The Rich Iteso Culture
The rich iteso culture: Teso people are one of the Ethnic Groups in the Eastern region of Uganda and they occupy some parts of Kenya. Teso is the name given to the traditional inhabitant for the Iteso people. The Itesots occupy the sub regions of the current districts of Amuuria district, Kumi District, Katatwi district, Palisa district, Kaberamindo district, and Bukedea district, Ngora district and Serere district. The Iteso people speak the Nilotics language. The eastern Nilotics are divided into two categories such as the Teso Speaking plus the Maa speaking who known as the Maasai branch. The Iteso people are further divided into other category, the Ateso Speaking people and the Karamojong group such as the turkana, Jie, Ikaramojong as well the Dodoth in Uganda and Kenya.
Migration and Settlement
The rich iteso culture: The migration and settlement process of the Iteso led to the establishment of an identity distinct from their Ateker brothers and neighbors at large, and led to the development of communal and societal values that would form an integral part of Iteso culture, such as traditions, customary rites, and ceremonies. Aspects of these developments will be covered in sections encompassing the traditional Iteso religion, the role of the “Amorok” age sets, and customary rites and ceremonies in the establishing of a communal Iteso identity.
The rich iteso culture: After choosing their settlement, the Iteso clan leaders and their followers would stake an emblematic claim to the land by planting a spear on a hill or mountain top. These small claim markers would represent individuals. The Iteso land that is now distributed among the agog received these boundaries around 1962 during the colonial era
Traditional Beliefs and Practices
The rich iteso culture: Traditional medicine was also an important part of the Iteso community. Normally, in an attempt to solve an illness, the diviner would communicate to the gods in the presence of the patient. The sick person’s clan, lineage, or sub-tribe would then be obliged to provide payment to the diviner and the herbalist, whose efforts were to try and establish the cause of the illness and to resolve it. Usually, it could involve even a minor infringement of a taboo, and if the wrong was serious, it could lead to deaths. Finally, after the medicine man had decided on an ailment, he would then go to the herbalist who would be asked to visit a healer of a different clan where he could purchase the right herbs. This complex system of medicine was uprooted upon the spread of diseases such as trypanosomiasis, sleeping sickness, and smallpox during and after colonialism
The Economic set up of the Iteso
The rich Iteso culture: The staple food for the Teso people is Finger Millet and Sorghum however the colonial offices introduced cassava to act as a supplement to their food and to assist them with stand famine. The cassava was cooked together with millet and sorghum. The women were good at growing vegetables, in their small gardens near their houses and they could gather wild foods such as the Mushrooms Delicacy, whilst the Men were busy cattle herdsmen grazing cattle.
The Teso as well depended on agriculture and the main cash crops grown were cotton and this grown by both women and men and they had separate plots of land and they each earned individual income. The oxen were used for plowing other household could hire labor. Other cash crops that were grown include; the tobacco and Maize which were grown during the long rains. The commercial activities included owning small shops, trading cattle and also employment in the public sector jobs to act as local administrators and school teachers.
