Perched on a hill 23 km east of the town of Kemisse, Shonke is a village inhabited by the ethnic Argobba people. According to local tradition, the Argobba settled in this area by the 12th century AD, tracing their ancestry to Arabs who fled a war in the Gulf region.

The origin of the name "Argobba" has two traditional explanations. The first, from the elders of Shonke Amba, is that it means "Arab gebba" (Arabs have entered). The second suggests "Har gubba," which translates to "silk seen on the mountain."

The Argobba are a Muslim community of self-sufficient agriculturists, traditional cloth weavers, and merchants. A key attraction for tourists visiting Shonke village is its 900-year-old houses. These homes and the hill-based settlement are central to the Argobba people's identity, having preserved their culture and religion for more than nine centuries.