Kadam People

Last updated

The Kadam people inhabit Mount Kadam in Nakapiripirit District in the Karamoja sub-region, located in north-eastern Uganda.

Contents

History

They are closely related to the Tepeth/Tepes or So peoples who inhabit Mount Napak [1] and Mount Moroto, also in southern Karamoja. Some regard them as a sub-group of the Tepeth. There is very little written about them, but local oral history records all these groups as having been the inhabitants of wider areas of present-day Karamoja who took refuge in the mountains when the Karamojong arrived from Ethiopia in the 17th century (see Karamojong people). They are one of the few peoples in Uganda to practise Female Genital Mutilation [2]

Language

The Kadam speak the Kadam Language, also known as yog toŋi [3] which is a variant of the So language of the Nilo-Saharan languages group. It is also closely related to the languages of the peoples mentioned above. The language is endangered; [4] those who speak Kadam/So as a first language are middle-aged and elderly, the younger generations speak mostly the Pökoot or Karamojong language.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nilo-Saharan languages</span> Proposed family of African languages

The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. The languages extend through 17 nations in the northern half of Africa: from Algeria to Benin in the west; from Libya to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the centre; and from Egypt to Tanzania in the east.

The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-speaking peoples, Karo peoples, Luo peoples, Ateker peoples, Kalenjin peoples, Datooga, Dinka, Nuer, Atwot, Lotuko, and the Maa-speaking peoples.

The Oropom were the aboriginal inhabitants of much of Karamoja in Uganda, Mt. Elgon area and West Pokot, Trans Nzoia and Turkana regions in Kenya. Their descendants were largely assimilated into various communities present in their former territories, including the Iteso, Karamojong, Pokot, Turkana and Bukusu. They are or were found in scattered pockets between the Turkwel River, Chemorongit Mountains and Mt. Elgon. One report indicates that they formerly spoke the unclassified Oropom language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuliak languages</span> Family of languages

The Kuliak languages, also called the Rub languages, are a group of languages spoken by small relict communities in the mountainous Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karamojong people</span> Nilotic ethnic group native to northeastern Uganda

The Karamojong or Karimojong are a Nilotic ethnic group. They are agro-pastoral herders living mainly in the north-east of Uganda. Their language is also known as ngaKarimojong and is part of the Nilotic language family. Their population is estimated at 475,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rendille people</span> Cushitic-speaking group from Kenya

The Rendille are a Cushitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the northern Eastern Province of Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ateker peoples</span>

Ateker, or ŋaTekerin, is a common name for the closely related Jie, Karamojong, Turkana, Toposa, Nyangatom and Teso peoples and their languages. These ethnic groups inhabit an area across Uganda and Kenya. Itung'a and Teso have been used among ethnographers, while the term Teso-Turkana is sometimes used for the languages, which are of Eastern Nilotic stock. Ateker means 'clan' or 'tribe' in the Teso language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karamoja</span> Sub Region of Uganda

The Karamoja sub-region, commonly known as Karamoja, is a region in Uganda. It covers an area of 27,528km and comprises the Kotido District, Kaabong District, Karenga District, Nabilatuk District Abim District, Moroto District, Napak District, Amudat District and Nakapiripirit District. The region is projected to have a population of 1.4 millions in 2022 by UBOS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daasanach people</span> Cushitic ethnic group in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan

The Daasanach are a Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan. Their main homeland is in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, adjacent to Lake Turkana. According to the 2007 national census, they number 48,067 people, of whom 1,481 are urban dwellers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyangatom people</span> Ethnic group in Ethiopia and South Sudan

The Nyangatom also known as Donyiro and pejoratively as Bumé are Nilotic agro-pastoralists inhabiting the border of southwestern Ethiopia, southeastern South Sudan, and the Ilemi Triangle. They speak the Nyangatom language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Africa</span>

The population of Africa has grown rapidly over the past century and consequently shows a large youth bulge, further reinforced by a low life expectancy of below 50 years in some African countries. Total population as of 2020 is estimated to be more than 1.3 billion, with a growth rate of more than 2.5% p.a. The total fertility rate for Africa is 4.7 as of 2018, the highest in the world according to the World Bank. The most populous African country is Nigeria with over 206 million inhabitants as of 2020 and a growth rate of 2.6% p.a.

Amuria is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the chief municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Amuria District, in the Teso sub-region.

The Karamojong language is a Nilotic language spoken by the Karamojong people in Northeast Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soo language</span> Moribund Kuliak language spoken in Uganda

Soo or So is the Kuliak language of the Tepes people of northeastern Uganda. The language is moribund, with most of the population of 5,000 having shifted to Karamojong, and only a few dozen elderly individuals are still able to speak Soo. Soo is divided into three major dialects: Tepes, Kadam (Katam), and Napak.

Nyang'i (Nyangia) is the nearly extinct Kuliak language of the Nyangea hunter-gatherers of northeastern Uganda. The 15,000 Nyangia have shifted to speaking Karamojong.

The Jie are an ethnic group in Uganda. They belong to the Karamojong Cluster, which also includes the Karamojong and Dodoth people. Their country in northeast Uganda lies between the Dodoth to the north and the Karamojong to the south.

The Dodoth are an ethnic group in north eastern Uganda. They belong to the Karamojong Cluster, which also includes the Karamojong and Jie people. Their language is a dialect of the Karamojong language. Their population is estimated at 129,102.

The Kalenjin people are an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to East Africa, with a presence, as dated by archaeology and linguistics, that goes back many centuries. Their history is therefore deeply interwoven with those of their neighboring communities as well as with the histories of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.

The Maliri were a people, recalled by various communities in Kenya and Uganda today, that inhabited regions on the north east of and north west borders of Uganda and Kenya respectively and later spread to regions in southern Ethiopia.

Mutai is a term used by the Maa-speaking communities of Kenya to describe a period of wars, usually triggered by disease and/or drought and affecting widespread areas of the Rift Valley region of Kenya. According to Samburu and Maasai folklore, periods of Mutai occurred during the nineteenth century.

References

  1. "Karamoja ! - Uganda's Land of Warrior Nomads". Archived from the original on 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
  2. "Female genital mutilation de campaigned".[ dead link ]
  3. A dictionary of So, a Nilo-Saharan language of NE Uganda rogerblench.info
  4. "Uganda: UNESCO-CI".