Wateso
TESO CULTURE-KAKAPEL YOU WILL SURELY LOVE IT
Teso Culture is a mix of various traditions, religions, local beliefs and commercial contacts. Food, dress and language are all similar along the Kenyan-Ugandan Border. The women wear long gown. In this way, she can subtly let her husband know what she thinks, or give him a public chastising.The woman seems to be doing alot foe the families of teso people.

Families are large,this is according to statistics done and are centred around the eldest man of an extended family.The family includes his wives, his brothers and their wives, and all their children. Sisters and daughters move out when they marry, to live with their husband's extended family.This is soo different from other cultures where women were not allowed to sit with men. When trouble occurs, such as divorce, hunger, mourning or death,the women is to returns to her father’s home.
She always keeps the right to the harvest of his extended family’s food stuffs, and survival is thus based on a patriarchic lineage.
A husband and wife more often then not, choose each other for economical reasons, especially in the villages. Many men have a number of wives and these form a considerable working force. For a woman, the eldest women in a family group have a leading and advising role, but only in private; the men make decisions and run public life.
Of course, there are degrees to this: not every Teso person lives in the same way. This is a description of a more traditional Iteso lifestyle.
Women and men lead a segregated life. Certain tasks are performed only by women whilst others are the domain of the man. They do interact, but tasks related to food and guests are dealt with by women while men deal with problems and work. Public life is mainly male dominated, although this is rapidly changing in some places.what makes me happy is the mythes that this culture have that women were not allowed to eat mens food because of some tabools.Taboos existed in the olden days but non now.
For example, the most delicious foods were a preserve for men. Women were not allowed to eat any kind of poultry whether domestic or wild. For instance, culture warned that if a woman ate chicken or eggs, she would develop wounds on her back. Otiya(the men elder) says the reasons might appear flimsy, but traditional beliefs made them so robust that no woman would dare go against them. Even though they were the ones who prepared the food, it was only with their eyes and not taste buds they derived the satisfaction from the dishes.
For many years, the fear for unknown left Iteso women only imagining how chicken and other poultry tasted. “Women grew up with the fear of developing wounds on their backs. None of them even gave thought to how the wounds came about,” adds Otiya.
Women were also not allowed to drink milk whether fresh or sour. They were, however, only allowed to taste milk in vegetables since there was no tea during those days.?They were also allowed to eat milk products such as cheese and butter. The young people also had their share of despotic traditional beliefs.? Even though theirs was not as tough as those for women, they too were equally oppressive. For instance, young people were not allowed to eat the nose, tail and large intestines of all livestock. These parts were strictly preserved for the elderly in the community. It was also taboo also for children to eat the gizzard because there was a belief that if they ate they would turn out to be cowards. Since men valued courage and bravery during those days, no young man would dare eat the gizzards. Jairus Okwakau, a young man from the community says that such traditions could not pass the test of time because they lacked believable explanations for the educated and modern youth. He says old men only wanted to make sure that such delicious parts were preserved for them.
“We currently eat all kinds of foods without any restrictions because women discovered that such taboos were crafted to favour men. How do you expect me to prepare delicious chicken and I am not allowed to eat?” asks Ms Ikemer. Even as modernity has replaced the traditional beliefs, Mr Okwakau argues that some of the so-called barbaric traditions could be used as to generate income. He says that if ekutet exhuming of bones of dead people would have continued, it could be used as a tourist attraction activity hence generating income to the community. “We would be inviting people to come and witness how we exhume bones traditionally and in turn earn income,” argues Okwaka.
All these photos shows the deliciours meal as cooked modern and teso people performing during a cultural event.
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