THE PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA: DRAFT OF A TEXT FOR THE FRESHMEN OF HAILE SELASSIE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The dissertation illustrates the utilization of ethnography in the university curriculum of a developing nation. It consists of the draft of a textbook for Ethiopian students which deals with their own culture and insists on the human aspects of development emphasizing continuity in change. The textbook discusses first the need for ethnography even in situations where people question the value of their traditions. This need depends mostly on the fact that genuine development involves human beings whose cooperation is absolutely essential. Cross-cultural communication one of the keys to success in development work is greatly facilitated by ethnology. A brief enquiry in prehistory follows. It reveals the three fundamental stocks that have contributed to the peopling of Ethiopia cushitic negroid and Semitic. The classification of Ethiopian languages confirms this view of the origins of the contemporary population. Three culture areas are then described. First the ensete area which characterizes large regions in southwest Ethiopia. It offers interesting examples of built-in mechanisms which facilitate for rural folks cooperation and adjustment to change at various levels especially urban and national.