JAPADHOLA AND THEIR CULTURE

JAPADHOLA CULTURE AND ITS PEOPLE

The Japadhola people thrive in the east of Uganda

and are noted to have settled there in the mid-16

Century. The Japadhola people are enclosed by the

Bantu group and the Nile-Hamites. Regarding the

origin, the Japadhola have got a range of similar

traditions like the Acholi, Alur and the Kenya’s

Jaluo. It is note that the earliest migrants of the

luo settled in the peninsular of Kaberamaido before

being joined by the Luo from Pawir in Bunyoro.

After that, other migrants from Teso, Busoga and

Bugwere came in in the second half of the 18

Century pushing the Japadhola south wards and

later to the east. They occupied the lands which

was primarily vacant which helped them to

maintain their culture free from foreign intrigue.

And unlike the Bit- Luo who got assimilated in to

Bantu setting, the Japadhola maintained a distinct

Luo grouping the middle of the Nilo Hamitic and

Bantu groups.

Regarding religion, the Japadhola has jok as their

supreme king. The jok concept was later merged

in to the belief of the Bantu named Were who was

perceived as the chief of fertility to mankind. The

traditions of the Japadhola indicate that they

believed in Supreme Being named Were and

physically Were was thought to be a white merciful

and good being who had the power to manifest

himself in a range of forms. The god of the

courtyard named Were madiodiopo and was

thought to be responsible for the defense of the

family and the home. The god of wilderness named

Othin was believed to guard and guide the

Japadhola men while out for hunting, a journey or

fighting. Every Japadhola home a shrine set up for

Were and on the every side of the shrine there

were two white feathers planted in the ground. As

a practice, the family head would get up every

morning and open the gate to the Were shrine to

request him to bless the day and make it as white

as the feathers. The person in the journey would

also reach at Were’s shrine to ask for merciful and

blissful journey. Apart from Were, the Japadhola

believed in a cult named Bura and this thing is

noted to be foreign to the Japadhola and it is

believed to have been brought by Akure from

Bugwere. However other traditions note that it was

not Akullo but his Nephew Majanga who made a

cult a universal institution among the Japadhola

people. It was noted that it was under the

leadership of Majanga that a range of Japadhola

clans were brought together.

japadhola 2

Regarding Marriage, the Japadhola Parents would

identify the girl for their son and then marriage

arrangements would be entered to. The number of

factors was considered in the selection of a wife

including; the conduct, the physical strength,

beauty and the relationship between the two

families. The people to be married must be from

different clans. After the girl identification, the

parents of the boy would approach the girl’s

parents and if they accepted, the girl would be

earmarked as a form of engagement. The

traditional method of effecting this among the

Japadhola would be tying a ring on the finger of

the girl or neck lace around her neck. Other

aspirants would read between the lines that the girl

was already engaged.

Alternatively, the boys would organize and carry

the girl forcefully to the interested boy home for

marriage. The boy would then go ahead and sleep

with her and that would mean that the girl had

become a wife. Arrangements would then be made

to settle the issues with the parents of the girl.

Regardless of the situation that the marriage had

been conducted, bride price would be made. The

parents of the boy would pay 5 cows, 6 goats, a

knife, a cock, salt, meat and bark cloth. Seven

confinement days in the hut would follow after the

girl has been handed over to the boy or marriage.

The girl would be fed on pea stew and after this

time, the elders of the clan would assemble and

the girl would be introduced to them. The

Japadhola were polygamous people and could only

be limited by age and bride wealth.

Regarding birth, the Japadhola woman during

pregnancy would avoid certain wood types to lit

fire or cook. The names of the snakes or the dead

were not supposed to be mentioned at the

presence of a pregnant woman. There was no

other man that was supposed to pass behind the

pregnant woman while seated except her husband.

Because it was believed that it could cause a

miscarriage or any other misfortune. The

Japadhola woman would give birth in a hut in

attendance of traditional mid-wives or her mother

in law. Special banana leaves from specific banana

Species would be used as bedding for the woman.

After giving birth, the woman would be held in

confinement for four (4) days for that sake of a

female child and the 3 days in case of a male

child. In the confinement days, the woman would

bath only cold water mixed with herbs to better

her health and that of the child. She would be fed

on pew stew along with porridge as her initial meal

every morning during the confinement days. If the

born bay was a boy, goat and hen sacrifices would

be offered to God in charge of fertility of women.

Following the day’s of confinement, the child would

be named and the grandfather of the child would

the one to name him. The naming ceremony was a

big feast marked by lots of drinking and eating as

it was a way of accepting a child in the clan. The

children would be given ancestral names and

during the naming the ancestors would be evoked

so as to accept the child in the clan. In case of

twin birth, the father and the mother of the born

twins would not leave the house for seven (7)

consecutive days. The uncle of the twins would

welcome them by offering the mother food, drinks

along with other ritual gifts. No person would talk

to the twin parents without offering gifts to them.

Regarding death, when a Japadhola died, the

corpse would remain in the house for overnight. At

night, a long drum would be played and the corpse

would be bathed and wrapped in a bark cloth. A

cow would be slaughtered near the grave so that it

could go with the dead and feed him with milk in

the world of the dead. The fire would be lit and

people would remain seated outside until Kongo

was brewed and a ceremony held that would mark

the end of mourning.