2024-03-29T11:21:28Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/2088532020-12-13T00:07:18Zcom_10261_36691com_10261_7col_10261_36692
The Dats’in: historical experience and cultural identity of an undocumented indigenous group of the Sudanese-Ethiopian borderland
Hernando Gonzalo, Almudena
González-Ruibal, Alfredo
Derara Megenassa, Worku
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España
Ethiopia, Sudan
‘Deep rural’ societies
Borderlands
Indigenous minorities
Nilo-Saharan languages
Pre-colonial history
The Dats’in are an indigenous minority group living on the Sudanese-Ethiopian borderland. They passed unnoticed to researchers, administrators and the wider world until 2013, when the authors of this paper met them in the lowlands of Qwara (NW Ethiopia). They speak an undocumented Nilo-Saharan language, related to Gumuz, and share important cultural and social traits with other indigenous communities in the area, while at the same time remaining clearly distinct. Dats’in history, which is related to that of the so-called Hamej peoples–the blanket name by which they are known to other groups–can be traced back several centuries through oral traditions, texts and archaeology. The Hamej, in fact, played a crucial role during the Funj Sultanate (1504–1821) and probably before. The present article is based on three field seasons carried out in the lowlands of Qwara (Ethiopia), one of the areas where they live today, and intends to offer some insights into their history and culture. They exemplify well the multifaceted relations between small-scale and State societies that have characterized the last millennium in the Sudanese-Ethiopian borderland.
This research has been supported by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness under Grant HAR201677564-C2-2-P. The project was also funded by the Archaeology Abroad Programme of the Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España (IPCE).
2020-04-23T12:53:15Z
2020-04-23T12:53:15Z
2019-06-11
2020-04-23T12:53:15Z
artículo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
doi: 10.1080/17531055.2019.1628364
e-issn: 1753-1063
issn: 1753-1055
Journal of Eastern African Studies 13(3): 504-524 (2019)
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/208853
10.1080/17531055.2019.1628364
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/HAR2016-77564-C2-2-P
Postprint
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2019.1628364
Sí
open
Taylor & Francis