The Ik, formerly a nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers, also known disparagingly by other ethnic groups as Teuso, constitute an ethnic group of around 10,000 people. Their common language is part of a sub-group of Kuliak, completely discordant with Nilotic-Saharan languages.

Located in the Morungole Mountains in northeastern Uganda, near the border with Kenya, the Ik used to move regularly in annual cycles between the Didinga Hills in South Sudan, the Kidepo Valley in Uganda, Lake Turkana, and the Zingout Hills in Kenya. These nomadic movements had a clear and measured purpose, allowing them to utilize natural resources without depleting them. However, the arrival of the protection of Kidepo National Park forced the Ik to move to Mount Morungole, where they were forced to adapt and become subsistence farmers in the mountains. This drastic change has resulted in extreme famine and has left the Ik vulnerable to constant attacks by other tribes in the area.

Ik communities are organized into small villages, each walled by an outer wall and subdivided into family or friendship neighbourhoods called “Odokis.” Each neighbourhood is divided into walled households known as “peaks,” which have courtyards and, in some cases, granaries. Although they are currently primarily engaged in subsistence agriculture, grinding their grain, only a small number of Ik individuals inhabit the peaks of the Morungole Mountains in the Rift Valley, on the border with Kenya and Sudan.

It is believed that the Ik originated from a larger group of Kuliak-speaking people who migrated from Ethiopian lands or even farther north, possibly Egypt. Upon arriving in East Africa, the Ik settled in the Kidepo Valley, where they hunted and fed freely until being expelled to protect the park’s fauna.

Kidepo is flanked to the west by Dodoth Karamojong villages and to the east by Turkana from Kenya. As a result, the Ik are being driven deeper and deeper into the mountains. Constant attacks and looting by the Karamojong and Turkana, who consider them “Teuso” (poor people without cattle or weapons), have left the Ik in a situation of insecurity, famine, and thirst. They also do not have any political representation or official recognition from the Ugandan government. The Ik do not raise cattle for fear of theft and attacks, exacerbating the food scarcity.

The Ik language, known as Icetot, is a Nilotic-origin language that is not understood or spoken in surrounding areas, contributing to the isolation of the Ik from other neighbouring groups.

The Ik are currently the most abandoned and forgotten ethnicity in Uganda. Even when some Ik leaders travelled to Kampala to make political demands, they failed to defend their interests, while Karamojong leaders manipulated the discussions to their advantage.