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Concept
Kunama people
Summary
The Kunama are an ethnic group native to Eritrea. They are one of the smallest ethnic communities in Eritrea, constituting only 2% of the population. Most of the estimated 260,000 Kunama live in the remote and isolated area between the Gash and Setit rivers near the border with Ethiopia. The Kunama people have ancient ancestry in the land of Eritrea. In the 2007 Ethiopian census, however, the number of Kunama in Tigray has dropped to 2,976 as the remaining 2,000 or so members of this ethnic group have migrated into the other regions of Ethiopia.
The earliest written mention of the Kunama comes from Ya'qubi, writing around 872 AD. His account is based on travelers' reports. He noted the 'Cunama' tribe living on the eastern borders of Alodia. They were later mentioned by the 10th century Arab geographer Ibn Hawqal. He states they lived in the Barka valley, and fought with bows, poisoned arrows and spears, but did not use shields. He also mentions that the Kunama worship a God called Anna, and were ruled by a community of elders.
The Kunama were victims of frequent slave raids by the neighboring Tigrinya and Tigrayan people, the Kunama called these raids sakada masa or baada. In 1692 Abyssinia led a raid on the Kunama, capturing hundreds of slaves and cattle. . Until about 1750 the Kunama were able to resist with advantage in their territories, their raids had thrown such terror into their neighbors that the Abyssinians of Wolkait and Adi-Abo were forced to abandon the cultivation of the plain for retire to the mountains. Italian colonialism in the 1890s put an end to the raids.
During the Eritrean War of Independence, the Kunama were the only tribe in Eritrea to have consistently supported Ethiopian rule. In the 1940s they were raided by Hamid Idris Awate and many of their villages were destroyed, another raid by the ELF in 1962 forced many Kunama to flee towards Tigray province. In 1977 the Kunama raised a militia to fight alongside the Ethiopians against the Eritrean separatists.
Official source
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