The Nyoro people (Abanyoro, IPA:[aβaɳôɾo]), also known as Banyoro are a Bantuethnic group native to the kingdom of Bunyoro in Uganda. They live in settlements on a well-watered and fertile plateau. Banyoro are closely related to other Bantu peoples of the region, namely the Batooro, Banyankole, Bakiga and the Bahema peoples.
History
Traditional myth
The king is patrilineal meaning that it is passed down through the male line. This tradition comes from a myth the Nyoro people tell. Once there were three sons of the Mukama, all having the same name. In order to name them, the Mukama asked the God to help him. The boys must go through a series of tasks before being named. The three of them had to sit all night holding a pot of milk. Milk is a sacred drink used for important events. Whoever had all their milk still in the pot by morning would be king. The youngest son dropped the milk and begged his older brothers to give him some of theirs, they did. When morning came the eldest son dropped a little more. When God and the Mukama came to observe the pots, the eldest son was named after the peasants who are not fit for cattle herding since he had no milk left. The middle son was named after cattle herders and the youngest son was named Oukama and later Mukama or king for having the most. This myth shows the ways in which the Nyoro infuses religion and kingship together.[3][4][5]
Bunyoro is one of the Bantu kingdoms of Uganda. The Nyoro were traditionally pastoral, but war and disease have mostly wiped out former herds. The Nyoro state was ruled by a king and his hierarchy of feudal chiefs. Traditionally, there is a hierarchy of appointed territorial chiefs. There are four grades of chief. Each chief is responsible for a specific territory and reports to the authority next above him.[6]
Social structure
There are about 150 totemic patrilineal clans. Clans are known as ruganda. Each clan has a head, called the mukuru w'oruganda, or the senior member of the clan.[6]
Every social relationship had a hierarchical aspect. There are two ways the Nyoro distinguish kin. One may distinguish people by reference to their genealogical proximity to oneself, or one may refer to the person's generation and sex and whether the relationship is through the mother or the father. The Nyoro may refer to other people in their clan as "brothers, fathers," "sons," etc.[6]
In a family, the father is the head of the family, and he is the mukama, or the master of owner of everyone in the household and all possessions. For example, even if a son purchases livestock, the son cannot sell or kill the animal without the father's approval. Disputes between a son and his wife must also be taken to his father for settlement, and the son cannot give corporal punishment to his wife unless his father gives his permission. The son cannot wear the father's clothes or use his spear while the father is alive. If the son is the heir, the father will formally hand over the spear in an inheritance ceremony. The father can also fine his son if the son breaks any of these rules.[6]
In a family, there is only one heir. Movable property can be divided among the sons, but the household and land are given to the heir. The heir may also inherit the late father's widows, and he can take them as his wives (except for his own mother). But if a widow does not want to be inherited, then she does not have to be, and she can choose to live with other kinsman of the deceased. If she marries someone else, the bridewealth paid for her should be returned.[6]
When women marry, they leave their homes and become part of her husband's family, since property and status are inherited by males only. Fathers also have rule over daughters. In the Nyoro language, when people speak about marriage, men marry, and women are married.[7]
The relationship between grandfathers and grandchildren are friendlier, unlike the relationship between fathers and children. For example, children can touch their grandfather's hair or beard, but they cannot do so with their father.[6]
In the past the Nyoro would practice dental avulsion via the removal of the 4 lower incisors.
^Beattie, J.H.M. (January 1958). "Nyoro Marriage and Affinity". Africa. XXVIII (1): 1–22. doi:10.2307/1156570. JSTOR1156570.
Other sources
Books
David Kihumuro Apuuli, A thousand years of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom : the people and the rulers, Fountain Publishers, Kampala, 1994, 144 p.
John Beattie, The Nyoro state, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971, 280 p.
A.B.T. Byaruhanga-Akiiki, Religion in Bunyoro, Kenya Literature Bureau, Nairobi, 1982, 256 p. (texte remanié d'une thèse soutenue à l'Université Makerere en 1971)
Brian Kingzett Taylor, The Western Lacustrine Bantu (Nyoro, Toro, Nyankore, Kiga, Haya and Zinza, with sections on the Amba and Konjo), International African Institute, Londres, 1962, 159 p.
John Roscoe, The Bakitara or Banyoro (Mackie ethnological expedition to Central Africa), Gregg, Farnborough, 1968, 370 p. (fac simile de l'éd. de 1923, Cambridge University Press)
Discographie
Royal Court Music from Uganda (Ganda, Nyoro, Ankole), collecteur Hugh Tracey, Sharp Wood Productions, 1998 (enregistrement 1950-1952)
'Music Of Africa Series No. 8 The Uganda Protectorate', Collected and recorded by Hugh Tracey, DECCA LF1173
