The bagwere culture

                                                       THE BAGWERE CULTURE

The bagwere culture :The Bagwere people  of uganda settled  in the eastern part of Uganda the district of Pallisa. They are said to have migratesd from Bunyoro and later to Bugambala and Bulamogi and eventually settled  in Present  day Pallisa district.  Their language is mutually intelligible to Lusoga – Lulamogi in many respects. Their area of origin is said to be Katanga region of Central Africa

                                                             Naming and giving birth

When a woman was pregnant, she wasn’t supposed to look at the birds’ nest because it was believed that if she did she would have a miscarriage. After giving Birth, the woman was not supposed to leave home. She was given banana leaves to sleep on and she had not to eat from the husband’s clan until her days of birthing were over. During this period she would eat from her parents’ home or the neighbors’ home and only eat unpeeled bananas and if during the course of eating or preparing the food the banana broke she wasn’t supposed to eat it. The woman also never had to look at the sky before the umbrical cord went off.

Naming the child would happen until the umblical cord had broken then they would get special food from the woman’s family which was usually the banana which had a banana flower on it. The person who was meant to get the food was not supposed to greet anyone from the woman’s family and then a ritual was made where the child was removed from the house.

If a woman had slept with another man other than the husband during pregnancy the child wasn’t to be brought out of the house the door way, the new born baby would be passed from other openings of the house like the window and would be named by the aunt or the grandmother of the child where some names had meaning and others did not.

 For first born child after the woman giving birth, some food would be cooked outside the mothers hut and it was to be eaten by the father and the mother of the new born child. They would also eat seeds brought from the woman’s home and they believed that if the woman had committed adultery during the time of pregnancy, she could not take in the food. For the man if he had committed adultery when the woman was pregnant, he wasn’t supposed to take part in the ritual. In that case his brother or friend would represent him.

                                                  Courtship and marriage

When it came to marriage traditionally, parents arranged the marriages for their children but later it tradition changed where it became customary for a boy to look for a girl and if they liked each other then the introduction ceremony would be arranged and the boy would pay something to the girls family as a gift of appreciation for taking care of the woman he’s going to marry which wasn’t part of the bride price. After that practice, it was normally following the invitation of the girl’s parents to evaluate the bride price. But this celebration involved a lot of dancing and feasting. The boy’s parents would also arrange when to deliver the bride price to the girl’s family which would also be celebrated.

The boy’s mother would go with another person accompanying to pick the girl from her parents and she would go singing all the way and reach until she’s at the girl’s home and she would also go back singing all the way.

The girl was also not supposed to sleep with the husband before performing the ritual ceremony of bathing the bride. During this ceremony, the boy and the girl were supposed to stand under the tree and bathe in the same water with herbs in it. During the initiation of this ritual, they would prepare the courtyard, sing, the girl was made to stand before their mother in laws door and she would bring a basin of water and power on the girls back. Old men were the ones to inspect the woman for any signs of pregnancy.

The woman could not eat from her husband’s family until she ate first the food sent from her parents and the brother of the woman was the one who officially handed over her to the husband.

                                                               Economic setup

The Bagwere rear cows, goats, sheep and chickens. However, they are agriculturalists and their main crops are sorghum, cassava, matooke, potatoes and rice which was adapted later. These people grow in large amount crops like beans, peas and ground nuts.

                                                                  Cultural beliefs                       

Their women were not supposed to eat lung fish, chicken, eggs and a certain kite-like bird In the event of death, any brother of the deceased would inherit his (the deceased’s) wife and property. Naturally it was up to the woman which in-law her. The real heir of the dead man was his first son or one of his sons who proved to be responsible. The Bagwere danced during funerals, especially when the deceased was very old or very important; during wedding ceremonies particularly before the ritual ceremony of bathing 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 a dance eyonga as one of the rituals of inviting the twins into society. The common musical instruments were xylophones and thumb piano. The Balangira clan had special drums for particular .

                                                                  Death and burial

When a person committed suicide the person’s death would not be taken as a normal death. They would not offer prayers nor weep; in this case a sheep would be slaughtered and eaten by the nephew and the niece because of the sadness of cutting up the rope which they would perform. The tree on which the deceased had hanged themselves on had to be uprooted and burnt down. In case it was a house, it had to be destroyed no matter what because it was believed to be cursed.

When a person died, people had to cry and loudly. If one didn’t cry loudly or completely fail to cry, that person would be suspected of having a hand in the death of that dead person. If it was an old man who has passed, people could move singing while mourning around the immediate neighborhood and to the well to take away the spirit of the dead and in most cases the corpse could not spend two days in the house before being buried and when burying they would bury them with a needle or a small stone used for grinding to protect the corpse against body hunters.

They did that because they believed that if the body hunters called upon the corpse to come out of the grave that it would reply that it’s either grinding or sewing. The normal morning days were three and it would be ended with a ritual called Okunaba which means bathing. Normally during this ritual, herbs would be pounded and mixed in water which was sprinkled on everybody around on the door way of the deceased’s house and also slaughtered a goat and ate it.

The night before the ritual of okunaba i.e. the sprinkling of the water of the people around the door way of the deceased’s house the nephews and nieces would be given a chicken to slaughter and eat because of their important role during the funeral rites and they had to also remove whatever rubbish was scattered around and they traditionally paid for it.