Walk like the Batwa

Historic. Batwa showing off their skills among which is making a fire. PHOTOS BY ERIC NTALUMBWA

What you need to know:

Fascinating. Batwa have an interesting life in Kigezi, writes Eric Ntalumbwa.

On the edge of Bwindi Forest is one of the remotest, but arguably among the most scenic districts in Uganda. Kanungu District better known for the infamous Joseph Kibwetere Cult massacre is home to a large section of the Batwa who originally spoke Rutwa language.
Hunting and gathering forest resources is an integral part of the Batwa culture. After the pygmies were evicted from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in 1991, they still desire to bring their tradition to life which involves harvesting honey, collecting herbs, singing, dancing, weaving baskets, paying dowry.

Tale
According to one of the Batwa legends, their forefather Kihanga had three sons, Katutsi, Kahutu and Katwa. One day he called his three sons and gave each of them a gourd of milk. Early morning of the next day, he asked his three sons to give him back the gourds and placed them in a worshipping place. Katutsi brought back his gourd when it was still full of milk while Kahutu’s was half-full. Katwa brought back an empty one, he had drunk all the milk in the night. Their father then blessed each of them based on how responsible they had been with the gourds of milk. Katutsi was blessed with his father’s cows which would help him and his children to prosper for generations. Kahutu was blessed with a hoe and seeds which would help him to grow food in his lifetime and for generations to come after him. Katwa was given a forest and all that was in it. He was to survive by hunting and gathering. Many generations passed and their descendants multiplied. The descendants of Katutsi and Kahutu became so many and ended up encroaching on Katwa’s forest. In the end, they chased Katwa’s descendants from the forest and made them live as beggars and landless people.

Housing
The Batwa are a minority group of people commonly referred to as pygmies because of their height. As we visit the area to track the gentle mountain gorillas in the biodiverse, mountainous area, the Batwa through the Change A Life programme introduce us to the traditional practices that defined their identity. The Batwa had three main types of houses; caves, omurimbo and ichuro. The caves and omurimbo were the main houses where they lived. Ichuro was used for resting and storage of food including honey, beans, sorghum and meat. These people were exceptional hunters, traditional healers, and can make fire by rubbing small sticks together. In the past, they used to carry forest products in small bags, obukokyo, which were made from animal skins.

Survival. A group of Batwa picking food.

Worship
The Batwa, had special way of worshipping and offering sacrifices, especially for thanking the gods after a successful hunt. Worshipping was mainly done in sacred huts by elders who would be anointed by the grandparents. Young people were neither allowed to go to the sacred places nor to ask about what the elders did and how they communicated with the gods. They would only see the elders reciting prayers before hunting and offering meat to the gods in the forest after hunting. In addition, when Batwa slaughtered an animal and found that it had a strange organ such as a tiny heart, they would worship the organ as their god.

Dress code
The men and women used leaves and skins of animals, especially duikers and bush bucks for dressing. The children would dress in small skins of young animals strapping them on the shoulders. Women also used the skins for beautification and carrying their children in their back. Batwa would weave cords from emise (Urera sp.) and use them to tie the skins around their waists. They would pound seeds of omuruguya (Carapa procera) to obtain an oily liquid which they would smear on the skins to make them soft.
After a successful hunt, a Mutwa would celebrate the achievement by naming his children after the animal or location in the forest. Batwa names are derived from names of animals or locations in the forest including Kafumbiri for enfumbiri –the back-fronted duiker, Bikyezi for inkyezi-cane rats, Kagote for an area with emigote-trees of Syzgium species, and Kanyeihamba for one born in eihamba-the wilderness.

At death
When a Mutwa died, they would be buried in a hut after digging a small hole and wrapping the corpse in grass. The burial ceremony involved cleansing the corpse with herbs. omuhanga, enkyerere (Rubus sp.) and omufumba (Rhumux sp.) The elders would lead the ceremony and encourage all the members of the family to drink herbal extracts as a way of preventing death from claiming more people from that family. After burial, they would migrate to a far off place and never return.

Ritual
After a successful hunt, a Mutwa would celebrate the achievement by naming his children after the animal or location in the forest. Batwa names are derived from names of animals or locations in the forest.