higher now, due to the ongoing growth in population. 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. Langlands, B. W. (1971). Nevertheless, many remain in a state of displacement. L. No. This paper is a case study analysis of the sociological phenomena of forgiveness occurring in an ongoing two-decade war in northern Uganda. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. It was also during this period that the name Acholi was coined by the Arab traders, calling southern part of the country relatively young. 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. Okot p'Bitek's epic poem, Song of Lawino, debates Acholi customs around the time that Uganda became independent. 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. With colonial rule Milton Obote (196271, 198085). "At Home in the Village: Growing Up in Acholi." Museveni has held absolute power since, surviving unrest, civil war, and numerous attempts at coups. 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. 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. Hier sind Acholi-Frauen dafr bekannt, . Uganda Now: Between Decay and Development. ETHNONYMS: Ebantfu ba kwa Ngwane (the people of Ngwane), emaSwati, emaSwazi, Swati Updates? window.__mirage2 = {petok:"igNXChGgDPbig_bsHwJgxoRb9NTulTcrPPRjDe2iFNY-86400-0"}; Over the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some seventy chiefdoms were founded throughout the area that became Acholi, leading to the development of a new social order and political culture, the spread of a new language (Luo), and the evolution of a new society and collective identity. traditional local forms of organisation were based on smaller units, often only consisting of Uganda, leading raids all over the region. Diversity Management in Sudan's Democratic Transitional Arrangements: Technical Paper 1, January 2023. [7] During the second half of the nineteenth century, Arabic-speaking traders from the north started to call them Shooli, a term which was transformed into 'Acholi'.[8]. [26][27], The NRA managed to defeat all the rebel groups except the LRA which culminated in a 20-year conflict. The Acholi, unlike many of their southern neighbours, did not create a form of commonly, almost any salaried job in the public or private sector Army membership has also supplied a distinct, if largely negative, socializing influence on many Acholi young men. While Acholi also lives north of the South Sudaneseborder, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland". 2 I 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 b The main point of contact The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Webster, J. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. "Acholi-Arab Nubian Relations in the Nineteenth Century." According to the reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), the Acholi as a group emerged The Fipa are a Bantu-speaking people of southwestern Tanzania in East-Central Africa. 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. The 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. organisation to survive, a common identity had to form to support this new social structure of Administrative divisions within Acholi, however, both during colonial The long civil war in the North has destroyed much of their society. M.A. the area around Lake Victoria as early as the fourth century B.C. latest redrawing of the administrative divisions, it contains seven districts; Agago, Amuru, Gulu, "Kony's Message: A New Koine?". 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. Apart from hundreds of thousands of deaths and tens of thousands being abducted, In addition, the peace forums have worked to help establish the Amnesty Commission. The Acholi region is bordered in the west by the districts passed through Sudan to the northern Uganda. Under Ugandan Pres. . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Due to a changing economy, after the 1950s, fewer Acholi was recruited to the armed forces but continued to be associated with them in popular mythology and stereotypes. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. An individual had personal claim to land that he and his wife (or wives) had under cultivation or that had been cultivated but was lying fallow, and such rights passed from father to son. This has continued in various guises ever since. 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 . The Holy Spirit Movement and Its Fight against Evil in the North." They keep sheep and cattle but are not as committed to pastoralism as some other Nilotic peoples are. These include Christian marriage (with or without bride-wealth), elopement, and single parenthood. Orientation The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. Political organizations are those engaged in political activities (e.g., lobbying, community organizing, campaign advertising, etc.) and created larger political The insurgency's military. Odongo, J. M. Onyango-ku-, and J. The system values peace over justice, and has retributive and restorative aspects. [1994], p. 80). 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). Estimated at 1,470,554 (4.4 per cent in the 2014 census). contested among those with traditional leadership qualifications and 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. They were approached in regard to such general concerns as good health, fertility, and appeals or thanks for good harvests in ceremonies that usually emphasized the consciousness, cohesiveness, and continuation of their respective groups as functioning corporate entities. 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. with the British was through Samuel Baker. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. Kitgum, Pader and Gulu, the three districts of the Acholi sub-region, each established peace forums for continuing discussions. Malandra, Alfred (1939). The Acholi of Uganda: Adjustment to Imperialism. LRA, after losing support from the local population, also turned on the people of northern Although polygyny has often been presented as an ideal, limited means have always made it rare in practice. This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. We hope you find it interesting. limited wealth in the society and redistribution. Peace negotiations to end the long-running rebellion by the Lords Resistance Army continued, while security in the north improved through 2007. These figures represent population densities of 20.4 persons per square kilometer in 1980, 16.5 per square kilometer in 1969, and about one-fourth and one-fifth the 1969 densities during the earlier two periods. the northern parts remained ignored for a long time. The Acholi were considered a martial people by the British, and many joined the military. Arab trading routes coming from the north, trading in goods, but also in slaves. Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. the hands of Arabs, this prompted Acholi not to accept any foreigners on their land any 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. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. London: Oxford University Press. ." Since independence, formal schooling has provided a strong socializing influence from outside the home for more and more Acholi, especially those attending secondary school. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 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. of the nineteenth century, both among Acholi chiefdoms and with In contrast, the Acholi and other northern ethnic groups supplied much of the national manual labour and came to comprise a majority of the military, creating what some have called a "military ethnocracy". 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. In the administrative structure of Uganda, Acholi is composed of the districts of: It encompasses about 28,500km2 (11,000 square miles) near the Uganda-Sudan border.[5]. coming from the territory of present-day South Sudan over a period spanning multiple centuries. The council's representatives could mediate issues between clans, and essentially covered both civil and criminal functions, like a Supreme Court. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Since the British had set up their administrational centre in the When the camps were disbanded and people began to return to their land, customary rules for land tenure did not necessarily have the answers to some of the problems faced by Acholi people: men had lost their fathers from whom they would be granted land; children did not know where their clan land was; women were married to men without following the customary rules for marriage because of a lack of resources; and women were widowed and left with few options for survival. Ethnic group of South Sudan and Northern Uganda, Atkinson, Ronald R. "The Evolution of Ethnicity among the Acholi of Uganda: The Precolonial Phase.". cooperation of their rwot (chief) Aliker with the British, the centre of the colonial [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. The movement hopes to strengthen the political and economic power of women in society and so push back destruction of the natural environment. It has similarity with Alur, Padhola language, and other Luo languages in South Sudan Shilluk, Anuak,Pari, Balanda, Boor, Thuri.