Bagisu
AfricahorticulturalistsJohn Beierle
Gisu, Bageshu, Bagish, Geshu, Gishu, Masaba, Masaaba, Lugisu, Lumasaba, Sokwia.
The Bagisu are a Bantu-speaking people living on the western slopes of the now extinct volcano called Mount Elgon in the Bugisu District of eastern Uganda, some 50 miles north of Lake Victoria. Although the Gisu call themselves Ba-Masaba -- Masaba being their reference for Mount Elgon, the term is also commonly used to refer to all the people living on this mountain. Strictly speaking, the name Bagisu originally applied only to the people of the northern part of the territory, but by extension is now used as the name for the people who speak Lugisu in contradistinction to the other mountain peoples such as the Vugusu and Sebei.
In common usage the plural prefix "ba" preceding the tribal name means "people"; the prefix "bu" refers to their "country"; while "lu" preceding the name refers to their "language" (LaFontaine, 1959, 9).
There has been a steady increase in the Bagisu population throughout the twentieth century. Roscoe, writing in the early twentieth century, estimates a population of about 2,000 (Roscoe, 1924, 2). The census estimate in 1948 gives a figure of some 243,742 adult Bagisu men and women, of which 20,000 live outside Bugisu District particularly in the Uganda districts of Busoga, Buganda, and Teso, with small pockets of Bagisu living among the Sebei, chiefly in the Sipi and Bukwa areas (LaFontaine, 1959, 12). The census of 1980 records the population of Bugisu District as 529,202 excluding Mbale, the administrative town of the district (Heald, 1989, nt. 1, 43-44). In the 1991 census, the population of the district was recorded as 751,253 (SIL International, 2003). Population density varied with the fertility of the land under cultivation with the highest number of individuals per square mile in the mountain areas of Bugisu District. In the ten-year period between 1959 and 1969 population density rose from 329 per s quare mile to 441, with the highest density occurring in the more fertile mountain areas where it soared to 1,500 (Heald, 1989, 102). Based on these figures it is reasonable to assume that the Bagisu population has continued to increase into the twenty-first century.
Lugisu (Masaba), the language of the Bagisu, is a Bantu language in the larger Niger-Congo group of languages. The main dialect groupings are Lubuya, Lugisu, and Luwanale based on the lines of division of tribal sections, or on the division of the clans into north and south groups depending on their geographical relationship to the administrative center of Mbale. All of these dialect groups are mutually intelligible, although the southern dialect shows some affinities to the language of the Vugusu of Kenya. Guthrie classifies Lugisu with the languages spoken in the north Nyanza area of Kenya and those of the Inter-Lacustrine Bantu (Guthrie, 1948, 77, 43-45). Lugisu, however, differs from that of the Inter-Lacustrine group by the absence of an initial vowel in all but one of the noun forms (LaFontaine, 1959, 11).
In the late twentieth century Luganda has become the official language of Bugisu District and is used widely in the schools. Both Luganda and to some extent English and Swahili are used as the lingua franca of the region. Words from all three of these languages have become incorporated into Lugisu and are often used without knowledge of their origin. Most Bagisu are bilingual in Luganda with English becoming widespread among the educated elite of the society.
Traditionally the Bagisu believe they are the descendants of Muntu (Mundu) the first man to live on Mount Elgon. He is said to have come out of a hole in the ground at the top of the mountain, but other traditions have him coming from Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The general belief of the Bagisu is that originally they lived at the top of Mount Elgon but as the population increased they moved down to the lower regions, although some say that it was the eruption of Mount Elgon, then an active volcano, that forced them to move. Based on similarities in language and culture, scholars suggest that the Bagisu may have once been part of the people inhabiting the Nyanza region of Kenya. It seems possible that they were first forced into the foothills of Mount Elgon by attacks of the Nandi. Two factors prevented them from expanding into the plains at this point: the continual raids by the Teso, and the fact that the land on the plains was less favorable for their type of agriculture. Expansion, therefore, was northward into the territory of the Sebei. Later, with the pacification of the area by Europeans, the Bagisu began to move down and settle on the plains (LaFontaine, 1959, 14).
Little was known of the inhabitants of Mount Elgon before the 1890s when the first European-Gisu contacts took place. Although Arab and Swahili trade routes passed within 30 miles of Gisu territory long before the late nineteenth century, no contact was made because of the fear of the ferocity of the Bagisu. In 1900, a party of Baganda, led by Semei Kakunguru, was sent under British authority to pacify the eastern province of Uganda, which includes the territory of the Bagisu. By 1905 Bagisu country finally came under effective British control, although sporadic fighting occasionally erupted against the Baganda who administered the area until 1910. In 1913 Bagisu chiefs were appointed as junior administrative agents replacing the Baganda, although senior administrators were still Baganda at least until 1934 when the last Baganda agent retired. Bugisu was officially declared a separate district in 1923, with its headquarters located at Bubulo and then subsequently moved to Mbale. Bugisu was united with Bukedi District in 1941, but retained its own District Native Court and Native Administration Treasury. In later years Pallissa and Bugwere were added to the district, which then was known as Mbale District and administered as such until 1954, when it was further divided into Bukedi and Bugisu Districts.
A.R. Tucker of the Church Missionary Society established the first mission station at Nabumali in Bugisu in 1899. A few years later the Catholic Mill Hill Mission opened a second mission. By the mid-twentieth century a number of other mission stations were established in Bugisu territory representing many of the main religious denominations. Each of these denominations had their own primary and secondary educational facilities (LaFontaine, 1959, 13-15).
In pre-colonial days, prior to 1900, the Bagisu preferred to build their homesteads high on the mountainside as natural defenses against marauding tribes. When settlements were built on the plains and lower foothills, however, it was necessary to construct walled and fortified villages to protect the inhabitants from the raids of neighboring tribal groups who were competing with the Bagisu for territory. At this time the settlements consisted of clusters of houses, forming villages, varying in size from 10 to as many as 100 houses. During the late twentieth century, with a vastly increased population, and no longer the need to congregate together for defensive purposes, Bagisu homesteads spread down the hillsides, into the valleys, and across the rugged countryside of the lower foothills and plains. These settlements are continuous and dispersed with no appreciable clustering of houses. Given the right to build on any portion of their own land that they wish, homesteads are frequently scattered among the plan tations of plantains and between fallow and cultivated fields alike (Heald, 1989, 17).
The traditional style of dwelling consisted of a structure made of poles, saplings or bamboos interlaced into a framework, which was then plastered with mud and cow dung and thatched with grass or plantain fiber. The hut, which was arranged in a circle, had two doorways and was internally divided in two by a partition. One- half of the hut was occupied by the domestic animals, and one-half by the human inhabitants. By the mid-twentieth century separate kitchens and stock buildings are often constructed, and while the basic style of the house has been retained, huts now have steeper roofs, one doorway instead of two, and some even have windows. Other changes in house construction include rectangular shapes and a few brick and cement-plastered homes. Households typically consist of a man and his wife or wives and their unmarried children. Each elementary family within the homestead is spatially separated from one another with each wife having her own hut, kitchen, and own fields to cultivate. The separate huts of the wives were not necessarily in the same homestead, but scattered throughout the village, the husband visiting each in turn.
The Bagisu are primarily sedentary agriculturists. The two staple food crops are millet and plantains, supplemented by several varieties of beans, yams, and cucurbit. New crops introduced to the Bagisu in the early twentieth century were chickpeas, pumpkins, tomatoes, onions, groundnuts and maize. Major cash crops important to the economy of the area are maize and coffee grown in the higher regions above 5,000 feet, and cotton on the plains. A limited amount of rice is grown on the plains, but mostly for local consumption.
Traditionally the Bagisu kept cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs (used by professional hunters), as well as chickens, and even in a minority of households, Muscovy ducks and cats. The possession of a large number of cattle, goats, and sheep were a primary indicator of wealth in the society. Cattle were used on ritual occasions, for the payment of bride price, and for blood-wealth payments. Cattle ownership, however, did not have the same prestige value that it did in other parts of Bantu Africa (LaFontaine, 1959, 16).
Bagisu crafts were limited in number and consisted primarily of the following: relatively crude pottery wares with little if any decoration; the use of plantain fibers in a wide variety of products (string, rope, married women's garments, mats, etc.); wooden drum frameworks and stools; the smelting of iron ore into iron rods which were then traded in bundles to smiths; and the manufacture of sun-dried and tanned hides into garments, shields, and drum membranes.
Traditionally the Bagisu did not hold markets for the exchange of their products. Craft specialists, generally of a particular descent group, sold directly to their customers from their homes from the stock at hand, or took orders for products not then available. Certain local areas were noted for particular products, such as bows or certain varieties of pottery. Many of these goods were traded internally over a fairly wide area. Trade also took place with the people of the North Nyanza region for such products as beads, iron, and cowrie shells. Food was also exchanged for baskets with the Sebei and Sabinyi, since the Bagisu had no knowledge of basketry manufacture or weaving. Barter was the principal means of trade exchange, but there was no fixed rate of value assigned to the individual products. Each transaction continued until both buyer and seller reached a satisfactory agreement. An exception to this was noted by LaFontaine in two types of exchange involving livestock and the semi-permanent relationshi p between the two trading parties. In the first of these transactions animals of low prestige value are exchanged for those of higher value, as for example, the exchange of field-rats for a hen, the hen and its chicks for a goat, the goat and its kids for a cow, the cow and its calves used in the payment of bridewealth to obtain a wife, who then bears a son, who again starts collecting field-rats and the cycle begins all over. Each of the above transactional stages involves considerable bargaining and individuals arrangements between the parties concerned. In this type of exchange each item has a rough scale of values. In north Gisu country, for example, 12 field-rats are equivalent to a hen, six hens for a goat, three to four goats for a cow, and one or two cows and a goat being the usual bridewealth expected for a wife (LaFontaine, 1959, 20). In the second type of exchange, called LUSANGO, a man buys the unborn calf of another's cow. After an initial payment the man brings the cow home and waits until the c alf is born. After the calf is weaned the cow is returned to the original owner with an additional payment. In both of the cases listed above greater prestige accrues to the donor of the animal with the higher prestige value. The Bagisu consider these exchanges not as ordinary market transactions, but more as a means of cementing existing kinship relations.
There is a distinct division of labor between men and women in Bagisu society and between different age groups in each gender, although this division is not a rigid one. Certain tasks, however, if performed by the gender that does not normally undertake them, may cause ridicule to fall on the performer. In general, men's work includes planting plantains and such cash crops as coffee and cotton, tending and herding the cattle, cutting down trees and clearing heavy brush, house construction, hunting and trapping, butchering all livestock, cooking fowls (the flesh of which is taboo to women), and defending their property and families against outsiders. Traditionally women planted, weeded, and harvested the food crops, were responsible for the upkeep of the house and grounds, prepared the meals for the family, gathered certain vegetables used as relishes, gathered bamboo shoots at certain time of the year, took care of the children, made the clothes worn by married women, and fetched firewood and water. Both men and women made pottery, with men making the pots generally used in the long distance trade, while women made pots used in the domestic household.
Land is held individually by men under the strict guardianship of the minimal lineage that supervises the inheritance, loan, lease, pledge, or sale of the land to individuals outside the lineage. Subject to the authority of the minimal lineage a man may cultivate whatever crops he wants, dispose of them as he wishes including any assets that the land might provide, such as timber, clay, firewood, or iron ore. The landowner may not prohibit the use of his land when not under cultivation, for grazing, nor prevent other people from using the water supply of the land for themselves or their cattle, or closing a footpath to the area. The owner may sue for damage to his property but he cannot deny access to the resources of the land, which are deemed to belong to the community as a whole.
Women have only usufructory rights to land and neither inherit nor bequeath it. Throughout her lifetime she has the right to enough land to feed herself and children. She may also buy land for her sons, from the accumulated saving of cash and livestock given to her as presents by members of her lineage such as her brothers. Her husband or brother does the actual purchase transaction, but should she die before the sons are adults, the property reverts to her husband in trust for the sons.
The Bagisu conceive of their society as being composed of a series of progressively more inclusive patrilineal descent groups, ranging from the smallest lineage group (the minimal lineage) to the category of all the descendents of the founding ancestor Masaba (the clan). In LaFontaine's analysis of the descent system, he uses the term "tribal section", composed of between 9 to 11 generation, as being roughly equivalent to the district. Tribal sections are further subdivided into maximal lineages with distinct territorial bondaries. Roscoe refers to these units as clans (Roscoe, 1924, 2-3). The maximal lineages in turn are divided into major lineages and these into minor lineages. All three of the lineage orders are territorially based; the minor lineage is associated with the village, the major lineage with a cluster of villages, and as noted above, the maximal lineage with the district. In addition to the above the minor lineage segments into exogamous units known as minimal lineages. Members of this group d o not constitute compact residential blocks in the community since they live scattered throughout the village area.
Although theoretically Bagisu kinship terms are extended to all members of the maximal lineage, in actual practice they are used primarily within the minimal lineage in referring to a male ego's own, his mother's and his father's mother's minimal lineages. On occasion the kinship terms may also apply to relatives outside the circle of primary kin. A wider use of the terminology occurs when unrelated Bagisu meet outside the territorial area and use kinship terms to indicate common tribal origins. All members of ego's generation, male speaking, are called siblings. Cousins are classed with siblings, although sometimes a descriptive term is added to indicate the degree of relationship involved (e.g., YAIYA WE SENGE or sibling of father's sister). No distinction is made between cross and parallel cousins in terminology.
In the first ascending generation, a male ego calls his father and all the father's siblings of the same generation, BAPA (papa), his mother and all the mother's siblings of the same generation, MAYI.
MAYI is also the term used by ego to refer to his father's other wives. All men of the first ascending generation who are referred to as siblings by ego's mother are called MAMA or KHOTZA (mother's brother), while all women whom ego's father calls siblings, are called SENGE (father's sister).
In the second ascending generation no distinction in terminology is made between paternal and maternal grandparents. All males of this generation are called GUGA and all females KUKU. These terms are also applied to the spouses of the grandparent's generation. There is no terminological distinction made in the second descending generation, all are called UMWITZUKHULU (LaFontaine, 1959 , 29).
In theory, at least, Bagisu women are treated as jural minors throughout their lives, first under the authority of their fathers, and then under that of their husbands. In actual practice, however, the right given to men to manage their own affairs is also given to women (Heald, 1989, 95). Women, therefore, have the recognized right to choose their own spouse, and subsequently the right to initiate divorce.
Among the Bagisu, there are three ways to marry: (1) by formal alliance (BUXWALE); (2) by elopement (BUBELA); and (3) by widow inheritance (XURELA NAMELEXWA). Once the brideprice has been paid all three methods are equally valid, and all three give the husband rights to his wife's labor, control over her movements, and sexual rights.
The BUXWALE or formal alliance type of marriage is arranged by the fathers of the couple and validated only after payment of the brideprice. The elaborate ceremonies associated with this form of marriage function to indicate the importance of the alliance which the marriage creates, and to bring honor to the bride and dramatize her change in status from a daughter to a wife. During these ceremonies, the bride is forbidden food or drink (beer), and must prove her industry by performing tasks contrived by the groom's family. These traditional ceremonies changed somewhat in the 1960s, when they were combined with a church wedding, particularly among the wealthy and educated elite who tended to marry among themselves. For the poorer Bagisu families, this expensive and prestigious form of marriage had no practical value and was resorted to only in cases where two men wanted to cement friendships by the marriage of their children.
The majority of weddings among the Bagisu are either through elopement or widow inheritance, either of which involves a minimum of ceremony and expense. In the widow inheritance form of marriage, only a goat or two need to be given to a woman's father in recognition of the new marriage. Available widows, however, are subject to the "laws" of supply and demand, and sometimes they are objects of fierce competition among potential suitors. Marriage by elopement is fairly common among the Bagisu, and for young men in the society, is often seen as the only way in which a reluctant father is forced to provide a brideprice for his son, which is frequently negotiated after the elopement takes place to legitimize the union. Marriages of this type are often the result of clandestine love affairs with an unmarried girl of the area, or grow out of casual unions. Once the woman moves in with man she is referred to as his wife. Children conceived during this time belong to the father for biological paternity among the Bagi su is absolute and inalienable. Illegitimacy only occurs when the woman refuses to name the father, in which case the children become the responsibility of her brother.
At any time during her marriage a woman can return to her father without interference from her husband. If she does this and does not return to her husband, or if she is said to be barren, lazy, or adulterous, the husband can divorce her and the brideprice paid for her returned. If the woman has had several children by the husband, however, the father may keep one or more cows from the brideprice. In cases where her husband without justification drives a woman from their home, or if she leaves him because of his failure to fulfill his duties toward her, then no brideprice is returned. The woman may then obtain a divorce and be free to marry again. Divorce procedures in the latter case follow a traditional pattern of appeal to the lineage head and council of elders. The lineage head or presiding elder asks the woman three times if she will return to her husband. If the woman answers in the negative, the lineage head and elders will attempt to determine who is at fault in the marriage in order to decide the que stion of the return of the brideprice. On divorce a woman usually takes her youngest children with her while the older ones are given the choice of residence -- with father, mother, mother's brother or other relative. A husband can bring suit against his father-in-law if the latter receives his daughter back into his home without taking any action to inform the husband about the grievance against him or sending the woman back. Punishment of such an offense was traditionally the fine of a goat, but in recent times by a sum of money.
Polygyny exists among the Bagisu and is often an achievement goal among some men, while denounced by others for the trouble it causes, particularly in terms of quarreling between co-wives. Generally it is the wealthier men in the society who can hope to achieve stable polygynous unions since they can afford extra brideprice payments, provide a higher standard of living for his wives, and provide sufficient land for their use. Serial polygyny is far more common although even here the women have to face a certain degree of rivalry.
The basic domestic unit among the Bagisu is the conjugal family, consisting of a man, his wife or wives and their unmarried children. As sons reach adulthood they move away to set up their own households. In polygynous families, each wife has her own dwelling, kitchen, and fields. Other adults who are staying in the compound under the protection of the family head are considered as "attached" to the household rather than an integral part of it. These adults would include divorced or widowed mothers or sisters who are given their own huts and plots of land in order to maintain themselves separately from the rest of the family.
During a man's lifetime his land is equally divided among his wives. At his death the sons of each of his wives inherits an equal share of the property in proportion to the amount of land used by their mothers. If a woman has no sons the property of her hut is divided equally among the sons of his other wives. This property includes domestic animals, utensils, agricultural tools, and land. The widow of the deceased has life use of the land given to her during her husband's lifetime, and, unless she remarries will continue to cultivate some of these fields. Generally the widow will go to live with her youngest son, who after her death will inherit the fields cultivated by his mother during her widowhood. A man's daughters, however, does not inherit either land or livestock at her father's death. Should there be many animals, a brother may give her one, but this is considered a gift rather than any form of inheritance. Unlike other property, cattle are not divided among a man's wives, thus the sons do not inher it according to the shares of their mothers, but instead equally from the whole herd. These cattle may be divided among the sons or retained as one herd under the supervision of the eldest brother. Each son is entitled to take as many animals from the herd as he wishes to provide the brideprice for a wife. If some of the sons are very young when the father dies, land and livestock will be held in trust for them by the eldest son. The heir to the status and authority of the father is generally determined in a meeting at the end of the period of mourning. Often this position falls to the brother of the deceased, although on occasion the eldest son may be chosen for this role. The duties of this individual are to see that the widow and daughters are taken care of and that all the sons receive their proper share of the inheritance. He is also expected to take the dead man's place in the regulation of domestic affairs among his descendants and to act in their behalf in lineage affairs. The heir is also entitled to inherit the widow or widows of the deceased, but generally he only takes one. Differences vary between the Bagisu of the southern and northern districts in regard to widow inheritance. Among the southern Bagisu a son could inherit all the widows of his deceased father, except his biological mother, but this custom was not observed among the northern people. Should a widow refuse to be inherited in this manner, the heir must receive part of the woman's brideprice from her father, the amount varying depending on the age of the widow and the number of children she has borne.
At the death of a woman, all land and livestock given to her during her lifetime by members of her lineage are inherited equally by her sons. Among the Bagisu, women have only usufructory rights to property, but the sons who inherit from her have rights of possession. Land loaned to her must be returned to the lender. Personal ornaments go to a daughter, or lacking daughters, to a sister.
Before a man dies he may make a verbal will distributing his property following his death. This will is usually made known to his sister and some of the elders of the lineage. The dead man's wishes are usually respected in the distribution of his property, but unless he has disinherited one or more of his sons, the land must be equally divided among them. If this is not done, the lineage council may see fit to override the will.
As soon as possible after a child's birth it was given a name, a boy by its father and a girl by its mother. In either case the name was that of some deceased ancestor of the father whose ghost would then look after the child for the rest of its life. Should the child not thrive, a medicine man was consulted who sometimes advised the parents to change the child's name, since the ghost whose name it bore was causing the trouble. Weaning did not take place until the mother became pregnant again. There was no ceremony at weaning; the child was simply put under the care of a relative, in isolation from the mother.
During early childhood children learn gender related adult skills from their parents; boys from their fathers and girls from their mothers. At puberty the young adolescents undergo ceremonies of full admission to adulthood, relatively simple in the case of girls, and far more elaborate in the circumcision rituals for boys.
In Bagisu society, twins are considered lucky, but they are also considered ritually dangerous and are the subject of numerous ceremonies throughout their lifetime to protect their own lives and prevent their parents from becoming ill.
There is no clearly defined class structure among the Bagisu. Heald speaks of them as having an "incipient class division" (Heald, 1989, 260) pitting the landed against the landless, the haves against the have-nots, and the wealthy educated "elite", against the poor, uneducated, peasants. The distribution of wealth in the form of land and cattle is a major means of winning supporters and cementing alliances in order to achieve a position of influence in the society. A typical representative of this elite group, or as LaFontaine calls them, "notables" (BAKURU), is the lineage head (MUGASYA). This individual acts as an arbitrator in disputes and as a war leader. He is also empowered to act as a representative in matters dealing with the external relations of his lineage, such as in making peace pacts and defensive alliances. The notables by themselves have no institutionalized positions in the society as do the lineage heads, but nevertheless wields considerable informal power. It is from this group that the li neage head is chosen. The notables and the lineage heads tend to form an upper class from which political leaders are drawn. The equality of status enjoyed by both groups is further enhanced by marriage alliances that tend to form an intermarrying class system. The kinship links generated by the marriage alliances between different lineages add to the power of the notables to act as negotiators in the external affair of the lineage and also to their own specific importance to the lineage. The ties that this type of relationship creates between heads of lineages is used to generate alliances that often cut across the alignment of groups in the lineage system (LaFontaine, 1959, 31-32).
Roscoe, writing in the early twentieth century, claims that at one time the Bagisu had slaves that they bought from other tribes. These slaves were treated as members of the family. Female slaves were married into the tribe and males were adopted and allowed to inherit property (Roscoe, 1924, 7).
The smallest territorial unit in the traditional system was the neighborhood, a grouping which was not clearly defined and of little political significance. The neighborhood consisted of anywhere from six to 20 homesteads, the occupants of which had certain rights and duties to one another based on being neighbors rather than on any specific kinship ties. The sharing of food and beer, the loaning of domestic and agricultural implements, and mutual assistance in various tasks were all characteristic of this unit. In general the neighborhood constituted an essentially fluid grouping of people, and its member might, and sometimes did, move to other neighborhoods as the result of disputes.
The smallest political unit in the traditional system was the village consisting of several neighborhoods. The male inhabitants of the village were all members of a single patrilineal descent group or lineage who exercised the exclusive right to the ownership of land within the village boundaries. Each village had an institutionalized head called MUGASYA who was also the head of the lineage on which the village was based. The MUGASYA acted as a war leader, represented the village in matters affecting other villages, and also arbitrated disputes within the village itself. The village also served as a ritual unit containing a common shrine in which ancestral ceremonies were performed.
The village cluster, consisting of several villages, was the largest politically cohesive group among the Bagisu. Each village cluster formed a continuous tract of land extending anywhere from four to ten square miles, but with well-marked boundaries. The male population of these political units ranged from 600 to 1,000 inhabitants. Despite the cohesiveness of this group, it had no formalized leader; although the head of one of its constituent villages might achieve a position of influence within it comparable to that of the MUGASYA in his village. All male members of the village cluster, as with the individual villages, were considered as belonging to one lineage. Just as villages were grouped together to form village clusters, village clusters in turn were associated together into districts. These districts varied in size from six to twenty square miles, and might contain as many as 1,000 male members, which in theory at least, were all part of a maximal lineage. Inhabitants of a district shared certain spe ech and ritual characteristics, that distinguished them from other districts. The district was considered the largest unit within which it was considered possible to offer blood money for homicide. Generally there was little political unity or organized leadership within a district.
In the 1960s the lowest administrative unit is the parish varying in size from one to ten square miles, with a population of between 2,000 to 5,000 individuals. Within the parish area, the names of the former village divisions are still used for locational references. For convenience in tax collection the parish is subdivided into smaller units by the parish chief, each under the sphere of influence of a MUTALA, chief or headman, who acts as a personal and unpaid assistant to the chief of the parish. Each of these subdivisions has clearly defined boundaries, and bears the name of a lineage, sub-clan, or a feature of the natural environment. They commonly consist of between 50 to 100 male taxpayers from various lineages and sub-clans (Heald, 1989, 176).
The available literature on the Bagisu offers little information on institutionalized means of enforcing conformity to social norms. Traditionally informal sanctions, such as refusal to help in a project when requested, may have been sufficient to change recalcitrant behavior. Other means probably involved the pressure of public opinion, and the fear of witchcraft and having a curse placed on one's self.
The Bagisu have a reputation for violence, a topic discussed to great length in Heald's monograph in this collection (see Heald, 1989, document no. 3). They are quick to anger and brawls are frequent in the society. Bagisu men are expected to stand up for their rights in everyday life and all grievances carry with them the threat of retaliation in some form such as killing, physical assault, theft, arson, crop destruction, and certain forms of witchcraft.
The Bagisu consider murder as a matter of interpersonal violence and retribution and wholly justified as a sanction in cases of adultery, theft, or witchcraft. In the 1960s the clearest pattern of Bagisu killing is based not so much on private retaliation, but justified in terms of the general good when the alleged perpetrator was convicted by the Bagisu justice system as a thief or witch.
The Bagisu reputation for violence follows them throughout East Africa; in Kenya, for example, they are proverbially thought of as cannibals, and in Uganda itself they are feared for their personal aggressiveness. The imputation of cannibalism attributed to these people comes from the earliest colonial writings on the area including reports and letters of missionaries and government officials. Roscoe, the missionary anthropologist, gives greater credence to this belief by reporting that the Bagisu ate their dead. This is strongly denied by the Bagisu themselves and there is no clear evidence to prove or disprove the theory that cannibalism ever existed.
Religious beliefs and practices tend to vary among the Bagisu, but there are three main classes of supernatural beings: (1) the creator spirit; (2) other spirits; and (3) ancestral spirits. The creator spirit (WERE or NABENDE) is considered the creator of human beings and the foodstuffs upon which they subsist. A rather vague concept of the creator spirit is that he is the giver of life and death, and allots each individual a particular span of life. In the northern part of Bugisu, where the creator spirit is called NABENDE, he is believed to live in the plantain garden in the form of a large snake or hairy dwarf. A small hut-like shrine is constructed for the NABENDE in the plantain garden and sacrifices are made to him there. In southern Bugisu the WERE does not have a shrine nor are sacrifices made to him directly, although there is a vague belief that he is the ultimate recipient of all sacrifices made to the ancestral and fertility spirits. The class of "other spirits" includes those that have shrines bu ilt for them, but are not considered localized, and those associated with local landmarks, and are the recipients of local cults. Among the northern Bagisu, where the creator spirit takes the form of belief in the NABENDE, the WERE is conceived of as a pervasive evil spirit from which other evil spirits emanate. In those areas where belief in NABENDE does not exist, the evil spirits are believed to be manifestations of the evil side of the WERE. All evil spirits are associated with certain diseases that may attack either people or their animals. Shrines are built where sacrifices are offered to cure the disease. Other spirits are associated with patches of bush, large trees, rocks, and streams. These too are believed to cause disease, but only to humans who trespass on the areas in which they inhabit. The Bagisu make sacrifices to the named ancestral spirits of the lineage. Generally it is the male ancestors who receive the offerings, although in some cases female ancestors of the lineage may be included, and in some areas special shrines built for them. The ancestral spirits of men are said to take the form of snakes inhabiting the ancestral groves and appear to circumcised men and to novices during the ceremonies of circumcision. Some Bagisu believe that the soul of a human has its counterpart in that of the snake, and when the snake dies so does the human. Ancestor sacrifices were traditionally held at life-crises events, at certain points during the agricultural cycle, and form an integral part of fertility rites. During the twentieth century these sacrifices are also performed at the naming of a child, at circumcision, and to avert misfortune.
The Bagisu believe in both witchcraft and sorcery. Although witches or sorcerers may be men or women, it is the general belief that men are the more malevolent and powerful. There is no distinction in the minds of the Bagisu between witchcraft and sorcery.
The Bagisu recognize several types of religious functionaries. Chief among these was the diviner or UMUFUMU whose function in divination forms the basis of most rituals. He determines the most propitious time for ceremonies, divines the cause of sickness, misfortune, and the barrenness of women or livestock, and prescribes the correct ritual or rituals to overcome them. His power is derived from the ancestors or from a spirit and is generally inherited patrilineally. The techniques of divination vary somewhat from area to area depending on the diviner himself. The UMUDYULI specialist, who may also be a diviner, literally "smells out" the medicines used in cases of sorcery, and attempts to remove them. In operation, the UMUDYULI, often using snuff to heighten his sense of smell, walks around the house and compound of the patient, until he determines the location of the substances used in the sorcery. These are frequently found in the roof of the hut or buried in the vegetable garden. They are then carefully di sposed of so that they do not fall into the hands of some other evilly disposed person. Other ritual specialists include the priests of the ancestor shrines; circumcisers; owners of white magic who own ritual magic for twins and breech-births and possess cures for certain types of diseases; other specialists who have recovered from a disease caused by certain spirits, advise treatment for others suffering from that disease; and finally the rain-controllers (UMUGIMBI), individuals from certain lineages with the power to control rain.
At different stages during the cultivation of a crop, certain rituals are carried out. Prior to the first sowing of grain, a family elder performs a special ceremony for his own, his sons' and grandsons' fields in order to insure a good growth of the crop. At harvest time first-fruit offerings are made to the ancestral spirits to give thanks for the abundance of the crop. Generally agricultural rites involving groups larger than the individuals mentioned above do not take place among the Gisu, although in the Bumbo area an entire minimal lineage is involved in a rite designed to kill weeds (LaFontaine, 1959, 52). In all the Bagisu rituals, a sacrifice of beer, or an animal, accompanied by an appropriate invocation to the spirits, forms an important part of the ceremony. One of the most important ceremonies of the Bagisu is that of the rites of passage at puberty. At a girl's first menses she is instructed by her mother in personal hygiene practices, and is expected to observe a number of taboos associated with the menstrual period, but there is no specific ceremonies involved, according to LaFontaine, in contrast to Roscoe's opinion to the contrary (LaFontaine, 1959, 41, nt.6). Puberty ceremonies for boys are far lengthier in extent and involve four preliminary phases leading up to the ordeal of the circumcision itself. Phase one is primarily concerned with dancing. The novices (or initiates) dress up in the traditional costume, and dance on the village greens, under the supervision of an older circumcised man, who leads the songs and provides instructions in the songs and dances that the novices will have to know for other parts of the ceremony. In phase two, after the main agricultural work of sowing and weeding is finished, the novice accompanied by other initiates and their sisters, travel around the countryside visiting their relatives and informing them of the impending circumcision. A few days before the actual ceremonies begin, phase three takes place. This phase is characterized by intensified dancing far into the night by the novices and the entire community. During this time the novice is not allowed to speak in a normal voice, nor is he expected to answer any questions addressed to him. The fourth phase consists of the final ritual preparation for the ceremony, involving sacrifices to the ancestral spirits and receiving the blessings of the maternal ancestors. On the day of the circumcision, there are three basic components of the ceremony that must be fulfilled before the operation itself begins. In the first of these a father or grandfather of the novice slaughters an animal, its entrails are examined for omens, and the contents of the stomach smeared over the initiates face, chest and legs. This man then instructs the boy in the appropriate behavior expected of a Bagisu man. The second component involves the smearing of the novice's body with mud, while receiving further instruction in proper behavior, and the third with the spitting of beer over them by the elders to promote fertility. In the operation itself, the boys are lined up while the circumciser proceeds down the line, circumcising as fast as he can. The novice must stand absolutely still and not show any signs of suffering. After a period of convalescence, a final ceremony is performed admitting the novices to full adulthood in the society.
Artistic expression among the Bagisu is primarily confined to singing, dancing, and the playing of musical instruments. The instruments include a seven-stringed lyre, played by professional males, a single or double-stringed musical bow played with a gourd resonator, a man's instrument, and a reed zither played by women. Drums are played by both men and women. On the plains area of Bagisu, a four-holed flute of bamboo is played with the instrument held vertically. Whistles of hard-bodied fruits are made by herd-boys. At one time side-blown horns were common, but these have generally dropped out of use in the twentieth century. Rhythm in music is sometimes provided by the beating of the open mouth of a jar with the hand in lieu of a drum. A twentieth century addition to the list of musical instruments is the imported guitar or the so-called "kaffir piano" Dancing is frequently accompanied by singing and instrumental music. The singer is usually a professional hired for the occasion. Leisure time activities, particularly for women and children, is the telling of traditional folk-tales and legends, whose themes deal with man-eating monsters, or moralistic tales involving common people.
In addition to magical curing practices, the Bagisu have a number of purely herbal cures, which are used to treat certain illnesses. An individual using these medicines, however, must have a special right to their use, for an unauthorized person is said to have no success in curing a patient.
The Bagisu also practice some surgery. They have enough knowledge of anatomy to recognize the function of the blood vessels in the body and how to tie them off in cases of excessive bleeding. Cupping is used to relieve rheumatic pains using the tip of a cow's horn, and the lancing of boils by "doctors" is common. Very skilled "doctors" would also open the chest of a patient to relieve pain. Apparently the Bagisu are not familiar with the technique of stitching wounds, but instead tie them with fiber bandages, and in the case of spear wounds pad them with extra fiber. Abdominal operations are not performed, although in the case of a woman dying in childbirth, the fetus is removed surgically before burial (LaFontaine, 1959, 56), wrapped in cloths and buried in a separate grave from the mother.
According to the Bagisu the "essence" of life resides in the shadow and death follows when this is removed by the creator spirit (WERE or NABENDE), through the agency of man or evil spirits. The soul of the deceased is not thought to go to any particular place, although some say that it exists for a time in the center pole of the hut or beside the door, returning periodically to that spot.
Traditionally the dead were not buried in the earth but exposed for wild animals to eat. It was believed that the soul of the deceased, if buried, would not be able to act as a guardian spirit for future children of the lineage and would cause them to die. Roscoe claims that the Bagisu ate the dead bodies (Roscoe, 1924, 40), but there is no evidence to prove or disprove this assertion. After the skeleton had been exposed, elders of the lineage took the skulls of circumcised men and women who had borne children and placed them in the lineage shrine.
In the twentieth century, burial is universal, and the traditional mortuary practices have largely disappeared. The description below generally follows the twentieth century pattern of burial.
As death approached and the man's shadow was thought to have left the body, the women break out into wailing. A member of the household is then sent out to notify the kin. If the dead man is of mature age and high status in the society drums will be beaten by specialist, women who are paid for their performance. The body is removed from the hut and placed on a bed or mat on the veranda of the structure with certain types of leaves on the chest to prevent the body from swelling. If the body swells despite these precautions, this is an indication to the Bagisu that the death was caused by witchcraft or sorcery. Depending on the gender and status of the deceased the body is left unburied for up to four days during which relatives and friends come to view the body and make small gifts to the family for funeral expenses. Dancing takes place for long periods of time at this wake, but there is no feasting, or drinking of beer.
After several days of dancing the burial takes place early in the afternoon. The corpse is wrapped in white cloth, purchased with the funeral gifts, and is sometimes placed in a coffin. For most people, graves are dug in the plantain gardens near the homestead by the close patrilineal kin of a man and by the patrikin of a woman. The exception to this is that an old man of high status is buried on the compound of his homestead. Favorite possessions are generally buried with the corpse or placed on the grave. About a month after the funeral beer is brewed and dispensed to all the individuals who danced and gave gifts at the funeral. The minimal lineage meets to choose the dead man's heir and to see that the deceased's property is fairly divided among the sons. At this time the cause of the death is discussed and accusations of witchcraft made. After the above events have been completed, the widow shaves her head and is either inherited by the ex-husband's brother, or returns to her parental home. Taboos of mourning are now lifted for all close kin of the deceased.
Documents referred to in this section are included in the eHRAF collection, and are reference by author, date of publication, and eHRAF document number.
The Bagisu collection consists of three documents, all in English, covering a time span from the late nineteenth century to approximately 1989. A concise summary of most major features of Bagisu ethnography from around the 1890s to 1954, will be found in LaFontaine (1959, no. 1). This is further supplemented by the data found in Roscoe (1924, no. 2), dealing with information from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. While this latter document does contain some unique cultural data, LaFontaine questions the validity of some of Roscoe's information (e.g., the existence of cannibalism among the Bagisu). Roscoe also projects a certain degree of ethnocentrism in dealing with his data, as for example in his statement that "the Bagesu tribe of Mount Elgon is one of the most primitive of the negro tribes of Africa..." (Roscoe, 1924, l). Heald's monograph on the Bagisu based on the author's fieldwork in Central Bugisu from 1965-1969 (Heald, 1989, no.3), is a detailed study of the various ways in which violence is expressed in Bagisu society and the manner in which it is brought under control. This document presents data on the reputation and history of violence among the Bagisu, statistics on homicide, the association of violence with manhood and the expression of anger, the ordeal of circumcision, behavior and treatment of witches and thieves, hostility management in the community, and the establishment of vigilante groups and drinking companies to control violence.
This culture summary, synopsis, and indexing notes were written by John Beierle in June 2003.
BAFURU -- newly circumcised men -- categories 881, 304
BAGULO (BUKULO) -- a joking relationship between lineages -- categories 602, 613
BAKASYA -- men of influence and wealth -- categories 554, 556
BAKURU -- notables -- categories 554, 565
BAMAKOMBE -- ancestral ghosts -- category 775
BANALUKOOSI -- agents of order or peace (e.g., vigilantes) -- categories 625, 627
BASAMBWA -- ancestral spirits -- category 775
BAYAZI -- transvestites -- category 838
beer parties -- category 574 (sometimes with 527)
BISIMU -- hostile spirits of the bush, rivers, and paths -- category 775
BULOSI -- witchcraft, sorcery -- category 754
BUMASALA -- avoidance relationships (e.g., mother-in-law, son-in-law) -- categories 606, 784
BUTONGOLE (MUTALA) -- village divisions of a parish -- category 621
CISIMU -- life force or spirit -- categories 761, 774
District Native Administration -- category 634
districts -- the association of several village clusters -- category 634
drinking companies -- voluntary associations that provided a save venue for the drinking of beer (thus avoiding conflict); later developed into forms of credit organizations -- categories 452, 273, 575
GOMBOLOLA --sub-counties -- category 634
IFUMU -- women's witchcraft -- category 754
IMAKOMBE -- home of the dead -- category 775
IMBALU -- ancestral power -- category 778
ISAMBO -- custom -- category 183
KAMANYANYU -- shame, fear -- category 152
KIBAGA -- a traditional form of a cooperative work group -- categories 461, 476
KIGUGA -- lineages -- category 613
KIMISAMBWA -- ritual observances -- categories 796, 881
KIMISIRO -- ritual prohibition -- category 784
KIWELE -- evil nature spirits -- category 776
KONDO -- armed robbers -- categories 685, 674
LIBUBA -- a mild form of emotional arousal in a woman -- categories 828, 152
LILOKO -- witchcraft; incest -- categories 754, 835
LIRIMA -- strong emotions in a man -- categories 828, 152
LUKOOSI -- respect, order, peace -- categories 602, 571, 577, 576
MAGENDO -- black market-- category 437
Magistrate's Courts -- categories 634, 692
MUGASYA -- the institutionalized head of the village who was also head of the lineage on which the village was based -- categories 622, 613
MULUKA -- parishes -- categories 794, 631, 632
MUTALA -- a community of between 50-100 taxpayers drawn from various lineages and even sub-clans -- category 621
SAZA -- county -- category 634
TSISONI -- respect rendered as sexual reticence or inhibition -- category 834
UMUBINI -- night dancers -- categories 754, 535
UMUDYULI -- the medicine remover -- category 756
UMUFUMU -- the diviner -- category 791
UMUGIMBI -- the rain-controller -- categories 789, 821
UMUMAKOMBE -- ghosts or shades -- category 775
UMUXULU -- the senior man of a lineage segment -- categories 613, 622
vigilantes -- categories 625, 627
village cluster -- category 632
WERE -- the creator spirit; also unicorporated spirits with no kinship linkage -- categories 776, 775
Guthrie, M. The classification of the Bantu Languages. London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute: 43-45, 77. 1948.
Heald, Suzette. Controlling anger: the sociology of Gisu violence. London, Manchester, New York: Manchester University Press, 1989.
LaFontaine, J.S. The Gisu of Uganda. Ethnographic Survey of Africa: East Central Africa, pt. 10. London: International African Institute, 1959.
Roscoe, John. The Bagesu and other tribes of the Uganda Protectorate; the third part of the report of the Mackie ethnological expedition to Central Africa. Cambridge [England]: The University Press, 1924.
SIL International. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 14th edition. Section on Masaba at http://www.ethnologue.com/show language.asp?code=MYX. June 2003.