February 1, 2009

Ethiopia — Cradle of Life

Posted by: Toby McLeod

The Rift Valley feels like it has forever been a home to humans. It’s hard to imagine all that’s gone down here between Lucy, our great great grandmother, 3 million years ago, and Haleka Malabo, a sacred site guardian in Ethiopia’s Gamo Highlands, today. Walking down a gentle hill into Dorbo Meadow on the first day of my research trip to the remote mountains of southern Ethiopia, I could feel that I was entering a ritual scene that had played out countless times over thousands of years. Eight elders in white robes sat in the meadow discussing business as they waited patiently for the American filmmaker. A thin, metal spear rose into the air in front of each man. Haleka Malabo smiled a welcome as cattle, sheep and horses grazed nearby, and an inviting, shadowy forest beckoned in the distance behind him. My three Ethiopian guides, Metasabia, an anthropologist, Nati, a local activist, and Kapo, our translator, explained that I was witnessing traditional land management — the ancient system by which this council of elders rotates grazing lands, plans ceremonies, resolves disputes and enforces the strict rules that protect sacred places throughout Gamo.

In my years of working with Native Americans and Native Hawaiians I have learned the patience that comes from trust-building. Usually, my camera sits in its case and elders say amazing things during powerful discussions and ceremonies that pass before my eyes undocumented, except inside my aging brain.

In this case, as Haleka Malabo began a prayer with outstretched hands and bent over to pick a few blades of grass to offer to the wind, Metasabia leaned over and whispered, “Why are you not filming?”

“I haven’t explained why I’m here — or asked permission yet,” I replied.

“I told you,” he said, “I already received permission when I met with the elders last week and told them you were coming. Film!”

I know now that the elders of the Gamo Highlands were receptive to our film project in part because my old friend Wolde Tadesse has been so helpful to sacred land protection efforts in his homeland. As a program officer for The Christensen Fund, Tadesse has developed an effective strategy to protect and strengthen cultural and biological diversity throughout the Rift Valley, and particularly in the Gamo Highlands, which rise to the west of the two huge lakes that fill the valley floor, Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo.

Over the last five years, Tadesse has counseled me not to focus too narrowly on specific sacred sites, but instead to recognize the interconnectedness of the entire landscape, from home and garden to mountain and forest. From ritual sacrifice field to community meeting places (called debushas). From barley fields to mourning fields. “You have to go and see for yourself,” he said over and over as he patiently waited for our film team to complete our work in Russia, Australia and Peru, and finally make it to Ethiopia.

Kapo Kansa Gano directs the Society for the Practice and Maintenance of Indigenous Cultural Environmental and Spiritual Knowledge. Standing by another new church and a cleared forest he said, “The Protestants want to destroy the artifacts on the ground, and they tell people, ‘Don’t acknowledge sacred places, mountains, rivers, a tree in the forest. All you need is the gospel. All you need is Jesus.’ They cleared this forest for a church. It was an important meeting place where everything was discussed. They call the traditional practices ‘satanic’ – and say ‘this is not important for the world.’ Meanwhile, our government is ignorant. We go to meetings and speak of special places and they say ‘you are lying’ — so we need recordings, we need to show this to them.”

A new bride wearing a yellow headdress made of butter parades through Dorbo Meadow, taking part in the four-day Mascal ceremony.

Director Toby McLeod filming the elders of the Gamo Highlands.

Dorbo Meadow in Ethiopia's Highlands.

Haleka Malabo, a sacred site guardian in Ethiopia's Gamo Highlands.

The riot in Dorbu Meadow errupted into chaos and gunfire as police tried to keep the traditional people from advancing on the Protestants.

As the black of night set in and the stand-off continued, we drove away to one last frightening BOOM, as a rock smashed the windshield of our car.

The Rift Valley in Ethiopia.