Nuer people

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Nuer
Naath
Total population
Approximately 2,900,000 people
Regions with significant populations
South Sudan, Ethiopia
 South Sudan2,032,076 (2011)
 Ethiopia147,672 (2008 census)
Languages
Nuer language
Religion
African Traditional Religion, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Dinka, other Nilotic peoples

The Nuer people are a Nilotic ethnic group primarily inhabiting the Nile Valley. They are concentrated in South Sudan, with some also found in southwestern Ethiopia. They speak the Nuer language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family. As one of the largest ethnic groups in southern Sudan, the Nuer people are pastoralist who herd cattle for a living. The cattle of the Nuer people serve as companions and a lifestyle.[1] However, they refer to themselves as "Nath".[2] The Nuer people have historically been under-counted as a result of the semi-nomadic lifestyle in which the community engages, as well as a lack of proper national census information about the community. In addition, the Nuer also have a culture of counting only older members of the family. For example, the Nuer believes that counting the number of children one has could result in misfortune and the community prefer to report fewer number of children when in fact they have many children.

History

The nature of relations among the various southern Sudanese tribes was greatly affected in the 19th century by the intrusion of the British. Some ethnic groups made their accommodation with the colonizers and others did not, in effect pitting one southern ethnic group against another in the context of foreign rule. For example, some sections of the Dinka supported colonial rule which was resisted by the Nuer. The Dinka treated the resisting Nuer as hostile, and hostility developed between the two groups as a result of their differing relationships to the British.[3]

There are different accounts of the origin of the conflict between the Nuer and the Dinka, South Sudan's two largest ethnic groups. Anthropologist Peter J. Newcomer suggests that neither the Nuer nor the Dinka are intrusive and that the Nuer are actually Dinka. He argues that hundreds of years of population growth created expansion, which eventually led to raids and wars.[4]

In 2006, the Nuer were the tribe that resisted disarmament most strongly. Members of the Nuer White Army, a group of armed youths often autonomous of tribal elders' authority, refused to lay down their weapons, which led SPLA soldiers to confiscate Nuer cattle, destroying their economy. The White Army was finally put down in mid-2006,[5] though a successor organisation self-styling itself as a White Army formed in 2011 to fight the Murle tribe (see 2011–2012 South Sudan tribal clashes), as well as the Dinka and UNMISS.[6]

Culture

Cattle have historically been of the highest symbolic, religious and economic value among the Nuer. Sharon Hutchinson notes that "...among Nuer people the difference between people and cattle were continually underplayed." [7] Cattle are particularly important in their role as bride wealth, where they are given by a husband's lineage to his wife's lineage. It is this exchange of cattle which ensures that the children will be considered to belong to the husband's lineage and to his line of descent. The classical Nuer institution of ghost marriage, in which a man can "father" children after his death, is based on this ability of cattle exchanges to define relations of kinship and descent. In their turn, cattle given over to the wife's patrilineage enable the male children of that patrilineage to marry, and thereby ensure the continuity of her patrilineage. A barren woman can even take a wife of her own, whose children (obviously biologically fathered by men from outside unions) then become members of her patrilineage, and she is legally and culturally their father, allowing her to participate in reproduction in a metaphorical sense.

Cattle

The life of the Nuer people primarily depends on cattle which has shaped them into being a pastoralist group, but sometimes they are known to resort to horticulture as well. If they weren't threatened by the numerous diseases cattle could catch then they would solely rely on pastoralism. Due to the seasons of harsh weather, the Nuer move around time after time to ensure that their primary source of living is safe. They tend to travel when heavy seasons of rainfall come to protect the cattle from getting hoof disease, or when there is a scarcity of resources for the cattle. British anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard noted: “They depend on the herds for their very existence...Cattle are the thread that runs through Nuer institutions, language, rites of passage, politics, economy, and allegiances.“[8] If they didn't have cattle most of their traditions or other characteristics shaped by cattle in their culture would be altered.

Cattle is their primary resource that can be utilized in more than one way. They are able to structure their entire culture around cattle and still have what they need. Times before development the Nuer used every single piece of cattle to their advantage. E.E.Evans-Pritchard describes the characteristics that are revolved around cattle: Cattle helped evolve the Nuer culture into what it may be today. It has shaped the daily duties of the Nuer as they are seen to dedicate themselves to protecting and ensuring safety to the cattle. One can see their true dedication for cattle in times of bad health. For example, each month they place their faces into the ass of their cattle blowing air to relieve or keep them from constipation. Cattle are no good to the Nuer if they are constipated because they are restricted from producing primary resources that families need to survive. E.E. Evans-Pritchard learned that, "The importance of cattle in Nuer life and thought is further exemplified in personal names."[9] They structure the names of their children off of biological features of the cattle themselves.

E.E. Evans-Pritchard noted that, "I have already indicated that this obsession—for such it seems to an outsider is due not only to the great economic value of cattle but also to the fact that they are links in numerous social relationships."[10] All of their raw materials come from these cattle things such as drums, rugs, clothing, spears, shields, containers, and leather goods. There isn’t one single part of the cattle that the Nuer throw away. As they have purpose for ritual intent, churning cheese and even to cleanse the body. Even daily essentials found in common cultures like toothpaste and mouthwash are created with the cattle’s dung and urine. They even use the cattle's dung for everyday use. What they do is gather the dung that the cattle have extracted overnight and put them in big abundant piles. Once they have them in piles they chop the dung into smaller pieces and leaves it out to hardened. From there they use it for whatever resource they may need like containers, toothpaste, or even to protect the cattle themselves. They protect the cattle by feeding the dung to the fire allowing it to produce more smoke keeping insects away from cattle to prevent them from catching a disease.

The Nuer people never eat cattle just because they want to. Cattle are very sacred to them, therefore when they do eat cattle they honor its ghost. They typically just eat the cattle that is up in age on dying because of sickness. But even if they do so, they all gather together performing rituals dances or songs before and after they slaughter the cattle. Never do they just kill cattle for the fun of it. “Never do Nuer slaughter animals solely because the desire to eat meat. There is the danger of the ox’s spirit visiting a curse on any individual who would slaughter it without ritual intent, aiming only to use it for food. Any animal that dies of natural causes is eaten.”[11] Many times it may not even just be cattle that they consume, it could be any animal they have scavenged upon that has died because of natural causes. There are a few other food sources that are available for the Nuer to consume. The Nuer diet primarily consists of fish and millet. “Their staple crop is millet."[12] Millet is formally consumed as porridge or beer. The Nuer turn to this staple product in seasons of rainfall when they move their cattle up to higher ground. They might also turn to millet when the cattle are performing well enough to support their family.

Kinship

Kinship dynamic is different with the Nuer. To a Nuer individual, his parents and siblings are not considered mar (blood relatives) kin. He doesn't refer to them as kin. To him they are considered gol which is far more intimate and significant. There are kinship categories in the Nuer society. Those categories depend on the payment to them. There is a balance between the mother and father's side that is acknowledged through particular formal occasions such as marriage.[13]

Nuer girls usually marry at 17 or 18. If a young girl gets engaged at an early age,[clarification needed] the wedding and consummation ceremonies are essentially delayed. Women generally give birth to their first children when they are mature enough to bear them. As long as a girl marries a man with cattle, she is able to freely choose her husband. Her parents may choose a spouse for her, but they must ask for her consent.Evans-Pritchard, E.E (1951). Kinship and Marriage among the Nuer. Oxford: Clarendon Press.</ref>

Kinship roles

Kinship among the Nuer is very important to them, they refer to their blood relatives as ``gol”. Kinship within the Nuer is formed off of one’s neighbors or their entire culture. During E.E.Evans-Pritchard’s ethnographic observation, he described the role of kinship as: “Kinship obligations include caring for the children of one’s kin and neighbors. He also observed that,"The network of kinship ties which links members of local communities is brought about by the operation of exogamous rules, often stated in terms of cattle."[14] This is never thought to be the sole responsibility of the child’s parents."[15] Cattle are judged by how much milk they can produce which is a necessity in their culture. If possible they create the excess of milk into cheese. But if a family’s herd cannot produce the amount of milk a family needs then they turn to other around them to give them what they need. It’s seen as their responsibility to step in and help the family since it’s not really their fault on how much their cattle can produce. The entire Nuer society is basically watching after each other, for example, as Evans-Pritchard noted that,“When one household has a surplus, it is shared with neighbors. Amassing wealth is not an aim. Although a man who owns a large herd of cattle may be envied, his possession of numerous animals does not garner him any special privilege or treatment.”[16] In this tribe there is no special treatment for how one is treated because of their abundance in cattle. Just because one might have more cattle than another doesn't mean they have a higher prestige. If one might have more than enough to provide for themselves then they also provide that to other kin that are in need, as it is a part of their role in kinship.

Religion

E. E. Evans-Pritchard studied the Nuer and made very detailed accounts of his interactions. He also describes Nuer cosmology and religion in his books.

Nuer Online indicates that, "Nuer (Nuäär) believes that God is the spirit of the sky or the spirit who is in the sky” Kuoth Nhial” (God in Heaven) the creator, but Nuers believe in the coming of God through rain, lightning and thunder, and that the rainbow is the necklace of God. The sun and the moon as well as other material entities are also manifestation or sign of God, who after all is a spirit.[citation needed]

The spirits of the air above are believed to be the most powerful of the lesser spirits, while there are also spirits associated with clan-spears names such as WiW, a spirit of war, associated with thunder. Nuers believe that when a man or a woman dies, the flesh, the life and the soul separate. The flesh is committed to the earth, while the breath or life goes back to God (Kuoth). The soul that signifies the human individuality and personality remains alive as a shadow or a reflection, and departs together with the ox sacrificed, to the place of the ghosts.".

In the 1940s, missionaries began to attempt to evangelize the Nuer. The book of Genesis was translated and published in 1954, with the whole New Testament following in 1968. By the 1970s, there were nearly 200 Nuer congregations established. However, reporting indicates that only around 1% of Nuer identify as Christian.

Role of Cattle

In the 1990s, Sharon Hutchinson returned to Nuerland to update E.E.Evans-Pritchard's account. She found that the Nuer had placed strict limits on the convertibility of money and cattle in order to preserve the special status of cattle as objects of bride wealth exchange and as mediators to the divine. She also found that as a result of endemic warfare with the Sudanese state, guns had acquired much of the symbolic and ritual importance previously held by cattle.

Language

The people speak the Nuer language / Thoknath which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan language phylum.

Ritual

The Nuer receive facial markings (called gaar) as part of their initiation into adulthood. The pattern of Nuer scarification varies within specific subgroups. The most common initiation pattern among males consists of six parallel horizontal lines which are cut across the forehead with a razor, often with a dip in the lines above the nose. Dotted patterns are also common (especially among the Bul Nuer and among females).[citation needed]

The Nuer adopted the practice of circumcision as part of the process of assimilation other ethnic groups. The Nuer are not historically known to circumcise, but on rare occasions, may participate as part "of ritual in their belief systems". For instance, The Nuer occasionally perform circumcisions to cleanse people who have engaged in the act of incest.[citation needed]

Typical foods eaten by the Nuer tribe include beef, goat, cow's milk, mangos, and sorghum in one of three forms: "ko̱p" finely ground, handled until balled and boiled, "walwal" ground, lightly balled and boiled to a solid porridge, and injera / Yɔtyɔt, a large, pancake-like yeast-risen flatbread.

In the early 1990s about 25,000 African refugees were resettled in the United States throughout different locations such as South Dakota, Tennessee and Minnesota. In particular, 4,288 refugees from Sudan were resettled among 36 different states between 1990 and 1997 with the highest number in Texas at 17 percent of the refugee population from Sudan.[17]

The Nuer refugees in the United States and those in Africa continue to observe their social obligations to one another. They use different means ranging from letters to new technologically advanced communication methods in order to stay connected to their families in Africa. Nuer in the United States provide assistance for family members’ paperwork to help their migration process to the United States. Furthermore, Nuer in the United States observe family obligations by sending money for those still in Africa.[18]

Nuer military and political leaders

Some important Nuer politicians are Both Diu was the first Nuer and South Sudan Politician from 1947 and follow by Gai Tut in Military is Bol Nyawan who fought against the Khartoum government in Bentiiu; he was killed in 1985 by the current president of Sudan. Commander Ruai and Liah Diu Deng were responsible for the attack that forced Chevron to suspend activities in the oil field around 1982.

Naming conventions

  • (Nya) Nyada meaning "daughter all females begin with (Nya) of", is the standard prefix used for female names. Gat, meaning "son of", is a common prefix for male names.[citation needed]
  • Children are commonly given names to mark historical events ("Dɔmaac" meaning "bullet", or Mac meaning "fire or gun" given to a child born during times of war or from another man in the name of the deceased father who legally married the mother ).[citation needed]
  • Nhial means "rain", and is a common name for males.[citation needed]
  • Many Nuer have been exposed to missionaries and carry a Christian first name. Their second name is a given name and always in Nuer. The father's given name follows the child's given name, which is then followed by the grandfather's name, and so on. Many Nuer can easily recount ten generations of paternal lineage because they carry those names themselves.[citation needed]
  • When a Nuer comes to the Western world, which wants a first and last name, it is their custom to give their name as their first name followed by their father's name as their middle name and their grandfather's name as their last name.[citation needed]
  • After the civil war, the Nuer began accepting cash currency into their economy, changing the dynamics of their cattle and how they were viewed. Each type of cattle is titled according to how they are acquired such as: "the cattle of money" (purchased with cash currency) and "the cattle of girls/daughters" (bridewealth).[19]

Most Nuer people are named after their cattle. The boys usually chose the name of their favorite cattle based on the form and color of the ox. The girls are named after the cows that they milk. Sometimes the cow names are passed down.[20]

Impact of Oil Economy on Nuer

Oil exploration and drilling began in 1975 and 1976 by companies such as Chevron. In 1979 the first oil production took place in the southern regions of Darfur. In the early 1980s when the North-South war was happening, Chevron was interested in the reserves in the south. In 1984 guerrillas of SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) attacked the drilling site of the north at Bentiu. In return, Chevron cleared Nuer and Dinka people in the oil fields area to ensure security for their operations.[21]

The Nuer-Dinka struggle in oil fields continued in late 1990s into the early 2000s. The struggle for oil production was not only manifested in North-South fight, but also in Nuer-Dinka and many internal conflicts among Nuer.[22]

As part of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), 50 percent of net revenues of southern oil fields were given to the government of southern Sudan as a solution to one of the sources of decades of civil conflict.[23]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Hutchinson, Sharon (1992). "The Cattle of Money and the Cattle of Girls among the Nuer, 1930-83". American Ethnologist. 19 (2): 294–316. doi:10.1525/ae.1992.19.2.02a00060. JSTOR 645038.
  2. ^ Gardner, Robert. "The Nuer". Kanopy streaming. Kanopy. Retrieved 2014. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ "Sudan - Non-Muslim Peoples". Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  4. ^ Newcomer, Peter J. (1972). ""The Nuer Are Dinka: An Essay on Origins and Environmental Determinism"". Man. New Series, Vol. 7, No. 1: 5–11. JSTOR 2799852.
  5. ^ Young, John (June 2007). "The White Army: An Introduction and Overview" (PDF). Small Arms Survey. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Sudan youth 'planning to attack tribe'". News24.com. News24. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  7. ^ Hutchison, Sharon (1992). "The Cattle of Money and the Cattle of Girls among the Nuer,". American Ethnologist, Vol. 19, No. 2: 294–316.
  8. ^ Holly., Peters-Golden, (2012). Culture sketches : case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: The McGraw-Hill. pp. 164–165. ISBN 9780078117022. OCLC 716069710.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Evans-Pritchard, E. (1940). NUER : a description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a nilotic people ... (classic reprint). [S.l.]: Forgotten Books. p. 18. ISBN 9781333803124. OCLC 980437822.
  10. ^ EVANS-PRITCHARD, E E (2016). NUER: a description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a nilotic people ... (classic reprint). S.l.: FORGOTTEN BOOKS. p. 19. ISBN 1333803125.
  11. ^ Holly., Peters-Golden, (2012). Culture sketches : case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: The McGraw-Hill. pp. 164–165. ISBN 9780078117022. OCLC 716069710.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Holly., Peters-Golden, (2012). Culture sketches : case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: The McGraw-Hill. p. 160. ISBN 9780078117022. OCLC 716069710.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Evans-Pritchard, E.E (1951). Kinship and Marriage among the Nuer. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  14. ^ Evans-Pritchard, E. (1940). NUER : a description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a nilotic people. [S.l.]: Forgotten Books. p. 17. ISBN 9781333803124. OCLC 980437822.
  15. ^ Holly., Peters-Golden, (2012). Culture sketches : case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: The McGraw-Hill. p. 163. ISBN 9780078117022. OCLC 716069710.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Holly., Peters-Golden, (2012). Culture sketches : case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: The McGraw-Hill. p. 165. ISBN 9780078117022. OCLC 716069710.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Shandy, Dianna J. (2006). Nuer-American Passages: Globalizing Sudanese Migration. Gainesville, Florida: U of Florida. p. 65.
  18. ^ Shandy, Dianna J. (2006). Nuer-American Passages: Globalizing Sudanese Migration. Florida, US: Gainesville: U of Florida. p. 160.
  19. ^ Hutchinson, Sharon (May 1992). "The Cattle of Money and the Cattle of Girls among the Nuer, 1930-83". JSTOR 645038. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ^ Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1940). The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People. Oxford University Press.
  21. ^ Lobban, Richard Andrew (2010). Global Security Watch - Sudan. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. p. 104.
  22. ^ Lobban, Richard Andrew (2010). Global Security Watch - Sudan. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. p. 106.
  23. ^ Shandy, Dianna J. (2006). Nuer-American Passages: Globalizing Sudanese Migration. U of Florida, US: U of Florida. p. 21.
  24. ^ Jon D. Holtzman. "Nuer Journeys, Nuer Lives: Sudanese Refugees in Minnesota". Amazon.com. ISBN 9780205543328. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  • Wechtuor, Kuajien Lual, Yual Doctor Chiek and Peter Gai Manyuon (2016), The Nuer Nation, Amazon.com, ISBN 978-1540632364
  • Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1948). "Nuer Marriage Ceremonies". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 18: 29–40. JSTOR 3180465.

External links

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