They are the natives of East Africa whose lineage predates all the new comers. Both their language and culture surviving thousands of years in tact. Also, their somali language is older than Hebrew and Arabic. Sara, the wife of prophet Abraham was from them, so in a way, they are the parents of so called Arabs since Arabs are a collection of ethnicities anyway, some original like the dark east African in Origin Yemenis and some Arabized like Quraish etc. All in all, a native somali has ancient roots, lives in his native region, shares common ancestry with Berbers and many who today populate north Africa and Balkan countries.