Ogaden (clan)


The Ogaden is a Somali clan family, part of the largest Somali clans-family — the Darod.

Overview

Members of the Ogaden clan primarily live in the central Ogaden plateau of Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province of Kenya, and the Jubaland region of Southern Somalia.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Ogaden is the largest Darod clan in Ethiopia's Somali Region, and may account for 70 to 80 percent of the Somali population in Ethiopia. The Ogaden clan "constitutes the backbone of the ONLF". In particular, the ONLF operates in Ogaden areas
Frank Linsly James, one of the first Europeans to travel deep into Ogaden territory while being accompanied by Lord Philips and armed with Martini-Enfield rifles, describes his first encounter with Ogadens in 1884.
After marching for six hours, we were joined by two Ogadayn natives, who said they would show us the wells, which were close at hand. They pointed to our guns and asked their use. When we said, "for killing men and beasts," they laughed, and replied " they would be no use against sticks, let alone swords and spears." A Hornbill was sitting on a tree listening to this conversation, and echoed the natives' laugh with an assenting croak of scorn. Lord Phillips raised his despised firearm, and down fell the lifeless hornbill. Down, too, fell the Ogadayn natives, and remained for some time with their faces pressed against the ground, invoking the protection of the great Allah.

for Somalis in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.

Notable persons