A HISTORY OF THE RASTAFARIAN COMMUNITY IN SHASHEMENE

ABSTRACT Rastafarian is one of the world-wide movements return into Ethiopia beginning from the 1950s, due to the Marcus Grave"s ideological back to Africa. This paper deals with a history of Rastafarian community in Shashemene from the period of settlement up to present day. Moreover, the thesis intends to fill the existing gap by analyzing some of the factors and actors in the Rastafarian settlement of the Shashemene. The thesis also further attempts to study the interaction with local society and reconstruct the social, cultural and religious history of Rastafarian community. The data organization was conducted through systematic collections and analysis of both primary and secondary sources using qualitative methods of data collection. In the course of the Rastafarian settlement of Shashemene several factors were accounted for early rise Rastafarian movement with the Marcus Garvey of Jamaica. Rastafarians community in Shashemene that received less attention by Ethiopians. This encourages me to study. Therefore this research goals at examining and promote the history of Rastafarians and as well as their identity. Cultural similarity between Rastafarian and the neighboring local communities was one of dynamic factors for the integration into this area. In addition to this, at its early diffusion, Rastafarian tolerates the pre-existing culture of the gradually converted local people. In recent years, various reformist African scholars made their appearance. They have strongly criticized the mixing of Africa with the sum of Africa indigenous African culture and religion. The intention of the thesis is to critically document this historical process based on reliable sources.