Nyoro (peuple)

The Nyoro or Banyoro are a Bantu ethnic group native to the kingdom of Bunyoro in Uganda. They live in settlements on a well-watered and fertile plateau. Banyoro are closely related to other Bantu peoples of the region, namely the Batooro, Banyankole, Bakiga and the Bahema peoples. They are mentioned under various names in various sources. Some of their names include Bakitara, Banyoro, Bunyoro, Gungu, Kitara, Kyopi, Nyoros, Ouanyoro, Runyoro, Vouanyoro, and Wanyoro. Bunyoro is one of the Bantu kingdoms of Uganda. The Nyoro were traditionally pastoral, but war and disease have mostly wiped out former herds. The Nyoro state was ruled by a king and his hierarchy of feudal chiefs. Traditionally, there is a hierarchy of appointed territorial chiefs. There are four grades of chief. Each chief is responsible for a specific territory and reports to the authority next above him. There are about 150 totemic patrilineal clans. Clans are known as ruganda. Each clan has a head, called the mukuru w'oruganda, or the senior member of the clan. Every social relationship had a hierarchical aspect. There are two ways the Nyoro distinguish kin. One may distinguish people by reference to their genealogical proximity to oneself, or one may refer to the person's generation and sex and whether the relationship is through the mother or the father. The Nyoro may refer to other people in their clan as "brothers, fathers," "sons," etc. In a family, the father is the head of the family, and he is the mukama, or the master of owner of everyone in the household and all possessions. For example, even if a son purchases livestock, the son cannot sell or kill the animal without the father's approval. Disputes between a son and his wife must also be taken to his father for settlement, and the son cannot give corporal punishment to his wife unless his father gives his permission. The son cannot wear the father's clothes or use his spear while the father is alive. If the son is the heir, the father will formally hand over the spear in an inheritance ceremony.