"If you call me an Ethiopian, I don't like that,'' Dedefo said. "I fled from that oppression.''

A movement is afoot locally, nationally and internationally to change the identification of the group of people from Oromia, a regional state in Ethiopia. If the changed terminology becomes common, it would significantly change how Minnesotans refer to the majority of a group of people they now call Ethiopians.

The community gathered Saturday to reinforce and reclaim their identity in the first day of the two-week international Oromo Studies Conference at the University of Minnesota. The 15th annual event is the main gathering for thousands of Oromos around the world to network and share their ideas and knowledge.

In addition to discussions about national identity in the next two weeks, events will include sessions on Oromo history, how to improve the quality of life for Oromo immigrants as well as social, political, economic and human rights issues. Other activities include a soccer tournament starting today through next Saturday at the University of Minnesota Women's Soccer Stadium. On Friday, an Oromo culture celebration will provide art and music at the university's Willey Hall.

The event has been hosted in various states and countries in previous years, including two other times in Minnesota. With close to 12,000 Oromos, Minnesota has the largest Oromo population outside of Africa. The state of Minnesota is considered an important place for leadership and change in the community.

"Minnesota is the land of over 10,000 Oromos,'' Dedefo said.

Beyan Asoba, who came to the conference from Columbus, Ohio, said Minnesota is considered all over the world as the second home for the Oromo people.

Bula Atomssa, board secretary of the Oromo Community of Minnesota, said the majority of the people the government lumps together as Ethiopians are actually Oromo.

"About 90 to 95 percent are Oromo that we're referring to as Ethiopians (in the Twin Cities),'' Atomssa said.

Oromos still consider themselves from Oromia, which was a separate nation until it was colonized by Ethiopia more than 100 years ago. In the past few decades, mass waves of Oromo refugees have fled Ethiopia for fear of torture for their beliefs. They found that when they settled in other countries, those places adopted references by Ethiopian groups that were in power, which claimed Oromos were part of their people. That identification dominated everything from immigration documents to statistical data.

"We're not a people that make a lot of noise. Sometimes that's our weakness.'' said Dedefo, who is president of the Oromo Community of Minnesota. But "we're organizing as Oromos."

The community is making more efforts to change the way people think about where they are from. Although it is sometimes easier to just say one is Ethiopian, Dedefo said the community encourages each other to identify themselves as Oromo and explain it when asked.

Although there are different beliefs and a rough history between Oromos and Ethiopians, Dedefo said there is no hostility between the local Oromo and Ethiopian community because the land disputes and political battles are irrelevant here.

Nancy Ngo can be reached at nngo@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-2149.