|
Population: 3,984,723
(July 1999 estimate) |
 Tribal Groups Of Eritrea |
Eritrea has a mixed Afro-Asiatic population that is divided by religion and language. There are nine ethnic groups in Eritrea, which are:
| The Kushitic linguistic
groups: Afar 5%, (Denkalia), Bilen 2.1% (Keren area), Hedareb 2.5% (Tessenei), Saho 5% (Foro) |
The Nilotic linguistic
groups: Kunama 2% and Nara 1.5% (or Baria) (Western lowlands) |
The Semitic linguistic
groups: Tigre 31.4% (Sahel) and Tigrinya 50% (mainly in the highlands) |
Groups of recent Arab
origin: Rashaida 0.5% (near Massawa) |
Rashaida 0.5%The Rashida are the only true Eritreran nomads. Making up just 0,5% of the population, they roam the northern coasts of Eritrea and Sudan, as wwell as teh southern reaches of the Nubian desert. Like their neighbours, the Beha (rerlated to the Hedareb), they live by raising cattle and are Muslim.
The Rashida were the last of the Semitic people t arrive in Eritrea in the middle of the 19th century. Their language is Arabic.
The maginificnet Rashida women are famous for their black-and-red geometrically patterned dresses, and their long, heavily veils, the burga, elaboratley embroided with silver threads, beads and sometimes seed pearls.
The Rashida people are known for their great pride; marriage is only
permitted within their own clan. The people are expert goat and cattle rearers,
as well as merchants and traders along the Red Sea coasts.
Nara
1.5%
The Nara, also know as the Baria, make up 1.5% of the population and
inhabit the Barka Valley near the Sudanese border. Along with the Kunama,
they are the only Nilotic (Negroid) Eritrean tribe, and are mainly Muslim.
The people are sedentary mixed farmers and share many customs with their
neighbours the Kunama. Skirmishes and raids from other tribes have forced
many of the people to flee, and the population is now thought to be endangered.
Kunama
2%
The Kunama inhabit the GAsh-Setit province in the south-western corner
of Eritrea, close to the Ethiopian and Sudanese border, and make up 2% of
the population. Barentu is their `capital`. The Kunama people are Nilotic
in origin, and very dark skinned. They are the original inhabitants ot the
region.
A few Kunama are Muslim, some Chiristian, but the great majority are animist. According to their beliefs, the higher divinity, Anna, created the sky and the earth but is lagely indiffertnt to human fate. The spirits, by contrast, must be placated before every event, even the ploughing of a field.
Kunama society is patriarchal, but contains certain matriarchal elements, including inheritance through the female side. The society is strongly egalitarian, recognising only the authority of the elders and the village assemblies.
The Kunama community is closely knit, and many educated Kunama abndon
the city to return to the country. Land is often farmed cooperativelyy, and
after the work is finished, the village unites to celebrate with feasting
and dancing. The Kunama are known for their dances, and have developed more
than 25 dance forms, often reenacting great historical events or victories.
This tradition was particularly well suited to the resistance movement against
Ethiopia, when the dances were greatly popularised.
Bilen 2.1%
The Bilen inhabit the environs of Keren and make up to 2.1% of teh
population. Cushitic in origin, the Bilen are either sedentary Chirstian farmers
or Muslim cattle rearers.
Bilen traditional society is organised into kinship groups. The women
are known for their brightly colured clothes and their gold, silver or copper
nose rings which indicate their means and social status. Like the Beja language,
Bilen is slowly being replaced by Tigrre, Tigrinya and Arabic, due to intermarriage,
economic interactions and because Arbaic is taught in local schools. Henna
tattoos that mimic diamond necklaces or little freckles are faschionalbel
among the women.
Hedareb 2.5%
The Hedareb, along with their `brother` tribes the Beni Amer and Beja,
make up 2.5% of the population, and inhabit the north-western vallley of Eritrea,
straddling the border with Sudan.
Most Hedarebs are nomadic and travel great distances in search of pasture. The people are Cushitic in origin (probably directly descended from the ancient Beja tribe) and speak maily Tigre and an ancient Beja laguage.
The Beni Amier are a strongly patriarchal, socially stratified, almost
feudal people. Their skills as camel drivers and in raising camels are legendary.
Many of the men scarify their cheeks with three short, vertical strokes -
the Italians called them the `111 tribe´.
Saho 5%
The Saho make up 5% of the population; they inhabit the coast and the
hinterland south of Asmera and Massawa. Towards the end of April, when the
rains stop in the lowlands, many Saho leave the coastal area and trek with
their livestocks up to the highlands of Akele Guzay. When the rains stop in
September, the people return for the wet season on teh coastal lowlands.
The people are predominantly Muslim, but feeling of ehnic identity are less strong among them than other groups. Known as great pastoralists, the people fought for centuries with teh highlanders over the pastures of the mountains. Today , the Saho often tend other people´s cattle, including those of the Tigrinya, in exchange for grain. Many Saho children (up to the age of 16) wear little leather pouches around their neck, which are full of hers and spices to ward off evil spirits.
Some Saho are sednetary farmers who have settled in the highlands of Akele Guzay. Honey is an important part of the Saho diet and the people are also known as good beekeeperes. In the past, they were also reputed as warriors, and were often enlisted to escort trade caravans between central Ethiopia to the port of Massawa.
The Saho are organised in patrilineal descnet groups. The leaders,
elected by the male assembly, are known as rezantos, and were formerly
the military chief in times of war.
Afar 5%
The Eritrean Afars, also known as teh Dankalis, make
up 5% oth the population and inhabit the long coastal strip streching from
the Gulf of Zula indo Djibouti. Predominatly nomadic pastoralists, the people
the people arre Muslim, though elements of ancient ancestor-worship still
persist.
Since early times, the Afar territory has been divided into kingdoms and ruled by individual sultans wha have always remained fiercely independent of any foreign power.
The sole inhabitants of one of the most inhospitable regions on earth,during the last 100 years the Afars have aquired a fearsome reputation.
The men still carry the famous jile or curved knife, and some
file their teeth to points. Afar oral literature reveals a high esteem for
military prowess, with a whole repertoire of war chants. Today, their songs
tend to extol teh virtues of the camel
Tigre 31.4%
The Tigre makes up to 31.4% ot he population, and inhabit the northern
lowlands, from the Sudanese frontier to the western limits of the Dankali.
A very heterogenous people, the Tigre are divided into groups and clans. Most
are Muslim, and they are both sedentary and nomadic. The sedentary farmers
cultivate maize, durra (sorghum) and other cereals.
Tigrean society is traditionally hierachical, with a small aristocracy known as shemagille ruling the masses. When the village leader dies, his power passes to hos offspring.
Tigrean oral literature is rich and ranges from fables, riddles and
poetry to funeral dirges, war cries and supermatural stories. The Tigre are
alsoknow for their love of singing and dacing, usually to the accompainment
of a ddrum and the mesenko (a type of guitar). Dances are celebrated on many
occasions, such as when a new waterhole is found.
Tigrinya 50%
The Tigrinya make up to 50 % of the Eritrean population and inhabit
the densely populated central highlands, extending over the provinces of Seraye,
Hamsien and Akele Guzay. The people are sedentary farmers and are overwhelmingly
Orthodox Christians, with just a small minority of Muslims, who are known
as Jeberti. The very distinct plaited hairstyle of the women has been depicted
for centuries in local art.
The people have always been fiercely attached to their land, which
has been the cause of many dispute. The Tigrinya community is taditionally
tightly knit and deeply conservative. Tigrinya is one of the country´s
official language.
With a million Eritreans in exile from a total population of 4 million, this presents the phenomenal scenario that one out of every five Eritreans lives abroad. Young people were sent away for fear of forced conscrip tion into the Ethiopian army and to avert the daily cruelties of the 1961-91 Ethiopian occupation. The majority of the exiles walked, some for hundreds of miles to the Sudan, where half a million remained as refugees. Another 250.000 are scattered across the globe in Europe, Canada, the United States and closer to their home in Saudi Arabia (100.000), the Middle East, Kenya and Ethiopia (100.000).
Meanwhile there are lots of returnees especially from the Sudan after Eritrea achived its independence in the year 1991.