Yakan movement
Yakan, also known as the Yakani, Yakanye, Yakaŋ, the Yakan water cult, or Allah Water, was a
Background
The time period of 1890-1919 was difficult for the Lugbara people, with several raids from other groups and epidemics occurring.[1][2]
Beliefs
The group was an anti-colonial alternative medicine congregation, centered around distributing "water of Yakan", infused with a psychedelic daffodil plant locally known as Kamiojo.[3][4] The drug is known to cause hallucinations, as well as feelings of elation and frenzy when taken in large amounts.[5] Writer George Ivan Smith described it as the "LSD of Central Africa".[3][5] The group members would perform their rites around a planted pole, called dini (a term used more broadly to refer to religion in Lugbara).[4]
The group has also been described as primarily wishing for independence, with
History
The group first appeared in 1890.
The movement was repressed by British colonial authorities who judged it as a "coordinated conspiracy" and challenge against their rule. The British viewed the Yakan as being a source of the resistance to
Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's mother, Aate, was a member of the group. The Yakan movement was later described as having an effect on Amin's preferred types of torture techniques.[9] The Amin family instead claimed that "the Yakanye Order" was an African secret society that used magic to start and win wars.[10]
The group has been remembered as a colonial resistance group.[11]
References
- ^ Smith 1980, p. 25
- ^ Middleton 1963, p. 83
- ^ a b Leopold 2021, p. 37
- ^ a b c Dalfovo 2001, p. 32
- ^ a b Smith 1980, p. 41
- ^ a b Leopold 2021, p. 44
- ^ Middleton 1971, p. 179
- ^ Allen 1991, p. 379
- ^ Leopold 2021, p. 36
- ^ Leopold 2021, p. 39
- ^ Leopold 2021, p. 40
Sources
- Allen, Tim (July 1991). "Understanding Alice: Uganda's Holy Spirit Movement in Context". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 61 (3): 370–399. JSTOR 1160031.
- Dalfovo, Albert Titus (2001). "Religion among the Lugbara. The Triadic Source of Its Meaning". JSTOR 40465451.
- Leopold, Mark (2021). Idi Amin: The Story of Africa's Icon of Evil. New Haven (Conn.): Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-15439-9.
- Middleton, John (1963). "The Yakan or Allah Water Cult Among the Lugbara". JSTOR 2844335.
- Middleton, John (1971). "The Translation of Culture". Prophets and Rainmakers: The Agents of Social Change among the Lugbara. ISBN 978-1-315-01328-2.
- Smith, George I. (1980). Ghosts of Kampala. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-77721-2.
Further reading
- Hansen, Holger Bernt (1991). "Pre-Colonial Immigrants and Colonial Servants. The Nubians in Uganda Revisited". African Affairs. 90 (361): 559–580. JSTOR 722844.
- King, Anne (January 1970). "The Yakan Cult and Lugbara Response to Colonial Rule". Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. 5 (1): 1–25. ISSN 0067-270X.
- Leopold, Mark (2005). Inside West Nile: violence, history & representation on an African frontier. Oxford Santa Fe (N.M.) Kampala: James Currey School of American Research Press Fountain Publishers. ISBN 9780852559413.