CCFU is documenting folk stories, songs, proverbs and riddles. The documentation exercise which commenced on the 23rd of April is aimed at easing the transmission of the Bagungu ways of lofe to the young generation by providing a reference material for teachers and other resource persons.
The Bagungu are one of Uganda’s Indigenous ethnic Minority Groups (IMGs), whose cultural heritage is under threat due to several factors, including influence from dominant ethnic groups, western culture, education and religion, and of late, the influx of diverse ethnicities due to oil and gas activities.
Will folklore ease learning for young people?
“Indeed, our culture is threatened because Buliisa is a cosmopolitan town. All ethnicities are here because of the oil activities and they bring their own cultures. Documenting ours will save ours, if young people can read about it in school.” Mugasa Robert, an Elder noted during the documentation exercise.
For young people, storytelling is one of the easiest ways of learning and documenting the folktales will ease the process and in the long run, preserving Bagungu culture for posterity
Therefore, folktales related to different aspects of life and the lessons they teach were prioritised during the documentation exercise. These included social-cultural values such as hard work, community (sharing), respect, family and marriage; the economic way of life especially fishing and hunting; the political way of life – especially traditional leadership and the spiritual ways of life.
A booklet which will be disseminated to schools and other resource centres will be produced to; provide a reference material for learning about Bagungu cultural values and norms for young people and ease the transmission of the Bagungu culture from old to young generations using folktales.
During the documentation exercise, the Chief Finance Officer of Buliisa District noted that this is a “much needed exercise that will provide a pool of information to teach our young people Bagungu cultural values and it is a very much threatened part of our heritage.”
Previously, CCFU has documented endangered music of the Bagungu and documenting their folktales is builds on the efforts to preserve their culture. This work is supported by TotalEnergies EP Uganda.