ORIGINS AND TRANSFORMATION OF THE HAMINA SONG-MENDICANT TRADITION

Abstract

The Hamina are a group of people who are practicing song-mendicancy in order to ward off debilitating physical impacts of leprosy coming down from a legendary leper ancestor. Leprosy is an age-old scourge of humanity with an unrestrained power of shaping human identities including identities in Ethiopia. Its age-old prevalence, mysterious pathology and dreadful physical impacts helped leprosy to secure a special place in the Ethiopian traditions throughout history. This paper intends to examine the social history of the Hamina with parallel evaluations of medical, social, economic, political and cultural changes that occurred in twentieth-century Ethiopia.