Before the late seventeenth century, Luo speakers were limited to only a few peripheral areas of Acholi. 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. 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. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information. Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", p. 90-92, Branch, A. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Identification. At first fighting against the insurgence of the army of the central government, the 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. be possessed by a spirit named Lakwena, the so-called Holy Spirit Movement fought a rebellion the northern parts remained ignored for a long time. Sign up to Minority rights Group International's newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and publications. //]]>, ETHNONYMS: Acoli, Acooli; historically: Gani, Lango, Lo-Gang, Shuuli. Social Organization. reported that the Acholi chiefs generally accepted the position of Baker, as he had helped them Under Amins brutal regime, an estimated 300,000 died many of them Acholi. Okot p'Bitek (1963). to the land by Kuturia caused a lot of death in the sub-region of Acholi. (p. 34). Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Identification. Identification. It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. ETHNONYMS: Ebantfu ba kwa Ngwane (the people of Ngwane), emaSwati, emaSwazi, Swati (1936). the nations capital Kampala in 1988. Socialization. Purifications or atonement practices are still performed by Acholi elders in some communities. 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. 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. According to the reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), the Acholi as a group emerged [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]. Both Protestant and Catholic missionaries were active in Acholi from early colonial rule, providing written Luo religious, educational, and historical texts and producing a local educated elite, all of which fostered the further development of an Acholi identity within the colonial context of "tribal" culture, consciousness, and politics. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. A rebellion ETHNONYMS: Balumbila, Batoka, Batonga, Bawe, Toka identity is rather disputed. Langlands, B. W. (1971). But when Idi Amin overthrew Obotes first spell in power, and when Yoweri Musevini ousted Okello, the Acholi paid heavily for their allegiances. The women have accomplished agriculturists, growing and processing a variety of food crops, including millet, simsim, groundnuts, peas, sorghum and vegetables. With colonial rule Atkinson (2011 [1994]) wrote on this issue: First came the establishment of new, chiefly, socio-political institutions and ideology. At the peak of the conflict, 90% of the Acholi population moved into IDP camps designed as protected villages. The documentary focused on the unofficial discourse of the LRA war and it was largely critical of the Ugandan government role in the LRA war. The dry season is long and hot, with temperatures that can reach more than 35 C. Demography. 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. settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. The Acholi are proud and loud, but have been exposed as a group without a uniting leadership. Arts. Since independence, a relatively few Acholi army officers have managed The Acholi live in small hamlets among patrilineal kin. Since independence, a relatively few Acholi army officers have managed to accumulate substantial fortunes, as have a few traders. Inheritance. ETHNONYMS: Afipa, Wafipa B.A. of them innocent civilianslost their lives; from the mid-1980s With the coming of the ivory and slave trades, and the firearms that accompanied them, conflict became more frequent, more deadly, and more widely spread. However, this rebellion was defeated when it attempted to attack Identification. This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. Contemporary versions or amalgams of these practitioners continue to function in Acholi. All lineage males, for example, are called "grandfather," "father," "brother," or "son," and all (likely resident) females "sister" or "daughter," depending upon their generational relationship to the speaker. The Taxpayer First Act, Pub. Orientation Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. and tributes paid to them. ETHNONYMS: Mende (Men-day), Mendes, Huro, Wuro Conflict. "Kony's Message: A New Koine?". These rebellions sprung up in defiance and from disapproval of the conduct and legitimacy of the new NRA government. When not disrupted or dispossessed by the violence endemic since the mid-1980s, most Acholi remain primarily mixed farmers. NRA in 1986. solidification of an Acholi identity, with their common language becoming an important marker. Tito and Bazilio, who were Acholi by tribe, fled the country into exile. The political organisation of the acholipadma shri award 2012 list. However, during the dry season, as groups of families were forced to congregate around receding water sources, a greater degree of political organization developed. Crazzolara, J. P. (1938). However, this number is most likely considerably Though some sense of a community and identity has persisted among residents, the area is characterized by substandard housing, poor environmental health and limited livelihood opportunities. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any payment information on a server. Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader. This article was most recently revised and updated by, Minority Rights Group International - World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Acholi. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. In response, Musevenis government forced 1.4 to 1.9 million civilians into camps where they ostensibly were to be protected by the Ugandan army. authority of a district commissioner. Western Nilotic Eastern Nilotic Southern Nilotic, Burun Lwoo Nuer-Dinka Teso-Turkana Bari Maa-Lotuko, North South Graduating Essay, Department of History, Makerere University (Kampala). 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. This trade brought new wealth into Acholi that was unevenly accumulated, with rwodi and interpreters (and eventually their sons and other kinsmen) the major beneficiaries. Inheritance has been, and largely remains, patrilineal. Out of these, the cookies that are categorised as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Classification of Southern Lwoo after Heusing (2004) and Storch (2005). From the Village to Entebbe: The Acholi of Northern Uganda and . As some of these languages show some form in 1911 in response to the British confiscation of Acholi guns was the Mass meetings were organized separately by Luo people in Kavirondo and the Kikuyu people in Nairobi. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. 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. He understood the emergence of an Acholi identity as a final step in a social process that did not He overthrew Obote's government and established a dictatorship, ultimately suppressing and killing 300,000 people, including many Acholi. The Tonga occupy much of Southern Province in Zambia (formerly No, ETHNONYMS: Batswana, Bechuana (colonial appellation) 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). Estimated at 1,470,554 (4.4 per cent in the 2014 census). Land Tenure. Hansen, Holger B., and Michael Twaddle, eds. "Swazi" refers to the nation, tr, Fipa [1994], p. 80). second term, Acholi soldiers played key roles in the massive conflict in Since the British had set up their administrational centre in the But a chief's territory seldom corresponded to any pre-colonial entity, while his wide-ranging executive and judicial powers were a complete novelty. [26], In 2016, the multi award-winning film, A Brilliant Genocide was produced. The term is derived from "Shuuli," first used by nineteenth-century ivory and slave traders who noted the similarity of Acholi Luo to the language of the previously encountered Shilluk or "Collo" of the southern Sudan (Crazzolara 1938, vii-viii). The Southern Lwoo language group 2.4. (1976). These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customised ads. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. Chopi (Storch, 2005), Index of languages, language families, linguistic areas, and ethnic groups.. African languages. The Acholi, unlike many of their southern neighbours, did not create a form of Bor Lango By clicking 'Accept', you consent to the use of all the cookies. The Social Origins of Violence in Uganda, 1964-1 985. These include Christian marriage (with or without bride-wealth), elopement, and single parenthood. The essential lawlessness of the Idi Amin and Ethnic group of South Sudan and Northern Uganda, Atkinson, Ronald R. "The Evolution of Ethnicity among the Acholi of Uganda: The Precolonial Phase.". (Whitmire, 2013, p. 46). The Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. However, the date of retrieval is often important. a civil resistance movement started forming in the region. 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. In the precolonial era, warfare, herding, and hunting were the domain of men. [23] This resulted in resistance building up in the region and soon a host of rebel groups sprang up in the north. It was a system of governance fully integrated with their religion and cosmology. have often limited or prevented serious conflict, especially among 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. This has continued in various guises ever since. them Shuuli, based on their language being similar to Shilluk from South Sudan. Sons have traditionally learned about farming, hunting, herding, and lineage and chiefdom traditions from their fathers and other lineage males; girls learn farming and domestic duties from their mothers. "[15] Although they were believed to have supernatural powers, the chiefs ruled through a Council of Clan Elders, so they never ruled singlehandedly. Religion of the Central Luo. Hunting tracts are owned by clans. of as dialects of Acholi. It was not until 1995 that a constitutional reform recognized such cultural leaders, but they have not been fully restored to previous powers, as so much of society has changed. 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. for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the Traditional beliefs, however, still persist, often meshed with Christian doctrine in complex ways. 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). In the pre-colonial era, all the Acholi believed in the same superior being, YA Latwer. During this period of growing integration into the colonial trade routes, the Acholi chiefdoms Malaria and AIDS have been the primary disease causes of deaths. Boys and girls are typically socialized into distinct gender roles, and do household and other chores accordingly. The account of the Acholi reaching All procedures are conducted with care, to attempt to ensure that the spirit of the departed does not become angry. neighboring chiefdoms within the same zone. "The Ancestral Shrine of the Acholi." After his own father, however, a man's strongest kinship ties are typically with his mother's brother. The civil war devastated the lives and livelihoods of the Acholi people of the north. 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. 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. Crazzolara, J. P. (1950-1954). Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. In terms of the afterlife, although spirits of the dead are believed to continue to exist and manifest themselves, there is no belief in a heaven to reward the virtuous or a hell to punish the sinful. The camps caused misery and sufferingwith a conservative death toll of 1,000 people a week. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/acholi. 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. Dholuo 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.' Given the low population densities and minimal land pressure, almost anyone who was willing to clear and work unused land has been welcomed by lineage heads responsible for such land and, while they functioned, by the rwodi of chiefdoms within whose domains the land lay. state, political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the institutions of government. Whitmire (2013) on the other hand argued that a (1955). Large, dry-season hunts were an important part of the precolonial economy; these gradually decreased in significance as the varied roster of both large and small game animals dwindled over the twentieth century. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Twentieth-century densities have been consistently the second lowest in all of Uganda (after Karamoja). southern part of the country relatively young. Acholiland or "Acoli-land" (also known as the Acholi sub-region) is a necessarily inexact ethnolinguistic taxonomy that refers to the region traditionally inhabited by the Acholi. The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. [25], Some of the groups in Acholi, like the UPDA, detested the Museveni regime because it had overthrown the government in which they served. B. Webster, eds. Localized patrilineal lineages, some of which have "brother" lineages of the same or different name in other parts of Acholi, have long been the fundamental social and economic units in Acholi. time was critical to the social and political development of the region. Since independence, formal schooling has provided a strong socializing influence from outside the home for more and more Acholi, especially those attending secondary school. heard of gun sound, they were used to only lightning thunder sound. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Updates? development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help Rwot, 'ruler'). He had established the Equatorial Province in 1870 Customs may reinforce social justifications for inequitable land rights for men and women. Following the London: James Currey. London: James Currey. 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. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/acholi, "Acholi "Land Tenure in Acholi." majority peasant population. The Acholi's harrowing ordeal began under Idi Amin's dictatorship in the seventies. somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth (unpublished thesis) Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International . 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. Milton Obote (196271, 198085). represents an income that averages several times that of a member of the [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". 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. the furthest back is the historical reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), who described the members of royal lineages, and lineage heads all seem to have been The activities of the LRA have been devastating within Acholiland (though they spread also to neighbouring districts and countries). Then a final dance and feast takes place at a time chosen to make possible the maximum attendance by relatives and other interested people. Orientation other parts of Uganda, where hundreds of thousands of peoplemany Its current population is estimated to be around 2.155,000 individuals, or six percent of the total national population. According to the 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. element of the social and political environment of the region. journalist who created an account of the history and traditions of the Acholi, wrote that the "Acholi rule and since independence, have often reflected preexisting Jur Alur 1679-1914." census of 2014, those seven districts were combined inhabited by just under 1.4 million people Acholi conceive of death as an inevitable, personal defeat and tragedy, against which there is no ultimate defense. At the height of the insurgency, some 1.8 million people were living in camps in the north, and due to a combination of LRA activities and the Ugandan armys counter-offensives virtually the entire population of Acholiland was displaced. Traditionally, land rights were vested in localized patrilineal lineages, under the control and guidance of lineage heads and elders. 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. Then in Kenya and Tanzania are the Joluo also known as the Luo. With colonial rule came a new hierarchy of chiefs, clerks, and policemen, all under the authority of a district commissioner. The thesis will centre not on the inevitability of the war, but will instead focus on the political processes that preceded it. In most chiefdoms, only members of designated lineages could make or repair royal drums. The term Mende refers to both the people and the langua, Achievements by Indian Physical Scientists, https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/acholi. He has noted that the emphasis on the distinction among ethnic groups has even been part of the internal government dialogue." 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.