00:00This is a real grasshopper, and this is a gift.
00:04Look how beautiful it is, and it's a nice insect.
00:08The grasshopper is gift's totem.
00:11In Uganda tradition, she belongs to the Nsenene, or grasshopper clan.
00:21At school, pupils learn about their clans and totems.
00:26Today, Isaiah is in the spotlight.
00:30What is your name?
00:31My name is Isaiah Troy Mutumba.
00:34Isaiah Troy Mutumba. Are you in Uganda?
00:39Yes.
00:39What is your clan?
00:42I am Kobe clan.
00:45You're from Kobe clan?
00:48Do you know two other names for Kobe clan?
00:50Yes.
00:51Like which ones?
00:52Male and Nansereko.
00:54Male and Nansereko.
00:56So Nansereko is your sister?
01:00Here, sister means a fellow clan member, not a biological sibling.
01:05The school says its pupils represent almost all of Buganda's clans.
01:11Names can offer a clue to a person's clan.
01:14Each have traditional sets of names and a totem, often an animal or plant.
01:21We encourage children to look out for their friends and also encourage them to make sure that they conserve their
01:33totems because that is the smallest that they can do.
01:37They don't need to look at a bigger or a wider range of species.
01:43They only look at a small one.
01:45But if each of us is looking at one piece of species, for example, we shall conserve the whole race
01:51of animals.
01:54Traditionally, clan members are not allowed to eat or harm their totems.
01:58And they are expected to protect it.
02:01You don't like poachers?
02:02Yes.
02:03Why don't you like poachers?
02:05They kill nyo nyinyanges.
02:07Oh yeah, they can kill nyo nyinyanges.
02:10My name is Chuanca Donald and I am from the Ampolo Goma clan.
02:15We preserve the lions to avoid the poachers from killing them.
02:21Uganda's primary schools cover clans and totems.
02:25Here in Buganda, pupils learn about their kingdom's own clan system.
02:29The clan system is traditionally traced to Buganda's founding in the late 14th century,
02:35which later became a dominant power in Eastern Africa.
02:39Today, it's part of Uganda.
02:43The capital Kampala is also a seat of the Buganda Kingdom.
02:47There, the Royal Mile connects the king's palace with the kingdom's parliament.
02:55Since 2017, a growing collection of sculptures represents Buganda's clans and their totems along the Royal Mile.
03:03Today, pupils of Gombe Junior's pool are on an excursion.
03:08They are out to see their totems and take pictures with them.
03:14And Isaiah Mutumba is quick to find his totem.
03:20I am glad to see this.
03:22It's a piece of work made by a master.
03:25It reminds me of my totem.
03:28It's even an air potato.
03:32And these are exchanges and nutrients.
03:35I am proud to see this.
03:36It symbolizes my clan.
03:38For gift, the search is over in one hope.
03:42She proudly shows it to her friends.
03:46Some of these totems need all the allies they can get.
03:50Several of them are threatened with extinction.
03:53Black Rhino and the African forest elephant are critically endangered.
03:57The crowned crane and the pangolin are among the endangered species.
04:02The main reasons for their plight are shrinking habitats and the ongoing threat of poaching.
04:10Augustine Mutumba chairs Buganda's cancer of clan heads.
04:14He believes the sculptures can strengthen the totems tradition and its role in conservation.
04:22I think the clan members, if they assist the father, come up with a protection mode.
04:30And they are helped by technical people, scientists.
04:35And the governments come up.
04:37I think it will be a good job of helping to preserve this.
04:42Isaiah does not just admire his totem.
04:45He grows it.
04:46This is my totem.
04:49It has already started bringing its fruits out.
04:54He learned how to grow air potatoes in his garden from his father.
04:59Today, he is planting another one.
05:03There are many of them around here.
05:07We have a number of them in this garden.
05:10But you see, I am going to make them more in our environment by planting another one.
05:16So that we can see many air protectors in our environment.
05:25Isaiah's teachers hope more pupils will follow his lead and make their own contribution.
05:30That's why they regularly visit the Royal Mile to keep their traditions alive and protect endangered species.
05:38For Isaiah, that lesson has already taken root.
05:43It was indeed a great experience for me to film this story.
05:48Just because it brought me into contact with young and old people who are proud of defending their totems and
05:56clans.
05:57One of the things that caught my attention, it is the bond that is in this kind of system.
06:03One of the things is that the moment you just introduce yourself or greet somebody, he immediately identifies you and
06:09says,
06:09Oh, you're my brother, you're my sister, or you belong to a certain clan, which means you are defending a
06:15certain piece of earth.
06:17And another thing that caught my attention is that this kind of clan system is not only in central Uganda
06:24here, but it cuts across to other tribes in like in western Uganda, where you see them saying, Oh, you
06:31also belong to my clan.
06:32That means you are protecting or defending biodiversity in another way.
06:38And something that really caught my attention is that when somebody comes to your home, before he eats, he will
06:45ask, What have you prepared?
06:47That means he's careful about what he consumes.
06:50He doesn't want to eat his totem.
06:52He wants it conserved.
