Turkana pastoralists, occupying North Western Kenya are the largest of the seven ethnic groups that make up the ‘Ateker', alias Karamoja cluster.
These include, the Karimojong, Jie, Teso, Dodoth and Donyiro in Uganda, and the Toposa of South Sudan. Several sub clans of the Turkana agree that their origins lay to the west of their current homeland thus Uganda.
Olden times indicate that for centuries, the common ancestors of the Turkana, the Jie and all the other ‘Karimojong tribes, lived in a place called Apule, which was said to be in southern Sudan or Ethiopia. However, some 800 years ago, they began migrating southwards to their present homeland in the far northeast of Uganda.
Later, a group of young men from the Jie a clan in Karamoja currently occupying Kotido district were sent eastwards into the Looya Valley-northwest of Lodwar town in Kenya in search of an unruly bull, whose hoof-prints were tracking. They wandered far from their people, and finally met a lonely old Jie woman called Nayece who was gathering fruit. She led the young warriors into a lush, green valley, unoccupied by people but rich with wild berries that still form an important part of the pastoralists' diet.
Nayece also gave the men fire, and taught them how to cook, now impressed with the area, the men lured other young people into joining them, and together they moved in with their livestock. This women divided the men into territorial clans (the basis of Turkana and Jie clans today), hence becoming the mother of the Turkana.
Historically, this invention has never been doubted, most historians, accept that the Turkana broke with the Jie around the middle of the eighteenth-century, probably during extreme drought and migrated eastwards over the Dodoth Escarpment the present Kaabong district - in northeastern Uganda then moved southwards into Kotido district. Ends
These include, the Karimojong, Jie, Teso, Dodoth and Donyiro in Uganda, and the Toposa of South Sudan. Several sub clans of the Turkana agree that their origins lay to the west of their current homeland thus Uganda.
Olden times indicate that for centuries, the common ancestors of the Turkana, the Jie and all the other ‘Karimojong tribes, lived in a place called Apule, which was said to be in southern Sudan or Ethiopia. However, some 800 years ago, they began migrating southwards to their present homeland in the far northeast of Uganda.
Later, a group of young men from the Jie a clan in Karamoja currently occupying Kotido district were sent eastwards into the Looya Valley-northwest of Lodwar town in Kenya in search of an unruly bull, whose hoof-prints were tracking. They wandered far from their people, and finally met a lonely old Jie woman called Nayece who was gathering fruit. She led the young warriors into a lush, green valley, unoccupied by people but rich with wild berries that still form an important part of the pastoralists' diet.
Nayece also gave the men fire, and taught them how to cook, now impressed with the area, the men lured other young people into joining them, and together they moved in with their livestock. This women divided the men into territorial clans (the basis of Turkana and Jie clans today), hence becoming the mother of the Turkana.
Historically, this invention has never been doubted, most historians, accept that the Turkana broke with the Jie around the middle of the eighteenth-century, probably during extreme drought and migrated eastwards over the Dodoth Escarpment the present Kaabong district - in northeastern Uganda then moved southwards into Kotido district. Ends
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