Wayto people

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The Wayto people (alternate spellings: Uoito,[1] Waito, Wohito, Weyto, Weyt’o, Woyto, Weyito. Amharic: ወይጦ)[2] constitute the original population of the Lake Tana shores in Ethiopia.[3] They worship the Nile River.[4] They currently live in Bahir Dar, Abirgha in woreda Lay Armachiho, Dembiya (woreda)[2][5] and Alefa.[6] The Wayto constituted also the original population of T’is Isat and Fogera,[7][8][9][5] where currently their presence has not been ascertained.[2]

Language[]

Main article: Weyto language

The Wayto language was last documented in 1928.[10] It has now disappeared and was replaced by Amharic.[2] Mittwoch described a form of Amharic spoken by the descendants of Wayto speakers,[11] and describes it as an incomplete language shift from Wayto to Amharic.

Wayto lifestyle[]

The Waytos’ livelihood strongly depended on Lake Tana; they used to fish and hunt hippopotamus – they were organised autonomously and equally divided their catch.[12][13] In the 20th Century, the demand for ivory tusks increased. Combined with the introduction of rifles, this led to a rapid decrease of the hippo population, and the Wayto turned to fishing and agriculture.[12] By the 1960s, the fish catches decreased also and many Wayto reverted to stone crushing and “tankwa” reed boad preparation. There was more trade with, and also land lease from the Amhara, but this did not decrease the social distance between Wayto and Amhara settlers.[12] Currently, the Wayto rely on the lake for fish, papyrus grass, and regression agriculture on the shores.[14] The men produce reed boats for sale, and the women do basketry. Petty trade is a further source of income.[2]

Religion[]

The Waytos’ religion was related to water. “Abinas” was the God of the Blue Nile and provided resources and health. In return, the people sacrificed animals for Abinas. The Wayto have converted to Islam, while continuing to worship the Nile.[4]

Outcasting of the Wayto[]

Main article: Weyto caste

The Amhara people consider the Wayto impure, because they eat catfish and supposedly hippopotamus, though the last hippo hunt dates back to the 1960s.[12] The Wayto population has been marginalised ever since the Amharas settled the Lake Tana shores.[3] For instance, in Bahir Dar the Wayto are outcasted because their traditional lifestyle is considered impure; for the Orthodox Christians the food habits are impure, and the Muslim community does not recognise them as true Muslims because they continue worshipping the Nile. Hence, the majority of the population remains wary of the Wayto.[4][2] Scholarly disregard[15] and everyday culture of other ethnic groups also dismiss the Wayto culture.[3]

Power relations in the early constitution of Bahir Dar as a town have led to a situation in which the marginalisation of the Wayto has been institutionalised. Access to the city’s facilities, including education and health care, remain out of reach based on stigmata.
— Nadine Appelhans, PhD thesis, Hamburg University[3]

The health of the Wayto community in Bahir Dar is strongly affected because they continue drinking the lake water, which has become strongly polluted.[2]

Wayto settlements[]

Aerial view of Bahir Dar in 1938 with Wayto villages on the lakeshore and the regular Italian colonial town

In 1938, an Italian tourist guide noticed well established Wayto villages on Bahir Dar's lakeshore.[1] Currently, the Wayto live in three distinct villages within Bahir Dar's city boundaries; the buildings are made of clay with thatched roofs and have a lifespan of about five years.[3] The Wayto villages need regularly to change their place by order of the authorities for several reasons:[4][2][14]

  • ritual places are contested by other population groups
  • Amhara have greater financial power to obtain the land
  • the Wayto do not hold land titles
  • overall, they have a weak position in negotiation

References[]

  1. ^ a b Consociazione Turistica Italiana (1938) Guida dell’ Africa Orientale Italiana, Milano, Italia.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Darmon, C. (2010) The Wayto Language of Ethiopia: State of the Art. In: Workshop: Language Isolates in Africa, Vol. 3, p. 4
  3. ^ a b c d e Appelhans, N. (2016). Urban Planning and Everyday Urbanisation: A Case Study on Bahir Dar, Ethiopia (Edition 1). transcript Verlag.
  4. ^ a b c d Oestigaard, T. (2011) Richness and Poverty Through Rituals. The Rise of Africa: Miracle or Mirage? Annual Report 2010 The Nordic Africa Institute, 26–27.
  5. ^ a b Zerihun Abebe (2001), Minority Identity and Ethnic Politics in Ethiopia: The Case of the Weyto in Lake Tana Area, MPhil Thesis, University of Tromsø.
  6. ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Amhara Region, Vol. 1, part 1 Archived 2010-11-15 at the Wayback Machine, Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.10, 2.13, 2.17, Annex II.2
  7. ^ Gamst, Frederick. 1984. "Wayto", in Weeks, R. V. (ed.), Muslim peoples: a world ethnographic survey, 2nd edition, (2 vols.) Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
  8. ^ BRUCE James M. (1813 [1790]). Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, & 1773, vol.5, Edinburgh: George Ramsay and Company.
  9. ^ LEJEAN Guillaume (1865), “Voyage en Abyssinie (1862-1863)”. Le Tour du Monde. Nouveau journal des voyages, vol. 12, Paris: Hachette, 258-272.
  10. ^ Griaule, Marcel. Les flambeurs d'hommes. Paris 1934.
  11. ^ Mittwoch, Eugen (1907). "Proben aus dem amharischen Volksmund". Mittheilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin. 10 (2): 185–241. OCLC 9609265.
  12. ^ a b c d Freeman, D. (2003) Understanding Marginalization in Ethiopia. In: Freeman, D. & Pankhurst, A. (eds.) Peripheral people: The excluded minorities of Ethiopia. Hurst, London, pp. 301–333
  13. ^ Gamst, F. (1979) Wayto Ways: Change from Hunting to Peasant Life. Session B. In: Hess, R. (ed.) Proceedings of the fifth International Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Session B. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, pp. 233–238.
  14. ^ a b Ajala O.A. (2008) Livelihoods Pattern of “Negede Weyto” Community in Lake Tana Shore, Bahir Dar Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management 1 (1), 19–30.
  15. ^ Seltene Seyoum (2000) Land Alienation and the Urban Growth of Bahir Dar 1935-74. In: Anderson, D. M. & Rathborne, R. (eds.) Africa’s urban past. James Currey, Oxford.
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