Majang people

The Majang people, or Majangir, live in southwestern Ethiopia and speak a Nilo-Saharan language of the Surmic cluster.

They live around cities of Tepi, Mett'i, and scattered southwest of Mizan Teferi and towards Gambela.

They traditionally lived in small groups, farming for three to five years, then moving on as the fertility of the soil diminished (Stauder 1971).

They were active bee keepers, collecting honey from hives consisting of hollowed logs placed in trees.

The Majangir traditionally made two kinds of alcoholic drink: one from grain "tááján" (cf.

In addition, they play a vertically suspended marimba with as few as three wooden bars, but this is seen as a way of passing time, especially when guarding fields, rather than an instrument for music.

Further, since the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in 1991, with its subsequent remapping of Ethiopia by ethnic lines, the Majangir have felt very marginalized politically, their territory now divided among three kalil or administrative Regions (Sato 2000 and 2002).

Traditional toom instrument
Title page of the New Testament in the Majang language, 2018
Traditional powaz mallet and wedge made of Baphia abyssinica wood.