The Impact of Idi Amin on the Mythico-History of Uganda's Abayudaya Jewish Community (2013)

Undergraduate: Hannah Nemer

Faculty Advisor: Peter Redfield
Department: Peace, War & Defense

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In the foothills of Uganda¿s Mount Elgon rests the Abayudaya minority Jewish community. The Abayudaya's history spans just under 100 years. The founder of the community, a Ugandan who served as a Christian missionary for the British, realized that only the first testament of the bible resonated with him. Since his realization, the resulting community fluctuated in size, reaching a population of 3,000 as the dictator Idi Amin came to power in 1971. The religiously intolerant Amin decimated the community. Since Amin's 1979 fall from power, the community has continued to regenerate - now 1,500 members. The Abayudaya now celebrate their resiliency through their prayers, unique music, and stories.
This ethnographic research, based primarily on oral histories from members of the community old and young, evaluates the incorporation of Amin's history into the Abayudaya¿s understanding of self in relation to the international Jewish community. By looking into the artistic and religious traditions of the Abayudaya as well as the communal efforts to grow the Judaism in Uganda (primarily through marital and reproductive traditions), this study considers how the resulting story of survival unites members of the Abayudaya community to one another as well as to global Judaism.