The Iteso

Introduction

The Itesot belong to a group of people called the Ateker who arrived in Karamoja around 10th Century A.D.

It was from this settlement that they started moving until they reached the present day region in which they are found. 

The migration of the Iteso from Karamoja to Teso land was spread over a long period of time from around AD 1500 until the second half of 19th Century.  However, between AD 1652 and A.D 1733, the Itesot were already firmly established in Kumi and Soroti; in Usuku modern Teso land.

The Itesot are a classical example of stateless societies in other words they had no central authority of leadership and as such power was in the hands of the people in the society.

 

Political organization

Politically, the Itesot were organized according to clan councils (Etem) whereby each clan had a council of elders the members sitting on this council were to be from ages 40 onwards whose duties included organising the whole clan, settling disputes among members of the clan, maintaining law and order in the whole clan and defending the clan against external aggression

On top of the clan councils was the great clan council of elders, the members sitting on this great clan council mainly came from the clan councils of elders and their main work included: Settling disputes which couldn’t be managed by different clan councils of elders; organising the whole Itesot societies; defending the whole Itesot society against external aggression; maintaining the identity of the Itesot society.

This great clan council didn’t sit regularly except on important issues especially during war periods or major clan disputes which would lead to the society’s disintegration. 

The decisions of this great clan council of elders were final and unchallengeable in other words it was the highest court of appeal.

Below these two bodies were age - sets greatly a composition of boys between ages 14 -  25  whose main role was maintaining law and order and defending the society against external aggression.

Militarily, in times of war or raiding activities, different clans would contribute some youths who were militarily trained and these warriors would then be put under an elder who had experience in war affairs and would work as a military leader or Aruwon. 

This military leader would lead the youth into the battle field or a raiding activity and after the war, the surviving fighters would then go back and continue with their normal life as before the raiding activity.

Economic organization

The Itesot used to raid their neighbours especially the Langi, Kumam for cattle and foodstuffs among others for defensive purposes; it was the work of the whole society to defend their territorial lands.

Economically, the economies of the Itesot were not centralized for they practiced a mixed economy that is reared cattle, cultivated crops and practiced some little trade. 

By the mid 19th Century, the Itesot had acquired the art of iron working and the use of manufactured iron implements like arrow heads, spear blades and hoes.

These items could be exchanged with the Langi and Kumam for food stuffs and by 1880’s, these war implements had reached as far as Buganda where they were exchanged for bark cloth and coffee berries.

Socially, religion played a very important role among the Itesot for it worked as a unifying factor because every clan had a diviner or Emuron who was very important in their community for his powers were believed to have been a gift from God.

The functions of the Emurons included rain making, predicting misfortunes in war, and helping barren women and therefore people from different clans would come to the Emurons for consultations and in this way the societies relationships could be united.

Women were largely valued hence for a man to marry, he had to give in 20 cows in form of bride wealth/dowry and that’s why cattle rustling was a common phenomenon in Teso land for without these cows, no man could and be able to marry.

Marriage was also another social institution for no man was allowed  to marry within the same clan because members of their clan regarded themselves as brothers and sisters thus a man or woman had to cross to another clan and marriage affairs were usually a responsibility of the whole family and the clan in general.

In conclusion, a critical analysis of the structures of the Itesot society portray a classical example of a stateless institution or decentralized.