Bagwere People of Uganda

Details about the culture of Bagwere People of Uganda

Much as the traditions of many tribes in Uganda is a myth,the tradition of Bagwere people of eastern Uganda falls suit.But on this website we have managed to get decisive information on the tradition and culture of these people.

We are happy to say that you are privileged to be on this page to learn more about these people.

Their language, lugwere is similar to Lusoga-Lulamogi in many respects.

What are their origins

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The history of the Bagwere people is very sketchy and scanty.

Some of their traditions assert that they originated in Bunyoro and first moved to Bulamogi and Bugabula before continuing in present Pallisa district.Their traditions say that they moved from Bunyoro following the disintegration that accompanied the arrival of the Luo and the collapse of the Bachwezi dynasty. There language and their supposed connection with Bunyoro presuppose that the Bagwere people are a Bantu group.

Their area of origin may thus be Katanga region of Central Africa like other Bantu.

Bagwere people live in the eastern part of Uganda, mostly in the Pallisa district, bordering today's Kenya and at the Lake Victoria. Their neighbours are the Bagisu (Bamasaaba) and the Basoga. The Bagwere are said to have migrated into the area where they are found nowadays from the west of the Bunyoro and Batoro (Toro) lands, approximately at the same time as the arrival of the Luo people, after the collapse of the Bachwezi dynasty*.

They travelled along the Lake Kyoga, crossing the River Mpologoma into their current area of settlement. For this reason, all the different tribes that have settled along the shores of Lake Kyoga have a similare language to that of the Lugwere, a Bantu dialect.

The Bagwere belong to the Bantu group.The ethno-linguistic Bantu group has its origins in Western Africa (Cameroon). The Bantu came from there, crossing Central Africa, and then began to expand to other parts around 2000 BC. These migrations are believed to have been the result of an increasingly settled agricultural lifestyle.

In the older times, parents have arranged marriages for their children. However, later, it became customary for a boy to look for a girl. Upon consent, the girl would introduce the boy to her parents. On being introduced, the groom would offer something as a gift to the bride's parents. The bridewealth had to be paid later on.

This practice was known as okutona. The process that followed involved the boy inviting the girl’s parents to come to his family home in order to assess the bridewealth. The bride and the groom getting married would stand under a tree and take a bath in the same water refined with appropriate herbs. Then the community started singing, and they would prepare to come to the courtyard.

Whenever a woman was pregnant, she was not supposed to look at the nest of a bird called Nansungi. It was believed that if the woman looked at the nest, she would miscarry. After giving birth, the woman was not supposed to leave the home. She was given banana leaves to sleep on.

Custom demanded that she was not allowed to eat food from her husband’s clans until her days of confinement were over. During this time, she could eat food provided by her neighbours or in her parents’ home. The name was given by the grandmother or aunt of the child. Some names had a special meaning but some did not.

If one died, people would weep and wail loudly. If some one did not cry or only cried lightly, he could be easily suspected of having had a hand in the death of this person. If the deceased man was an old man, the people would move around singing and mourning and they would tour the immediate neighbourhood and on to the well, to take away the spirit of the dead.

Normally, the body could not spend more than two days in the house before being buried. Corpses used to be buried with a needle or mweroko, a small stone used for grinding, to furnish the corpse with a means of defense against cannibals (body hunters). It was believed that if the body hunters called upon the corpse to come out of the grave, the corpse would reply that it was busy either sewing or grinding, whatever the case may be.

Normally there were three days of mourning. Thisperdiod of mourning would be ended by a ritual ceremony called okunaba. Herbs would be pounded and mixed in water. This mixture was then sprinkled on everybody present and on to the doorway of the deceased’s house. Finally, a goat would be slaughtered and eaten. The night before okunaba, the bayiwa (nieces and nephews) would be given a chicken to slaughter and eat because of their significant role during the funeral rites.

They would also remove whatever rubbish was scattered around and they were customarily paid for that act. The burial of a suicide case differed significantly from that of a normal death. There was no weeping, and no prayers were offered. A sheep was slaughtered to be eaten by the bayiwa alone, perhaps because of the unlucky task of cutting the rope which the bayiwa were used to perform.

The tree on which the suicide person had hanged himself had to be uprooted and burnt. If the deceased had hanged himself in the house, the house was destroyed and burnt, however big or good it was. This happened because such a house was believed to be contaminated.

The Bagwere people were mostly agriculturalists, and their main crops were millet, matooke, potatoes, sorghum (an old type of grain), and cassava. They have known a large sortiment of beans, peas, groundnuts and pumpkins. Now they also grow rice. They have also kept cows, goats, sheep and chicken. Their women were not supposed to eat mamba (lung of the fish), chicken, eggs and a particular kite-like bird called wansaka.

The traditional music of the Bagwere people is called entongoli, like the five string lead instrument, that shows similarities to the most popular instrument in use in Western Africa, this is the kora. They use this lute or the akogo, the thumb piano, to accompany their songs. It is further known that they also play the namadu, the so-called set of seven drums.

The clan Balangira uses special drums for particular functions. They dance during funerals, especially when the deceased was very old or very important; during wedding ceremonies in particularly before the ritual ceremony of okunaba (day before the actual wedding takes place); at occasions of merry festivities such as visits and beer parties; during a ritual dance called eyonga. If the woman gave birth to twins, she would go with some people to dance eyonga as one of the rituals of inviting the twins into the community.

The Bagwere people thoughts about birth

Whenever a woman was pregnant,she was not supposed to look at the nest of a bird called Nansungi. It was believed that if the woman looked at the nest she would miscarry.

After giving birth, the woman was not supposed to leave the home. She was given banana leaves to sleep on. Custom demanded that she could not eat from her husband’s clans until her days of confinement were over.

During this time, she could eat form neighbors or in her parents’ home. She was required to eat bananas that were cooked unpeeled and if the piece of banana broke in the process of peeling or eating, she was not supposed to eat it.

Besides the woman was not supposed to look at the sky before the umbilical cord broke off.

Their traditional naming

The naming of the child would wait until the umbilical cord had broken. After the cord had broken, special food was got from the woman’s family, usually a banana with nyondi still on it.

The peson going to get the food was not supposed to greet anyone to and from the woman’s home.

A ritual followed. The child was removed from the house. If the woman had sex with another man other than her husband during pregnancy, the child was not brought out of the house by the door way.

It could be passed through the window or any other opening in the house.

The name was given by the grand mother or aunt of the child. Some names had meaning but some did not.

Whenever a woman gave birth to her first born child, some food would be cooked outside the mother’s hut.

It was to be eaten by the father and mother of the child. They would in addition eat some seeds brought form the woman’s home. The normal procedure was that if the woman had committed adultery during the time of pregnancy, she could not partake of the food.

If the man had committed adultery when the woman was pregnant, he was not supposed to eat this ritual food. His brother or a friend would represent him.

The traditional bagwere people thought about death

If one died, people would weep and wail loudly. If some one did not cry or cried lightly, he could be easily suspected of having had a hand in the death.

If the deceased man was an old man, the bagwerepeople could move singing and mourning and tour the immediate neighbors and on to the well, to take away the spirit of the dead.

Normally, the body could not spend two days in the house before being buried. Corpses used to be buried with a needle or mweroko, a small stone used for grinding, to fortify the corpse against body hunters.

It was believed that if the body hunters called upon the corpse to come out of the grave it would reply that it was busy either sewing or grinding, whatever the case may be.

The normal days of mourning were three. They would be ended by a ritual ceremony called okunaba.

Herbs would be pounded and mixed in water. This mixture was then sprinkled on every body present and on the doorway of the deceased’s house. To crown it all, a goat would be slaughtered and eaten.

The night before okunaba, the Bayiwa (nieces and nephews) would be given a chicken to slaughter and eat because of their significant role during the funeral rites.

They would also remove whatever rubbish was scattered around and they were customarily paid for it.

The burial of bagwere people of a suicide case differed significantly from that of a normal death.

There was no weeping and no prayers offered. A sheep was slaughtered to be eaten by the bayiwa alone perhaps because of the unlucky task of cutting the rope which the bayiwa perform.

The tree on which the suicide hanged himself had to be uprooted and burnt. If the deceased hanged himself in the house, it was destroyed and burnt however big or good it was. This was because such a house was believed to be contaminated.

Bagwere traditional way of marriage

In the very early times, parents arranged marriages for their children. However, later, it became customary for a boy to look for a girl. Upon consent, the girl would introduce the boy to her parents. On being introduced, the boy would pay some thing to the girl’s parents not as part of bride wealth, but as a gift. This practice was known as okutona. The process that followed involved the boy inviting the girl’s parents to come to his family to assess the bride wealth.

They would normally go and assess his wealthy but they could not leave with the cows. This occasion involved a lot of feasting and dancing.

The boy’s parents would arrange to deliver the bride wealth to the girl’s family. The occasion of delivering the bride wealth was another joyous one accompanied, as it was, wit feasting, dancing and merry making.

After this was completed, the boy’s mother often accompanied by another person would go to fetch the girl form her parents. She would go singing all the way and reach the girl’s family round about 8.00pm. She would accordingly be given the girl and she would return home singing all the way. On reaching the groom’s home, the girl was not supposed to sleep with the husband before being washed in the ritual ceremony of okunabbya omugole.

The girl and the boy being married would stand under a tree and bathe in the same water furnished with appropriate herbs. Then singing, they would prepare to come to the courtyard. The girl was made to stand before the mother-in laws door. The mother –in law would bring a basin of water and pour on the girls back. The girl would spread her fingernails out as custom demanded and older men would inspect her for any signs of pregnancy. Thereafter, the girl’s brother would officially hand over the girl to her husband and the girl and her husbandwould move to their house.

The woman could not eat form her husband’s family until she had first eaten food sent form her parents.

Bagwere traditional economy

The Bagwere people were agriculturalists. and their main crops were millet, matooke, potatoes, sorghum/cassava, now they also grow rice.Click here for more information about Uganda foods

They grew a large assortment of beans, pea’s groundnuts and pumpkins. They also rear cows, goats, sheep and chickens. Their women were not supposed to eat mamba (lung fish), chicken, eggs and a certain kite-like bird called wansaka.

In the event of death, any brother of the deceased would inherit his (the deceased’s) wife and property. The real heir of the dead man was his first son or one of his sons who proved to be responsible.

The Bagwere people danced during funerals, especially when the deceased was very old or very important; during wedding ceremonies particularly before the ritual ceremony of okunaba; during instances of merry making such as visits and beer parties; and during a ritual dance called eyonga.

If the woman gave birth to twins, she would go with some people to dance eyonga as one of the rituals of inviting the twins into society.

The common musical instruments were dingidi, the tongoli, drums and kongo (thumb piano). The Balangira clan had special drums for particular functions.