The societies of the Rwenzori Region in western Uganda are involved in a long conflict that often becomes violent and claims lives. My proposed research seeks to historicize this conflict. I intend to problematize the two prevailing narratives explaining the conflict, including the cultural explanation, which says that the conflict is a struggle between the Bakonzo on the one hand and Basongora, Banyabindi, Bamba and Batoro 'tribes' on the other. This explanation takes "tribe" as a given and deprives ethnicity of its history and politics. The second narrative, which conceives the conflict in terms of class, does not explain the violence that cuts across classes. My proposed research shall begin by -- but go beyond -- examining the relationship between this conflict and the colonial regime's indirect rule policy that divided the African natives into separate tribal political units and tribal homelands. I examine the legacy of this divisive policy and how it informs the prevalent 'ethnic' tension.