Civic Ecology,” Cornell U., (Sept. – November 2016); and 

“Environmental Education Outcomes,” Cornell U., (Nov. – December 2017).

Over the years Dr Assefa published over 12 books of poetry and critical studies on Oromo culture and literature (Oguma Oromo) including the most recent anthology of his poems in English, SYMPOSIA (2018, 292 PAGES).

BLOG: ETHNOECOLOGY.COM
https://eecopoetics.blogspot.com/search?q=ecopoetics+of+place

SYMPOSIA

(Book Proposal)

Book Title:   S Y M P O S I A

Author: Asafa Tefera Dibaba (PhD)

Category: Poetry    

Word Count:  32, 233.    Page: 292

Overview:

SYMPOSIA is an Anthology of poems in English. It depicts the ugly faces of exile, the form and the force of assimilative hosting culture, living with the living memory of homeland as an imagined community, and more. To do so, acutely attentive to the vying pressures of personal and historical experiences, SYMPOSIA dips into the reservoir of African (Oromo) values, thoughts, and worldviews to cast light on the shades of nervous human condition, to find meanings in the turn and twist of life, and to tap into the human relentless search for truth, justice, and freedom.

Significance:

Why SYMPOSIA? It takes more than analysis to empower the reader and to help overcome the perils of living in exile or in estrangement in one’s home. Here is a book that empowers the reader to passionately and critically relate to their personal stories and embrace their vulnerability.

Audience:

Primary:

The millions of Africans in the Diaspora who do not ever want to spiritually drift and be disconnected from their homeland. The book is for those who feel deeply concerned when marginalized by the hosting culture, miss their home dearly, and for those who live on exile on their homeland estranged and humiliated, and who try to cling to their imagination not to begin to experientially lose their hope. 

Secondary:

The book is written also for those interested in Oromo culture—the poetic surge of its creative originality, as it is for those who waffle in Waffle House or chase ladybugs in the prison-house elsewhere.  

Purpose

In exile, everyone can face crisis of life, career, family, and culture-shock. As there can be opportunities, there are also prices to pay, and at times, costly and too much to regret about—life in exile is bitter-sweet. Those pivotal times are part of everyone’s journey in the wonderland. Some people are resilient and can emerge from the crisis with their dreams intact while others give up (and turn to alcohol, drug, and crime). Life on exile in one's homeland is another alianation and humiliation; it is a disempowering experience that leaves an open scar. 

The poetic voices in SYMPOSIA are the strong breed emerging (or struggling to emerge) from the crisis with their hope and dream still alive and vibrant while purposefully maintaining their goals (kaawoo) and personality (sansaka) intact.

Edward W. Said’s Reflections On Exile, with a blend of its aesthetic and political concern, has noted in its collection of literary and cultural essays this fact of exile, namely, the vying pressure of personal and historical experience one can encounter in exile. Chinua Achebe’s Home & Exile is equally hard to differ to as Achebe keenly discusses the notion and ideas of social justice in his work and the painfully offensive facts of being in exile in one’s homeland. No African writer to my knowledge offers a brilliant and detailed analysis of African values and ways as Achebe does providing a parallel reflection on the subject of exile compared with the European literature that often undermines African sense of worth.

The common thread of theme that runs through SYMPOSIA is that deep and dreadful fear of living in exile (Diaspora or Home) and the painful longing for home moderated at times but exacerbated by the hosting culture.

Brief Author Bio:

Asafa (Assefa) Tefera Dibaba of Gombo Koora, Jarso, is the author of anthologies of poems in English and in Oromo Language including Anaany’aa, Edas-Edanas, Finfi (Ilyaada), Decorous Decorum, and The Hug, and prose: Danaa, Eela, Theorizing the Present (reprinted as Beyond Adversities), and more. He is a poet, educator, and researcher relocated to the USA in July 2010 as a 2009/2010 IIE/SRF Scholars Fellow from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, after repeated persecutions and imprisonments for his dissident writings and for speaking to the repressive power. 

He is a PhD graduate (2011-2015) from Indiana University, USA. While reading and writing on “Resistance Poetics” and “Social Resentment,” his research also focuses on “Ethnoecology”/ “Ecopoetics,” an interdisciplinary approach to the role of alter/native indigenous knowledge and practices to balance human-ecology solidarity in rural Africa.

In this profound collection, SYMPOSIA, while grappling in exile with grief at the death of his father and mother back home, the poet channels the rhythms of life in exile, traverses the sorrows of unbearable human condition, and practices, among other things, Ecopoetry to express his strong human & ecological concern.

Book Delivery Date: Anytime soon (Completed Manuscript)

Introduction & Sample Chapters:

Introduction to First Edition

_________________________________________

Prologue

(A Short Note on “Symposia: Poet to Poet”)

Three issues are at stake in poetry writing at present: first, whether or not we can write an emotionally charged (subjective) material/topic such as freedom, love (loving, not loving, not being loved), and justice effectively with artistic objectivity. This is more complicated by the notion of choices (and voices,), self-sufficiency, free-love, and individual sanctity over collectivism

Voices say this: Humankind have choices, choices have consequences, consequences have risk or reward! It is those Voices (heeded or ignored) and Choices (risk or reward) that make lines or volumes and make us who we are as Poets—living and dying with our Choices!

Second, poets are of a tender-heart, vulnerable, and victims to violent shifts of response and emotions that human conditions bring to us. We are sensitive; however, so being, we are beneficiary of human benign neglect and gross oblivion around. We do a great deal out of something ignored as trivia! 

Third, whether we poets are misfit in a misshapen society or misshapen at a misfit time, really I am not quite sure myself! But one thing I am certain of is this: the poet struggles with SOMETHING bigger than himself/herself: to be able to see the relations of the unrelated, to curve out a creative originality, and to muse about if pleasurable pain (painful joy) is bearable and if living and loving truly is ever possible of to date! For no wrong life can be lived rightly! 

Less than that, what good is Poetry for?

            Overture   

Dear Poets,

In this Symposium, “Poet to Poet,”

we reflect on the following major themes

as an ongoing dialog in ecopoetics to date:

-human sociality of the poet:

  -self and other, individual and society

-the ongoing tragic dialectic between

a traumatized subject and unattainable “other”

-a poetic search for social medicine—a panacea for the contemporary deficient subjectivity

-indispensable human/nature interconnectedness

-impossible love: 

-choice and fate, will and  determinism in human relationships 

-male dominance and intensity, female resistance and withdrawal

  -gender and genre, sex and social norm (safuu) 

                      -artistic honesty

-poet the author, poet the persona, and the character poet as appeared in the poem/song

-the meditative tone that resonates in the poem or song,

-qualities of a good poem: deep joy, enchantment, and the aspiration to know self and “other”

  -“transition,” “mind set,” and the individual struggle to communicate self

-language vacuum,

In the next session, we share our thought process using one case example:

“Autumnal Peregrination”

Here we will concentrate on what is happening

in “Autumnal Peregrination,”

a poem by Dr. B.,

and I open it with three provisos:

First, I should make it clear at the outset that,

for personal reasons, I must reserve more details

to the poet herself,

as to the reader to find out what remains

unsaid in what has been said—

both inside the poem (and outside it) and

in the dialogue.

Second, the poem, “Autumnal Peregrination” should be read as an initial exploration of

an unpublished poem which will ultimately

see the light of the day,

let us hope, with other collections by the poet.

Third, because “Autumnal Peregrination”

is a journey poetry, it is irrefutably necessary

to work on its connection with “nature”.

Hence, for contextual reasons, I

introduce ecopoetics, as a working theory

of oral/literate culture interface, here

to study in the present poem

the poet’s engagement with the social aspect

of the indispensable relationship between human

and nature, which I call ethnoecology.

Undertaking a critical consideration of work

by a close friend can be a daunting task.

The reason is, the knowledge of

direct experiences & unfathomable memories

after separation

is impossible to catalog.

The common grounds and differences

are also hard to tell without an intuitive sense of effective comparisons between the primal and the trivial.

Next, I  hasten to open the poem for reading and discussion: let us hear the rebellious cry, the blankness and despair in the young poet’s voice, and the inestimable value this  intimately personal but paradoxically comprehensive voice can impress on our thoughts about matter-of-fact concerns: love, relationship, solitude, truth, uncertainty/indeterminacy, and intensity.

Our Speakers will be: Poet L., Poet D., Poet S., Poet R., Poet T., Poet N, and myself.

Now, I invite Dr. B. to the stage to read her poem. Please welcome Dr. B.

 

(As stated above, the “Symposia” follows—discussions among imagined poets, hence, “poet-to-poet”—on a sample poem titled “Autumnal Peregrination”.)

Annotated Table of Contents:

C O N T E N T S

SYMPOSIA (Poet to Poet)                           12

Introduction to First Edition                       12

Prologue                                             12

            Overture                                              14 

           “Autumnal Peregrination”                  17

            ON OUR ANCESTORS’ BONE                60

                (Songs of Resistance)

                                                                

Songs of Resistance I                                    62

Children Of the Blue Moon                            62

Let Us Lay Down Our Burden                       64

Songs of Resistance II                                  66

Songs of Resistance III                                86

            Bullets Into Bells                                             86

It Is Time To Converse & Act                         88

What If We Don’t Find…                               89

Bare-bone Truth                                              91

NATURE POEMS                                        96

Nectar Quest                                                   98

(Honey Bee & the Wildflower)

Uume: Another Humanity                              112

                     

AMERICA’S HYPOCRISY                       120

Anatomy of Oppression I                               122

Anatomy of Oppression II                              125

(Fear & Social Control)

Eidos of History                                              131

Jackass Conversation                                      134

 “Limp Dick”                                                   138

All Rise                                                           142

Testimonial                                                      145

            Esoteric                                                           148

Indiana                                                            150

Decay & Decline                                             151

(When In-Laws Turn Out-Laws)

America’s Hypocrisy                                      161

 (The School of Resentment)

SONGS OF LOVE & LIGHT                     167

Confession                                                      169

Entrapment                                                      172

(Of the Rebel/Poet Self and the Tame Elite Self)

When Muse Whispers                                     175

Thus Prays A Desperate Lover                       179

 

Songs of Lonerism I                                       180

Songs of Lonerism II                                      185

Songs of Lonerism III                                     187

Could be Worse!                                             202

 “Dr. Janitor”                                                   203

“Hurly-Burly” Poem                                       206

            (In Memory of the US Election, Nov. 2016)

What Went Bad, the Fishing or …                  208

Poetic Madness                                               210

Aftermath                                                        211

            Landlord & Tenant                                          214

Bridging the Gap                                             217 

Intensity                                                          219

When Will We Walk This Road?                    220

Hell Is Inside Your Head!                               226

Remote Hope                                                  228

Being at Home & Not at Home                       230

Remembering to Forget                                   231

My Heart Is Like a Lonely Hunter                  233

Some Magic Persists                                       235

Hooray! Beautiful Losers                                237

Autumnal Madness                                         238

In Need of a Social Medicine                          241

Either-Or                                                         243

Of An Unbearable Lightness of Being       244

Ode To My Father I                                        245

(Mijuu Abbaa)

Ode to My Mother II                                      256

(Mijuu Ayya)

No Distance is Too Far                                   259

In Love & Light                                              261

Solitude                                                           262

Exile Note                                                       265

Thus Speaks Molu Kulu                                 267

Defiance                                                          268
(My Comrade Is My Chi!)

Song of Self                                                    270

Your Language Is Your Country                    271

God is a Lonely Man Without the Poor          274

Ode to a Broken Plate                                     275

Beyond “-ISM”                                               278

SONGS OF VULNERABILITY                  282

Songs of Vulnerability I                                  284

Song of Vulnerability II                                  291
                   (Poet’s Recap)

Curriculum Vitae / Resume:

Assefa Tefera Dibaba, Ph.D. (CV)

2661 E 7th St. Apt. E Bloomington, IN 47408 atdibaba@umail.iu.edu  

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Folklore (& Anthropology) (June 2015), Indiana University, Bloomington
Dissertation: Ethnography of Resistance Poetics: Power & Authority in Salale Oromo Folklore and Resistance Culture (Ethiopia, Northeast Africa). Advisor: Dr. John McDowell scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/20243

M.A., Comparative Literature (July 2003), Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia B.A., English Language Teaching (July 1997), Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Diplomas in Continuing Education:

Environmental Education: Transdisciplinary Approaches to Addressing Wicked Problems

Cornell University (online), February–April 2016

Reclaiming Broken Places: Introduction to Civic Ecology

Cornell University (online), September–November 2016

Environmental Education Outcomes

Cornell University (online), November 7 – December 18, 2017

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Ethnoecology / Ecopoetics (Environmental Folklore & traditional ecological knowledge, TEK) Oral Traditions, Personal Experience Narratives (and Life Histories)
Folk Beliefs, Rituals
Resistance Culture

Women’s Folklore Children’s Folklore Comparative Literature Nature / Earth Poetry

AWARDS

Indiana University, Doctoral Scholars Program Award (2014-15)
American Folklore Society, Gerald L. Davis Fund Travel Grants (2014, 2010)
American Comparative Literature Association, Travel Grant (2013)
Folklore Institute, Indiana University, Harry M. and Alma Egan Hyatt Fellowship (2012-13) Folklore Institute, Indiana University, Harry M. and Alma Egan Hyatt Award (2011-12) Folklore Institute, Indiana University, Folklore Fellowship Award (2011-12)
Institute of International Education, Scholars Fellowship Award (2009-10)

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Finfi (Ilyaada) (Anthology of Poems in Oromo Language). Finfinne/Addis Ababa: Subi Publishers. (2014).
 The Hug (Poems). X-Libris Publishers, (2011).
 Beyond Adversities. Munich: VDM Verlag Publishers, (2010).
 Themes & Patterns of Traditional Oromo Marriage Counseling. (ed.). Finfinne/Addis Ababa: East African Publishers. (2010).

Decorous Decorum (Poems). Finfinne/Addis Ababa: Artistic Printing Enterprise. ( 2006).
Anaan’yaa. (Poems in Oromo Language). Finfinne/Addis Ababa: Artistic Printing Enterprise. ( 1998/2006). Theorizing the Present: Toward a Sociology of Oromo Literature. Finfinne/Addis Ababa: Bole Printing E. (2004).

Danaa. (Short Stories in Oromo Language). Finfinne/Addis Ababa: Artistic Printing Enterprise. (2000).
Eela: Seenaa Oguma Oromoo (History of Oromo Literature). Finfinne/Addis Ababa: Artistic Printing Enterprise, (2009). Edas-Edanas. (Poems in Oromo Language). Finfinne/Addis Ababa: Artistic Printing Enterprise. (1997).


Articles


“‘God Speak to Us’: Performing Power and Authority in Salale, Ethiopia,” Journal of African Cultural Studies, 26/3 (June, 2014): 287-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2014.901165 “‘Great Man’ or ‘Great Myth’? Meles Zenawi: Historic or Mythic Ideologue?” Journal of Oromo Studies, 20/1&2 (July 2013): 91-131.
“Salale Oromo Women’s Songs of Resistance (Oromia, Ethiopia),” International Journal of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, 7/3 (2014):47-66.

“OROMO SOCIAL RESENTMENT: Re-envisioning Resentment Theory (An African Perspective), Oromia, Ethiopia,” Africology: Journal of Pan African Studies, 11:7, May 2018.  

Presentations  

“OROMO SOCIAL RESENTMENT: Re-envisioning Resentment Theory (An African Perspective), Oromia, Ethiopia,” presented at the ALA Annual Conference 2017, “Africa & the World: Literature, Politics, and Global Geographies,” Yale University, June 14-17, in Africology: Journal of Pan African Studies, 11:7, May 2018.  

“ECOPOETICS OF PLACE: Reclaiming Finfinne, Past & Present (Ethiopia), Presented at DERT Conference organized by the Department of Folklore & Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, IUB,, March 3-5, 2017. Paper submitted for publication, September, 2017,

“Ethnographic Mystic: The Politics of Ethnographic Search.” Presented at MELUS 2011. Conference Organized by Florida Atlantic University, April 7-11, 2011.

“Founding a National Council of Oromia: To Sketch a Roadmap for Oromo National Liberation Struggle,” paper presented at the 30th Anniversary of Oromo Studies Association, DC, July 2016.

Works in Progress
“OROMO FOLKSONGS: Ecopoetic Approach (Theory & Practice), Ethiopia/Northeast Africa.”

 “ECOPOETICS OF PLACE: Reclaiming Finfinne, Past & Present (Ethiopia), Paper submitted for publication, in DERT book (Diversified Environmentalism Research Team), September, 2017.

“ETHNOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF OROMO FOLKLORE STUDY (Part I & II),” Work in Progress.

Poems

On Ethiopia Observer
“The Metaphor of ‘Being’ Self in Exile” http://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2016/07/the-metaphor-of-being-self-in-exile/

“Confession”

http://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2016/06/confession/ “Solitude” http://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2017/09/solitude/

On Addis Standard
“Vulnerability” http://addisstandard.com/vulnerability/

Talks

“Personal Stories Are Not So Personal. They Are Informed by the Collective Experience,” at “Art & Refugees” Symposium Organized by the Center for the Study of Global Change, Indiana University, Bloomington,

April 6, 2017. (https://sgis.indiana.edu/news-events/sgis-news/2017/2017-04-10-art-and-refugees.html)

“Oromo Resistance Narrative: How it Informs the Contemporary Oromo Resistance Struggle," July 3, 2012

Oromo Community Center, Minneapolis, MN. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLB8SnGwiWo)

Interviews
Addis Journal, 2006

https://arefe.wordpress.com/2006/11/12/interview-with-poet-asafa-tefera-dibaba/amp/

EXPERIENCE TEACHING

African Studies Program, Indiana University, Bloomington. “Contemporary Africa” (Fall 2013 & Spring 2014)

MLA and Folklore Collection, Wells Library, Indexer (AY 2012-13 and Summer 2013) College of Education, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia (2005-2010)

Folklore Genre(s) (2005-2010)
Introduction to Folklore (Graduate) (2005-2010) Introduction to Folklore (Undergraduate) (2005-2010) Introduction to Literature (2005, 2007, 2009)
Verse and Drama (2009)
Literature in Language Classroom (2008)

Jimma Teachers College, Department of English Language, Oromia, Ethiopia (1998-2001, 2004) English Language Teaching Methodology (1998-2001)
English for Academic Purposes (1998-2001)
Writing (2002)

Literature (2000-2001)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Academy of American Poets
American Folklore Society (AFS)
Collaborative Peace and Development Network Methodspace (Connecting Research Communities) Oromo Studies Association (OSA)
Resistance Studies (Goteborg, Sweden)
Diversified Environmentalisms Research Team (DERT) Association of African Literature (ALA)

Scholars Rescue Fund (IIE/SRF