Category: History & Culture
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Our Stories:
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Rough and Tough People of the Hills
The Gorilla Highlands Initiative was born 10 years ago in the land of the Bakiga (pronunciation: “Bachiga”; singular: Mukiga; language: Rukiga), the tribe from southwestern Uganda. This is a little peek into their history … The term Bakiga was first used by the British authorities in the 20th century to refer to independent clans who had…
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Tracking Time
38mm, 1/250s, f/5,6, ISO400 The Batwa are in many ways the Gorilla Highlands region’s forgotten people. The original inhabitants of this part of Africa, the Batwa are — or at least were — traditional hunter-gatherers, living in and off what used to be extensive forests. Marginalised by later arrivals, they were ousted from their final…
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Dracaena, a Shrub That Watches over Boundaries
The plant known as omugorora among my people, the Bakiga, is called dracaena in English. The name comes from an Ancient Greek word “drakaina” or “female dragon”. It is a genus of about 120 species of trees and shrubs, mainly growing in Africa, with a few species in Asia and central America. A famous member of this genus is dragon…
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“No Persons of Sufficient Intelligence”
“One has to admire the English: they managed to run almost half a billion people and control a quarter of the world’s land — all that from a relatively insignificant island somewhere between Europe and America. Extreme self-confidence — if only Africa had more of that!” I once read in one of the Gorilla Highlands…
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Last Survivor of Lake Bunyonyi’s Punishment Island
The ancient people of the Gorillas Highlands region came up with several horrible ways to discourage girls from getting pregnant prematurely. On Uganda’s Lake Bunyonyi, this role was played by Akampene or Punishment Island. Maudah Kyitaragabiirwe, 86, is the last person saved from this tiny island. What was the purpose of Punishment Island? If you were a girl…
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The Godfather and the Controversial Martyr of Mountain Gorilla Research
The first scientist to study mountain gorillas full time in the wild was George Schaller. When he reviewed the literature he could find few verifiable facts, largely due to the secretive lifestyle of the gorilla in dense forest and bush. In 1959 he chose a research area in Kabara (DR Congo) because of its more open habitat,…
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Were Batwa Really Dangerous to Gorillas?
The sad story of the Batwa “Pygmies” of the Gorilla Highlands reached its dramatic peak when they were kicked out of national parks. This was in line with the traditional view of conservation — nature can only be protected in strict separation from indigenous peoples — but was that actually needed? Were they truly dangerous to gorillas? Dian Fossey,…
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Batwa “Pygmies”: History and Present
The Batwa “Pygmies” are one of the oldest peoples in Africa and their origin is unknown. They were hunter-gatherers, roaming the forests in bands foraging for honey, wild yams, fruit, stems and tubers, and hunting small game with trained dogs. They were highly skilled bowmen. Today, the Batwa live as a unified group mainly in people’s imagination. In all the three countries of our…
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Walk-In Theatre
24mm, 30s, f/4, ISO2500 Back in early 2016 we spent a night camping with our Batwa friends at the outskirts of Echuya forest. The highlight was undoubtedly the cinema experience we put on during the evening, sharing a video made by the Gorilla Highlands team about the region and what it had to offer, including…
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