| Summary: | This collection of three documents about the Bagisu, all in English, covers a time span from the late nineteenth century to approximately 1989. The Bagisu or Gisu live on the western slopes of the now extinct volcano Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda. Lugisu (Masaba), the language of the Bagisu, is a Bantu language in the larger Niger-Congo group of languages. A concise summary of most major features of Bagisu ethnography from around the 1890s to 1954 can be found in LaFontaine. This is supplemented by Roscoe's earlier account of Bagisu ethnography that deals with information from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. While this latter document does contain some unique cultural data, LaFontaine questions the validity of some of Roscoe's information (e.g., the existence of cannibalism among the Bagisu). Heald's work on the Bagisu is based on the author's fieldwork in Central Bugisu from 1965-1969, and is a detailed study of the various ways in which violence is expressed in Bagisu society and the manner in which it is brought under control. This document presents data on the reputation and history of violence among the Bagisu, statistics on homicide, the association of violence with manhood and the expression of anger, the ordeal of circumcision, behavior and treatment of witches and thieves, hostility management in the community, and the establishment of vigilante groups and drinking companies to control violence.
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