Charlie's So Pictures
[Updated 30 May 2003]
These pictures were taken during the year of fieldwork among the So (aka: Tepeth or Tepes) people of Northeastern Uganda during 1969-70. More will be added as they become available in digital format. If you wish to find out some basic ethnographic information about the So people, click here . Those wishing to learn even more about the So may wish to read Charles D. Laughlin and Elizabeth Algeier (1979) An Ethnography of the So of Northeastern Uganda (2 vols.). New Haven, CT: HRAF Press.
All these pictures were taken on Mount Moroto, Karamoja District, Uganda, where a majority of the So live. Those wishing to use any of these pictures are requested to contact Charlie by e-mail . Any unauthorized use of these images is expressly forbidden unless permission is obtained from Charlie.
These small pictures are thumbnails. Click on each for a larger version.
Charlie, the ethnographer, out and about in Soland
Ethnographer typing up field notes back at camp
Meeting at the Laughlin compound
So children lining up for porridge
So elder discussing bull horn configurations
So girls exhibiting their neck beads
Kids curious about the camera
Young warrior sitting on ubiquitous stool
Kids waiting for porridge
Young blind man waiting for porridge
Teenage girl with neck beads signifying she is not yet married
Kids waiting for porridge
Married and unmarried females in the fields
Teenage girl taking care of her little sibling
Porridge time -- the So kids were malnourished, so we fed them every day
Elders sacrificing a goat during a ceremony
Notice the clan haircuts on the children
So family compounds, surrounded by thorny fencing
Beehive huts for storage and shelter
Our goofy Land Rover and camp
Two elders -- notice the lip plugs
So elder and children
Mother with child
Kids at a granary
Four children
One of our best friends
Two kids
Our dear friend Auca
Warriors scarify their shoulders after their first kill
So love honey, so they put beehives in trees
They build camps under rock shelters where they can
Like surrounding tribes, the So keep cattle
Camp under a rock outcropping or cave
Another compound built under a rock overhang for shelter
And yet another compound in a cave
A fairly dense cluster of compounds in the main valley behind Moroto Town
Making charcoal by burying logs, setting them afire and then burying them for a reduction firing -- The So sell the charcoal in Moroto Town and do not use it themselves
The deforestation around a favorite charcoal making area
An elder and two kids
Four kids hanging out
Girls sometimes herd goats
Unmarried female with a lovely smile
A typical goat pen
Goats hanging around the cooking area
A typical grain storage shelter -- the long stilts help control termites
Husband and wife -- notice the woman's neck rings and thir respective lip plugs
Husband and wife in Moroto Town
The Muslim catechist
Kids hanging out around the cooking area
Kids eating porridge
Young girls grinding maize
Kids hanging out
Kids in a compound built in a cave mouth
Kids outside a compound built under a rock overhang
Kids laughing
Kids standing around
Kids sitting quietly and waiting for porridge
Little girl practicing grinding maize
Beautifully made hut with unusually sculpted entry
Another very nicely made hut
Huts shut up during the day
Married woman
Another married woman
Still another married woman
Older married woman
And one more married woman
Mother and child eating - mother lost an eye to glaucoma
Mother carrying child in typical manner
The old and the new
Kids sitting around
Young So male wearing traditional Karamojong headdress
Middle aged So male
Another So male
Dear friends of ours in Moroto Town
Teenage unmarried girl
Two dear friends and assistants
Woman carrying a faggot of wood
Young ethnographer dishing out porridge
Young wife and husband
Young man with new toga
Young married woman
Young married woman
Typical So family compounds and surrounding fields
A remarkable husband and wife -- two of our best friends in So
Young So playing the ubiquitous African game Mancala