ABSTRACT
The Bachiga live in the mountainous highlands of western Uganda, just north of Ruanda. Individualism is the keynote of Bachiga social and economic life. The Bachiga consider themselves members of one tribe, speaking the same language, subscribing to the same customs, and inhabiting a single region, but there is no centralized authority, and they present no unity to the outside world. Bachiga livelihood depends upon agriculture, cattle keeping, hunting, and the practice of various specialized skills —iron-working, pottery, basketry, and woodwork. Cattle are less important than in other, more pastoral, cultures of East Africa. The largest organized social units among the Bachiga are the patrilineal clans, of which there are about thirty. The clans are local groupings, though many of them have subdivisions in several different parts of the country, and in every village live some individuals not members of the local clan.
