Karamojong Cultural Visit, Cultural visit to the Karamojong in Uganda
A Karamojong Cultural visit in the vast open spaces of Karamoja is great adventure. Here, rocky mountains interrupt the plains, making it an arid land of great scenic beauty. Mount Moroto, which reaches a height of about 3400 m above sea level, offers challenging climbing to the enthusiast. It is the traditional area of the pastoralist Karamojong people.
Nakipelemoru is the largest Manyatta or group of rural housing in East Africa. A cultural visit to the Karamojong in Uganda brings you closer to the way of life of the Karamojong and is best combined with a tour of Kidepo Valley National Park. The Karimojong are an ethnic group of agro-pastoral herders. They speak Nga Karamojong and are blessed with a rich heritage.
Their marriage system is polygamous, the number of wives being limited solely by financial circumstances. No boy is allowed to marry until he has been admitted by the elders to the status of manhood. When the time comes, his father gives him a bull, which the boy kills and shares with his male relatives. He smears himself with dung from the entrails and gives his mother the head, neck, hump, stomach and the ribs.
Traditionally when the hair grows back he moulds it into two buns, one on top of the head and one at the back, with coloured clay. When a youth has attained manhood he may seek a wife. It is usual that he will already have at least one lover and, if his father approves, his lover may be taken as his wife.
When a woman is about to give birth she is assisted by her female relatives. The umbilical cord is tied with fibre and cut near to the body. If the baby is a boy the cord is cut with the arrow used for bleeding cattle but if it is a girl a knife is used. The cord is buried in the cattle enclosure.
When someone dies the body is wrapped up in a hide and buried in a goat enclosure. If the person died poor without friends the body is simply thrown outside the kraal and left to the wild animals.
The rich cultural experience of the Karimojong is endless, but worthy the journey and quite memorable among Uganda Safaris.
This Karamojong Cultural Visit is a great way to explore cultural tourism in Uganda.
