Lunyole (also Nyole, Lonyole, Lunyole, Nyuli) a Bantu language spoken by the Banyole in Butaleja District, Uganda has a 70 percent lexical similarity with a related but slightly different Olunyole dialect in Kenya. The Banyole community also inhabits Bunyole County in Bukedi District, and Busoga district border. They also live in the neighboring districts of Budaka, Mbale, Tororo, Bugiri, Namutumba, and Pallisa.
Though one account indicates that the traditional founder of the Banyole was Omwa the father of Muhindira the father of Anyole- the ancestor of the Abanyole of Kenya- a conflicting narrative holds that they originated from Abanyala of Kenya. They are also known as "Abalya Lwooba,"due to their love of eating mushrooms . Nonetheless with over 300 clans, only three namely Ababengho, Abangalo and Abalwa are considered royal. The Bahidolwa and Balwa are some of the dominant clans. Every clan has its own leader, known as Omutuusa,who often wears garbs fashioned out of skins to distinguish him from the rest of men folk.
The Banyole tribe has a population of about 300,000, according to a 2014 Uganda Bureau of Statistics report. The Banyole are mostly polygamous people who traditionally carry out subsistence agriculture growing finger millet, sorghum, cassava and sweet potatoes but they have also embraced farming of rice, cotton and coffee as cash crops. Only about 5% of the Banyole still believe in their ancestral beliefs. Around 75% of the population is nominally Christian, with the majority being Anglican. About 20% of the population has converted to Islam.
Banyole rites of death were similar to those of the Abanyole in almost all respects. Whenever a man died, three days of mourning (during which there would be no bathing) were observed. In the case of a woman, the days of mourning were four. After the days of mourning as the case may be, the kasanja ritual was performed on a road junction to end the mourning and the people would bath and resume their ordinary business. If the deceased was a twin, mourning and wailing was forbidden. The Banyole face their dead in the eastern direction which is said to symbolize their possible direction of origin.
When a child was born, the placenta was taken and buried in a secluded place where no one could retrieve it for use in evil purposes. It was believed that if the placenta landed in hands of an evil person, they could manipulate it into inflicting death or harm on the newly born child or to prevent the mother from ever conceiving again. The mother would be confined in the house until such a time when the remains of the umbilical cord would break from the baby’s navel. The remains of the umbilical cord were kept in a special gourd and the mother took care to keep as many cords as the children she had. In the event of evil, these cords were believed to be of great importance as an antidote.
Nyole diviners, known as lamuli, commonly practice invocation as a form of divination. When a person is visibly afflicted (usually determined by change of character, wellness, vocal exclamations, etc.), lamuli will ask "ohwebusa" in an attempt to ask a potentially malignant spirit who they are. Lamuli are used by Nyole people solely to determine the causes of misfortune, which is believed to be the cause of malignant or upset spirits. It is believed by the Nyole people that the possession of a person is largely due to the spirits of his kin, who may feel as though the afflicted person has not done enough to honor them or their legacy. There are three main types of unhappy kin spirits. The first are known as ohulama or ohung'waba, and are older family members such as grandparents. The second type are ancestor spirits known as emigu j'abafu, and the third type are known as ekuni, or "clan spirits".
In 2020 the 75-year-old Professor of Linguistics at Kabale University Elly Wesana Chomi was elected the first king of the Banyole cultural institution. Professor Chomi officially referred to as the Sehulu wa Banyole presides over the 75 member Bunyole House of Representatives known as Oluhuje.
