|
KOTIDO � Did you know about a tribe called the Ik or Teuso?
That�s right, they are Uganda and found in the north- eastern region of Karamoja, a semi-arid area with frequent famine.
![]() |
| Kosho Madalena, 12, wears decorations in her skin which she says signifies that she is ready for marriage as an Ik girl (Woman). She is a member of the tiny Ik tribe in the northeastern corner of Uganda, a village overlooking the Rift Valley near the Sudan and Kenya borders (Photo by Rick D'Elia). | They live on the mountaintops in Dodoth County, Kotido district.
According to the 2002, population census, they are 4,000 in number.
Their member of parliament, Mr Ael Lodou put their number at 400.
In this community there is no single hospital. Only a small hut used as a health centre that offers mainly first aid; or something like that.
There is no doctor or nurse at this health unit.
There are a few health assistants, all primary seven leavers from the Labwor tribe who were trained in handling simple health problems.
Mr Paul Lotuk, a Primary Six dropout and the most learned from the Ik community said the unit lacks drugs.
The most common ailments are malaria and diarrhoea.
And antenatal services are very far from the would-be beneficiaries.
Probably that is why the women here do not know a thing about antenatal clinics.
They know that there is a clinic at Kaabong Sub-County, 32 km away but have no idea what services it offers.
� I do not go to Kaabong for antenatal care. It is very far to walk. I use herbs for treatment during pregnancy, after birth, in abortion or miscarriage,� Cecilia Nakiru, a mother of eight said.
Left to their own wit, the women here have to go through the most painful of motherhood experiences � most of their children die at infancy because they do not get immunised against the six killer diseases; measles, polio, tetanus, tuberculosis, whooping cough and diphtheria.
![]() |
| Overlooking the Rift Valley north of Kaabong Carik Paul weaves a grain storage basket near his manyatta home October, 2003.(Rick D'Elia). |
�I do not take my children for immunisation,� Nakiru said.
She said although many children die at infancy, she does not know what kills them.
Here the children were not part of the September 2003 mass measles immunisation for children aged six months to 15 years.
But there situation of the Ik only gets worse.
This is a community without a single certificate holder even for the Primary Leaving Examination.
The first school to be built here was at Kaimon in 2001 and it only goes up to Primary Five.
The school has only two qualified grade III teachers; the headmaster and his deputy.
A few unqualified people, who speak English with difficulty help in teaching.
Because of the lack of an education, the Ik do not have proper political representation at higher levels.
�Our political representation stops at LC II, the rest of the posts are held by Karimonjong on our behalf,� said Lotuk.
According to Lotuk, politicians always go up to the mountains to solicit votes and never return until the next campaign season.
There is no written literature on their language, culture and customs. Tracing their roots in history is therefore a real problem.
According to Lotuk, his fore fathers lived on the mountains where he finds himself today. He does not know any details about his origin.
The Ik imagine they exist alone without other Ik elsewhere. They say they have no brothers and sisters across the valley whether on the Kenya or Sudan side.
In Kenya, the immediate tribes are the Turkana and Pokot who are pastoralists.
On the Sudan side are the Dinka who are also pastrolists. The Ik live right in the middle of pastoral communities of Sudan, Kenya and Uganda but are themselves not pastoralists.
Cattle are the most considered products of wealth for this society.
The Ik do not rear any animals. With nothing no assets to value, the Ik often resort to their small chunks of land within the valley for some crude cultivation.
Even then, the harsh environment, can hardly allow them to do any meaningful cultivation.
They grow maize, sorghum and millet but their efforts are frustrated by small yields.
The ground is rocky and the rainfall is insufficient due to the semi- aridity of the region.
Their yields never take them to the next harvesting season.
Thus they rely on the World Food Programme to supplement their harvests.
In this area food is a big issue. The Ik have to hide some of the food in granaries built in the valleys, away from the Turkanas, whom they fear might steal from them.
Lotuk said it is very common for the Turkanas to cross the boundaries to loot food.
When we visited the area, at around midday, there was no sign of preparation for lunch.
A malnourished child of about two, who could not walk, was chewing on dry roast maize.
Lotuk said they normally have one meal a day and sometimes only get to eat porridge. The Ik do not have much to do in terms of economic activities.
Bee keeping is the only economic activity done at a very small scale. Lotuk said only those with more than one beehive can harvest some reasonable amounts of honey.
�Most of us harvest about 10 litres per season that fetches only Shs 10,000 on average,� he said. They cultivate, but only for domestic consumption.
When the crop-growing season is over, the Ik are absolutely idle. There are no government installations or rich businesses booming there to preoccupy them after harvesting.
There are neither jobs nor capital to start small businesses. I was not a surprised when Lotuk told me to get for him a job in Kampala.
The Ik have no idea what a loan is how or even how to obtain one. There is no retail shop in this place to sell even essential commodities like salt, paraffin or soap.
�We walk up to Kaabong to buy any necessities like salt, sugar paraffin from the proceeds of honey,� Lotuk said.
Kamion is 32 km from Kaabong.
To buy a sachet of salt, one has to walk for 62km on average. The Ik are quiet and very peaceful people.
These virtues ironically have left them on the extreme of marginalisation since the colonial days.
They have seen governments come and go, but things remain the same for them.
The many governments, probably, were not aware of their existence because the only feeder road linking them to the Karimojong and eventually to the rest of Ugandans was only constructed recently.
The Minister of State in Charge of Karamoja Affairs, Mr Peter Lokeris, thinks differently though.
�We have now constructed a feeder road up to the mountains.
We can now access them and hope to give more help.
�Before there was no road that connected them to the rest of the area. We even now have a primary school built for them up there. We have deployed Local Defence Personnel to protect them from the Turkanas and set a health a centre,� Lokeris said.
According to Ms Grace Zizinga, a sociologist, the inferiority complex of the Ik is part of the problem.
�They feel inferior and sit back expecting someone else to do it for them,� she said.
Zizinga said the only way to bridge the gap is for the community and government to get them involved in all communal activities.
While many Ugandans look at Karimojong as being very backward, the Karimojong look at the Ik as less human because of the their lifestyle and isolation.
�They have belittled themselves and are in their own world with mysterious actions similar to that of animals,� Moroto District Information Officer, Mr Michael Kidon said of the Ik. Kidon likened the Ik�s behaviour to that of a monkey.
�When they see any stranger, they hide behind trees, go round and disappear like they have some kind of magic.
�They may also climb tall trees like a monkey does with an amazing speed then observe the stranger from the top,� Kidon said.
Kidon said government should come to their rescue, improve on their welfare, and help them appreciate co-existence with other human beings.
The Ik have a reason to fear strangers.
"People keep hiding and running away from strangers because of fear caused by the frequent attacks by the hostile tribes of Turkana and Pokot from Kenya, Dinka from Sudan and Karimojong from Uganda,� the Local Council 1Chairman of Muriatap ward (zone) Mr Peter Lamu explained.
Lamu said their fear of strangers has been addressed since 2002 when government established a local defence unit detach to protect them.
The Ik do not own pit latrines; so sanitation is pretty chaotic.
The air around their homes is mixed with the smell of human faeces but they seemed unperturbed by this.
A non-governmental organisation, MEDEA is in Karamoja to sensitise them on the need for latrines and dangers of defecating everywhere.
They live in huts, with relatives building in one large enclosed wooden fence.
They marry off their girls as early as age 12.
So by 10, a girl undergoes body marking and is stopped from going to school.
The Ik are conservative and marry mainly from amongst themselves.
�Our girls are good because they stick to one partner for life,� Lotuk explains of their marriage life.
He adds, �The men are equally good. We do not practice polygamy as a culture like other tribes.�
Lotuk does not know much about HIV/Aids.
He said he might be safe because they do not practice polygamy and moral values are highly observed in their community.
While the neighbouring tribes need several heads of cattle as dowry, the Ik�s is a unique style.
A man simply goes to the girl�s home and digs the entire garden of her family.
You may offer a hoe and machetes if you can afford.
Then a small ceremony is organised and the marriage is official. Beer made from sorghum is served to the guests at the marriage ceremony.
The women appear jolly most of the time and willing to talk. However, it is a taboo for a man to speak loud for his mother in-law to hear what he is saying.
Lotuk who had his mother-in-law around talked to me from afar and would keep quiet the moment she drew closer.
The Ik language is quite unique. It�s not similar to any other language in the country.
The Ik are perhaps the most neglected tribe in Uganda.
| 
