| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 13,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Ethiopia | |
| Languages | |
| Kwama | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam |
TheKwama (also calledGwama andKomo), are aNilo-Saharan-speaking community living in the Sudanese-Ethiopian borderland, mainly in theMao-Komo special woreda of theBenishangul-Gumuz Region inEthiopia. They belong, culturally and linguistically, to theKoman groups, which include neighboring communities such as theUduk, Koma, andOpuuo. Although they traditionally occupied a larger territory, they have been forced to move to marginal, lowland areas by theOromo from the 18th century onwards. In some villages Kwama, Oromo andBerta live together. The Kwama are often called "Mao" by other groups, especially by the Oromo. The people who live in the southern area and near the Sudanese borderland often call themselves "Gwama" and use the term "Kwama" to refer to those living further to the south and in Sudan. These other "Kwama" are usually known by anthropologists as Koma or Komo (Theis 1995). In recent years, many people belonging to this ethnic group have been resettled by the Ethiopian state in order to provide them with clinics and schools.
The Kwama areswidden cultivators. Their staple food issorghum, with which they make beer (calledshwe orshul depending on the dialect) and porridge (pwash orfash). They also hunt (mostly duiker and warthog), fish, and gather honey. They drink sorghum beer communally with drinking straws from a large pot. Marriage was traditionally bysister exchange, although this custom is now receding.[1] The Kwama are divided into clans, some of which are also divided into sub-clans. It is not allowed to marry a woman or a man from one's own clan.Polygyny is widespread. They have ritual specialists and rainmakers (sid mumun andsid bish), who perform divination and healing ceremonies in huts calledswal shwomo. These often have a characteristic bee-hive shape, which is very typical of this ethnic group. For that reason, the Kwama refer to their traditional houses asswal kwama, "swal" meaning "house". Vinigi Grotanelli describes some of them in his study of the Mao (Grottanelli 1940).
The Kwama mainly adhere to Islam andanimist traditional beliefs.[2][3]