The Dodoth (or Dodos) are an ethnic group in north eastern Uganda. They belong to the Karamojong Cluster, which also includes the Karamojong and Jie people. [1] Their language is a dialect of the Karamojong language. [2] Their population is estimated at 129,102 (2014 Census of Uganda). [3]
The Dodoth live in Kaabong District in the northeast of Uganda, a region of semi-arid savannah, bush and mountains. [4] Their tradition says that they arrived in their current area from the north. In the mid-eighteenth century they separated from the Karamojong and moved northward into more mountainous territory. [1] The heartland of their country is a bowl surrounded by mountains and hills on all sides. The tallest peak, Mount Morungole, is over 9,000 feet (2,700 m) high, near the point where Kenya, Sudan and Uganda converge. The land was once rich in wildlife including lions, elephants, buffalo, giraffes and rhino. Today, a small remnant of this wildlife is preserved in Kidepo National Park. [5] [6] [7]
The climate is harsh. Some rain may fall in April and there is usually a longer rainy season from June to early September, but these rains are not dependable and in some years fail altogether. In good years, the Dodoth mainly live on sorghum and millet. To survive in tough years they depend on livestock - cattle, goats and sheep. As well as providing nutrition, the animals represent wealth, and are central to many aspects of their culture. [4]
The Dodoth homesteads are usually in valleys, and have dry season pastures on nearby hillsides. Unlike other people of the region, they therefore do not have to migrate with the seasons. Dodoth homesteads are isolated from one another, surrounded by a strong wall made of upright poles with interwoven branches cemented with mud and cow dung. Cattle are kept within the walls at night. A homestead may include up to forty people. Each wife has her own hut and fireplace. Her adolescent daughters will often build their own huts next to their mother's hut. Adolescent boys live in a larger "men's house" until they marry. A woman will often have a small garden near her hut. [1]
The scarcity of resources and high value of cattle have led to a culture where men are noted for their bravery in raiding and warfare and their resultant wealth. Bride prices are paid in cattle. [4] The Dodoth share the habit of constant low-level warfare, mainly to capture cattle, with their neighbors. According to P.H. Gulliver, writing in 1952, "Turkana made war on all their neighbours with the exception of the Jie, with whom they occasionally allied themselves against the Karamajong and the Dodoth. Karamajong similarly made war on all their neighbors with the exception of the Dudoth, with whom they occasionally allied themselves against the Jie. Jie claim friendship with the Toposa, but since they have no common boundaries this would have been of little importance. Toposa and Donyiro did not fight each other, and are known to have formed an alliance against the Turkana. Toposa and Jiye were enemies". [8]
Plans for cattle raids, and other important decisions, are decided by the menfolk, with the views of the elders carrying great weight. The Dodoth are less well armed than their neighbors, and in 1979–81 lost practically all of their cattle to better-armed raiders. [4] In 2004 there were violent clashes between the Dodoth and the Turkana people of Kenya, to the east. Several Turkana were kidnapped and had begun to be integrated into Dodoth families by the time a peace conference was held in 2005. At this conference it was agreed to forget the past and return the captured people. [9]
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 Didinga (Didinga) are a Surmic ethnic group that occupy the Didinga Mountains region in Budi County, Eastern Equatoria State in South Sudan. They live in the valleys, on the plateaus and slopes, and on the adjacent plains of the region. Their neighbors include the Toposa, Turkana, Boya, Ketebo, Logir, Ik, Dodos and Dongotona peoples - groups with whom the Didinga have had frequent conflicts due to economic pressures.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Losilang is a Sub-County in Kotido District of northern Uganda. It lies to the northeast of Kotido town. It has an area of 144.3 square kilometres (55.7 sq mi). Estimated population in 2009 was 17,000. Losilang was one of the early centers of the Karamojong cluster of related people. From here, the Toposa people drifted northeast and then west to settle in Kapoeta by 1830. In more recent times, Losilang has been the scene of clashes between armed warriors and Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) troops seeking illegal arms and property. On 19 May 2006 there were several hours of fighting, between 200 and 500 houses were burned down and several civilians died.
Loyoro is a village in the Kaabong District of Uganda. It is in Kapedo Parish in Kapedo sub-county.
Kapoeta East County is an administrative region of Eastern Equatoria state in South Sudan, bordered by Kenya to the south, Ethiopia to the east and Jonglei state to the west. It is part of the Greater Kapoeta region of the state. The largest ethnic group is the Toposa people. The principal town is Narus. The county includes the disputed Ilemi triangle, controlled by Kenya. The emblem of the county is a horned bull, with big humps and a large tail.
The Lokiriama Peace Accord is a peace treaty between the Turkana people of Kenya and the Matheniko of Uganda signed in December 1973 as a commitment by both parties to peacefully co-exist. The accord derives its name from Lokiriama, a remote town in Turkana District, North Western Kenya that is inhabited by the Turkana. A symbolic monument for this accord is situated at Lokiriama on the Kenya – Uganda border. It is believed that elders from both Turkana and Matheniko buried instruments of conflict, honey, milk and traditional brew in a pit over which the monument was constructed.
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.
Ewoya Dance is a traditional Folk Dance of the Jie people found in North-Eastern Uganda in the Karamoja Sub-region Kotido District. It involves continuous vertical high jumping. This dance is significantly used to search for partners where both women and men jump and whoever jumps highest gets the most handsome or beautiful partner. Ewoya Dance of the Jie people are similar to that of the Maasai, and Karamojong. The Jie speak a language dialect of the Karamojong people.
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