Traditionally Macha hardly move below 1500 meters above sea level, since there is a risk of sleeping sickness and malaria would exist[citation needed].
The Macha came in the second half of the 16th Century as part of the general expansion of the Oromo in the area south of the Blue Nile.
The Macha originally had a common Gadaa system with Tulama whose center (chaffe) was south of present-day Addis Ababa.
But in the late 16th century, Macha established their own Gadaa with chaffe in Odaa Bilii / Tute Bisil upper Gibe Valley.
In 1963 , Macha and Tulama Self-Help Association was established mainly by Oromo, but also by members of other ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia.