Edeke in Kitching’s Teso Account

Overview

In Kitching’s account, Edeke is the supernatural personage most frequently mentioned in Teso explanations of troubling illness. The recorder describes hearing the name in response to inquiries at his dispensary. In the religious section he also reports appeals for food and rain, interpreted by him as requests that an angry power relent. He records that people denied his proposed connection between Edeke and adeka, the word he gives for being ill. That disagreement is part of the witness, rather than a settled etymology.

Aremori Edeke is his name for offering sacrifice to the spirit. When crops do badly, porridge may be cooked at a field’s edge and scattered over approaching paths; ashes may also be scattered. Other processions carry torches and sound an alarm cry. In the illness section, Kitching describes a small hut decorated with feathers from a sacrificed black-and-white fowl, with food for Edeke placed inside. These are located descriptions of how the power was approached; they do not give Edeke a feathered body or a physical miniature-house form.

The account also exposes the missionary’s own translation policy. Kitching says that his mission had abandoned using Edeke to translate God because he considered the recorded associations unfavorable. His judgment is separate from the reported name, offerings and appeals. The selected pages preserve evidence of a powerful religious figure while also showing the constraints of an outsider who was evaluating local concepts for Christian teaching.

Origins & earliest records

Arthur Leonard Kitching records this material as a missionary working in Uganda. He names no individual contributor for the selected account. His descriptions and translations are a historical outsider witness, with his Christian comparisons and colonial evaluations distinguished from the reported traditions.

Records & interpretation

Kitching, On the Backwaters of the Nile, printed pp. 239–240, 260–261, directly read; title page, foreword and relevant surrounding section checked.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   On the Backwaters of the Nile

   Arthur Leonard Kitching, missionary recorder · 1912

   Printed pp. 239–240, 260–261; London, T. Fisher Unwin.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical missionary account of narratives and religious practicesKitching 1912 — Edeke in Kitching’s Teso AccountResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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