Talk:Gurage people

The comments on child rearing practices seem alarmingly general and arguably racist. I looked around the web to see if they might have been cut-and-pasted from an anti-Semitic tract. The closest thing I found was that they may come from Hunger, Anxiety, and Ritual: Deprivation and Spirit Possession Among the Gurage of Ethiopia William A. Shack Man, New Series, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Mar., 1971), pp. 30-43 On their own merits or lack thereof the comments should be deleted. That they are from a 35 year old "study" is even more reason.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.80.164.21 (talk • contribs) 14:24, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

The comment about child rearing does not seem to have evidence.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Malibu paki (talk • contribs) 00:16, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

"...who are uniquely known for their work ethic and skill as traders." This line looks to me like it is simply reinforcing a stereotype that would be controversial in a lot of other settings. I'm not familiar with the group and don't know what would be the most accurate way of restating this information, but it might deserve some editting. Paul Hope 18:41, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

I had brought that up with the editor who originally included the statement. It is a widely held view (within Ethiopia, perhaps a universally-held view), and there are numerous stories about various Gurage individuals who started with nothing, e.g. shining shoes for a living in Addis Ababa, saved whatever money they didn't send back to their familes, and became wealthy (singer Mahmoud Ahmed would be one example). Nevertheless a stereotype (even a positive one) is still a stereotype (I'm sure there are lazy Gurage as with any other group of people). Since the view is so closely associated with the Gurage, I'm thinking it should be somehow mentioned, but also re-worded to show that this is a very broad brush with which to paint an entire ethnicity. But I can't think of a good way to re-write it, myself. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 20:06, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

I made a change that I thought might improve it a bit, but you sound much more informed. Does the new sentence do the truth justice? Paul Hope 21:46, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

Well, someone would probably still point out "Commonly believed, by whom?" But right now I can't think of a better wording. I went ahead and removed Mahmoud Ahmed, he was an example of a different scenario, i.e. shining shoes for a living, but again that is so common it probably bears mentioning as well. Hopefully I can come back and give it some more attention. Thanks, -- Gyrofrog (talk) 09:18, 14 May 2005 (UTC)

Found a cite that confirms Gyrofrog's comment (although not quite sure how to work it into the article):

"Out host, Tekka, was of the Guragé, [the] hardest-working people in Ethiopia and maong the oldest. An Ethiopian Horatio Alger, he began his career selling old bottles and tin cans; the Emperor recently rewarded his achievement in creating his plantation by calling him to Addis Ababa and decorating him." (Nathaniel T. Kenney, "Ethiopian Adventure", National Geographic, 127 (1965), p. 582) -- llywrch 20:25, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Ok, now someone needs to write an article on the Guragigna language.

Gringo300 05:25, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Check the list of languages in the Ethiopia article - at least one is a dialect of Guragigna, though I can't remember which. But you're right, we need one for Guragigna language. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 05:49, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

There is in fact no "Guragigna" language; "Guraginya" is just a generic term used to refer to all of these languages. The Gurage people speak a number of languages, some of them more closely related to at least one non-Gurage language (Harari) than to each other. There is no general agreement on how many languages (as opposed to dialects) should be distinguished, and this is changing as there is more work done on some of them, but there are at least four. Fourteen of the languages listed on the Ethiopian Semitic languages page are Gurage languages. I'll work on articles on some of these languages at some point. Mike Gasser 16:08, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

I fixed the section on languages, but I notice there's a little disagreement between the current Ethiopian Semitic languages page and the current Ethnologue entry, which seems more correct to me. I used Ethnologue's list of languages. Later I'll add something about literature since a few Gurage novels have appeared in the last few years (in Sebat Bet Gurage (Chaha dialect)). Mike Gasser 00:19, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Silt'e

I fixed some of the places where the Silt'e were included among the Gurage. According to Vaughan, although it was assumed by other Ethiopians (including other Gurage) and non-Ethiopians for 100 years, the Silt'e themselves, for whom their religion (Islam) was a defining feature, have not felt a part of a larger mainly Christian Gurage ethnicity. In any case, they are now "officially" a separate ethnicity, with their own zone within SNNPR, separate from the Gurage zone (which includes both of the other Gurage sub-groups). So we need a separate article on the Silt'e people and also need to clean up this article since it seems to be based heavily on the Shacks' work, which is apparently mainly (or only?) concerned with the Sebat Bet Gurage. -- MikeG (talk) 00:30, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

i am a silti by origin count according to the gurage people traditional source tracing , as they depend on their paternala trace counting , accordingly i am from the gumer and inequamt sub clan , inequamt is the son of silti but currently totaly considered to be a western gurage group , but the shamfull issue is that people with little knowledge and narrow insight are continuousely distracting the hard working and peace loving citizens of gurage. gurages are diverse, it is true ,they live both in the cities and country ,that is also true , but the principle of the GOGOT ,which is the defeat for most and all gurage hating group , never seem to be mentioned any where in most gurage articles i will try to refer this particular book written by a scholar from this unique tribe " under the quest of the time" to be evidence for those who hasitate to call silti a gurage tribe , i am sorry but we are gurages , ask your grand pa or ma WHAT Is THE GOGOT?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 150.101.101.93 (talk • contribs) 02:22, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

The land is originally owned by the gurague people ranging from river Awash from the north, Lake "Ziway at the south-Eastern part and River Gibe at the south-Western part.The word Ziway is Gurague language which means "Stay here" so what is Silite means? after all a man without his owen land is a "refugee" to that particular land. so if they claim that "we are not Gurague" they must leave that land for the Natives.Actually the drama called "Silite is not Gurague" is synthesized by Weyane/TPLF/ by its innate behavior of divide and rule policy,to weaken such a hard working,patriot,social,the founder of "Idir and Ekub" a very strong social network to save and help individuals at risk or endanger, model nation of mother Ethiopia.History will backfire Weyane/TPLF/."An individual without plot of land to write his own history is a bird on a tree seeking insects for food". Actually it is rewarding to recognize that they are part and parcel of the gurague people because that place is originally part of Gurague land in one hand and the culture,the food,the dance,the religion,the cultural instruments,the marriage interaction,the mourning style on the other hand is nursed by the Gurague nations.They are among the different tribes who live in the Gurague land.The land is sovereign to the Gurague people (Nesibu 2013 §). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.55.104.150 (talk) 12:14, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Comment moved from article

I've moved the following comment from the article to the Talk page. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 04:46, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

your portrayal of the gurage people as being very stingy is offensive to those of us who love the gurage culture. The fact that you have picked out only a very negative aspect of the culture from the wide range of choices in the culture pool is very strange —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 137.146.156.100 (talk • contribs) 04:07:38 (UTC)

Moved from article

Over the last week or so, an anonymous editor has been placing comments directly in the article. I have left comments at the various IP addresses' talk pages, but as the IP changes every time, I doubt the editor is seeing them. I am moving these comments to the talk page, along with the IP address that posted them and the date/time (or rather, the latest date and time, as these each occurred as a series of edits). I have set these off as quotation boxes, and placed my responses following a couple of them. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 19:36, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Correction: Yeshimebett Abbajifar Ali of Wello should be considered Oromo because ethnic identity in Ethiopia goes along the father line. But her mother W/o Welete was a Gurage, Haile Sellasie's grandmother who raised him after his mother, Yeshimebet, died when he was just two years old. It's said he was rude to his grandmother growing up. And remained ungrateful to her death.

...

Last time I visited here, Teddy Afro was listed as a Gurage. He is not and I am glad his name is removed. He shows no indication that he belongs to Gurage. If you compare him with Mahmoud Ahmed who is proud to be Gurage Ethiopian, while born in Addis, speaks, sings and dances in Guraginga. That kind of communal belonging, and expressly identifying with it is absent from Teddy Afro. The impression he gives out is that he is not exactly a Felasha Jew but a Judaic(Solomonic) Amara, most conservative feudal along the lines of the Haile sellasie inner circle, who had completed theological education in Ge'ez from a debtera school in a Lalibela monastic cave.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.233.108 (talk • contribs) 06:42, 16 August 2009

Surprise surprise, Teddy Afro isn't Amhara (shocking, I know). He's listed in this note as Kistane (Sodo/Northern) Gurage... frankly it's surprising when you take note of who he admires and your assumption of him being Amhara is reasonable.... https://www.facebook.com/notes/shemsu-bireda/teddy-afros-love-affair-with-menelik-a-stockholm-syndrome/10211505705455077/?notif_t=like&notif_id=1491508717601494 User whatever my username is — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.34.45.249 (talk) 02:00, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

I removed Dr.Yaqob Hailemariam for lack of outstanding achievements that would qualify him as notable. I also removed Yeshimebet Ali because she was not Gurage but her mother was. She was half Gurage and Oromo. Her father's name was Abba Jifar Ali of Wello.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.156.21.181 (talk • contribs) 16:45, 23 August 2009

To the author of this section of Gurage:

You need lots of advice on the Gurage language section. But, it doesn't seem like that the truth about Gurage language and its dialects is lost on you. It seems it's a deliberate decision to misinform and be politically divisive. The desire to call Gurage dialects as independent languages is offensive to linguistuic principles. We don't ask you to write about us, the Gurage community. But, if you want to write about us, you should tell the truth. Gurage is a semitic language, divided into three dialect groups, Gurage West is Sebat Bet, Gurage East is Walane and Gurage North is Kistane( old name Sodo). Gurage dialects form a closely associated family members of a language seperated by time and external influences. All point to the existence of a proto-Gurage prior to differentiation owing to collapse of a political structure that held it together. For example, the Kistaneland used to be continuous from its present location to Gaffat in Gojjam. The total Gurage region extended to Harar as the Harar people consider themselves as Gurages. I will provide a historical reference for this. Here it's the historical document. [1]
...
Dama
...
Gyrofrog, I left you a medium-size message after you left me one. Where is it?
...
I suggest Dorthy Shack's book on Gurage food and culture should be banned from using it as a reference. The reason is it's so unrue and racist.
...

This is European notes on Gurage. None of Gurage writers on Gurage have been used as a refrence. And, they don't want no additions from natives like myself. Gyrofrog, presumably a hippy and Gasser, knows what's best for us.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.233.76 (talk • contribs) 17:52, 25 August 2009

If you left a message for me in the article, it was most certainly removed. Comments about the article belong here on the talk page. I'm not sure what you're trying to imply by my being a presumed "hippy", but I will direct you to WP:NPA. You are more than welcome to cite any reliable sources you feel would improve the article, but please: don't comment about it in the article. Use this talk page. Thank you. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 19:36, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

---

Yes, you moved them but why? I add these name to add to your original list.

Why ask me to start another Gurage notables page while the main page that you started can be improved by the additional names I am proposing for inclusion? In fact why can't any page be improved rather than create clusters? Dama —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.233.76 (talk) 23:54, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Are you asking why I moved your comments, or why I removed your list of notable people? I moved your comments here, because comments do not belong in the article (for that matter, now that they're on the talk page, please leave them). What you wrote does not fit the tone of an encyclopedia article, it was commentary on the article and, as such, belongs on this talk page. If you want to improve the article, then by all means, go ahead and do so, and cite your reliable sources. But please stop putting your comments in the article. Repeatedly doing so is disruption. As for the list of notables, it would be better if you created the articles about these people before adding numerous red links (or would-be red links) to a list of notable individuals. Thank you. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 14:48, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

If a comment disproving a comment on the main article cannot stand or replace the wrong view, the false view will live for ever. Gyrofrog, Someone had already criticized you for favoring negative comments on Gurage.

Sincet this few days I have been visiting here, I also watched you post Gurage names and remove them without explanation. Flase inclusions still standing.

Your entry on Kocho is unprofessional, not knowledge for encyclopedia. It's hearsay, and that from a hollywood film episode from some crack actor. Kocho is not baked with salt and doesn't make you thirsty.

If you cared for knwledge, you could search for authorities on enset and kocho. Like I did below.

After the completion of decorticating and grating, the leaf sheath pulp is spread on fresh enset leaves covering the ground, after which the grated corm is spread on the processed pulp. In some ethnic groups (e.g., Hadiya and Sidama) a starter is added to aid in fermentation. This starter consists of already fermented kocho to which various spices and herbs are added. In other localities (e.g., Gurage), fermenting agents are prepared from the inner portion of the corm and then mixed with the decorticated pulp and grated corm after some weeks. Turning, mixing, rinsing, and chopping continue over a period of time until the mixture partially ferments, when it is then referred to as kocho (Plate 6h-6l). The total time period for this fermentation to occur ranges from 15 to 20 days. Then the fermented kocho is stored in pits that are lined with enset leaves (Plate 6g and 6h). Pits vary in terms of size and depth, with some requiring ladders. The kocho must be left in a storage pit for a minimum of a month, but it can be stored for many months and even for several years. Some women note that for long-term storage, the kocho should be removed, the pit lining changed, and then the kocho returned to the pit.Here is a link. [2]. Ethiopian and SNNPR governments have plans to mechanize kocho production and storage improvement.

The nutritional value of Kocho is described here:

A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known vegetable has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare. It is a major crop, although often supplemented with cereal crops, amongst the following people indigenous to southern Ethiopia: the Aari, Basketo, Dime, Dizi, Gamo, Gedeo, Gimira, Goffa, Gurage, Hadiya, Kafficho, Kambaata, Konta, Kullo, Maji, Mao, Sheko, Sidama, Welayta, Yem, Uba and the Zala, making about 12 million people of the SNNP region. [3]. Open the link and to view a mature enset('asast' in Sebat Bet dialect of Gurage) plant, find the picture on left top.

Dama

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.48.229.192 (talk) 02:14, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Dama, please note this is a wiki, and articles such as this one are the result of a collaborative effort. I had no involvement whatsoever in the Kocho edit (although whatever the merits of the TV show in question, the edit did cite a source). If it needs to be fixed, then fix it, but I'll ask you in the future not to accuse me concerning edits that I did not make. I invite you to check the article's edit history ([4]) if you are concerned about particular edits (or who made them). You identified a problem with the current kocho information, and identified another source with more information - so why not just go ahead and fix it? Again, my concerns were that you were placing comments directly in the article, and that you were adding (potential) red links to a list of notables (also, the descriptions you gave about these people were generally longer than one would find in this sort of list - why not just use this text for new articles?). You have since identified various problems with the article and, if you're able to cite reliable sources, I don't see why you don't just go ahead and fix them (or politely ask for help, if you're not sure). As for someone else already criticizing me for favoring negative language, I am not sure to what you are referring. If you're talking about the "Comment moved from article" section above, I'm not sure how that comment is aimed toward "me", I simply moved the comment to the talk page where it belongs. Thanks, -- Gyrofrog (talk) 03:24, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Ok Gyrofrog. I accepted. I did not know it was not you.

I moved the Kocho comment here because it was opinion and source cannot be verifed. Here it is:

Dama, that's fine. (But please be careful with your edits: I doubt it was your intent, but you moved this talk page to another name. Fortunately, a 'bot caught it and fixed it.) Let me say a few more things:

1. I love kocho. I eat it every chance I get. While I try not to eat much meat, I love eating kocho with kitfo and kibbeh. I figure that if I explained this then you could see that I'm interested in the quality of this article just like you are (though I will suggest checking out WP:AGF some time). I would love to see a better explanation of kocho here, but like just about everyone else at Wikipedia, I am a volunteer and do not have enough time to make all the improvements that I would like to see.
2. Check out the ensete article, it does not cite the "Tree Against Hunger" source but it is listed in the external links. I was already familiar with the source, and thought it was already being used in this article (maybe it was at some earlier time).
3. If other editors have only cited sources by European authors, well, it's probably because of two simple reasons: first, those were most likely the only sources available to them, and two, generally speaking, English-language sources are preferred for the English Wikipedia. This isn't meant to stifle any other viewpoints, it's just that ideally, any source should be verifiable by anyone reading the article. (Also I'm pretty sure there could be exceptions to this rule, given a good explanation). I am certain that any additional sources you could cite would be more than welcome by everyone who has been involved with this article.

Thanks again, -- Gyrofrog (talk) 04:03, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

'Kocho

'Kocho is made by shaping the Ensete paste to a thick circle and wrapping it in a thin layer of ensete leaves.Its baked in a small pit with coals.Sometimes the paste is just cooked over a gridle.In episode 8 in bizzare foods, Andrew Zimmern tasted the 'Kocho and said it tasted like nothing and it made his mouth dry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dama978 (talk • contribs) 03:47, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

How is a certain food bizzare? obviously, a prejudice. Kocho has some acidity due fermentation during its break-down in a pit. So, it does have a taste, very mildly acidic. What does kocho made 'his mouth dry' mean? Kocho doesn't have dry winds sweeping across his mouth. Nor, does it have fires to dry his lips? Did he mean he was thirsty after eating kocho? It can't by itself make you thirsty because kocho is not baked with salt prior to toasting on a wide steel plate. The source Andrew Zimmern doesn't have audio or text link; therefore, an unverifiable source. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dama978 (talk • contribs) 04:13, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Dama —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dama978 (talk • contribs) 04:10, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Dama, as I mentioned, I enjoy kocho, myself - so if the fellow on the TV show didn't like it, that's his loss. Honestly, I'm kind of fascinated that kocho was on a TV show, even if the guy couldn't appreciate it. It's just his opinion, just like if a food is "bizarre" or not. But while it might merit inclusion (because the TV show is notable), I'm not going to argue for putting it back in the article, either. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 04:15, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Accepted.

Dama

Ensete

I have moved the entire enset article because it has so many errors. We will discuss and sift out the errors and put it back up. I hope.

"The ensete or “false banana plant” has a massive stem that grows underground and is completely involved in every aspect of Gurage life. It has a place in everyday interactions among community members as well as specific roles in rituals. (For example: uses of Ensete would be wrapping a corpse after death with it, or after birth, the umbilical cord being tied off with an ensete fiber.) Historically, westerners have nicknamed the Gurage "The People of the Ensete", since they are the only people in the world to cultivate ensete as a crop.

Strangely enough, the nutritional value this plant contains as their primary food source is not considered to be of much importance. The plant can be prepared a number of different ways, and the practical uses of ensete in Gurage culture are varied. In addition to this plant, a few cash crops are maintained and livestock is raised (though mainly for milk and fertilizer). A normal Gurage diet consists primarily of kocho, a thick bread made from ensete, and is supplemented by cabbage, cheese, butter, and grains. Meat is not consumed on a regular basis, but usually eaten sparingly during a ritual or ceremonial event.The Gurage pound the root of the Ensete and then place it in a hole where the root was and the hole is lined with the ensete leaves.Then the hole is covered by more leaves and left to ferment and rot.The resulting paste is used to make porridge and bread.The only way to eat ensete is to make into a paste."

......

For accurate information on Asat(Sebat Bet for enset,Amharic), please refer to this study. [5].

The asat is a plant; it's not a tree. Important to distinguish the differences. It has a stem of layers; and has a corm, the circular solid root like an onion without the layers, from which shallow roots grow horizontally very close to the surface. It's a staple food in large parts of Gurage and the eastern SNNPR to be exact, and some Oromo regions such as Arsi. But, it's not the only food. There are maize, wheat, teff, protein rich peanuts, shimbra and atere, zaituna, lemons, oranges, bananas, etc. A dead corpse wrapped in an asat leaves and umblical chord tied with asat fiber robe called 'qancha' is false statement needs to be struck out. Other than W.A.Shack, no westerners called Gurage, " people of the enset Culture.". So, westerns "historically" called Gurage 'a people of the enset culture is not true. This also nees to be slapped out. As mentioned above, it's not only Gurages for whom asat is a staple food plant. There are over 15 million Ethiopians who use asat as their staple food. To say, 'Gurages are the only people in the world who cultivate enset' is ignorant. This too has to go.

The food nutrient in wussa(Sebat et for qocho, amharic, 'wese' in Sidama, probably all over eastern SNNPR) is carbohydrate. It has a starch. As no one food provides a balanced diet, wussa has to be supplimented with milk, meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables for a complete diet. The American scientists who studied it suggest the ubiquitous introduction of peanuts as the cheapest source of protien suppliments for the poor farmer who may not afford meat, milk and eggs.

For the cultivation, harvesting of asat and the production of wussa, please refer to the link provided above.

Dama —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dama978 (talk • contribs) 06:33, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Dama, I've been reading through the "Tree Against Hunger Source" resource that you suggested. One thing I noticed is that this same source (page 32) cites Shack regarding the "people of enset" nickname. You may disagree with Shack's assessment, but it is cited in reliable sources, including the one you provided. I realize this is a subject that is very close to you, but please keep in mind that Wikipedia's threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth (see the verfiability policy). Rather than removing the statement, a better approach would be to cite a different source that refutes Shack's claims (e.g. "Professor X, however, maintains that Shack is incorrect..." or similar). Otherwise, we only have your word to go on that a reliable source (one you provided yourself) is incorrect. Thanks, -- Gyrofrog (talk) 16:56, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

My oppostion is against the above poster's generalization of Mr.Shack's view of Gurage as 'people of the enset culture', a title of his first book on Gurage, 1966, should not imply that all westerners 'historically' viewed Gurages as such because this is not the case. I am not here discussing the validity of shack's observation of Gurage as people defined by enset though I understand it's arguable whther he is right because the complex Gurage culture can be viewed in many angles such rural-to-city migration, entrepreneurship, Christian-Islam faiths, large family sizes, a custom of rational dialogue to dispute resolution, et. But, to claim that westerners 'historically' understood Gurage in terms of say large family sizes, there has to be proof of literature earlier than, say, 1966, the year, "Gurage: People of large Families" was published.

The other mistakes the poster made are also disproven the by AAAS' "The Tree Against Hunger". There are no proofs tha that Gurages bury the dead wrapped in enset leaves, that umblical chords are tied by the rope of qancha(fibre, Sebat bet), that the carohydate wussa was not nuitritional, but that it supposed to be Albert Einstein's Unified formula to solve all dietary needs are all mere unnecessary negativies. Wussa is a good source of carbohydrates like bread and protein and vitamin suppliments have to be found for a balanced diet. Source, AAAS, in "The Tree Against Hunger".

FYI: When the Imperial Ministry of Education hired Mr.Shack from London for Haile Sellasie I University, he just had MA. He was contracted by the above Ministry to produce a sociology book on Gurage. He used his research on Gurage for his PHD dissertation. His study of Gurage was rather a contractual business obligation rather than scholarshp, a searh for knowledge in the proper sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dama978 (talk • contribs) 19:14, 28 August 2009 (UTC) Dama

Right, I looked pretty carefully, but as in your case I didn't see any mention of the corpse wrapping, umbilical wrapping etc., in "The Tree Against Hunger", either. But it did mention Shack's phrase. You raise a good point that it is a rather dated study, though. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 19:31, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

I am reverting this section, because (a) if text requires improvement, it should be improved, not deleted (if necessary, the required improvement can be flagged with clean-up tags), (b) the criterion for inclusion is verifiability, not truth, so the section ought not to have been deleted if it matches published sources just because the editor thinks those sources are inaccurate and (c) although Dama978 indicated that he might put the text back once it had been improved, three years later the section is still missing. Although the section wasn't properly referenced, it conforms very closely to a source I have here. After reverting the section, I shall make some edits, to cite the source and correct a couple of things which seem to have been mangled and make some stylistic improvements.Havelock Jones (talk) 10:37, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

MOVED

Ensete is totally involved in every aspect of the daily social and ritual life of the Gurage, who, with several others tribes in Southwest Ethiopia, form what has been termed the Ensete Culture Complex area... the life of the Gurage is enmeshed with various uses of ensete, not the least of which is nutritional.

I have moved the above quote on asat because it misrepresents Gurage relationship with their staple food plant, the asat. According this quote Gurage life is consumed by the growing, harvesting and processing of the plant. Though Gurages have other farms such as Chat, coffee, wheat, maize, raising cattle, goats, sheeps, mules and donkey, the author's view shackles Gurages with the seaonal activities regarding asat. In addition to other forms of farms, Gurages are known for doing other activities such as side business(buy & sell)while on the farm, off-season business and migration to towns for work.

Gurages also farm the eucalyptus tree and have uses for it other than house construction. For example, they make daily firewood from it, stools out of it, headrest, shoes and sticks that Gurages carry as a self-defense weapon against aggression by animals and individuals. They also have various uses attributed to Chat and coffee. Not one of these activities dominates their lives. Seasons and the nature of the plants offer the farmer plans to multi-task and follow an undisturbed workflow. Such varied Gurage life is hardly an "enmeshment" by an asat farm.

Gyrofrog, when we agree that this quote misrepresented Gurage, I will be ready to re-write the article on Enset. From there, I hope to move on to correcting the language article; obviously, we will debate linguistic principles. Dama

References

Notable Gurage

"Dr. Yacob Haile-Mariam - NSU professor of Business Law..." Which University is NSU? Hyperlink isn't correct.

Meswam (talk) 18:41, 26 August 2010 (UTC)Meswam

Meswam, NSU in this case stands for Norfolk State University.

Kwami's preference to use "people" for politico-cultural nations is unaccpetable in light of established political deveolpments in Ethiopia since the late 1960s. Many Ethiopian groups prefer to be described as nations rather than peoples. So, I suggest a motion to change The Gurage people to The Gurague Nation. Gurague is pronounced as Gooragwe.

I would like to make corrections in the Gurague notables. First though, wikipedia, or at least contributors here will have to define what a notable is. Secondly, all the so called notables?? are from the Chaha and Ezha clans of Sebat Bet Gurague, which needs reviewing.

Thirdly, I dare say the 2007 Ethiopian polulation cenesus had drastically diminished the size of Gurague population. As a result, it's another testament to the suspicious nature of EPRDF's statistics growth rates, education and health spread and poverty reduction. Failure to acknowledge this widely known intellectual fraud makes the efforts of Belete to give us comparative place Guragues hold among Ethiopians useless.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.14.108.14 (talk) 19:33, 12 June 2011 (UTC) Dama

Generally, lists of notable people should include working links to other Wikipedia articles, or at the very least, reference to a reliable source that attests to that person's notability, importance etc. You may be correct regarding the census figures, but for better or worse they are the only reliable source for population. If there is another source that documents any inaccuracies in the census, then it is fine to include that as well. Thanks, -- Gyrofrog (talk) 16:18, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

There have been numerous criticisms of the census. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.14.108.14 (talk) 18:02, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

The Free Dictionary (www.thefreedictionary.com) defines a notable in the following terms and agrees with your defintion of a notable except that some prominent Guragues may not have a web reference. 1. A person of distinction or great reputation. See Synonyms at celebrity. 2. One of a council of prominent persons in pre-Revolutionary France called into assembly to deliberate at times of emergency. Dama — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.14.108.14 (talk) 17:35, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

I have included the books the two notable authors, Birhanemariam and Gebereyesus, penned down. Knowing these persons as at least agnostics if not atheists, their religiously pious names seem out of place.

Dama

Here is a review of Sahle Sellasie's The Afersata by Annie Gagiano: http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&cause_id=1270&news_id=89169. Both Gebreyesus and Sahle Sellaie mischracterise Gurague Muslims. They blackmail Gurague Muslims (Awol and Beshir, respectively) as haters of Haile Sellasie and his rule setting them up for mistreatment by feudal regime and its keepers.

Dama

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I made changes in the entry page, correcting factual errors in some, preferring simple English in others and undecided use of 'people', 'ethnic group' and 'nation' interchnangeably.

Simple English Examples:

Instead of 'their number', that's for Gurague's population, I used 'its population'.

Gurague borders Awash in the North, Gibe River in the Southwest and Lake Zway in the east.

Grammar and factual errors:

Gurague consists of three 'varied dialect' groups instead of 'Gurague is usually said to consist of three 'distinct language' groups.

Silt'e voted unanimously in 2000 to abandon Gurague identity because of it's islamic culture and was granted a separate special administrative unit within SNNPR by the EPRDF government.

Factual error:

I corrected the description of land in Gurague from 'semi-firtile' to 'fertile'.

Dama — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.14.108.14 (talk) 16:51, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

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Gyrofrog, I think the above corrections are necessary. Entry page has to be edited using the above coorections. If you decline, would you please state your reson(s).

Dama — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.14.108.14 (talk) 23:15, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. It looks like you went ahead and made the corrections. I have gone back and fixed some broken wiki links, and changed the reference about Silt'e to use a template. However, I did edit the Silt'e information to more closely reflect what the cited source says. I think these changes are minor, though. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 01:32, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

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"However, the largest group within the Eastern subgroup, known as the Silt'e, identify foremost as Muslims.[2] In 2000, the Silt'e, refusing to identify as Gurage, voted overwhelmingly for the establishment of a separate special administrative unit within SNNPR by the EPRDF government.[2]"

Gyrofrog, there is a problem with your wording of the above.

First, if you ask a Silte "What are you?" The answer won't be "I am a Muslim". It'll rather be "I am a Silte". Therefore, the Silte identify "foremost" as a Muslim is incorrect.

Second correction goes to "refusing to identify as Gurage" implies pre-existing demand on Silte to be Gurage which did not exist. It was where it was and what it was. A Gurague. On the contrary, there were pressures and persuations, taking many forms of reward and punishments, by the EPRDF government on Silte to abandon its Gurage identity.

Therefore, it's best to leave it as I stated it. That is, "In 2000, Silt'e voted unanimously to abandon Gurague identity because of it's islamic culture and was granted a separate special administrative unit within SNNPR by the EPRDF government."

Dama

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Gyrofrog, you wanted a source that shows the inaccuracy of the Ethiopia census I mentioned above. I hope the article below is sufficient. Mr.G.Hudson is authority on Ethiopia, especially its languages, wrote numerous articles and books.

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/northeast_african_studies/v006/6.3hudson.html

Prof Grover Hudson points out the sources of the unreliability of the Ethiopian census of 1994, and those of Afar and Somali in 1996. He reports that these are mere office projections rather than actual counts. Even when there were sampling counts, he seems to suggest they were not large enough to represent a large population of a country such as Ethiopia. During the census he says, logistical and political problems remained. Having ethnically shared names also contributed to the disturbing inaccurate figures unleashed by the OPHE(the Office of Population and Housing of Ethiopia). He also reports that this office's carefree attitude toward a reliable concept of census taking was shocking.

Dama — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.67.75.19 (talk) 02:22, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Reminding aggressive editors

I guess by volunteering to edit, ediors acquired the right for only their views to stand in Wikipedia. Greeeeeeeeeeeat!!!!!Including what can and cannot stand for discussion in the discussion column. WooooooW!!!!!It should have been though if an idea was inserted in the main article, considered vandalism or drive-by editing. I am sure that you cannot put away opinions put up for discussion under discussion column. This is a limit to the power of editorship. Don't forget your limits.

A nameless editor who goes by 76.67.72.109 is putting away opinions (s)he has allergy to. For example, he put away the topic below I posted for discussion following a realization that these indivduals may not meet the requirements for inclusion among Gurage notables. I nominated these individuals as notables without realizing that they are sectarian and are therefore notoriius for religious intolerance which disqualifies them from being Gurage notables for a roughly 50% Christian and Muslim country. With this view in mind, I posted the following topic to see what opposing views there might be, and in the absence of it, to go ahead and delete their names from list of the Gurage Notables. I believe I followed a correct procedure to allow others to air their views. The above editor shouldn't have taken it out of discussion.

Questionable Gurage Notables ==

It's proper, I feel, to remove

1. Sahle Sellasie Berhan-mariam

2. Gebreyesus Hailemariam

3. Berhanu Abegaz, http://bxabeg.people.wm.edu/Ethiopia.Census%20Portrait.pdf

Sectraianism, religious hatred. Their common hatred toward Gurage Muslims is unacceptable to be mentioned as Gurage public persons of honor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.67.72.109 (talk) 14:47, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

If you are the one who added them, I for one am not going to complain if you remove them, as they would result in red links anyway. Having said that, please note that it's not a list of "persons of honor", that is not Wikipedia's job. It is a list of notable people (both heroes and villains, but again, it's not our job to label them as either one). I'll also ask you to review WP:AGF and WP:NPA before referring to other editors as "aggressive." (I'm also confused why you are referring to 76.67.72.109 (talk) in the third person, unless there are two of you sharing the same computer.) Thank you. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 16:56, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't know then who deleted them. Could be sinebot? I appreciate your advice; I will stop being emotional against wrong doers. I added these so called notables but now regretted it. I feel they have to go primarily because they are not popularly known by Gurages. I just dug them out. I will soon create a new user name as the old one is rejected because I can't remember the old psswd.

Dama

Dr.berhanu nega and Dr.Yacob hailemariam are listed as Amara notables in Amara People wikipedia, in this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amhara_people. I thought they were Gurages when I listed them as Gurage notables. In view of this new info, I deleted their names from the Gurage notables. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dam978 (talk • contribs) 18:02, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

Gurage / Gurague spelling

The article is inconsistent about whether it uses the name Gurage or Gurague for this group. Searching Ethnologue's catalogue of the world's languages, I see both spellings in use, but Gurage used for the classification of many languages, and Gurague only as an alternate name for Sebat Bet Gurage. So I am going to standardize the article on Gurage.

..Hey, I thought I would agree with you based on a superficial look at your reasoning. At least on three points, your choice of 'Gurage' spelling instead of 'Gurague' may not stand:

1. Foreing writers popularized the 'Gurage' spelling but Gurague natives call themselves Gurague as in Guragwe.

2. Ethnologue is not an exhaustive linguistic authority; rather it's a religious-business coproration that heavily relies on established linguistic authors for its reports such Wolf Leslau, Hetzron, Degif Petro, etc on Gurague dialects. I understand it does its own linguistic preliminary investigations but only for evangelical ends and government contracts rather than for pure scientific purposes.

3. Sebat Gurague is what makes up the overwhelming majority of Gurague, now that Silte has denied having a Gurague identity. Therefore, if the spelling 'Gurague' is good for Sebat Bet Gurague, it's good for all Guragues.

If you edit the article on Gurague, I suggest you use this spelling, Gurague, instead of Gurage.

Dama

Pronunciation

Can we include some pronunciation guides on the page please? It's really difficult to find this elsewhere.

2406:9A00:0:107:203:144:40:156 (talk) 23:04, 12 October 2012 (UTC)Emma

I agree; the word Gurage isn't in any dictionary I can find, and I have no idea which syllable to stress. (Russian Wikipedia stresses the last syllable, this site stresses the middle one, I have no idea on what authority or basis.) Languagehat (talk) 15:41, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

I can only offer my personal knowledge as a source, but the pronunciation at the external site (i.e., stress on middle syllable) is correct. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 15:57, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, I really appreciate knowing that! Languagehat (talk) 21:02, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Popular Gurage Names Title

I have deleted the title and its erroneous contents for 2 reasons. 1)There is no established way of ascertaining which names are popular.

2)99% of the names were Amara and Arabic names, completely erasing Gurage traditinal names.

I hope editors agree with me to keep this title deleted as it serves no purpose to the subject of Gurage identity other than misinform. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dam978 (talk • contribs) 16:38, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

No objections from me. I don't recall any other articles about ethnic groups having this information. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 18:36, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

Gurage as slaves

The enslavement of Gurage people in former times should at least be mentioned in this article. 173.89.236.187 (talk) 01:44, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

Possibly of interest IRT "spirit possession" section

I personally found that reading https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:416226/FULLTEXT01.pdf was an interesting read, in relation to psychiatry and khat chewing in rural Ethiopia. Perhaps usable as another modern view for the "spirit possession" section... 76.10.128.192 (talk) 04:24, 7 August 2016 (UTC)

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