Impacts of British colonial water management on Lake Victoria’s Luo, Sukuma, and Basoga shore-folk, c.1850-present

Introduction In July 1858, English explorer John H. Speke became the first European to set eyes on the source of the River Nile, a large inland body of water located in East Africa that he called “Victoria Nyanza” in honour of the United Kingdom’s Queen.[1] Whilst Western authors glorified Speke’s “discovery” and treated European exploration … Continue reading Impacts of British colonial water management on Lake Victoria’s Luo, Sukuma, and Basoga shore-folk, c.1850-present →

Book review: Terge Oestigaard, Rainbows, pythons and waterfalls: Heritage, poverty and sacrifice among the Busoga in Uganda (Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, 2019)

Following a four-month period of drought in February 2017, Mary Itanda, the rainmaker of the Busoga kingdom (also spelled "Basoga"), invited archaeologist Dr. Terge Oestigaard to participate in a rainmaking ritual at the eastern side of Itanda Falls on the White Nile, located 30km north of Lake Victoria near Jinja. In Busoga epistemology, the Itanda … Continue reading Book review: Terge Oestigaard, Rainbows, pythons and waterfalls: Heritage, poverty and sacrifice among the Busoga in Uganda (Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, 2019) →