Dancers from the Oromo Student Union perform a dance from the Karrayyuu tribe at the Oromo Night Showcase Friday. | Photo by Nolan Baker.

Tribal dances stole the show during Oromo Night

Student group keeps its heritage alive through performance, fashion, and food in the face of oppression.

By Nolan Baker and Leona Issak | Reporters

Dancers stood poised on the Carlson Family Stage ready to begin Karrayyuu, their first tribal dance of 13 they would showcase. Dressed in all white with a spotlight pointed on their smiling faces, they stand tall. The music starts and they begin to move in an organized and energetic dance as the crowd hoots and claps their support from the rows of about 200 audience members, all on their feet.

The Oromo Night Showcase in Northrop Auditorium Friday at 6 p.m. displayed Oromo culture by serving injera (a traditional Ethiopian flatbread), tribal dancing, and a fashion show that featured Oromo clothing. The Oromo Student Union, which sponsored the show, interjected between dances with an exposition highlighting the event’s importance to maintaining Oromo culture in America. The performers offered a poignant criticism of the American dream and how it often failed young immigrants who wanted to come to America on a promise of acceptance and opportunity.

“Prior to joining, I had literally thought Oromia was one big place, same culture everywhere around, but it turns out there’s so many sub regions, so many groups and dances and traditions.” –Biniam Tsegai, student dancer

“And so the journey begins with pain, a girl from the countryside of Oromia lost in a world too cold for her own. Already wishing for return,” a voice read over the speakers during a break between dances.

These breaks offered a time to reflect on the history of the Oromo people and their journey in America. They featured short skits of fictional Oromo characters facing different hardships including immigration, discrimination, and oppression.

The event comes at a time when numerous Black Student Unions have faced threats both locally and nationally. Black students at New York University received threats of violence following the killing of Charlie Kirk in August, according to The Guardian. The Oromo Student Union itself requested UMPD presence at its kickoff event, according to The Minnesota Daily. This presence had been requested due to a shooting at a Somali Student Association event. Additionally, a federal crackdown on immigration in Minneapolis has spread fear in communities across the city.

An audience waits in Northrop Auditorium for the Oromo Night Showcase to begin Friday. | Photo by Nolan Baker.

“My culture is more important than my fear but I have to stay for my grand kids,” a grandmother in the audience said. She stood talking and smiling with her husband and grandkids following the event. She declined to be named for fear of retribution from ICE.

Despite her fear, the decision to attend the event remained her top priority as she emphasized the importance of staying true to her culture despite oppression. She discussed how in Ethiopia the Oromo culture has been historically oppressed as smaller local groups like the Oromo became part of the culture of the Ethiopian Empire. She states that events like Oromo Night should be an opportunity to stand strong in the face of tyranny.

Biniam Tsegai, a freshman at Augsburg University studying Computer Science, is a first generation born American Eritrean dancer for the Oromo Student Union. He joined the showcase to dance with his friends, but it blossomed into something more.

“I didn’t really think much of the culture when I joined immediately,” Tsegai said. “But as time went on, I started to actually see a lot more of the culture, and I was actually exposed to it a lot more than I ever had been before. Prior to joining, I had literally thought Oromia was one big place, same culture everywhere around, but it turns out there’s so many sub regions, so many groups and dances and traditions.”

For the Oromo people in the crowd, the three hour performance was a tribute to history and heritage. In every shoulder dance, every whip of their hair, and every thread of traditional clothing. His sentiment was echoed by the grandmother in the audience, who stated: “Our culture only dies if we stop celebrating it.”