Sidama Religion 

Throughout Sidama history two groups of clans competed for political power. The first group is a minority, the Yemericho which includes eight clans who were the first settlers of their present Ethiopian territory around Lake Hawassa after the Oromos drove them from their home province of Bali around the Dawa River in the early 16th century. The second group forms a majority, the Aletta which includes twelve clans. Clans in Sidama occupy distint territories, and their leaders constantly waged war on each other. Spirit possession occurs among the Sidama. Anthropologists surmise that spirit possession is a form of compensation for being deprived within Sidama society. The majority of the possessed are women whose spirits demand luxury goods to alleviate their deprived condition, but men can be possessed as well. Possessed individuals of both genders can become healers, a side effect of their possessed states. Anthropologists also suggest that this is a form of compensation among marginalized men in the deeply competitive society of the Sidama. If a man cannot gain prestige as an orator, warrior, or farmer, he may still gain prestige as a spiritual healer. Women are sometimes accused of faking possession, but, interestingly, the men never are.