neighboring peoples, was neither rare nor endemic. This book presents seminal anthropological works from that period by p'Bitek himself and by Frank Girling, who was researching among the Acholi when p'Bitek was a teenager. By the mid-nineteenth century, about 60 small chiefdoms existed in eastern Acholiland. Inheritance has been, and largely remains, patrilineal. Location. Chiefs are chosen from one lineage. Building on a long-term relationship with the region and utilizing the methods of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and a qualitative questionnaire, I identify two especially important social mechanisms that correlate with the prevalence . et al., 1972; Heine & Knig, 2010) and Chopi (Storch, 2005) as individual languages, instead The Acholi, unlike many of their southern neighbours, did not create a form of Ocheng, D. O. 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. The PEPFAR Uganda 2023 Science Summit on HIV and TB: Following the Science and Sustaining the Gains as PEPFAR Turns Twenty This report is a record of the virtual summit organized by the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Uganda for its stakeholders; Uganda Ministry of Health (MoH) including its Public Health Fellowship Program (PHFP), implementing partners, and . This has continued in various guises ever since. 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. Doom, Ruddy and Koen Vlassenroot. 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. Atkinson, Ronald R. (1989). neighboring chiefdoms within the same zone. colonial rule in their region for decades, before finally being integrated in the Ugandan territory 1679-1914." The insurgency's military. 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Uganda Journal 19(1): 57-61. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. (1936). million first language speakers at the time. [22], In January 1986, the junta government of Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa in Uganda was overthrown by Museveni and his NRA rebels. The n, Mende Many of the Acholi soldiers who joined the Kings African Rifles (KAR), the British colonial army, were deployed to the frontlines in southeast Asia especially in Singapore and Burma during the World War II where they held British positions against an intense Japanese offensive. This disorder in Acholi contrasts sharply with the solid organisation of Buganda, which always has a centralized, well-thought out and weighted responses to critical issues such as land and political contention that affect the kingdom. [26][27], The NRA managed to defeat all the rebel groups except the LRA which culminated in a 20-year conflict. Sign up to Minority rights Group International's newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and publications. From the Village to Entebbe: The Acholi of Northern Uganda and . In the pre-colonial era, all the Acholi believed in the same superior being, YA Latwer. 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. The activities of the LRA have been devastating within Acholiland (though they spread also to neighbouring districts and countries). [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 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. The Acholi are proud and loud, but have been exposed as a group without a uniting leadership. Numbering between 400 and 500 by the turn of the twentieth century, these exogamous groups claim descent from a common ancestor (although means exist to incorporate many types of "outsiders" as well) and have special lineage shrines, ritual ceremonies, praise-calls, and totems. 30. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. census of 2014, those seven districts were combined inhabited by just under 1.4 million people Religious Beliefs. [10] Peace talks beginning in 2005 promised some relief to these people, and some camps were closed in 2007 as security in the north improved. M.A. 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. Identification. time was critical to the social and political development of the region. Instead, the Acholi were integrated in the Their traditional communities were organised hamlets of circular huts with high peaked roofs, furnished with a mud sleeping-platform, jars of grain and a sunken fireplace. While rwodi, Much of that hierarchy continued Among other provisions, this legislation specifically amended IRC Section 527 (j) to require the e-filing of Form 8872, Political . Diversity Management in Sudan's Democratic Transitional Arrangements: Technical Paper 1, January 2023. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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. The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda before 1800. Identification. Kasozi, A. Girling, F. K. (1960). 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. "Against Humanitarian Impunity: Rethinking Responsibility for Displacement and Disaster in Northern Uganda,", Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", pp. Uganda Journal 3(3): 175-202. Women also provide major labor in the fields, as well as being responsible for most child rearing and all cooking and other food-preparation tasks. The essential lawlessness of the Idi Amin and The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Traditionally, a young man was dependent upon his lineage head and elders both for permission to marry and for the material goods required for bride-wealth; elders of the woman's lineage were also much involved in the discussions and negotiations surrounding the marriage. ETHNONYMS: Balumbila, Batoka, Batonga, Bawe, Toka the furthest back is the historical reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), who described the - CORE with the British was through Samuel Baker. Acholi: Talking Politics in Northern Uganda Many Ugandans follow politics with keen interest, and President Yoweri Musevei's 34-year tenure notwithstanding, politics is a frequent topic of in-depth conversation and spirited debate among friends and acquaintances, and my conversations with my mentor are no exception. many of them children, the conflict led to the displacement of millions. second Milton Obote regimes, however, as well as of the various rebel [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". It is part of the Southern Lwoo languages subcounty level; and larger zones of the most intensive (and peaceful) Domestic Unit. The government of Uganda has responded to the conflict by adopting both military and general amnesty strategies. When Britain established its rule during the early twentieth century, both ideological predisposition and practical utility prompted the colonizers to consider the Acholi a "tribe" and to administer the area as a "tribal" unit. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website. A company limited by guarantee in the UK no. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. They were also against the power consolidation approach of the NRA, which included mass arrest, torturing, killing, cattle raiding, food crop destruction, and looting and burning of villages. southern part of the country relatively young. That is why the Lango neighbours refer to the Acholi as Ugangi, meaning people of the home. Women daubed the walls with mud, decorating them with geometrical or conventional designs in red, white or grey. "Acholi These include Christian marriage (with or without bride-wealth), elopement, and single parenthood. In 2005, the new International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders. Millet is the staple food of the Acholi, and tobacco is grown for trade. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The relationship between the Acholi and the British had for a long time been rather loose and Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. During the colonial period, political leadership in Acholi was Orientation environment and larger distances between settlements kept the hierarchical structures It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. Traditionally, lineage heads and elders were the most knowledgeable aboutand involved withthe lineage and chiefdom jogi, although rwodi also had a role to play in ceremonies involving the latter. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. Verona: Editrice Nigrizia. The Acholi or Acoli are part of Luo-speaking Nilotic people of East Africa who lives predominantly in Northern Uganda (an area commonly referred to as Acholiland), including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, and Pader; and Magwe County in South Sudan. that included areas now belonging to South Sudan and the northern regions of Uganda. Further he described how this negative experience led to generally negative attitudes towards The earliest modern African political organization in Kenya Colony sought to protest pro-settler policies, and increased taxes on Africans and the despised Kipande (Identifying metal band worn around the neck). Hunting tracts are owned by clans. deaths. Inheritance. Deep-rooted divisions and polarization remain between different ethnic groups, and these have been greatly exacerbated by the way in which the countrys leadership has developed since independence. Classification of Southern Lwoo after Heusing (2004) and Storch (2005). World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. (1970) 'State formation and fragmentation in Agago, Eastern Acholi', This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 19:17. Despite their common language and ethnic designation, the Acholi of Uganda and the southern Sudan have distinct origins and developed along different historical trajectories; the remainder of this cultural summary will focus on the more populous Uganda Acholi. other parts of Uganda, where hundreds of thousands of peoplemany The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Hier sind Acholi-Frauen dafr bekannt, . Spirits of both of these types were generally beneficent. The Canadian government, for instance, will be more inclined to fund an organisation whose mandate is continental Africa rather than an association with a very narrow focus on Acholi problems. to the land by Kuturia caused a lot of death in the sub-region of Acholi. (p. 34). "State Formation in Acholi: The Emergence of Obbo, Pajok, and Panyikwara States c. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Ugandan minister of internal affairs and leader of the government negotiating team, noted the effectiveness of the traditional system. ETHNONYM: Karanga (historical) Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. (1991). Hansen, Holger B., and Michael Twaddle, eds. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Contemporary versions or amalgams of these practitioners continue to function in Acholi. 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. This belief underlies the customary land tenure rule that prohibits women from having rights to land independent of their relationship with their father or husband. Traditionally, land rights were vested in localized patrilineal lineages, under the control and guidance of lineage heads and elders. The conflict had dramatic effects on the local Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/acholi. Changing Uganda: The Dilemmas of Structural Adjustment and Revolutionary Change. ." Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. Following the The essential lawlessness of the Idi Amin and second Milton Obote regimes, however, as well as of the various rebel groups, the Ugandan army, and Karamojong raiders (who have been active in Acholi since the mid-1980s) have led to a breakdown of any meaningful social control in the area. Many contemporary Acholi continue to use these treatments, although nearly all with access to clinics and hospitals rely on these as well, whenever they can. The Acholi occupy a 39,000-square-kilometer area, three-fourths of which lies within Uganda, extending roughly from 215 to 4159 N and 3325 to 3345 E. Their neighbors include the Luo-speaking Lango, Paluo, and Alur to the south and southwest, the Central Sudanic-speaking Madi to the west, and the Eastern Nilotic Jie and Karamojong to the east. Given the anti-Museveni sentiment of most Acholis, the LRA's inability to mobilize support - or to at least avoid repudiation by its own ethnic base - is remarkable. [10], The Acholi are known to the outside world mainly because of the long insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony, an Acholi from Gulu. ETHNONYMS: Mende (Men-day), Mendes, Huro, Wuro cooperation of their rwot (chief) Aliker with the British, the centre of the colonial According to Latigo, prior to colonialism, "the Acholi people maintained a traditional government that was rooted firmly in their religious beliefs, norms, and customs, which demanded peace and stability in Acholiland at all times, based on their philosophy of life. "Some Notes on Acholi Religious Ceremonies." identity is rather disputed. members of royal lineages, and lineage heads all seem to have been . famines forced groups to move within the Acholi territory and create more cohesive forms of Acholi men say, Property cant own property, and the notion of women having independent land rights is an anomaly to them. The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. colonial times, were the Acholi stood often in opposition to the British colonial rule, the starting 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. Most political organizations take the form of a voluntary association of persons or organizations that pools its members' and constituents' financial and other resources, and engages in conventional political actions to affect policy-making outcomes. laws of social life among the Acholi were set up by the elders of the clans, regulating everything They have also "played a vital role in Acholi traditional reconciliation processes and in preparing the community to receive former combatants. Aristotle wrote that politics stems . 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. In addition to these six languages, some authors also classify Labwor (Ladefoged, reported that the Acholi chiefs generally accepted the position of Baker, as he had helped them Girling (1960) notes that as late as 1950 there was still no system of individual land tenure in Acholi; however, such tenure has become increasingly common since independence. Kuturia Housein fired the first gun shot on Acholiland who had never seen and 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 cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The LRA has been targeting civilians, the majority being their own tribe, the Acholi. At first fighting against the insurgence of the army of the central government, the Soon after, the NRM started pacifying the northern region, which is home to several ethnics, including the Acholi and Lango. Ceremonies. Situated 1,025 to 1,350 meters above sea level, the Acholi landscape is typical East African game countryrolling grasslands with scattered trees, streams, and rock outcrops. A.D. Of their history during this time only little is known. Twentieth-century densities have been consistently the second lowest in all of Uganda (after Karamoja). The colonial experience of the Acholi differed greatly from the experience of those in the The first government chiefs, appointed from 1912 onwards, represented a measure of continuity with the pre-colonial order, since they were nearly all drawn from the ranks of the clan leaders. Orientation Localized lineages have been the fundamental social units in Acholi, with chiefdoms providing a layer of organization above the lineages from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. The system values peace over justice, and has retributive and restorative aspects. 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. 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. solidification of an Acholi identity, with their common language becoming an important marker. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Marriage. Whitmire (2013) on the other hand argued that a Acholi by international trade, and descendants of some of these men used "Acholi (UNHCR, 2012). These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customised ads. This in turn forged new political entities and identities as well as wider social relations. The republican constitution adopted in 1967 abolished the monarchies and assigned ultimate political power to an elected president. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. into the 1990s, Acholi was the scene of similar levels of conflict. The Acholi have small chiefdoms of one or more villages, each with several patrilineal clans. The old staples of eleusine (finger) millet, sorghum, sesame, and various peas, beans, and leafy green vegetables continue to be grown, along with twentieth-century crops such as cassava, maize, peanuts (groundnuts), fruits, and cotton. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. (Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs 1997. Webster, J. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau. 61). became more frequent, more deadly, and more widely spread. The chiefs traditionally came from one clan, and each chiefdom had several villages made up of different patrilineal clans. In war, the men used spears and long, narrow shields of giraffe or ox hide. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Identification. His stated political aims are to rule Uganda according to the Biblical Ten Commandments. 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. It does not store any personal data. At the same time Joseph Kony formed his own rebel group, Although polygyny has often been presented as an ideal, limited means have always made it rare in practice. traditional local forms of organisation were based on smaller units, often only consisting of organisation to survive, a common identity had to form to support this new social structure of Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Even though the recent history of conflict can in some ways be tracked all the way back to the 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. Significantly, iron-ore deposits were located mainly at or just beyond the western, northeastern, southeastern, and southern boundaries of what became Acholi, and trade for this iron created networks of movement and interaction that helped determine a collective identity within these boundaries. Starting in the late seventeenth century, a new sociopolitical order developed among the Luo of Northern Uganda, mainly characterized by the formation of chiefdoms headed by Rwodi (sg. 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 LRA, after losing support from the local population, also turned on the people of northern Acholi Sub-region is consist of seven districts, namely; Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo, Pader, Agago, Amuru and Nwoya, and are situtated in northern Uganda. Mothers are responsible for the initial care of their children and for much of their socialization. PUBLISHED: 30/01/2023. These guns brought the northern parts remained ignored for a long time. Orientation During this time, people were separated from their land for long periods, and many people disappeared or were killed. 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. Milton Obote (196271, 198085). Marriage has been typically patrilocal and patriarchal, with the husband and father as the undisputed head of the household. All of these early inhabitants were ironworking mixed farmers, organized into localized patrilineal lineages or, in some cases, into temporary groupings of two to four such lineages. 1544957. The account of the Acholi reaching We have a small favour to ask: if you appreciate our work, would you mind considering making a donation to support our work? The Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. collective identity evolved, and a common language (Luo) spread. (Atkinson, 2011 The council's representatives could mediate issues between clans, and essentially covered both civil and criminal functions, like a Supreme Court. southeast by the Langi region and to the south, across the Nile, by Bunyoro. Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Since independence, formal schooling has provided a strong socializing influence from outside the home for more and more Acholi, especially those attending secondary school. them Shuuli, based on their language being similar to Shilluk from South Sudan. As some of these languages show some form Central to the new order were a set of notions about political leadership in which chiefs (rwodi; sing, rwot ) shared power and decision making with the heads of chiefdoms' constituent lineages; a system of redistributive tribute within each polity, with the chief at the center; and royal, often rainmaking, drums as symbols of sovereignty and authority. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The size and nature of this occasion depend on the age and status of the deceased, with the most lavish and festive celebrations taking place when the person who died was both aged and important. friendly, but after the inception of the British Protectorate of Uganda in 1894, which included These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Idi Amin (1971-79) the Acholi were severely persecuted and their men systematically executed for their past association with the colonial army and for their support of Pres. Apoko, Anna (1967). Orientation Much of that hierarchy continued into the independence era. [26] However, it successfully popularised the LRA in the West. Its current population is estimated to be around 2.155,000 individuals, or six percent of the total national population. Crazzolara, J. P. (1950-1954). element of the social and political environment of the region. "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). others who benefited from the new dispensation, including collaborators in the Western Nilotic branch of Nilo-Saharan. Makerere University (Kampala), Department of Geography. Vincent (2012), a Gulu-based This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy McKenna. They keep sheep and cattle but are not as committed to pastoralism as some other Nilotic peoples are. connected and intertwined chiefdoms. social control in the area. limited wealth in the society and redistribution. The thesis will centre not on the inevitability of the war, but will instead focus on the political processes that preceded it. A Study of the Acooli Language: Grammar and Vocabulary. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. The major art forms of the Acholi have been drumming, singing, and dancing. Okot p'Bitek (1963). During Obote's first term as president, and especially during his second term, Acholi soldiers played key roles in the massive conflict in other parts of Uganda, where hundreds of thousands of peoplemany of them innocent civilianslost their lives; from the mid-1980s into the 1990s, Acholi was the scene of similar levels of conflict. Congo. [25], Some of the groups in Acholi, like the UPDA, detested the Museveni regime because it had overthrown the government in which they served. As a result, many widowed Acholi have been unable to access their land on return to their homes. Nevertheless, many remain in a state of displacement. The available evidence suggests that conflict in Acholi before the end of the nineteenth century, both among Acholi chiefdoms and with neighboring peoples, was neither rare nor endemic. Rwot, 'ruler'). commonly, almost any salaried job in the public or private sector In addition there were priest- or priestess-diviners, private practitioners who worked for the well-being of their clients, and witches, who worked in private for evil or destructive purposes. into the independence era. Dances and other activities surrounding spirit possession seem to have been originally introduced from Bunyoro in the early nineteenth century and then became more wide-spread during the tumultuous years of the latter part of that century. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any payment information on a server. 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. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Encyclopedia.com. Orientation It was a system of governance fully integrated with their religion and cosmology. The Song of Lawino, one of the most successful African literary works, was written by Okot p'Bitek, published in 1966 in Acholi, and later translated to English. More commonly, almost any salaried job in the public or private sector represents an income that averages several times that of a member of the majority peasant population. Identification. During the colonial period, political leadership in Acholi was contested among those with traditional leadership qualifications and others who benefited from the new dispensation, including collaborators with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education.
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