Weyto caste

The general term for hunter-gatherers in Ethiopia is Wayṭo/Woyṭo in Amharic (Uoïto in Italian records), Watta (pl. Watto) in Oromo, Fuga in the Gurage, and Manjō (Mangiò in Italian records) in Kafa. At least one group is reported to have called themselves Addō or Addoyē, though that may be the Oromo word for 'potters', another minority caste. Despite being lumped under common terms for hunter-gatherer, the Amharic-speaking Wayṭo of Lake Tana are a distinct people from the Kafa-speaking Manjō of the Keffa Zone, as well as from other Wayṭo/Watta/Fuga groups elsewhere in Ethiopia.

The Waytos’ livelihood strongly depended on Lake Tana; they used to fish and hunt hippopotamus – they were organised autonomously and equally divided their catch.[14][15] In the 20th century, the demand for ivory tusks increased. Combined with the introduction of rifles, this led to a rapid decrease of the hippo population, and the Wayto turned to fishing and agriculture.[14] By the 1960s, the fish catches decreased also and many Wayto reverted to stone crushing and “tankwa” reed boad preparation. There was more trade with, and also land lease from the Amhara, but this did not decrease the social distance between Wayto and the Amhara.[14] Currently, the Wayto rely on the lake for fish, papyrus grass, and regression agriculture on the shores.[16] The men produce reed boats for sale, and the women do basketry. Petty trade is a further source of income.[3] The Weyto people are described in historical texts as a group of hippopotamus hunters in Ethiopia around Lake Tana, Lake Zwai and Bahir Dar.[2] Due to their diet on hippopotamus meat, the Weyto have been considered an outcast people and despised by Amhara and other ethnic groups.[17] Similar castes with hunting occupation live in other parts of the Horn of Africa, states Ephrem Tadesse, such as "the Watta among the Oromo, the Fuga or Mana among the Gurage, the Manjo among the Kaffa, the Kwegu among the Mursi/Bodi, the Hadicho among the Sidama, and the Mijan and Yibir among the Somali".[18] Enrico Cerulli also linked them to those two other outcast groups among the Borana and Keffa with similar names that live primarily as hunters[19]

The Weyto have been a small part of a more elaborate Amhara caste system, ranked higher than slaves in its social stratification system. According to Donald N. Levine, an Ethiopian Studies specialist, the caste system depended on: endogamy; hierarchical status; restraints on commensality; pollution concepts; traditional occupation; inherited caste membership.[20] Scholars accept that there has been a rigid, endogamous and occupationally closed social stratification among Amhara and other Afro-Asiatic-speaking Ethiopian ethnic groups. However, some label it as an economically closed, endogamous class system or as occupational minorities,[21] whereas others such as the historian David Todd assert that this system can be unequivocally labelled as caste-based.[22][23][24]

The Weyto are reported to have once spoken a Weyto language, likely belonging to the Cushitic family.[2] The language became extinct at some point in the 19th century.[25] According to the 1994 national census, 1172 individuals were reported belonging to this ethnic group; it was not an ethnic choice in the 2007 census.[26] The Wayto language was last documented in 1928.[27] It has now disappeared and was replaced by Amharic.[3] Mittwoch described a form of Amharic spoken by the descendants of Weyto speakers,[28] and describes it as an incomplete language shift from Weyto to Amharic.

The Waytos’ religion was related to water. “Abinas” was the God of the Blue Nile and provided resources and health. In return, the people sacrificed animals for Abinas. The Wayto have converted to Islam, while continuing to worship the Nile.[5]

The Amhara people consider the Wayto impure, because they eat catfish and supposedly hippopotamus, though the last hippo hunt dates back to the 1960s.[14] The Wayto population has long been marginalised by the Amharas settled on Lake Tana's shores.[4] For instance, in Bahir Dar the Wayto are outcasts because their traditional lifestyle is considered impure; for the Orthodox Christians the food habits are impure, and the Muslim community does not recognise them as true Muslims because they continue worshipping the Nile. Hence, the majority of the population remains wary of the Wayto.[5][3] Scholarly disregard[29] and the everyday culture of other ethnic groups also causes the dismissal of the Wayto culture.[4]

Power relations in the early constitution of Bahir Dar as a town have led to a situation in which the marginalisation of the Wayto has been institutionalised. Access to the city’s facilities, including education and health care, remain out of reach based on stigmata.
— Nadine Appelhans, PhD thesis, Hamburg University[4]

The health of the Wayto community in Bahir Dar is strongly affected because they continue drinking the lake's water, which has become strongly polluted.[3]

Aerial view of Bahir Dar in 1938 with Wayto villages on the lakeshore and the regular Italian colonial town

In 1938, an Italian tourist guide noticed well established Wayto villages on Bahir Dar's lakeshore.[1] Currently, the Weyto live in three distinct villages within Bahir Dar's city boundaries; the buildings are made of clay with thatched roofs and have a lifespan of about five years.[4] The Wayto villages need regularly to change their place by order of the authorities for several reasons:[5][3][16]

• ritual places are contested by other population groups
• Amhara have greater financial power to obtain the land
• the Weyto do not hold land titles
• overall, they have a weak position in negotiation

• Caste systems in Africa
• Weyto language