Over the last few years, there has been a paradigm shift in Ethiopian studies.The reorientation towards social and cultural history has triggered a frenzy of ethnographic researches on societies living in southern Ethiopia.Nonetheless,a detailed and comprehensive study on marginalized minorities of the region is still pending.By analyzing an indepth ethnographic and historical data,this book aspires to fill the gap.This analysis should help shed light on aspects of social stratification and should be especially helpful to interested anthropologists,Ethiopianists,local policy makers,governmental and non governmental development agencies,or anyone else who wants to inquire into the dynamics social diffeentation in southwestern Ethiopia.