Indigenous Climate Knowledge as Reflected in the Folk Narratives of the Forest–dependent Oromo Society, around the Bale Mountains
Abstract
A folk narrative of every society embodies various perspectives of indigenous knowledge. The purpose of this study is to unearth ecological indigenous knowledge as reflected in the folk narratives of the Oromo society. The analysis of this research is based on the African perspectives or worldviews towards nature. More specifically, the study is concerned with the practices of indigenous knowledge related to climate and seasonal fluctuations in the folk narratives of forest-dependent Bale Oromo. An attempt was made to find out the local knowledge that the people draw from the interconnections of human and nature. As far as the major finding of the research is concerned, the aspects of climate indigenous knowledge are experiential and are based on the society’s relationship with plants and animals or the physical environment. Unlike many societies’ taxonomy of seasons, i.e., four seasons, the Bale Oromo society practices five classifications of seasons. Moreover, this research examines the folk narratives related to indigenous climate knowledge and identifies the significances of ecological indigenous knowledge that the local people structure and reflect in various representations.
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