Ekyobuhangwa - Creation Myths of the Bakiga

Kanyamunyu Eliphaz speaks slowly and deliberately, his voice carrying the weight of nine decades of life in the Kigezi highlands. He begins with the traditional opening invocation, asking permission from the ancestors to share their stories. "Ruhanga, the one who created all things, first made the sky and the earth. He separated them with the mountains - our mountains, the mountains of Kigezi. And into these mountains he placed the first people, our ancestors. They were strong people, because the mountains made them strong. They were hardy people, because the cold winds of the highlands made them resilient." He continues with the story of Kakiga, the legendary ancestor: "Kakiga came from the north, from the direction of Ankole. He was a wanderer, a man looking for land that would be his own. When he saw the green hills of Kigezi, the terraced slopes where beans and sorghum would grow, he said 'This is where I will stay. This is where my children will live.' And from Kakiga came the Bakiga - the people of the mountains." The elder then transitions to the complex and controversial figure of Nyabingi. "Nyabingi was a queen, some say a spirit, who lived in these mountains many generations ago. She had powers that ordinary people did not have. When the colonial rulers came, her spirit rose up in the people, and they resisted. The Nyabingi movement was the first resistance against the British in this region." Turyahabwa Beatrice interjects periodically with clarifying questions, helping to organize the elder's expansive knowledge into a coherent narrative.