Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies Copyright 2017 2017, Vol. 4, No. 1, 34-43 ISSN: 2149-1291 We Are Not Alone: Conceptualizing People-Things Relationship in Oromo Community in North America Bula Sirika Wayessa 1 State University of New York New Paltz This study presents that in Oromo society, objects and non-human organisms have agency that affects how human agents interact with them. The objects have representations and they store information about themselves and their human partners. For example, clay, considered to be vulnerable, is treated in a fashion similar to a human infant. Such beliefs have direct bearing on pottery production and consumption. As well, objects are considered to be ‘family’ members, traveling with their human counterparts to various corners of the world. In North America, the diaspora Oromo’s social and family gatherings are accompanied by objects brought from their country of origin. During gatherings, people communicate with the objects to retrieve memories of the past. In the new setting, the objects serve as active agents, adding color and flair to celebrations. Keywords: Agency, Anchote, Diaspora Oromo, North America, Objects. Introduction Social theorists have argued that objects and non-human organisms share an agency that affects how humans interact with them (Robb, 2005; van Oenen, 2011). Because “people extend their social relationships to non-human agents, properties have been exchanged and collectives formed” (Latour, 1999, p. 198). Non-human agents possess secondary agency: the cultural perception that certain objects embody the power to act in particular ways or that require humans to act in certain ways with these materials (e.g., Akhtar, 2005; Caronia &Mortari, 2015; Gardner, 2007; Gell, 1998, Gosden, 2005; 2012; Kim 2016; Latour, 1999, 2005; Sillar, 2004; 2009;van Oenen, 2011; Aydin, & Ozfidan, 2014). In this sense, objects are actively used in social and individual creation in which they are directly constitutive of our understanding of self and others (Olsen, 2003, p. 91). Studies also show that immigrants use material objects to connect to the places they left behind (Abu-Ghazaleh, 2013; Akhtar, 2005; Kim, 2016). This research examines the perception of the Oromo, in North America, regarding agency of objects and their relationship with human agency. The Oromo are speakers of Afaan Oromoo, an eastern highland Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (Ehert, 2002; Greenberg, 1955). They are the largest ethnolinguistic group in northeast Africa. Although the majority of Oromo live in the Oromia Regional State, a significant number live in Wambara and Kamise, in the Amhara region in the central Ethiopian highlands, and in the Rayya and Asabo areas of Tigray State, in the northern highlands. Oromo are also found in Kenya and Somalia (Hassan, 1991; Magersa, 1992). The Oromo believe in one Supreme Being, Waaqa, which literally means God (Bulcha, 2011; Legesse, 1973; Melba, 1988; Ta'a, 2006). Waaqa is the creator (uumaa) of all creatures (uumama) (Melba, 1988; Ta'a, 2006). Despite the introduction of Christianity and Islam into the Oromia, the indigenous religious practices are upheld. Traditional ceremonies, such as the annual Irreessaa(Irreechaa) festivals, the Oromo version of Thanksgiving, continue to be practiced. At present, the Irreessaa festival is gathering whereby Oromo people from different religious backgrounds participate in an all-encompassing event viewed as an identity marker shared by Oromo society (Wayessa, 2016). The Oromo practice a mixed economy. Cattle are widely bred both for symbolic and economic purposes. Symbolically, they serve as a source of prestige and a sign of Waaqa's blessing. Economically, cattle are a source of natural fertilizer and food; oxen serve as major draught animals in farming. In addition to cereal grains, tuber crops such as anchote, Oromo potatoes, yam, and taro, are widely cultivated. Coffee is the major cash crop in many regions of Oromia. Crafts, notably woodcarving, weaving, tanning, iron smelting and pottery-making, are also important in the society’s contemporary economy. Craft products are major sources of livelihood for the artisan society who have insufficient or no land to support their families’ needs. More important, craftwork, including pottery-making and basketry, assist rural artisan women in gaining partial independence from their husbands in meeting basic family needs. An inseparable 1 Department of Black Studies Email: wayessa.bula2009@gmail.com