Officially recognised as an ethnic group, the Mao identity carries complex, sometimes contradictory meanings, from stigma to prestige. For some individuals, Mao signals descent from enslaved people; for others, non-slave ancestry. Examining the historical and political transformations of the Mao social identity in Western Ethiopia, the book challenges the assumption that ethnicity determines social position. It shows how local hierarchies shape the meaning and impact of social identities. Drawing on rich empirical data, it explores how Mao groups negotiate identity through politics, marriage and labour, and how these interpretations have interacted with regional and national changes over the past fifty years.