Issa People of Africa
The series of A to Z of African people, that I am sharing (just because I love Africa for thousands of reasons) has come to the moment where I do not want to discriminate choosing only one for my purpose of writing in alphabetical order about African people.
It was astonishing, the search results of African people with the letter "I"; all of them with wonderful cultures...
- Ibibio
- Ife
- Igala
- Igbo
- Igede
- Ijaw
- Ijebu
- Iramba
- Iraqw
- Isoko
- Issa
- Iteso
- Itsekiri
- Ittu
- Iwa
... Eeny, meeny, miny moe...
Who are the members of the Issa people?
The Issa people are considered part of the Dir clan of the Somali people. Approximately 400,000 people consider themselves Issa. The Issa fighters played a significant role in the 1529-43, Adal-Ethiopian War.
A civil war between the Issa people and the Afar, in the early 1990s, ended with a power sharing agreement.
Where are the Issa people located?
The Issa people are located in the Horn of Africa.The Issa primarily inhabit Southern Djibouti (representing nearly one half of the country's total population. It was a French territory until 1977), Northern Somalia, and the Harer Province of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia
The Horn of Africa
How do the Issa people live?
The Issa people's living conditions vary from affluent upper - class Arab businessmen and the educated Afars and Somalis of the country's elite to undernourished herders with scant possessions and scrawny livestock.
The social issues in Djibouti are heavily dependent on foreigner assistance: an unemployment rate of around 50%; the national fixation chewing kwat is not of any benefit for them either; including the health problems of HIV/AIDS and FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).
- CJTF-HOA Home Page
Internet home page of the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti
How do the Issa people communicate?
The Issa people speak Somali, an Afro-Asiatic language.
How do the Issa people survive?
The Issa people live in one of the hottest places on Earth. The yearly rainfall is less than five inches, so the vegetation is exiguous. Djibouti lacks any significant natural resources other than fishing grounds, geothermal potential and some mining activity.
The economy is based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free trade zone in North East Africa.
Women use natural fibers to weave rugs, mats, and other objects. Both men and women like ornamental jewelery. They make pottery without a wheel by hollowing out a ball of clay and molding it into the desired shape.
What characteristics define the diversity of the Issa people?
- Origin myth
- Oral tradition
- Special readers called "gabaye"
- Nomadics have begun learning to read and write
- "Rabena" is called their annual celebration of a feast of the dead
- Great respect for elders
- Hawo Tako - News on the women of Somalia
Daily media monitoring of news on the women of Somalia.
Lessons learned by the Issa people
When you love somebody as I love African people, you will feel pain by their harm, suffering and struggles; with unnecessary wars and confrontations between people with the same blood created by God, but when you stumble across a story like the lady from the first picture I posted, a smile of hope and satisfaction brightens your soul. She is a Somali environmentalist lady named Fatima Jibrell. She saw the connection between "peace, empowerment and resource protection ".
I invite you to watch the video below as you smile with her and me by the story.
Blessings to all!
© Maria Magdalena Ruiz O'Farrill
© 2012 Maria Magdalena Ruiz O'Farrill