Оропом: Көне халықтардың тарихы мен мұрасы

The Oropom (also known as Iworopom, Oworopom, Oyoropom or Oropoi) were the aboriginal inhabitants of much of Karamoja in Uganda, Mt. Elgon area and West Pokot, Trans Nzoia and Turkana regions in Kenya. Their descendants were largely assimilated into various communities present in their former territories, including the Iteso, Karamojong, Pokot, Turkana and Bukusu. They are or were found in scattered pockets between the Turkwel River, Chemorongit Mountains and Mt. Elgon. One report indicates that they formerly spoke the unclassified Oropom language.

According to Webster, the Oropom nursery was located near Mt. Moroto, from which they moved west to the plain between Napak and Mount Elgon. Oropom traditions recorded by Wilson capture the extent of their ancient territories: the whole Turkana to a point east of Lake Turkana which the Oropom called "Malimalte", the Cherangani Hills eastward to Lake Baringo, much of the Trans Nzoia District all in present day Kenya; Mt. Elgon and all of Teso sub region in Uganda; as well as the areas of Didinga and Topossa in Sudan.

Wilson (1970) noted that some individuals living among the Karimojong and who claimed Oropom ancestry could be distinguished by their reddish brown skin, "peppercorn hair", slanted eyes, and prominent cheekbones. On this basis he ascribed them to the Khoisan group. In 1970, their main mark was a custom of wearing a single cowrie shell attached to a forelock placed over the centre of the forehead (for women), or an indented mark in the centre of the forehead (for men.)

Traditions also captured by Wilson note that the Oropom had well built houses of three to four rooms (unlike the Karamojong), big gardens, and long horned cattle. They also had a reputation as good potters, and pottery attributed to them is found all over the area.

The women wore skin clothing and large earrings, and did not plait their hair; the men wore nothing but a belt covering their penis, and had long pigtails. Both sexes wore many bangles, and covered themselves in a red oil ochre mixture.

Wilson postulates that they had no knowledge of iron working as most of their tools and implements were Stone Age.

Their religious rites are said to have invariably taken place at sunrise, usually on rock outcrops. Some involved animal sacrifices. Some were reserved for elders, while others were open to all. Ritual feasts were held at stone circles. Most accounts of the Oropom state that they did not practice circumcision as a rite of initiation .

Some Oropom moved towards the Turkwell, both below and above Turkwell gorge.

Other Oropom moved into Uasin Gishu Maasai held territory. According to Maasai tradition, an alliance of the Uasin Gishu and Siria communities attacked the Chemngal who then occupied the Plateau today known as Uasin Gishu. A Karamojong informant noted in 1916 that Nandi occupied territory previously stretched as far north as the sources of the Nzoia River i. e. Mt. Elgon, a territory that had been occupied by the Nandi as lately as the time of the grandfathers of that generation (i. e early to mid 19th century). The Karamojong raided the northern Nandi sections twice before the Nandi launched a big raid against them at Choo hill near the junction of Kanyangareng & Turkwel rivers. The Masinko clan of Karamojong who were pasturing here counterattacked and successfully drove of the Nandi raiders. In response to the Nandi raid, the Karimojong organized a powerful force to break up the Nandi nearest the Turkwel Nzoia watershed but the expedition returned and reported that the Nandi had withdrawn too far south. The Karamojong were unmolested by the Nandi from that time and the Turkwel Nzoia watershed became a no mans land.

Yet others moved to the Chemorongit mountains (Karasuk) which were still part of Oropom territory, as well as the area west of there and south of Moroto mountain. The Pokotozek finding that they were no longer facing a formidable tribal grouping to the north and west of Baringo, themselves expanded in that direction, expelling other Oropom from the Cherangani mountains and further west right up to the slopes of Mt Elgon hence limiting Turkana southern movement. It is notable that the emerging Sebei referred to the Mt Elgon Oropom as Sirikwa. The Sirikwa population at Mt Elgon, as evidenced by Sirkwa holes, was fairly dense and it is likely that their identity was still largely intact. It would take the Karimojong dispersion of the Oropom at Kapcheliba in the early 18th century to finally submerge the Oropom Sirikwa identity.

Iteso clan names reveal a history of long standing ethnic interactions and found amongst these are names of Bantu and Northern Nilotic origin. Some of these are clan names are said to be of Iworopom origin. Traditions recorded among the JoPadhola in Kenya indicate that there were two waves of Iteso settlement in their present lands. The first was family based and was peaceful. This was followed by an extensive and aggressive migration that left the Iteso in control of a large swathe of territory that by 1850 extended as far as the western highlands of Kenya. A story collected by Turpin (1948) suggests that the Iteso are largely descended from the Oropom, a suggestion that has been advanced by many other historians. Karp notes that the Karamoja call the Southern Iteso "Iworopom".

Some Oropom fled northwards to join the Turkana and Tepes. People considering themselves Oropom were (as of 1970), according to Wilson, particularly concentrated within the Karamoja area in Matheniko and Jie counties, and to a lesser extent in Bokora; some were also found among the Tepes people of Mt. Moroto and Mt. Kadam. Others were found in Pian county, notably at Lorengedwat.

Other refugees swelled the Bukusu population where they led a distinctly different way of life within recorded memory.

Some Oropom refugees fled eastward and found safe haven on the Uasin Gishu plateau where they have been strongly identified with the Uas Nkishu Maasai.