The 102-104, Southern Sudan and the Government of the Republic of the South Sudan, State Minister for Foreign Affairs (International Affairs), https://www.peoplegroups.org/explore/GroupDetails.aspx?peid=15068#topmenu, "2014 Uganda Population and Housing Census Main Report", https://www.peoplegroups.org/explore/GroupDetails.aspx?peid=14887#topmenu, James Ojent Latigo, Chapter 4: "Northern Uganda tradition-based practices in the Acholi region, 1. last large-scale conflict in Acholi until Amin came to power in 1971. fight the Arab slave traders and his colonial administration was viewed as not very invasive The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Further tidying up and smoothing over the grave take place within the week. The dry season is long and hot, with temperatures that can reach more than 35 C. Demography. "Swazi" refers to the nation, tr, Fipa The rwot was the most important political, economic and social personality in the political entity of 'chiefdoms', which were installed in Acholiland in the late seventeenth, early eighteenth century. A rebellion The Tonga occupy much of Southern Province in Zambia (formerly No, ETHNONYMS: Batswana, Bechuana (colonial appellation) When the victorious NRA started violent acts of vengeance in the following years, NAPE, along with sister organization the National Association for Women's Action in Development, has brought together more than 5,000 women from . Childlessness is one of the most serious misfortunes imaginable; women are typically blamed, and the marriage often ends or the husband takes a second wife. portrayed this relationship in his account as rather hostile and negative: Most of these Arabs carrying business of slave trade were coming from Egypt, they into the 1990s, Acholi was the scene of similar levels of conflict. As droughts and These rebellions sprung up in defiance and from disapproval of the conduct and legitimacy of the new NRA government. Corn (maize), sorghum, beans, squash, peanuts (groundnuts), and other savanna crops also are grown. The political ramifications for Uganda, however, were severe. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". This special access to Uganda's security forces has alternately presented opportunity and danger as a succession of regimes replaced one another in a cycle of political violence often played out in ethnic (or "tribal") terms. Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader. A Study of the Acooli Language: Grammar and Vocabulary. The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda before 1800. The n, Mende The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. Boys and girls are typically socialized into distinct gender roles, and do household and other chores accordingly. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. In the pre-colonial era, all the Acholi believed in the same superior being, YA Latwer. [19], The religious leaders have tried to help end the conflict in the country of the last two decades and to reconcile the parties. The presumed nominal forebears of the present-day Acholi group migrated South to Northern Uganda from the area now known as Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan by about 1,000 AD. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/acholi. Since Ugandan forces pushed the LRA out of Northern Uganda, the majority were able to return to their homes, though without much in the way of government support. Comprising less than 5 percent of the country's population, during the early years of independence the Acholi constituted more than 15 percent of the police force and fully a third of the army. Contemporary versions or amalgams of these practitioners continue to function in Acholi. Acholi chiefdoms ranged in population from under 1,000 to as many as 20,000 people and consisted of a number of fenced villages, each with recognized land rights vested in the patrilineal lineage (kaka ) at its core. The existence of separate chiefdoms was therefore not an Identification. Numbering more than one million at the turn of the 21st century, they speak a Western Nilotic language of the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family and are culturally and historically related to their traditional enemies, the neighbouring Lango. With independence, the Acholi remained marginal within the framework of Uganda as a whole, with one crucial exception: their disproportionate numbers in the police and army. Bor Lango Colonial rule brought the penetration of a money economy into Acholi, along with the establishment of numerous rural and small-town trading centers and the two major urban centers of Gulu and Kitgum, where a range of local and imported goods are available. have often limited or prevented serious conflict, especially among Following the prefix a- denoting the 1st Person Singular (Whitmire, 2013, p. 51). point to the most recent violent conflict was the overthrow of the Okello-led government by the Ethnic group of South Sudan and Northern Uganda, Atkinson, Ronald R. "The Evolution of Ethnicity among the Acholi of Uganda: The Precolonial Phase.". Since the entrenchment of colonial rule, an average of 10 to 20 percent of adult Acholi males at any one time have been involved in migrant labor or employment in the police or army that has taken them from their home and families. The results showed that students had, On the one hand, languages are translatable, which can be demonstrated from different perspectives such as the general characteristics of language, the parallel linguistic, The purpose of this study was to examine the language attitudes and language practices of Arabic-speaking families living in the United States. morphed into Chuuli, before finally becoming Acholi as it was applicated with the pronoun However, during the dry season, as groups of families were forced to congregate around receding water sources, a greater degree of political organization developed. Medicine. Other uncategorised cookies are those that are being analysed and have not been classified into a category as yet. second Milton Obote regimes, however, as well as of the various rebel This has continued in various guises ever since. Crazzolara, J. P. (1950-1954). Localized lineages have been the fundamental social units in Acholi, The third group of spirits were those of unknown persons and dangerous beasts; these were hostile, personified as ghosts, believed to cause sickness and other misfortunes, and dealt with by means of spirit possession. Congo. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. ETHNONYMS: Mende (Men-day), Mendes, Huro, Wuro Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Okot p'Bitek (1963). A typical household consists of a nuclear family (husband, wife, and unmarried children), although aged parents, unmarried siblings, offspring of deceased siblings, or others are often household members as well. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. southeast by the Langi region and to the south, across the Nile, by Bunyoro. Identification. The major art forms of the Acholi have been drumming, singing, and dancing. Political Organization. Religious Practitioners. They also kept goats, sheep and cattle. During Uganda's colonial period, the British encouraged political and economic development in the south of the country, in particular among the Baganda. Atkinson, Ronald R. (1994). Precolonial trade, both within Acholi and throughout the region, focused mainly on obtaining iron ore and finished iron products in exchange for baskets or products of the farm, herd, or hunt. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps. The conflict had dramatic effects on the local be possessed by a spirit named Lakwena, the so-called Holy Spirit Movement fought a rebellion Shilluk Acholi M.A. Milton Obote (1962-71, 1980-85). The colonial experience of the Acholi differed greatly from the experience of those in the The Taxpayer First Act, Pub. political organisation of the acholipadma shri award 2012 list. As they have for centuries, Acholi farmers rely mainly on iron hoes and other hand tools. deaths. Marriage. The full integration of the Acholi into the British colonial complex happened comparatively late. Identification. "State Formation in Acholi: The Emergence of Obbo, Pajok, and Panyikwara States c. - CORE Political Organization. Identification. Organizational politics is a natural part of organizational life. represents an income that averages several times that of a member of the [12] These camps had some of the highest mortality rates in the world, with an estimated 1,000 people dying per week at one point. That is why the Lango neighbours refer to the Acholi as Ugangi, meaning people of the home. Conflict. p. 41). Common synonyms for this type of organization are "interest groups," "pressure groups," and . Social Control. London: Oxford University Press. named Luo. Peace negotiations to end the long-running rebellion by the Lords Resistance Army continued, while security in the north improved through 2007. Social Control. This term then Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International. The EU's External Democracy Action in a New Geopolitical Reality: Policy Brief. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. After weaning and up to the age of 5 or 6, however, much of the day-to-day caretaking of a child has customarily been done by an opposite-sex sibling or other preadolescent (often a member of the father's lineage), called lapidi (nurse-child). An Exploration of Linguistic Practices and Language Attitudes in Gulu, Northern Uganda. to accumulate substantial fortunes, as have a few traders. the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), echoing some of the spiritual themes used by the Holy Spirit jok ). [26] Conservative approaches estimates that at least 300,000 people died in the conflict that extended into the Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic. The Age-set spokesmen handled affairs involving interclan cooperation. their clans, giving them the ability to accumulate wealth and power beyond their rights to land somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth In most chiefdoms, only members of designated lineages could make or repair royal drums. families living together in hamlets. and slave trades, and the firearms that accompanied them, conflict In the past, medical problems were addressed through approaches to various spirits, by visits to diviners, and by the use of herbs, roots, and other folk medicines. "Some Notes on Acholi Religious Ceremonies." into the independence era. Arab trading routes coming from the north, trading in goods, but also in slaves. Organizational Politics. that included areas now belonging to South Sudan and the northern regions of Uganda. "Against Humanitarian Impunity: Rethinking Responsibility for Displacement and Disaster in Northern Uganda,", Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", pp. Trade. were able gain wealth by trading mainly in ivory. World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. Aristotle wrote that politics stems . Led by Alice Auma, who claimed to In East African Childhood: Three Versions, edited by L. K. Fox, 43-75. PUBLISHED: 27/01/2023. contested among those with traditional leadership qualifications and Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives (Brandon & Seldman, 2004; Hochwarter, Witt, & Kacmar, 2000). Webster, J. aimed at achieving clearly-defined political goals, which typically benefit the interests of their members. "The Ancestral Shrine of the Acholi." Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Behrend, Heike (1991). with chiefdoms providing a layer of organization above the lineages from . He wrote, "Part of the structural causes of the conflict in Uganda has been explained as rooted in the 'diversity of ethnic groups which were at different levels of socio-economic development and political organisation.' Identification. The Acholi are the descendants of a variety of Luo-speaking peoples who are believed to have migrated three or four centuries ago from adjacent areas of what is now South Sudan into what is now the Acholi district of Uganda. The chiefs traditionally came from one clan, and each chiefdom had several villages made up of different patrilineal clans. limited wealth in the society and redistribution. Under Ugandan Pres. Specifically, this study explored, Living with Language. Religion of the Central Luo. Despite the years of leadership by men from the North, that region continued to be marginalized economically after independence, and has suffered higher rates of poverty than other areas of the country. (1991). Acholi Quarter in Kampala, for example, is largely populated by formerly rural Acholi from Northern Uganda, uprooted by years of conflict and now caught in a situation of prolonged displacement. for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the . The Fipa are a Bantu-speaking people of southwestern Tanzania in East-Central Africa. These guns brought [17] Most of the LRA returnees, numbering 12,000, underwent nyono tong gweno ('stepping on the egg') after returning to their home villages, to help restore them to home. element of the social and political environment of the region. The Acholi have small chiefdoms of one or more villages, each with several patrilineal clans. Idi Amin was also from north Uganda, but was of the Kakwa people. Inheritance has been, and largely remains, patrilineal. When conflict did occur, however, it was usually limited in scope, with relatively few deaths. The most common domestic animals are (and have long been) chickens and goats, with some cattle, especially in the dryer portions of Acholi. occur, however, it was usually limited in scope, with relatively few While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 30. Since the Lords Resistance Army was largely pushed out of Northern Uganda, the majority of Acholi more than 80 per cent have been able to return to their homes. Kin Groups and Descent. Then a final dance and feast takes place at a time chosen to make possible the maximum attendance by relatives and other interested people. During the later nineteenth century, the emergent Acholi became involved in the international trade in ivory and slaves, which were exchanged mainly for cattle, beads, blankets, cotton cloth, and firearms. Updates? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. southern parts of the country. the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. The insurgency's military. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. The Acholi are proud and loud, but have been exposed as a group without a uniting leadership. B. Webster, eds. The Central Lwo during the Aconya. Kitgum, Pader and Gulu, the three districts of the Acholi sub-region, each established peace forums for continuing discussions. Each clan was administered by a council of elders chosen because of their outstanding military performance and because of their senior position in the community. Farming and hunting dominated the live in this rural 1orthern Uganda or Acholiland is formally known as the Acholi sub-region, an area inhab N - ited primarily by speakers of the Acholi language, whom I refer to as the Acholi. However, this rebellion was defeated when it attempted to attack Okot p'Bitek's epic poem, Song of Lawino, debates Acholi customs around the time that Uganda became independent. Milton Obote, the independence leader, relied heavily on the support of his fellow Luo-speakers - Acholi and Langi - in government. The council's representatives could mediate issues between clans, and essentially covered both civil and criminal functions, like a Supreme Court. The building of houses and granaries has historically involved both men and women, with each performing specified functions. Mothers are responsible for the initial care of their children and for much of their socialization. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. ETHNONYMS: Afipa, Wafipa In 2005, the new International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders. Then in Kenya and Tanzania are the Joluo also known as the Luo. Movement. It is Over the second half of the nineteenth century, Acholi was incorporated into international trade networks through the activities of northern, Arabic-speaking ivory and slave traders. Social Organization. Before the late seventeenth century, Luo speakers were limited to only a few peripheral areas of Acholi. The Holy Spirit Movement and Its Fight against Evil in the North." According to the reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), the Acholi as a group emerged Historically, the most important public ceremonies were probably those associated with birth, planting, harvesting, and the killing of a large animal or another human being. Political organizations are those engaged in political activities (e.g., lobbying, community organizing, campaign advertising, etc.) But a chief's territory seldom corresponded to any pre-colonial entity, while his wide-ranging executive and judicial powers were a complete novelty. heard of gun sound, they were used to only lightning thunder sound. Dholuo, which is spoken in in the West of Kenya. Killing of a person was prohibited but if it took place, negotiations for blood money were led by the victim's family, with agreement followed by rituals of a reconciliation ceremony to restore the killer to the community, and to bring peace between clans. A single rainy season, from April-May to October-November, produces a reliable annual rainfall nine years of every ten, ranging from 102 centimeters in the central and western portions of Acholi to only 51 centimeters in much of the north and east. While rwodi, members of royal lineages, and lineage heads all seem to have been somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth century, social stratification appears limited, owing primarily to both limited wealth in the society and redistribution. "[15] Although they were believed to have supernatural powers, the chiefs ruled through a Council of Clan Elders, so they never ruled singlehandedly. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). to the land by Kuturia caused a lot of death in the sub-region of Acholi. (p. 34). 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. administration within the region and the district headquarters were erected in the area of the Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Stream and swamp fishing are important. [11], After defeating Okello and his Acholi-dominated Uganda National Liberation Army, now-President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Army conducted revenge killings in the north. Identification and Location. They are speakers of Western Nilotic languages and are traditionally farmers. state, political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the institutions of government. laws of social life among the Acholi were set up by the elders of the clans, regulating everything Certain rwodi and Encyclopedia of World Cultures. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Orientation InThe Roots of Ethnicity, Ronald R. Atkinson argues that although colonial rule and its aftermath have played a major role in shaping the particular manifestati. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help "[20] They have continued to work to end the war through negotiation. Latigo, James, "The Acholi Traditional Conflict Resolution in Light of Current Circumstances:". Yet the northerners living in these squalid camps were prone to attack by the LRA and the national army alike, and unable to raise their own food. passed through Sudan to the northern Uganda. Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. The activities of the LRA have been devastating within Acholiland (though they spread also to neighbouring districts and countries). The conflict", UGANDA: 1,000 displaced die every week in war-torn north - report | Uganda | Refugees/IDPs, UGANDA/DRC: OPERATION RUDIA II UPDATE 2009-06-29, "The Anguish of Northern Uganda - Section 1 - Uganda", Sample of written Acholi from the Language Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Acholi_people&oldid=1142669727, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. of mutual intelligibility amongst each other, they were at times interpreted as a dialectal cluster The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The long civil war in the North has destroyed much of their society. Spirits of both of these types were generally beneficent. and created larger political Malaria and AIDS have been the primary disease causes of deaths. Even bride-wealth marriages are now often mainly nuclear-family affairs, and other alternatives to traditional marriage are common. Orientation Most Acholi also continue to live in thatched, round mud houses, although wealthier Acholi and those who live in town or near major roads have square houses of mud or block, with iron or tile roofs. He had established the Equatorial Province in 1870 Milton Obote, the independence leader, relied heavily on the support of his fellow Luo-speakers Acholi and Langi in government. authority of a district commissioner. Even though this contact was described as a grossly negative experience for the Acholi, this [6] While Acholi also lives north of the South Sudanese border, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland". The men were skilled hunters, using nets and spears. journalist who created an account of the history and traditions of the Acholi, wrote that the While Bantu speaking groups had begun to occupy This conflict lasted until 2008 and ended with the LRA fleeing to Eastern In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Acholi men say, Property cant own property, and the notion of women having independent land rights is an anomaly to them. The camps caused misery and sufferingwith a conservative death toll of 1,000 people a week. Since the British had set up their administrational centre in the others who benefited from the new dispensation, including collaborators All members of the household acknowledge the authority of its head, the husband; each wife or other adult female in the household has traditionally had her own fields, granaries, and kitchen or cooking hut. This structure was maintained by the real anointed chiefs of the Acholi, the rwodi moo. (1936). "In 1997, the Catholic, Anglican, Muslim, and later the Orthodox religious leaders of Acholi formalized their increasing cooperation on peace issues by setting up the Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative (ARLPI). This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website. Most Acholi, however, continue to live in neighborhoods (parishes) that not only consist predominantly of patrilineal kinsmen and their wives, but often carry the old lineage names. Kasozi, A. The name "Acholi" is used for peoples living in the former Acholi District of northern Uganda (now divided into the Gulu and Kitgum districts) and the adjoining area of the southern Sudan. While rwodi, The northerners also contributed to the further evolution of an Acholi identity, not only by introducing the name "Shuuli," which eventually became "Acholi," but by acting in ways that promoted Acholi as a meaningful ethnic and geographic entity. Further he described how this negative experience led to generally negative attitudes towards In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. many of them children, the conflict led to the displacement of millions. Acholi conceive of death as an inevitable, personal defeat and tragedy, against which there is no ultimate defense. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. [26], In 2016, the multi award-winning film, A Brilliant Genocide was produced. of the West Nile, to the north by the South Sudan, to the east by the Karamojong region, to the, 23 Each Ugandan district has a language board responsible for implementing policies on indigenous language. Ironworking, mainly but not entirely confined to certain lineages, appears to be almost as ancient as agriculture, going back perhaps to the first millennium b.c. In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. Abstract The aim of this thesis will be to decipher why Acholi ethnic identity remained such a critical political tool in late and post-colonial Uganda, from 1950-1985, just before the outbreak of civil war in 1986.