FUming Pilgrimage to Ya'a<1>: Toward a Participatory Filmmaking
YASUO MATSUN.AMI<2> and MINAKO ISHIHARA
Nanzan University

Ya'a, an Oromo village located in Beni Shangul and Gumuz Regional State in Ethiopia, is
one of the most significant Muslim pilgrimage centers in Ethiopia. Ya'a became a pilgrimage
center when a Tijani shaykh,AI-Faki Ahmad Umar, died there in 1953. This article is about theprocess of making the film titled Pilgrimage to Ya'a. Matsunami, the filmmaker, participated in
the pilgrimage ritual and involved the residents ofYa'a in making the film. We describe how
Matsunami accompanied a group of pilgrims traveling on foot and how the festival performedat Ya'a was organized by the residents. The film was screened at Ya'a in October 2007, and we
also detail how the viewers, the residents ofYa'a, reacted to the film. This study reconsiders thecollaborative approach to making ethnographic films and examines the possibility of a participatory filmmaking.
Keywords: Oromo, participatory filmmaking, pilgrimage, Tijaniya, Ya'a

1. INTRODUCTION
Ya'a, located on the western fringe near the Sudan border, is one of the most significant Muslim
pilgrimage centers in Ethiopia {]abo 1988). While pilgrimage customs in Ethiopia share certain
commonalities (Pankhurst 1994), each pilgrimage center has some distinctive characteristics closely
associated with the personality and contributions of the founder and the cultural and historical background of the center (Eade and Sallnow 2000). The film Pilgrimage to Ya'a focuses on the pilgrimage
ritual to Ya'a, the reasons people conduct the pilgrimage, and how and why the festival is organized
as it is at Ya'a.
Eade and Sallnow, in ·their critical essay on the contested features of sacred centers and the performance of pilgrimage, asserted that researchers should focus on the diverse perceptions and discourses
concerning the pilgrimage and the pilgrimage center, and on how the pilgrimage center (re)produces
its 'sacredness' through exchanges between human beings and the divine (2000: 26-27). This article
examines how Pilgrimage to Ya'a focuses on the diverse perceptions of those participating in the pilgrimage, the film's creation in collaboration with those concerned in the ritual practice, and how thefilm was received by the organizers and residents ofYa'a pilgrimage center.
Matsunami, the filmmaker, not only took part in the pilgrimage ritual but also involved pilgrimage participants in the filmmaking process and sought opinions from these participants by collecting
their feedback. In this respect, he took a collaborative approach to the making of the film Pilgrimage
to Ya'a.
The history of collaborative filmmaking can be traced back to Robert Flaherty's work in the 1920s.
Flaherty's Nanook of the North (1922) was a challenging work aimed at capturing the lives of the
Nanook people using their own viewpoints. This was accomplished, as he later reported, throughNilo-Ethiopian Studies 13:33-46 (2009)

Copyright© 2009.Japan Association for Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

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intensive discussions with local Nanook following the screening of footage and by planning together
what and how he should shoot next (Flaherty 1950).
In the early 1960s, an improvement in filming technology brought about the reduction in the sizeof filming equipment. This enabled filmmakers to be more 'objective' in the sense that the process offilming exerted a somewhat lesser effect on the activities of the people in front of the camera. Later,
this type of films came to be known as 'observational style films' (MacDougall1975).
However, Jean Rouch, a contemporary to this trend, took a different approach. His Chronique d'unitt (Chronicle of a Summer) (1961) was inspired by the idea of Flaherty's collaborative filmmaking.
In this film, a scene set in Paris shows the film's producer and its subjects discussing the film itsel£
Rouch's interest was in sharing the authority over filmmaking with the subjects. Rouch commented
as follows:"It is this permanent 'Ethno-dialogue' which appears to me to be one of the most interestingangles in the current progress of ethnography. Knowledge is no longer a stolen secret, devouredin the Western temples of knowledge; it is the result of endless quest where ethnographers andthose whom they study are on a path which some of us now call 'shared anthropology"' (Rouch
1971: 7).
Although 'shared anthropology' has been held to be problematic as too idealistic for scientific research(MacDougall2006), many filmmakers have been influenced by Rouch's conception. These include
Sarah Elder and Leonard Kamering, whose well-known early-1970s Alaskan Heritage Fum Projectis a remarkable example (Elder 1995).
Rouch and Flaherty's attempts to capture the world from the 'natives' point of view' motivated
Sol Worth and John Adair in the 1970 production of their Navajo Film Project. In this film project,some Navajo participants were taught how to use the camera and then left to self-produce their own
films without the intervention ofWestern ideological precepts (Worth and Adair 1972). This projectstimulated a worldwide trend in indigenously-made films (Aufderheid 1995, Turner 1990).
The collaborative approach to filmmaking was adopted as a criticism against the observational
approach. The observational approach implies studying people as objects, whereas the collaborative
approach implies working with people, attempting to understand and represent their points of viewand experience (Pink 2006 ). Bank also criticized the observational approach, remarking that "swooping god-like into other people's lives and gathering 'data' according to a predetermined theoretical
agenda strikes me as not simply morally dubious but intellectually flawed" (Banks 2001: 179).
Pilgrimage to Ya'a takes the collaborative stance in the sense that the filmed interviews were notconducted by the producers of the film, but rather by the participants themselves. The interviewers
were not 'translators' who merely transmit the questions of the filmmaker to the interviewees in theirown language. Instead, they formulated questions that both they and their interviewees deemedmeaningful and appropriate, thus setting a collaborative and positive tone for the film. In this sense,
the filmmaking process is 'participatory.' Although Matsunami was behind the camera directing theshots, the interviewers stood next to him, and selected both the interviewees and the questions. In
this respect, the stance taken here is close to that in indigenously-made films. However, Matsunami's
filmmaking approach is distinguishable in that the presence of the filmmaker (Matsunami), despite
his invisibility, is recognizable in the reactions of the people to cameras and to foreigners. Matsunami
is not 'invisible' as expected in observational films; he is making the film together with his assistants,
both pilgrims and local residents.

2. YA'AAS POLGRIMAGE CENTER
Ya'a is one of the nodal centers of the 'Tijjani Cult' (Ishihara 2007), a regional branch of the Tijaniya
Order<3> introduced in western Ethiopia in the first half of the twentieth century.

MATSUNAMI and ISHIHARA: Filming Pilgrimage to Ya'a

35

Ya'a became a pilgrimage center when a Tijani shaykh from Bomo (Nigeria), AI-Faki Ahmad
U mar, died there in 1953 (Ishihara 1997). A mausoleum was built, and people {mainly Oromo) who
revered AI-Faki Ahmad Umar settled around the mausoleum, forming a village in the midst oflandsparsely inhabited by Nilo-Saharan peoples, including the Mao, Komo, and Berta.
The population of the Ya'a mausoleum village was estimated at around 1,000<4>, mainly consistingof Muslim Oromo settlers from Western Ethiopia, i.e., Illubabor,Jimma, and Western WaiHi.ga. The
residents of Ya'a are responsible for maintaining the mausoleum and the facilities associated with
it. The residents, organized under the Mosque Committee, also receive and attend to pilgrims, who
customarily visit the mausoleum on one or more of the annual Muslim festivals, i.e., the Arafa ('fdal-'Adha'), the Mawlid (Mawlid an-Nabi), and the Mi'raj. The particularity of the pilgrimage to Ya'a
resides in the interaction between the residents and the pilgrims, which is closely related to the lifeand deeds of AI-Faki Ahmad Umar.
Reasons for conducting the pilgrimage to Ya'a are diverse. Some pilgrims go to Ya'a to fulfill theirvotive offerings (nazri), and others go to Ya'a because they have troubles of their own, often personalillness or the illness of a close relative. They have in common their reverence or love for AI-Faki
Ahmad Umar. The veneration of A/-Faki, sustained by multiple dimensions of the 'Tijjani Cult,' stillretains its vigor despite the creeping influences of reformist assertions against such religious customs
and attitudes (Ishihara 1996).
At the beginning of January 2006, a week before the celebration of Arafa, Matsunami accompanied a group of pilgrims traveling on foot to Ya'a to experience the troubles they encountered and toinquire why they chose to accomplish their pilgrimage on foot< 5>.
Before the all-weather road connecting Ya'a to the arterial road was constructed in 2002-3, Ya'a
was only accessible to pilgrims traveling on foot. However, the construction of the road had a considerable influence not only on the daily lives of residents ofYa'a, but also on the pilgrimage itsel£ The
population of pilgrims increased considerably<6>, and a majority of the pilgrims began using charteredbuses and trucks, and only a handful of people still conduct their pilgrimage on foot< 7>.
Matsunami chose to film the pilgrims who travelled on foot (Matsunami 2006). By joining in andsharing the fatigue of accomplishing the pilgrimage on foot himself, he established personal relationships with the pilgrims that enabled him to gain an insider's viewpoint.
The film also shows how residents ofYa'a interact with the pilgrims, exchanging sacred elements'(re)produced' at Ya'a. The distribution of sacred elements represented in the feasting ceremony is a
climactic moment in the ritual process of pilgrimage at Ya'a. The sacred elements are (re)producedby the residents, who are mainly hard-working agriculturalists, along with some talented engineers.
They regard themselves as servants (khadim) of AI-Faki, bearing the responsibility of serving the pilgrims in the same way the servants of AI-Faki had done in his lifetime. AI-Faki Ahmad Umar was
known for his generosity, and meals offered free of charge for his guests symbolically represent thisquality. The consumption of the meals distributed during Muslim festivals is a highlight event of thepilgrimage, during which the sacred elements produced by the residents are distributed and 'embodied' by the pilgrims, who, in turn, bless the residents for their labor.

3. FILMING THE PILGRIMAGE PROCESS
3.1. Encountering Pilgrims
Matsunami started his trip with his assistant, Seifu Abba Madad, at Chanka, the site of the intersection of the northward road to Ya'a and the main arterial road (Fig. 1). At Chanka, they encountereda group of 10 Oromo pilgrims traveling on foot from Dabo (Illubabor). The pilgrims, half of them
women, consented to his request to join them and agreed to be filmed as they traveled on foot (Fig.
2). The main reason they were traveling on foot was financial. A one-way trip to Ya'a from ~qe cancost as much as 50 binJ..s). The pilgrims traveling on foot due to financial constraints told Matsunamithat they would opt for a ride if they were offered free trips. Some others, in contrast, were traveling36

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies• Place and date of stay

(dd/mmlyy)

Fig. l . Thc pilgrimage route from ~qe to Ya'a
(From a Landsat satellite photograph)Fig. 2. Pilgrims traveling on footon foot because they had vowed to do so. They either had promised to come to Ya'a on foot after theirprayers were answered, or they had difficult problems yet to be solved.
3.2. 7he Process ofPilgrimage
Matsunami accompanied the party of pilgrims from ~qe to Ya'a, a trip that took six days (Fig. 1).
They spent their nights at the residences of followers of the 'Tijjani Cult' living along the pilgrimage
route to Ya'a. Most pilgrims brought along grain from home to be made into bread known as injiiraon their way. At local mills, they ground the grain and asked their hosts cook the flour into inj iira.
Some pilgrims brought loaves of bread from home. Customarily the hosts invited them to homemade stew, to be served with the injiira. The pilgrims took turns sharing what they brought from
home, and they invited Matsunami and his assistant to join in the meal they shared. The pilgrims also
carried roasted and g round coffee beans, a kettle, a small kerosene lamp, and other personal belongings, all wrapped in pieces of cloth.
Pilgrims walked as much as 20 to 30 km per day, without hurrying. Because the g roup included oldmen, women, and even young mothers carrying babies on their backs, they proceeded at a slow pace.
When one of them lagged behind, the other members waited for him/her to catch up. The pilgri ms
Matsunarni accompanied had come from a single neighborhood, and they continued to stick together
during their stay at Ya'a and on their journey back home. This was probably considered importantbecause the journey was full of danger and they needed to depend on one another.
The pilgrims usually got up at six o'clock in the morning. They normally had bread for breakfast,

MATSUNAMI and ISHIHARA: Filming Pilgrimage to Ya'a37

sometimes accompanied by some fruit bought the day before. lf a river or a well happened to be
nearby, they prepared coffee using their kettles. While they traveled, they regularly conducted their
obligatory prayers three times a day: before they set out on their day's trip in the morning, after theyfinished their lunch at noon (Fig. 3), and before they went to sleep. They usually walked until three orfour o'clock in the afternoon. They never walked after dusk, for fear of hyenas and robbers.
The group consisted of men and women, young and old. The oldest was a woman 70 years of age,
who was on her thirteenth trip to Ya'a on foot; the youngest were two 14-year-old girls who weregoing to Ya'a for the first time. The two gi rls were traveling with their mothers, who had vowed totake them to Ya'a when their daughters had recovered from severe illnesses. Most members of thegroup were experienced pilgrims who knew which route was best, where the rivers and wells werelocated, where weekly markets were held, and where they could find followers of the cult to provide
them wi th shelter and food. Such information was directly transmitted to the younger generationaccompanying them on the trip.
Although the group was traveling according to plan, on the third day out from Qgqe, they wereunable to reach their intended destination. As a matter of fact, this was because Matsunami, overwhelmed by exhaustion, could not continue any fart her on the day's journey. This indicates that pilgrims were beginning to regard him not as an outsider, but as a fellow pilgrim. At dusk, they reacheda smallholding just outside the town, the planned destination of that day. They asked the owner of
one of the houses if they could spend the night outside on the veranda. The host, a Christian Oromo
who knew about AI-Faki Ahmad Umar by name, consented to their request, and gave them somefruit. Being a professional miisinqo (one-stringed violin) player, the host began practicing his miisinqo
in the house in resonance with the rhythmical manzumns (religious verses) and dzi'd'(supplication)that the pilgrims chanted in the twilight darkness outside while chewing cat (Catha edulis).
On the fifth day, the party arrived at Kobor, a town located 20 km from Ya'a. This was the final
nigh t of their journey. Many of the Oromo residents of Kobor were members of the Cult, and thistown was where all pilgrims traveling on foot customarily spent their last night before entering Ya'a.
The night was spent at a lodge (locally called khalwa) owned by an individual belonging to the C ult.
The lodge was specifically built to serve as a rest house for the pilgrims to Ya'a. The owner invited theparty to dinner and told us about his family and how the pilgrimage used to take place even during'wartime' in the 1980s<9>.
At seven the next morning, the party left Kobor. The group encountered several other pilgrims
heading for Ya'a, because this road was the only way there. People were readily recognized as pilgrims
because of their possessions, including large packages and tape recorders.
At a small village called Gure, where the pathway leading to Ya'a diverged from the road to Tongo,
every pilg rim underwent inspection by the police. The policemen asked all pilgrims to show theirFig. 3. Prayer on the roadside at noon

Fig. 4. Pilgrims rejoicing over the arrival of otherpilgrims

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ID cards and the contents of their baggage. One of the pilgrims had a dagger in his bag, which had
been entrusted to him by a passerby who asked him to take the dagger to Ya'a as a votive offering.
However, the dagger was confiscated by the police for security reasons.
Mter passing the checkpoint, pilgrims became livelier than before, chanting the customary
manzuma, expressing their veneration to Al-Faki Ahmad Umar and the Prophet Muhammad. Mter
leaving Gure, the party was overtaken by three buses heading for Ya'a, sounding their horns as theypassed by.
On entering Ya'a, pilgrims welcomed those just arriving, chanting manzumas. The welcoming
circle gradually expanded, stirring up clouds of dust. At the end of the manzuma, the Sa/tit al-Ftitih,
the central litany of the Tijaniya, was recited by all those present, and then everyone exchanged greetings, kissing the back of one another's hands and hugging one another (Fig. 4). This was a climactic
moment suggestive of Victor Turner's concept of'communitas' (1969).

4. FILMING THE RITUAL PERFORMANCES ATY.NA
4.1. Preparations for the Festival at Ya'a

When Matsunami reached Ya'a with his group, two days were left before Arafa was celebrated.
Matsunami and his assistant went to stay at the residence of Musa Ahmad, to whom he had alreadybeen introduced by Ishihara, a colleague who had conducted research at Ya'a since 1994. The restof the members of the party took shelter in the 'Dakil' (Fig. 5), the mosque customarily used forThursday hadral.to>, where they found over 200 pilgrims already taking shelter. Early pilgrims had
reached Ya'a a week beforehand and the shelters were already crowded.
The next day was the eve of Arafa, and it was celebrated with much enthusiasm. At night, thefeasting was to take place. The preparation of this ritual feast was conducted according to plans laidout long before the festival. The residents ofYa'a cooperated to cultivate the crops necessary to entertain the prospective guests and pilgrims. They collaborated in preparing the meals for the ritual feast,building temporary shelters, and mending and cleaning the mosque and waterways for ablutions.
The preparation began with the production of crops. Harvested sorghum and maize were stored
in the warehouse owned by the Mosque Committee. The crop was ground by the 'children of the

To Tsotsola.............. '................ 0

/

1

I

----- '

Place of'camama I prayer I/

A rock....
....

••• Bush,. · Acca:londat ion' -' for pi l&rii:IS

A: IIana Kcoa~~~J:Da

a: IIana Geta
c: Kudha-lsm
D: Cita dashi
E: Gaiboba
F: llcna Nokclllto

To the entrance of Ya' a

Fig. 5. Layout of the mausoleum village ofYa'a

MATSUNAMI and ISHIHARA: Filming P ilgrimage to Ya'a

39

Fig. 6. Residents preparing temporary shelters

mosque'<tt) about two weeks before the festivals and distributed to the residents to be cooked into
injiira.
Floured sorghum and maize was distributed to every household about a week before the festival.
Normally, women baked the injiiras individually at home and men slaughtered the sacrificial beasts,
cooking them into stews. The cooked injiira was collected and stored again i.n one of the warehouses of the Mosque Committee. The necessary amount of injiira was estimated from the amountconsumed in the festival held the previous year. Based on this calculation, the Mosque Committee
determined the amount of flour to be allotted to each household. For the Arafa festival held thisyear, each household was directed to prepare around 30 to 50 pieces of injiira. There being about 200
households in Ya'a, tllis amounted to a total of six to 10 thousand pieces.
Preparations for the pilgrimage also included construction of temporary shelters, a toilet, and ashower room. Most of the temporary accommodations were constructed volun tarily by communal
labor (kidma<12>) on the last Thursday preceding the festival (Fig. 6).
'TI1ere were also some permanent accommodations for pilgri ms in the village (Fig. 5). These accommodations had names, such as Mana Keessumma (or Adarash) (literally meaning 'house of guests'),
Mana Nekemte (house of Nekemte), Mana Geta (the lord's house), Kudha-lama (literally meaning'twelve,' which indicates the number of rooms), and Gomboba. Each had the sheltering capacity of
about one to two hundred people. Normally these permanent accommodations were occupied bywealthy pilgri ms during the festivals. Among these permanent accommodations there was a compact but seemingly cozy hut called Cita Dashi, which was only allotted to prominent descendants of
AI- Faki Ahmad Umar< 13>.
4.2. Rituals Conducted on the Day before the Festival
Most pilgrims arrived at Ya'a on the day before the Arafa. These pilgrims were mainly those who
used chartered buses and large vehicles, and had therefore traveled according to schedule. Over 10
vehicles arrived that day, in contrast to the three that had arrived earlier. TI1ese buses came from avariety of places, including Addis Ababa, Gondar, Bambesi, Asosa, Gimbi, and Nekemte. Trucks alsoarrived fro m short distances away, such as Asosa and Torigo. Those using vehicular transportation
were mostly those able to afford the fare, but even these relatively wealthy pilgrims apparently also
had their own personal reasons for making the pilgrimage.
The pilgrims spent the day enjoying reunions with friends and shopping at the mar ketplace. Mostof the sellers were local Mao and Komo peasants, but there were also Oromo merchants from nearby
towns and merchants from Sudan selli ng medical herbs and minerals, perfumes, and dried fish. The
merchants were seated under the line of mango trees along the main road dividing the village in half
(Fig. 5). C hildren were also selling food such as corn, bananas, oranges, pineapples, mangos, andpapayas. Merchants sold merchandise in local suqs (kiosks), such as soap, incense, sugar, matches,
packets of tea, and razor blades.

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Cat, incense, coffee, sugar, and matches were indispensable items for performing the hadra. Cat, an
important cash crop for the residents ofYa'a, was sold by the children ofYa'a. The income gained byselling cat reaches about 200 bin per household for one festival. This equals a month's income fromcat during ordinary periods.
Pilgrims dedicate their votive offerings at Mana Nazri (the lodge for votive offerings), a small
lodge located on the left side of the main pathway (Fig. 5). One of the residents stood in charge, and,after listening to the pilgrims' reasons for the offering, conducted the du 'ti' on behalf of the supplicant.
Mter the du'ii', he accepted the offerings, in most cases consisting of one or two packets of incense
sticks<14>.
Some pilgrims brought along cattle and sheep for votive offerings. These offerings were brought
not to the Mana Nazri, but directly to the area where sacrificial slaughtering took place. Four or fiveresidents, all men, were stationed here to accept the offerings and to perform tl1e du'ii' on behalf oftl1e pilgrims. They were in charge of slaughtering the cattle and preparing stews with the meat. 1hestews were to be served to the pilgrims with injara for dinner. The enormous amount of stew wascooked outdoor in halved oil drums.
1l1ere were also a number of Christian pilgrims coming from Gojjam and Asosa. These pilgrims
were not served this stew; instead, they were given chicken or sheep to slaughter and cook on theirown.
During the day and into the evening, pilgrims gathered for hadras in groups of people from thesame village or district. Each group shared their cat, making supplications to God and occasionallysummoning the intercession ofAI-Faki Ahmad Umar.
At eight in the evening, one of the residents made an announcement urging the pilgrims to returnto their seats so that the meal could be served. 1his was the climactic moment of the festival, aspectacular event in which the interaction between the pilgrims and the residents reached a climax.
M usa g uided Matsunami through the dark, showing him where and how the meal was distributed.
Those residents in charge of distributing the meal queued up for injam to be piled on their plates
and for tl1e stew to be poured on top. 1hen, these residents, each carrying a large plate of injara overtheir shoulders, dispersed among the crowd of pilgrims in order to distribute the meal (Fig. 7). These
residents took great care so that every pilgrim had a share in the meal, making sure that no one wasleft out or served twice. 1l1e pilgrims started their meal with the usual saying, "bismi/liihi ar-rahmiiniar-rahim," and ended with their thanks to God and by reciting the Sa/tit ai-Ftitih. Mter reciting thisverse, every pilgrim took a portion of the leftover pieces of the meal with his or her hands, clearing
the plate. The pilgrims claim that the remnants, over which they conducted the du 'ti' and recited theSa/tit ai-Ftitib, are charged witl1 the baraka (blessing) offered by the pilgrims. Making sure that eachgroup had finished their meal, the residents collected the empty plates. The plates were carried to thewarehouse of the Mosque Committee, where the residents, mainly women and girls belonging to the'children of the mosque,' washed the dishes.

Fig. 7. Plates of injiira with stew ready to be distributed to pilgrims

MATSUNAMI and I SHIHARA: Ftlming Pilgrimage to Ya'a

41

After the meal, the pilgrims returned to their hadra gatherings. Pilgrims chewed cat as they chanted
the marzzuma and conducted the du'ti'. The hadra continued until daybreak.
4.3 . 7he A raja Ceremony

On the day of the Arafa, many residents and pilgrims got up early in the morning to wash themselvesin the river. Men gathered upstream while women gathered downstream in a bushy space relatively
hidden fro m view. At around seven o'clock, pilgrims had breakfast. Ordinary pilgrims were notserved breakfast by the Ya'a residents, but shared what they had in groups. Some made do with somefruits or locally baked bread sold in the morning markets. In contrast, breakfast was served to thedescendants ofA I-Faki Ahmad Umar and special guests, who had spent the night separately either inthe Mana Geta, Mana Keessumma, or Cita D ashi.
At half-past eight in the morning, residents including elderly shaykhs (religious leaders), gathered
at Khalwa Abba Qoro (the prayer lodge of Abba Qoro(l 5l). A microphone and amplifier had been prepared for the communal prayer. The residents headed by SharifSalih<16l led the pilgrims in a queue
to the open field at the northern side of the village, reciting "Allahu akbar (Allah is great), Allahu
akbar,Allahu akbar, /a-i/tiha-illalltih (There is no god but Allah)." Upon arriving at the field, they sat
down side-by-side forming lengthy parallel lines (Fig. 8), turning their backs to the village and facing
northward, the direction of M ecca. The group ofwomen positioned themselves behi nd the men. The
imam ofYa'a sat in front of the lines to guide the prayer. The prayer was conducted in the same way
as the Friday prayer, i.e., by performing two rak'as. After the prayers, the imam turned around toward
the people, preaching in Arabic.
When the imam finished preaching, the people stood up and slowly started to return to the village.
On their way back, many pilgrims stopped by a large rock, about three meters in height, just at thenorthern edge of the village. From the top of this rock there is a good view of the whole village siteofYa'a. When A/-Faki Ahmad Umar first came here, he is said to have conducted his prayer on topof this rock and pointed out the location where his khafwa should be built. Because of this tradition,
many pilgrims customarily kiss the rock and perform their prayers on it. Over the years, this practicehas resulted in the creation of three shiny, shallow holes, indicating where the knees and fo rehead
should be placed.
At around ten o'clock, as soon as they finished packing their belongings, pilgrims rushed for thebuses and trucks stationed at the entrance of the village. Each vehicle had a distinct destination, andthe pilgrims chose the most suitable one while the drivers revved their engines. At half-past ten, thefirst bus left Ya'a. At the same time, those pilgrims traveling on foot also left Ya'a. Whether thosepeople leaving Ya'a on foot traveled all the way back to their home village without other transportation could not be verified because some pilgrims who left Ya'a on foot could take advantage of public
transportation at Cure.

Fig. 8. Communal prayer in the open field42

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

Fig. 9. The Rauda mosqueFig. 10. Pilgrims supplicating to AI-Faki Ahmad
Umar inside the mausoleum

Before they left Ya'a, some pilgrims performed the ziyiira (visitation) at the mausoleum ofAI-Faki
Ahmad Umar to bid farewell. 1he mausoleum is located on the northern side of the Rauda mosque(Fig. 9). Inside the mausoleum, the pilgrims bowed and kissed the walls of the tomb, murmuringin supplication to AI-Faki, some even shedding tears (Fig. 10). In contrast to the bustle outside, theatmosphere inside the mausoleum was one of tranquility. Many pilgrims lit incense sticks and leftthem at the entrance or just beyond the tomb.
At the watering facility inside the compound of the Rauda mosque, many pilgrims queued to fill
their water jugs with zamzam (holy water). Almost every pilgrim carried some zamzam back home
for medicinal use.
Just as the pilgrims began their journey back home, men and women of the Nilo-Saharan peoples including Mao, Komo, and Berta residing in villages surrounding Ya'a suddenly appeared ingroups, creating a commotion of music and songs. It was now their turn to celebrate the festival at
Ya'a. They sang their original manzumas in their own languages, accompanied by traditional music
made with instruments including various lengths of wooden horns, drums, and iron cymbals. The
Oromo pilgrims seemed to welcome their performance, and some even tape-recorded their music andmanzumas. One of the rich pilgrims blessed them, offering 100 birr to the leader of the group for
their performance. This performance went on for between two and three hours.
At midnight, the last bus, heading directly for Addis Ababa, left Ya'a with about 30 rich pilgrims
on board. After this, there remained only a small number of pilgrims at Ya'a, who left for their homes
on foot.

5. FILMMAKING AS A RELIGIOUS DEED
Being accompanied by a foreigner with a video camera was quite a new experience for the pilgrims,
and it took some time for the pilgrims to become used to the presence ofMatsunami and his camera.
However, recognizing that his motivations were firm and seeing him refuse a ride offered by a truck
driver, although he was suffering from fatigue, they gradually accepted him as a fellow pilgrim. Theycame to think of his work as having a religious motivation. Regarded as such, the pilgrims began
to feel comfortable revealing their personal backgrounds and motives for joining the pilgrimage infront of the camera. The interviews were conducted by Seifu Abba Madad, a pilgri m serving as
Matsunami's assistant, who knew what kind of questions were meaningful and appropriate to ask.
The presence ofSeifu helped Matsunami intermingle with the pilgrims and allowed the interviewees
to feel more relaxed in answering questions.
At Ya'a, 1\llatsunami had received permission from the Mosque Committee to film the rituals, on

MATSUNAI\tli and ISHIHARA: Fuming Pilgrimage to Ya'a

43

Fig. 11. Residents watching Pilgrimage to Ya'a at Ya'a

condition that he refrain from taking certain shots that were considered unacceptable for religious
reasons. This 'acceptability' included criteria of their own making aimed at avoiding criticism fromthe Islamic reformist movement (locally called Wahabiya). One of main criticisms of the Cult madeby the Wahabiya is that hadra gatherings are immoral occasions at which both sexes intermingle;
therefore, the Mosque Committee told Matsunami not to take shots of the hadra at the festival. A
resident ofYa'a, Musa Ahmad, was always at his side facilitating the shooting and informing him
where he should take pictures and which questions should be addressed to whom.
On October 13,2007, on the eve of'Id al-Fitr, Pilgrimage to Ya'a was screened at Ya'a (Fig. 11). Ya'a
had recently installed a hydroelectric system and a resident owned a 14-inch television and a SonyDVD player. At midnight, Matsunami, with the support of the Mosque Committee, set up the TV
and DVD player in Gomboba, the biggest building available in Ya'a. About 100 men and boys filled
the shelter0 7>. The audience seemed to be impressed by the film, and kept silent when it ended. Musa,
acting as chairman, opened the discussion as follows:
Musa: ...Now, the film has ended. And I have questions for you all, Khadims. The film that you
have just seen is a report about you. He wants to show this film in the land of foreigners.
Now he is asking your permission.
Hajj Mahmud: Hey, Khadims! H e is asking all of you. Asking permission of you all.
Khadims: (nodding and whispering approval among themselves)
Hajj: Fine! Your work is a Khidma (voluntary service)! Your work is a Khidma! Our faith issatisfied. Watching the film and listening to it, we are satisfied. We permit it. Let this film
be shown everywhere in the world. L et's recite the Sa/tit ai-Fatih!
Hajj & Khadims: (Recite the Sa/at ai-Fatih)
Although Matsunami expected a heated discussion of the film, almost none occurred, and Hajj
Muhammad, the imam, commented on the film's representing the voices of the residents. Evaluating
the film and filmmaking of the pilgrimage as a khidma (volunteer work), he reframed the film in a
religious context, which was more familiar to the residents. By giving his blessing for the film to bescreened all over the world and reciting the Saliit ai-Fatih with the audience, he granted the film religious meaning. In this way, the filmmaking process was interpreted as a religious deed, and the film
was approved as religiously acceptable.

6. CONCLUSION
Pilgrimage to Ya'a shows that the pilgrimage ritual is constructed by people with different roles and44

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

diverse perspectives. On the one hand, pilgrims have a firm belief that their prayers will be or havebeen answered by Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, and this feeling induces them to set out on their journey to
Ya'a. The residents ofYa'a, on the other hand, regard it as their obligation, bestowed by Al-Faki, todevote themselves to producing the food to be distributed at the festival. The interactions of the twoparties, the pilgrims and the residents ofYa'a, reach a climax at the ritual feast conducted on the eveof the festival.
Matsunami took a participatory filmmaking stance from the very beginning by participating in thepilgrimage himself, involving pilgrims and residents in conducting interviews and editing the film,
and showing his film to the participants. 'Participation' was a mutual act involving both filmmakerand participants in the filmmaking process.
This mutual participation provides an opportunity for participants to engage in the reflexive representation of their own images. Being able to participate subjectively in this image production, thepeople recognize the possibility of alternative ways of imagining themselves. In a way, the participatory filmmaking process enabled the people to objectify themselves and even offered the potential
for communication among people with diverse perspectives. However, Matsunami admits the film
has its own limits, in the sense that people with controversial stances towards the pilgrimage and theveneration ofAl-Faki Ahmad Umar were not included in the film. In a nutshell, the film shows only
one side of the story.
In order to present a more comprehensive view of the pilgrimage ritual, people with opposing
views of the ritual should be included. How this could be accomplished through participatory filmmaking is a topic worthy of future consideration.

NOTES(1) This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian
Studies held from July 2-6, 2007 at Trondheim, Norway.
(2) The co-authorship of Yasuo Matsunami and Minako Ishihara derives from the fact that the former is
responsible for the information on Ya'a, on the filming process of the pilgrimage and on the visual anthropological ideas developed in this article, while the latter is responsible for the information on the 'Tijjani
Cult' and Al-Faki Ahmad Umar.
(3) TheTijaniya is one of the sufi orders (tariqa),founded in Morocco by Ahmad B. Muhammad al-Tijani (b.
1737-8,d.1815) (Abun-Nasr 1965).
(4) This estimation was provided by Shaykh Muhammad Thani, the chairman of the Mosque Committee
at Ya'a in 2005. Ya'a belongs to Ya'a Beldigis qabale, located in Tongo warada, Beni Shangul and Gumuz
Regional State.
(5) The research on which this article is based was conducted from December 2005 to January 2006, undera project subsidized by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research), entitled 'Anthropological Research on the Incorporation of
Traditional Market Systems in the Modern State of Ethiopia' (Project Leader: Minako Ishihara, Nanzan
University).
(6) In the 1990s, Ishihara joined the pilgrimage ritual four times, and on each occasion, the only vehicle toreach Ya'a was a heavy truck chartered from Neqemte that carried around 80 people. Most of the pilgrims
reached Ya'a on foot (including Ishihara). This restriction eventually affected the size of the groups ofpilgrims to Ya'a.
(7) An estimate of the number of pilgrims traveling on foot is difficult to make, because many pilgrims arriving at Ya'a on foot used transportation on their way to and from Ya'a. Some pilgrims reaching Ya'a by
vehicle had started their journeys on foot.
(8) 50 birr (5.9 US S) is quite expensive for an ordinary peasant. The bus ticket from Addis Ababa to Asosa(about 600 km) cost about 80 birr (9.4 USS) (1 US S=8.5 birr).
(9) This 'war' was conducted between the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which was supported by the Sudan
government, and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which was supported by the Ethiopian
government. The host lost two of his children in this 'war' (Matsunami 2006).

MATSUNAMI and ISHIHARA: Filming Pilgrimage to Ya'a45(10) Regularly held religious gathering with the specific purpose for reciting litanies.
(11) The 'children of the mosque' are married and unmarried men and women raised by the members of theMosque Committee. They were raised to play a key role in the pilgrimage rituals, some of them becoming
efficient organizers of the ritual feasts (Matsunami 2007).
(12) The term 'kidma' is derived from the Arabic 'khidma (service)'.
(13) None of the descendants of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar lives in Ya'a.
(14) Incense sticks are available almost anywhere in the countryside, with cheap ones costing no more than 3-5
birr a packet.
(15) 'Abba Qgro,' literally meaning landlord, is the commonly-known name of Hajj Adam Abba Diko (orAbba Wari Abba Diko), who was head administrator of the community of followers of Al-Faki Ahmad
U mar. As a skillful engineer, Hajj Adam, until his death in 1978 or 1979, laid the foundations of the village
ofYa'a, which developed into a prosperous self-sufficient community.
(16) SharifSalih, one of the oldest residents ofYa'a, was born in Yemen and is one of the few living contemporaries of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar.
(17) The film was shown to the women after the 'ld al-Fitr, during the daytime.

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Films
Flaherty, R. J.
1922 Nanook ofthe North. New York: Revillion Freres. Black and white, 70 mins.
Matsunami, Y.
2006 Pilgrimage to Ya'a: Feasting the Consumers ofthe Sacred. Color, 25 mins.
Rouch,}. and E. Morin
1961 Chronique d'un ltl. Paris: Argos Films. Black and white, 90 mins.

YASUO MATS UNAMI and MINAKO ISHIHARA: Faculty ofHumanities, Nanzan University, 18
Yamazato-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8673,]apan.