Woman Between Two Worlds: Portrait of an Ethiopian Rural Leader

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Judith Olmstead, a graduate student of anthropology from Columbia University, went to the Gamo Highlands of southwestern Ethiopia to do field research for her dissertation on the Dorze weavers and traders. As part of her research, she planned to visit neighboring villages to compare them to the Dorze. When she arrived at Dita, she was surprised to find that the village leader was a woman to whom she gives the pseudonym Chimate Chumbalo. Thirty years later, this is the story of that woman, how she lived her life, how she became a leader, and what made her a successful leader. In the Gamo Highlands, each village has a king who also has the job of being the local balabat, or judge. The balabat mediates disputes among villagers. When she was a teenager, Chimate married the third son of Dita's king. Soon, the king died and, on his deathbed, declared his third son, Chimate's husband, to be his successor king and balabat. Chimate's husband soon died declaring one of their sons to be his heir. Since the heir was still young, Chimate assumed the duties of acting balabat. Meanwhile, one of her husband's older brothers disputed her husband's and son's claim to kingship. It was resolved that her husband's brother became king while Chimate continued her work as balabat. In that area, at that time, it was unheard of for a woman to be balabat. Judith Olmstead has a clarity and simplicity to her writing style that brings to life the day-to-day activities of the Dita people. She tape recorded and then transcibed many of their songs and Chimate's stories. When she includes Chimate's stories in her text, the narration changes so that we hear Chimate's voice in the stories. Olmstead also includes a history of Ethiopia and past and current politics. Olmstead describes in great detail how Gome affects the lives of the people of Dita. Gome is the system of taboos, customs, and traditions that truly govern the Dita people. When something bad happens to somebody, the community looks for some way that person sinned or broke with the traditions. In order for the sinner's luck to change for the better, the sinner must repent, be forgiven, and then maybe pay a fine or sacrifice a sheep. Chimate, in her role as balabat, oversaw this process for the village of Dita. This is a fascinating, well-written book. I recommend it to you if you want to learn about the Dita people, the history and politics of Ethiopia, and a strong, wise woman. I enjoyed learning how she balanced her duties as a woman to raise children, cook and keep house, with her traditionally male duties as a balabat to mediate disagreements among the villagers and to be the village's spokesperson in area-wide issues. The two worlds in the title of the book refer to the world and customs of the local village of Dita and the world of the Ethiopian Empire. Chimate was adept at finding the commonalties between these two worlds. However, she also chose to abi