Bakiga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bakiga ("people of the mountains") are an ethnic group located in what is now northwestern Rwanda and southern Uganda. They speak a Bantu language called Rukiga.[1] They are sometimes referred to as the Chiga or Kiga, while the singular form is mukiga. It has been suggested that the Bakiga arrived in Uganda from Rwanda between 1800 and 1850.[citation needed]
The people of southwestern Uganda, mostly located in Kabale district, 7% of the population or 1.7 million according to the last 2002 census.
Contents |
[edit] Pre-colonial period
The myth is that there was someone originally call Kakiga and the clans and sub-clans are the direct descents of his children. Each clan was identified by a totem and also by what they were forbidden from eating. For example, the Ba-Mungwe’s totem was the bushbuck and they were prohibited from hunting it for food. All these were intended for the protection, sustenance and well-being of the clan, as they werenot competing for the same food. The names of the clans are Ba-Mungwe, Ba-musigi, Ba-kinyagiro, Ba-mugiri, Ba-muhutu, Ba-mugera, and Ba-mugyesera. Each of these clans has sub-clans.
The Abukuru b-emiryango was a committee of elders chosen by the clan to issue rules and administer justice. If a case was particularly serious and involved more than one clan, the cases would be heard publicly. An Omukuru, ideally a wise elder who knew the customs and traditions of his people and could give fair advice and justice, would be elected to preside over this expanded court.
Before the Bakiga were educated about Islam and Christianity, they believed in one God. The Bakiga understood God as creator who is neither male or female, known as Ruhanga. God is also known by many attributes. God as the supreme elder and ruler of the universe was Mukama, God when associated with the power of the sun was Kazooba-Nyamuhanga, and God in his aspect of the one who makes things grow was Biheeko. Many Bakiga with the influence of Christianity adopted 'theo-phoric' names. These names are eschatological (Turya-guma-nawe) meaning we will be with God for ever.[citation needed]
While the Bakiga would later be classified as Hutu, at this time they considered themselves an entirely separate people. Their name for the Hutus of southern Rwanda who joined the Tutsi monarchy in attempting to overcome the Bakiga was Banyanduga.[2] Works that make a distinction of northern Hutu refer to the Bakiga.[3]
[edit] Colonial period
The Bakiga communities defended their independence until the collaboration of German colonial forces and the royal troops of the mwami at the turn of the twentieth century succeeded in incorporating the region into the Rwandan colonial state. The region remained a hotbed of discontent against central authority for many years. One of the strongest influences upon the character of the Bakiga was the anti-centrist cult of Nyabingi. After the death of Mwami Rwabugiri in 1895, Muhumusa, one of his wives, fled to the mountains of Kiga and proclaimed an anti-colonial rebellion in 1911. She was captured the same year and her resistance taken up by Ndungutse, generally recognized as the son of Muhumusa and Rwabugiri, who was in turn killed, though sporadic rebellions sprang up until the advent of Belgian rule after World War I.[4] The conditions for these rebellions were created by the system of forced labor tribute (ubareetwa) imposed on the Bakiga by their new colonial masters.[5] P.T.W. Baxter noted that, "The proud boast of the Kiga is that they never were, as a people, subjugated by either Tutsi or Hima." However, this resistance was, paradoxically, in large part led or inspired by disaffected members of the Tutsi elite.[6]
The Bakiga became one of two major forces, along with the hill-level tensions of Hutu peasants and Tutsi chiefs, in the formation of "Social Revolution" of 1959. In the pre-colonial system, land usage was controlled by chiefs who owned land (bakonde) or controlled access to it (bagererwa). With the onset of colonial rule, these chiefs were technically replaced by southern Tutsi and Bakiga who agreed to work for them. However, the old order was never entirely erased, resulting in tensions between the two. While the older bakonde yearned for a return to their old status, younger generations of bakonde were able to merge their claims into that of the anti-colonial/Tutsi revolutionary movement.[7]
[edit] Traditional Life
The traditional Bakiga were a highly segmented society who came to Kabale from today's Rwanda. They believed in Ruhanga, the Creator of all things. They also had several cults, among which the most important was Nyabingi - the spirit a much respected rain-maker.
Bakiga were agriculturalists growing sorghum, peas, millet and beans. These were supplemented with pumpkins, yams, meat and a variety of green vegetables. Food was always prepared in abundance. It was good manners for a visitor to join a family eating a meal without invitation. The Bakiga were producing beer omuramba from sorghum. It could be both food and an alcoholic drink. To enjoy it, people would sit on wooden stools surrounding a pot and drink it through long tubes. Some among the Bakiga were great ironsmiths who were making hoes, knives, spears. Pottery was also highly developed, a wide range of carpentry existed, they reared bees and produced honey. Women were in charge of digging, while men cleared the bush and erected round grass-thatched huts. Nearly all activities were done communally. Men were dressed in one cow hide; in two if they were rich. The skin hung from the shoulder covering private parts. A man would belt himself for a fight or a dance, while for clearing land one would normally be naked. Women used skirts made from several skins. A skin garment covered the torso.
Virginity was very important. If an unmarried girl got pregnant, she would be taken to a forest, tied to a tree and left to the mercy of animals. Alternatively, she would be thrown over a cliff; Kisizi Falls were most used for this purpose. At Lake Bunyonyi, a special island was used for dumping these unfortunate girls. A marriage needed to be preceded by a payment of bridewealth which meant cows, goats and hoes. If a man had enough of these and plenty of land, he could get as many wives as desired: polygamy was a norm. But they would not be from the same clan - marriages were one of the rare things to bond together a very politically segmented society. A girl spent about a month in seclusion before marriage, to become well fed and instructed in home management. It was common to divorce if your husband or wife was barren, lazy or had other bad traits. Divorced people could remarry, however, the woman's family could expect less bridewealth next time. Disagreements that could be leading to divorce were first tackled by consultation of elders. Settling disputes was a major role of elderly members of a clan. A lineage head was elected by clansmen on the criteria of character (truthful, brave, a war-leader) and power (a rich man, a medicine man or a priest). Different lineage heads would gather and publicly discuss potential issues of wider concern. What lineage heads did not solve together, could result in fighting between groups. The Bakiga were natural born-warriors.
[edit] Modern Life
When the British came to nowadays Kabale in 1908, they found farmers and hunters living without any central authority and in a miserable situation. The conditions they saw were a result of decades of nearly constant fighting, plunder and raids from all sides, of recent epidemics, famines, and a locust invasion. Europeans applied the concept of a tribe to the clans, with little ground for it. The groups were not united in any way and the language they were speaking was a dialectical variation of Runyankore. The term "Bakiga" could be translated as "Highlanders", and it was in the beginning most frequently used by outsiders, rarely by the people themselves. Over time it has become a part of local consciousness.
As sporadic attempts of Bakiga's violent resistance to foreign rule often formed around religious cults, entire traditional religion had to go underground to please the administration. Indigenous people initially thought that a convert to Christianity would lose the reasoning capacity and become an idiot. They equated Christianity with colonialism, and when they refused one, they felt obliged to reject the other - or to accept both, if they accepted one. The year 1929 could indicate the final acceptance of the package, when those Bakiga who had decided to try to influence the system from within were eventually given the leading posts, and the time of home rule under European supervision began.
A glance of the Bakiga 40 years after Uganda's independence would give an impression of thoroughly prevailing European influences. The Bakiga are very Christian (Muslims are few) and starkly divided into Catholics and Protestants. One's religion can determine professional prospects and religious prefrences heavily influence local elections.
Everybody dreams of having a European-style home, imported objects are admired, and locals dress in a Western way. As in most of Uganda, people are extremely concerned about clothing. To "look smart" is a priority for anyone who can afford it. The ugliest instance of this longing to be non-African is women bleaching their skin to be less black. Praising sayings "She looks/eats/dresses like a white" exist.
The elaborate traditional weddings of the Bakiga are being neglected by anyone who can afford a Western-looking ceremony. Clothes are borrowed, music equipment and generators brought to the area, every possible thing done to imitate foreign customs.
At the meetings of district councils, English is used although everybody is a Mukiga. Parents who know English well sometimes resort to speaking it with their children. Those who use English are supposed to be educated and successful.
Festo Karwemera, a respected elder from Kabale, offers this general comment: "Accepting the culture of the West is a result of inferiority complex due to ignorance emanating from the fact that they are the ones introducing civilisation in this land and we tend to assume that everything they do is the best. Their way of living is clean and attractive hence positive because nobody takes trouble to find out how best we can modernise our culture in our own way."
[edit] African Culture under Surface
However, African culture has not been wiped out. Behind the white facade, there is much to be found. No matter how staunch a Christian would claim to be, a part of traditional African beliefs will stay with her or him. If the energetic dance of The Bakiga was once discouraged as Satanic, it is now coming back. The favourite food of the Bakiga is, more or less, what it has been for centuries: beans, peas, potatoes, posho, bananas. Influences from Europe and India have had little effect. Eating with hands remains the rule.
[edit] References
- Mamdani, Mahmood, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda, Princeton University Press, 2002, ISBN 0691102805
- Ngologoza, Paul Kigezi and Its People ISBN 978-9970-02-134-5
