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.

Ethnographer out & about.JPG (109883 bytes)Charlie, the ethnographer, out and about in Soland

Ethnographer typing fieldnotes.jpg (107662 bytes)Ethnographer typing up field notes back at camp

Meeting at eoLaughlin.JPG (54714 bytes)Meeting at the Laughlin compound

So 1 (cropped).JPG (53407 bytes)So children lining up for porridge

So 2 (cropped).JPG (50528 bytes)So elder discussing bull horn configurations

So 3 (cropped).JPG (39050 bytes)So girls exhibiting their neck beads

So 4 (cropped).JPG (31417 bytes)Kids curious about the camera

So 5.JPG (47162 bytes)Young warrior sitting on ubiquitous stool

So 6.JPG (63733 bytes)Kids waiting for porridge

So 7.JPG (46717 bytes)Young blind man waiting for porridge

So 8.JPG (38980 bytes)Teenage girl with neck beads signifying she is not yet married

So 9.JPG (40545 bytes)Kids waiting for porridge

So 10.JPG (70347 bytes)Married and unmarried females in the fields

So 11.JPG (44179 bytes)Teenage girl taking care of her little sibling

So 12.JPG (83109 bytes)Porridge time -- the So kids were malnourished, so we fed them every day

So 13.JPG (124404 bytes)Elders sacrificing a goat during a ceremony

So 14.JPG (44861 bytes)Notice the clan haircuts on the children

So 16.JPG (124479 bytes)So family compounds, surrounded by thorny fencing

So 17.JPG (113634 bytes)Beehive huts for storage and shelter

So 15.JPG (125998 bytes)Our goofy Land Rover and camp

Two elders.jpg (78918 bytes)Two elders -- notice the lip plugs

Three Sorat.jpg (44074 bytes)So elder and children

Mother & Child.jpg (46028 bytes)Mother with child

Kids at a granary.jpg (91994 bytes)Kids at a granary

Four kids.jpg (80987 bytes)Four children

Elder.jpg (40479 bytes)One of our best friends

Two Kids (large).jpg (62154 bytes)Two kids

Auca.jpg (84610 bytes)Our dear friend Auca

Battle scarification.jpg (68752 bytes)Warriors scarify their shoulders after their first kill

Beehive in tree.JPG (87896 bytes)So love honey, so they put beehives in trees

Camp.jpg (113880 bytes)They build camps under rock shelters where they can

Cattle on the slopes.jpg (69349 bytes)Like surrounding tribes, the So keep cattle

Cave living.jpg (57437 bytes)Camp under a rock outcropping or cave

Compound under rock overhang 2.jpg (87919 bytes)Another compound built under a rock overhang for shelter

Compound under rock overhang 3.JPG (58404 bytes)And yet another compound in a cave

Compound.JPG (161709 bytes)A fairly dense cluster of compounds in the main valley behind Moroto Town

Making charcoal.jpg (66467 bytes)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

Deforestation.jpg (53558 bytes)The deforestation around a favorite charcoal making area

Elder & two kids under rock face.JPG (68941 bytes)An elder and two kids

Four kids (new).JPG (93051 bytes)Four kids hanging out

Girl herding goats.jpg (82531 bytes)Girls sometimes herd goats

Girl looking at fingers.jpg (46455 bytes)Unmarried female with a lovely smile

Goat corral 2.JPG (119038 bytes)A typical goat pen

Goats outside cooking area.jpg (57762 bytes)Goats hanging around the cooking area

Granary.JPG (98605 bytes)A typical grain storage shelter -- the long stilts help control termites

Husband & wife.jpg (47804 bytes)Husband and wife -- notice the woman's neck rings and thir respective lip plugs

Husband and wife in town.jpg (51704 bytes)Husband and wife in Moroto Town

Islamic catachist.jpg (89116 bytes)The Muslim catechist

Kids at a granary.jpg (91994 bytes)Kids hanging out around the cooking area

Kids enjoying porridge.JPG (92278 bytes)Kids eating porridge

Kids grinding maize.JPG (81691 bytes)Young girls grinding maize

Kids hanging around.jpg (78105 bytes)Kids hanging out

Kids in compound under the rock face.jpg (57403 bytes)Kids in a compound built in a cave mouth

Kids in compound.jpg (76045 bytes)Kids outside a compound built under a rock overhang

Kids smiling.JPG (124723 bytes)Kids laughing

Kids standing around.jpg (91900 bytes)Kids standing around

Kids waiting for food.jpg (94158 bytes)Kids sitting quietly and waiting for porridge

Little girl practicing grinding.jpg (57616 bytes)Little girl practicing grinding maize

Lovely hut 2.jpg (78893 bytes)Beautifully made hut with unusually sculpted entry

Lovely hut 3.jpg (85324 bytes)Another very nicely made hut

Lovely hut.jpg (67290 bytes)Huts shut up during the day

Married woman 2.JPG (72432 bytes)Married woman

Married woman 3.jpg (46987 bytes)Another married woman

Married woman 4.jpg (50632 bytes)Still another married woman

Married woman 5.jpg (69656 bytes)Older married woman

Married woman.jpg (51010 bytes)And one more married woman

Mother & Child eating.jpg (78067 bytes)Mother and child eating - mother lost an eye to glaucoma

Mother & Child.jpg (46028 bytes)Mother carrying child in typical manner

Old and new.jpg (101717 bytes)The old and the new

Sitting around.jpg (77009 bytes)Kids sitting around

So male wearing Karamojong heardo.jpg (39244 bytes)Young So male wearing traditional Karamojong headdress

So man 2.jpg (57281 bytes)Middle aged So male

So man.jpg (41829 bytes)Another So male

So men in town.jpg (72361 bytes)Dear friends of ours in Moroto Town

Teenage Girl.jpg (40781 bytes)Teenage unmarried girl

Two old friends.jpg (65535 bytes)Two dear friends and assistants

Woman carrying faggot.jpg (164209 bytes)Woman carrying a faggot of wood

Young anthropologist feeding porridge.jpg (49335 bytes)Young ethnographer dishing out porridge

Young husband and wife.jpg (47055 bytes)Young wife and husband

Young Man.jpg (36799 bytes)Young man with new toga

Young married woman 2.jpg (33121 bytes)Young married woman

Young married woman.JPG (46972 bytes)Young married woman

Compound & surrounding fields.JPG (87768 bytes)Typical So family compounds and surrounding fields

Wife & Husband.JPG (74095 bytes)A remarkable husband and wife -- two of our best friends in So

Young So playing Mancala.jpg (90098 bytes)Young So playing the ubiquitous African game Mancala