Karamojong people

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Two Karamojong children (2009) The Karamojong or Karimojong, an ethnic group of agro-pastoral herders living mainly in the north-east of Uganda..jpg
Two Karamojong children (2009)

The Karamojong or Karimojong are a Nilotic ethnic group. [1] 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. [1] [2]

Contents

Karamojong
Total population
475,000 [1]
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 371,713 [3] [4]
Languages
Karamojong language, English language
Religion
Christianity, Traditional faith [5]
Related ethnic groups
Other Nilotic peoples

History

The Karamojong live in the southern part of the region in the north-east of Uganda, occupying an area equivalent to one tenth of the country. According to anthropologists, the Karamojong are part of a group that migrated from present-day Ethiopia around 1600 A.D. and split into two branches, with one branch moving to present day Kenya to form the Kalenjin group and Maasai cluster. [6] The other branch, called Ateker, migrated westwards. Ateker further split into several groups, including Turkana in present-day Kenya, Iteso, Dodoth, Jie, Karamojong, and Kumam in present-day Uganda, also Jiye and Toposa in southern Sudan all of them together now known as the "Teso Cluster" or "Karamojong Cluster". [7]

It is said that the Karamojong were originally known as the Jie. The name Karamojong derived from phrase "ekar ngimojong", meaning "the old men can walk no farther". [1] According to tradition, the peoples now known as the Karamojong Cluster or Teso Cluster are said to have migrated from Abyssinia between the 1600 and 1700 AD as a single group. When they reached the area around the modern Kenyan-Ethiopian border, they are said to have fragmented into several groups including those that became Turkana, Toposa, and the Dodoth. The group that became known as the Toposa continued to present day southern Sudan; the Dodoth, settled in Apule in the northern part of present-day Karamoja. The Turkana settled in Kenya where they are now and today's Jie of Uganda are thought to have split from them, moving up the escarpment into today's Kotido District. The main body continued southwards, reportedly consisting of seven groups or clans who settled in today's southern Karamoja, eventually merging to become the three clans now existing: the Matheniko in the east around Moroto mountain, the Pian in the south and the Bokora in the west. However, a significant sized group went west and formed the Iteso, the Kumam, and the Langi. It was this group who were said to have used the phrase "the old men can walk no farther".

Language

Related to Turkana: in the Karamojong language, the people and the language have the convenient prefixes ŋi- and ŋa- respectively. Lack of a prefix indicates the land where they live. All the above-mentioned branches from Ateker speak languages that are mutually intelligible. The Lango in Uganda are also ethnically and genetically close to the ŋiKarimojong, evidenced by similar names among other things, though they adopted a dialect of the Luo language.

Culture

The main livelihood activity of the Karamojong is herding livestock, which has social and cultural importance. Crop cultivation is a secondary activity, undertaken only in areas where it is practicable. [8]

Due to the arid climate of the region, the Karamojong have always practised a sort of pastoral transhumance, where for 3–4 months in a year, they move their livestock to the neighboring districts in search of water and pasture for their animals.

The availability of food and water is always a concern and affects the Karamojong's interaction with other ethnic groups.

Social organization

The dominant feature of Karamojong society is their age system, which is strictly based on generation. As successive generations have an increasing overlap in age, this leads logically to a breakdown of the system, which appears to have occurred after rules were relaxed in the nineteenth century among their close neighbours, the Jie. However, the Karamojong system is flexible enough to contain a build-up of tension between generations over a cycle of 50 years or so. When this can no longer be resolved peacefully, the breakdown in order leads to a switch in power from the ruling generation to their successors and a new status quo. The next changeover is expected around 2013, and we should by now know if the prediction was accurate. [Dyson-Hudson, Neville (1966), Karimojong Politics, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Spencer, Paul (1998), The Pastoral Continuum: The Marginalization of Tradition in East Africa, Clarendon Press, Oxford (pp. 99–119).]

This is a traditional dance that involves jumping and body shaking performed by the Karimojong people in North Eastern Uganda on functions including weddings, calamity cleansing. Karimojong traditional dance in North Eastern Uganda.jpg
This is a traditional dance that involves jumping and body shaking performed by the Karimojong people in North Eastern Uganda on functions including weddings, calamity cleansing.

As both a rite of passage into manhood, as well as a requirement for engagement, a young Karamojong man is required to wrestle the woman he desires to marry. [1] If he is successful in winning the wrestling match against the woman, he is now considered to be a man and is permitted to marry the woman. This ensures that the man will be strong enough to care for and protect his wife. After a successful match, the dowry negotiations are allowed to commence. In an instance where the young man is unable to defeat the woman in the wrestling match, he will not be considered by his people to be a man and will often leave to marry a woman from a different people-group where a test of strength is not required. If a non-Karamojong man desires to marry a Karamojong woman, he is also required to go through this ceremony.

Karamojong traditional dance have remarkable and has stood the taset of time. [9]

Conflicts

The Karamojong have been involved in various conflicts centered on the practice of cattle raids. [10]

The Karamojong are in constant conflict with their neighbors in Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya due to frequent cattle raids. This is because cattle are an important element in the negotiations for a bride and young men use the raids as a rite of passage and way of increasing their herds to gain status. In recent years the nature and the outcome of the raids have become increasingly violent with the acquisition of AK47s by the Karamojong.

The Ugandan government has attempted to disarm the Karamojong but they have been reluctant to give up their weapons due to a need to defend themselves against cross-border cattle raids. [1] The Department for Karamoja Affairs was established by the Ugandan government to address the special needs of the area; in 2000, it was estimated that the Karamojong people had between 100,000 and 150,000 weapons. In December 2000, the Ugandan government passed the Disarmament Act that offered iron sheets and plows in exchange for the weapons. The Karamojong were resistant to the idea; fewer than 10,000 weapons were ever recovered. [11]

The Karamojong have been continually discriminated against in the modern era, first for resisting British colonizers in what is now Uganda, and in the late 20th and 21st centuries and for maintaining underdeveloped villages compared to more urban parts of the country. [12] Then-Prime Minister Milton Obote famously said in 1963 "We shall not wait for Karamoja to develop," advocating for the Ugandan government to effectively abandon their fellow countrymen. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the eastern border area of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-speaking peoples, Teso people also known as Iteso or people of Teso, Karo peoples, Luo peoples, Ateker peoples, Kalenjin peoples, Karamojong people also known as the Karamojong or Karimojong, 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.

The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in South Sudan. They are spoken across a large area in East Africa, ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of Tanzania. Their speakers are mostly cattle herders living in semi-arid or arid plains.

Turkana is the language of the Turkana people of Kenya and Ethiopia. It is spoken in northwestern Kenya, primarily in Turkana County, which lies west of Lake Turkana. It is one of the Eastern Nilotic languages, and is closely related to Karamojong, Jie and Teso of Uganda, to Toposa spoken in the extreme southeast of South Sudan, and to Nyangatom in the South Sudan/Ethiopia Omo valley borderland; these languages together form the cluster of Ateker Languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kumam people</span> Ugandan ethnic group

The Kumam people are a Nilotic ethnic group of about 349,000 living mainly in the western areas of Teso sub-region and the south-east of Lango sub-region. The Kumam are an ethnic group of people found in Kaberamaido district, district in Eastern Uganda. They share Soroti district with the Iteso and some parts of formerly Lira district with the Langi. In the Lango region, they are now found in Dokolo district which was detached from Lira District. They are found at the shores of Lake Kyoga (Namasale). In Soroti district, they are found in Serere, Asuret, Kamuda, katine, Soroti city, Arapai as well as the outskirts of Soroti district neighboring Kaberamaido.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teso people</span> Nilotic ethnic group native to eastern Uganda and western Kenya

The Iteso are a Nilotic ethnic group in eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Teso refers to the traditional homeland of the Iteso, and Ateso is their language.

<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.

Teso or TESO may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toposa people</span>

The Toposa are an ethnic group in South Sudan, living in the Greater Kapoeta region of the erstwhile Eastern Equatoria state. They have traditionally lived by herding cattle, sheep and goats, and in the past were involved in the ivory trade. They have a tradition of constant low-level warfare, usually cattle raids, against their neighbors.

<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.

The Teso–Turkana languages are a group of closely related Eastern Nilotic languages spoken in southeastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda, northwestern Kenya, and southwestern Ethiopia. In effect they form a dialect cluster consisting of c.2 million people. According to Gerrit Dimmendaal, most of these languages – Karimojong, Jie, Toposa, Turkana, and Nyangatom – are mutually intelligible, and for the most part differ only in regard to tone. Teso belongs to the same broad group but is not described as being as closely related to Turkana as the others.

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

Toposa is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in South Sudan by the Toposa people. Mutually intelligible language varieties include Jiye of South Sudan, Nyangatom of Ethiopia, Karimojong, Jie and Dodos of Uganda and Turkana of Kenya. Teso is lexically more distant.

Ik is one of the Kuliak languages of northeastern Uganda. The Kuliak languages form their own branch of the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. With the other two Kuliak languages being moribund, Ik may soon be the sole remaining language of its family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jie (Uganda)</span> Ethnic group of Uganda

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodoth people</span> Ethnic group in north eastern Uganda

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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Williams, Victoria R. (2020-02-24). Indigenous Peoples: An Encyclopedia of Culture, History, and Threats to Survival. ABC-CLIO. pp. 540–543. ISBN   978-1-4408-6118-5.
  2. ↑ polly (2019-11-05). "Karamojong People | Uganda Cultural Tourism | Safaris Uganda". Uganda Safaris. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  3. ↑ "Uganda". World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. 19 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Uganda Bureau of Statistics. "National Population and Housing Census 2014 - Main Report" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "Population Composition" (PDF). ubos.org. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Friis-Hansen, Esbern (2017-07-12). Decentralized Governance of Adaptation to Climate Change in Africa. CABI. pp. 123–127. ISBN   978-1-78639-076-9.
  7. ↑ polly (2017-09-14). "the karamojong - uganda tribes and culture , the karamojong peopl". Kidepo Valley National Park. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  8. ↑ kawlaw (2021-10-25). "The Karamojong traditional culture | The Karamojongs | Kidepo Valley Park". Achieve Gorilla Tours. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  9. ↑ "Uganda. The art of dance". www.southworld.net. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  10. ↑ "Get the Gun": Human Rights Violations by Uganda's National Army in Law Enforcement Operations in Karamoja Region. Human Rights Watch. 2007. pp. 4–21.
  11. ↑ Quinn, Joanna R. (2009-04-01). Reconciliation(s): Transitional Justice in Postconflict Societies. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 177. ISBN   978-0-7735-7673-5.
  12. ↑ Ntungwerisho, Colman (June 25, 2019). "Karamoja no-longer needs to be waited for to develop" . Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  13. ↑ Chamberlain, Mark. "A Journey In The Dark". Catholic Agency for Overseas Development. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
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