Few years back an elder told me Meneliks statue in Shaggar was built on site of a famous Odaa where the Gulale Oromo tribe Caffee used to assemble. Now we see photographic evidence of that story. Not only was the Odaa cut down, the Gulale tribe itself was exterminated either through physical massacre or removal from their land. Statement from gadaa reads A 1917 photo (i.e. a photo taken before the erection of the Menelik’s Statue in 1930 at Birbirsaa/Piazza in Finfinne) shows Odaa Ya’aa Gulelee (i.e. the Assembly Site of the Gulelee Oromo tribe.) That’s exactly what our forebears told us in their history. According to the history, the Odaa was cut down to build the statue of Menelik II, which now stands at Piazza (if front of the church shown in the photo). This Odaa (the holy sycamore tree) used to be where the original inhabitants of this part of Finfinne (i.e. the Gulelee Oromo tribe) used to hold their periodic assemblies per the Gadaa System before their conquest by Menelik of Ankober...For reference, one can compare the below image of the Statue of Menelik as it stands now where the Odaa Ya’aa Gulelee used to be before 1930 (one can use the main gate of the Church – found in both images – as a reference to identify the location of the Odaa, which was displaced by the Statue as of 1930).
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:11:41 +0000
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