5 - The Drylands

Summary

BY THE EARLY nineteenth century, the scarcity of unclaimed fishing grounds in the swamps was creating a class of landless people. Because the southern swamps marked the southernmost extension of the great equatorial African marsh, such people could not replicate the actions of their ancestors and move to new swamplands. Their only hope for gaining an independent livelihood was to leave the swamp and seek their fortunes in the surrounding environments. One choice was the dryland region called Nkuboko, located just beyond the eastern fringe of the swamps. The new micro-environment would impose its own rules and force the settlers to adopt new tactics, new strategies, and even new goals. It would turn fishermen into farmers, and in the process it would generate a new form of big-man competition.

SETTLING THE DRYLANDS

In the eastern portion of the flooded forest, the spillover of emigrants from Mitima resulted in a series of settlements along the channel that led to the east. Beyond Masaa the channel divided. One branch continued eastward to the edge of the swamp. The other turned to the southeast, where settlers founded the village of Minsange. Nsamonie described the process:

Our ancestors came from upriver and built Nkubosaka. From Nkubosaka they went to Mitima. From Mitima they went to Minsange. To build Minsange they built mounds of earth for the houses so they wouldn't flood during the high water. Minsange was a large settlement area. When the Mitima area was too crowded, many people came to settle at Minsange.