WISDOM OF THE TEPETH ELDERS

This week I found delight in documenting some of the ingenuities that God the all mighty has given to the Tepeth people. The people of the mountain. Mountain Moroto. Their wisdom as reflected by the way they named their sub county, their parishes, their villages, their...

Tapac is the sub county and the name comes from the fact that wide seasonal rivers and bloodcurdling valleys are commonplace both on the way to and inside this land. There is also Natumkale - the parish; ‘ngikalei’ is a Karimojong noun for kids (the young of goats). Natumkale is a description of ‘fat kids’. They told me the name was given because young of goats are really healthy in this parish.

Another is Katikekile - the parish. There is scarcity of water in this place and an old story has it that one time a man drowned inside sand in the course of digging for water. So the place was named ‘Katikekile’ which means ‘it pressed a man’. Then comes, nakonyen the village; ‘ngakonyen’ in ngakarimojong is the eye. The name is got from the business of the eyes in looking all round especially when one is conscious of external threat. The Tepeth named this village baring in mind the insecurity problem in the location. Indeed, when you are in nakonyen all your senses should focus on insecurity. It is one spot in Tapac with the highest level of threats. Threats of attacks from Matheniko and threats of attacks from the Turkana people of Kenya.

There is also Kosiroi -the village. ‘Ngisiroi’ is a Karimojong name for some small size type of wild animals commonly known as digidigis. Am not sure if ‘digidigi’ is English, but at least I have ever heard even an English man call the animal the same name. Kosiroi was named so, because of the big number of digidigis (ngisirois) in the area. You will also find a village called Naut. ‘Ngauuata’ is ngakarimojong description of valley lands. The village is precisely sited on this type of land, hence its name.

I equally find beauty in the naming of Nakwanga -the parish. Ekwang is white thing in colour for ngakarimojong. The parish of Nakwanga has got majority white looking trees according to the Tepeth. I think they also considered white flowering flora that are common here. So the name was created. It is ‘white environment’ -to loosely translate for you. Another village is Adulai. Ngidulai are granaries (food stores) in the above local language. The Adulai people had lots of granaries and so the Tepeth thought the place suits being called Adulai.

Now think about Didi village. This is just a description of a narrow path. Apparently, the way to Didi village is quite slim. The village is located in the middle of rocks up far on the mountain top with white snow oftenly hanging lazily above it. In their acumen, the Tepeth had to say this place is Didi. When you come to Lopelipel, you will be told that the name was given because of the gradient of the way from this village. ‘Epilipeli’ in ngakarimojong is a depiction of ‘hilly and rocky’. If you know this village, then you must know why non-4WD vehicles cannot easily climb through despite the well graded road.

Funny names are many in Tapac. In fact all places are named because of a thing or two. Let’s talk about a village called Naracuc. The Tepeth told me that deep into the heart of this village up in the thick of snows, flies cannot survive because of the coldness involved. I visited naracuc but time blocked me from reaching the snow spot where Francis Lowal’s family live. But reader, it is a beautiful environ. It has beautiful rocks and valleys. Beautiful people. Beautiful...I’ll tell you all tomorrow.

Even just Lotorongor is a funny village name. Lotorongor is found in Natumkale parish at the border of Kenya - almost nearing the great East African rift valley. The name Lotorongor was derived from ‘angorianut’. This is ngakarimojong for dirtiness. Boy, people here are true dirty human beings. Think about a dirty person as said by a warrior...it is real dirtiness of the body and of the environment. So by the time a warrior calls a thing dirty, it is more that it. A scientist would describe it as death.

The story is too big here, but I have little space and little time on this precious weekly blog of mine. I will stop here, go home and think about another thing for my audience because I can’t write a Bible! Why talk of a Bible? There are 31 villages in Tapac, all with their interesting meanings. So over 31 descriptions of meanings will use up my ink. Let me attend to another life-line for now and for the rest of this week...