Which ethnic group are Karamajongs?

Which ethnic group are Karamajongs?

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 Karamojong or Karimojong and is part of the Nilotic language family.

Which language is spoken by the Karamojong?

Nilotic language
The Karamojong language (spelled ŋaKarimojoŋ or ŋaKaramojoŋ in Karamojong; Ngakarimojong or N’Karamojong in English) is a Nilotic language spoken mainly in the Karamoja subregion of north-eastern Uganda.

What is Karamoja?

Karamoja is populated by the Karamojong. Theirs is a society whose outward appearance resembles that of the Maasai pastoralists, who move their cattle around a tough landscape in search of grazing. Karamoja has a cattle culture and the Karamojong are notorious as cattle raiders.

How has the government of Uganda enabled the Karimojong to live a settled life?

Consequently, many efforts have been made to settle pastoralists, by imposing boundaries closing off their land for game and forest reserves, restricting access to dry season grazing areas, forcibly removing their livestock and promoting intensive agriculture, disarmament to stopping cattle raids etc.

Where did iteso come from?

Iteso traditions relate that they originated somewhere in what is now Sudan and moved south over a period of centuries. It is not possible to calculate the time of this movement. A body of Iteso is said to have separated from the Karamojong and moved further south.

Where is Karamoja Uganda?

Karamoja, located in the north-east, is one of the poorest regions in Uganda, with income poverty at 61% and food poverty at 70% (UNHS, 2016/17). The region comprises of four livelihood zones i.e. sorghum-livestock zone, maize-livestock zone, mixed crop zone and apiary- potato zone.

Which language do Acholi speak?

Luo language
Acholi is a tonal Luo language belonging to the Nilotic branch of African languages. It is spoken in Acholiland in northern Uganda and some parts of Sudan. The Acholi are part of the Luo-speaking Nilotic peoples who moved into Uganda from southern Sudan between 1400-1800 AD.

Where is pastoralism practiced in Uganda?

The pastoral communities in south-western Uganda locally known as Bahima have been mobilized in the recent years to live a sedentary lifestyle in order to have access to education and increase productivity of their livestock (ibid).

Is Tesos a Luhya?

The Luhya sub tribes occupy the western region of Kenya that is rich in agricultural land. They mainly practice subsistence farming, but border Nilotic communities like the Luo, Teso, Maasai, and Kalenjin are mainly cattle keepers and fishermen.

What are Itesots known for?

The Iteso are noted for their quick adoption of the ox plow in the early 1900s. Women farmed and foraged while men herded their cattle. Cotton is the primary cash crop among the Iteso. It’s grown by both men and women in separate plots during the short rains.

What is the population of Karamoja?

about 1.2 million people
Overall population in Karamoja is estimated at about 1.2 million people, with about 70 percent residing in rural areas. With more than 27,000 square kilometres, this arid expanse of savannah and bush forms the northeast edge of Uganda where it borders Kenya and the Sudan.

What is the origin of the Karamojong?

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. The other branch, called Ateker, migrated westwards.

What does karamjoong stand for?

The name Karamojong derived from phrase “ekar ngimojong”, meaning “the old men can walk no farther”. 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.

What conflicts have the Karamojong been involved in?

The Karamojong have been involved in various conflicts centered on the practice of cattle raids. The Karamojong are in constant conflict with their neighbors in Uganda, Sudan and Kenya due to frequent cattle raids.

What are the characteristics of Karamojong society?

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.