Death and Afterlife. In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible Behrend, Heike (1991). These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Rwot, 'ruler'). This complex process was helped along by two major droughts, probably during the 1720s and c. 1790, which promoted larger-scale political leadership that held the promise of greater stability and security, and by the formation of neighboring identities against which members of an emergent Acholi could compete, compare, and define themselves. However, this rebellion was defeated when it attempted to attack 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. 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. Makerere University (Kampala), Department of Geography. limited wealth in the society and redistribution. families living together in hamlets. 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. 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 Acholi are proud and loud, but have been exposed as a group without a uniting leadership. collective identity evolved, and a common language (Luo) spread. (Atkinson, 2011 Acholi live in Northern Uganda, in the districts Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. Orientation 20- the furthest back is the historical reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), who described the [16] In addition, the people have important rituals for cleansing homes and sites, to welcome back people who have been away a long time, to clear spirits from places where killings have occurred, and to welcome people who have been captive. . into the 1990s, Acholi was the scene of similar levels of conflict. It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. Even bride-wealth marriages are now often mainly nuclear-family affairs, and other alternatives to traditional marriage are common. Over the twentieth century, chiefdoms in Acholi have become vestigial institutions, and the fences that once enclosed villages have disappeared. (Whitmire, 2013, p. 46). Movement. 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. Until 1967 Uganda was a quasi-federal polity that included five subregional monarchies, non-monarchical districts, and a central government. Inheritance has been, and largely remains, patrilineal. [25], Some of the groups in Acholi, like the UPDA, detested the Museveni regime because it had overthrown the government in which they served. The building of houses and granaries has historically involved both men and women, with each performing specified functions. authority of a district commissioner. (1976). 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. . 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. While rwodi, This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. 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. 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. The women have accomplished agriculturists, growing and processing a variety of food crops, including millet, simsim, groundnuts, peas, sorghum and vegetables. The Central Lwo during the Aconya. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. 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. He understood the emergence of an Acholi identity as a final step in a social process that did not 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. 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. 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. The settlement of the Acholi in their current territory is compared to the ethnic groups in the many of them children, the conflict led to the displacement of millions. (1970) 'State formation and fragmentation in Agago, Eastern Acholi', This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 19:17. Industrial Arts. of mutual intelligibility amongst each other, they were at times interpreted as a dialectal cluster Under Amins brutal regime, an estimated 300,000 died many of them Acholi. Orientation This in turn forged new political entities and identities as well as wider social relations. encompasses the six closely related languages Acholi, Adhola, Alur, Kumam, Lango and )[9], "Since independence in 1962, Uganda has been plagued by ethnically driven, politically manipulated violence referred to by some as a history of 'cycles of revenge and mistrust'. 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. before. The political ramifications for Uganda, however, were severe. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The first leader was Kuturia as mentioned The relationship between (real) brother and sister is often very close, especially when one acts as the lapidi (nurse-child) to the other, as are the bonds between the children of sisters. 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. [9], In the 2000s, James Ojent Latigo described some of Uganda's social problems as based on the way the political elites have used ethnicities to divide the country. This structure was maintained by the real anointed chiefs of the Acholi, the rwodi moo. 53- 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 . 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. Vincent (2012), a Gulu-based As a result, many widowed Acholi have been unable to access their land on return to their homes. somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth laws of social life among the Acholi were set up by the elders of the clans, regulating everything Encyclopedia.com. [10] General Tito Okello was an Acholi, and came to power in a military coup. journalist who created an account of the history and traditions of the Acholi, wrote that the "[21] In discussing the peace talks of 20052007, Latigo noted leaders who called for a revival of the traditional processes of the indigenous people by which they worked for accountability and justice, namely, mato oput. The dry season is long and hot, with temperatures that can reach more than 35 C. Demography. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. Division of Labor. When the victorious NRA started violent acts of vengeance in the following years, London: James Currey. This included both agricultural and hunting land. World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the They are speakers of Western Nilotic languages and are traditionally farmers. Common synonyms for this type of organization are "interest groups," "pressure groups," and . 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. Mothers are responsible for the initial care of their children and for much of their socialization. At its peak in 2005 over 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 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". In 2005, the new International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders. The documentary was met with mixed reactions, with many people familiar with the situation dubbing it a shallow and money-grabbing scheme. reported that the Acholi chiefs generally accepted the position of Baker, as he had helped them Dwyer, John O. Millet is the staple food of the Acholi, and tobacco is grown for trade. the area around Lake Victoria as early as the fourth century B.C. million first language speakers at the time. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Chopi (Storch, 2005), Index of languages, language families, linguistic areas, and ethnic groups.. African languages. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Ugandan minister of internal affairs and leader of the government negotiating team, noted the effectiveness of the traditional system. In addition to these six languages, some authors also classify Labwor (Ladefoged, Medicine. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. last large-scale conflict in Acholi until Amin came to power in 1971. Certain rwodi and interpreters began to accumulate some of the new wealth brought into Acholi by international trade, and descendants of some of these men used their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. Apart from hundreds of thousands of deaths and tens of thousands being abducted, from sexual conduct, over blackmailing and stealing, to killing someone (Vincent, 2012, pp. the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), echoing some of the spiritual themes used by the Holy Spirit The insurgency's military. 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). As they have for centuries, Acholi farmers rely mainly on iron hoes and other hand tools. During this period of growing integration into the colonial trade routes, the Acholi chiefdoms The full integration of the Acholi into the British colonial complex happened comparatively late. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. were able gain wealth by trading mainly in ivory. 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. occur, however, it was usually limited in scope, with relatively few (Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs 1997. Religion of the Central Luo. Then in Kenya and Tanzania are the Joluo also known as the Luo. The n, Mende 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. However, during the dry season, as groups of families were forced to congregate around receding water sources, a greater degree of political organization developed. 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. 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. Since the British had set up their administrational centre in the 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. 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. This article was most recently revised and updated by, Minority Rights Group International - World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Acholi. This period of increased contact with non-Acholi accelerated the At the height of the insurgency, 1.8 million people in the north were living in camps. It was filmed by Australian director Ebony Butler, Simon Hardwidge and Ugandan author Frey Onen. "The Ancestral Shrine of the Acholi." Kuturia Housein fired the first gun shot on Acholiland who had never seen and Doom, Ruddy and Koen Vlassenroot. All procedures are conducted with care, to attempt to ensure that the spirit of the departed does not become angry. As droughts and Organizational politics is a natural part of organizational life. LRA, after losing support from the local population, also turned on the people of northern Sign up to Minority rights Group International's newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and publications. Okot p'Bitek (1963). From the beginning, the Acholi were marginal compared to Britain's concern with Buganda, at the core of the colony. Uganda journal 27(1): 15-30. Administrative divisions within Acholi, however, both during colonial rule and since independence, have often reflected preexisting sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the subcounty level; and larger zones of the most intensive (and peaceful) interpolity interactions at the county level. Hier sind Acholi-Frauen dafr bekannt, . He and others have suggested it could help the nation more than adopting the Western system of the International Criminal Court at The Hague (although some charges had already been filed against LRA leaders in 2005 there. (1955). 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 Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. Organizations that are driven by unhealthy levels of political behavior suffer from lowered employee organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and performance as well as higher levels of job anxiety and depression. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. "Land Tenure in Acholi." Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Atkinson, Ronald R. (1989). 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). The history and politics of ethnicity and language 37. ." solidification of an Acholi identity, with their common language becoming an important marker. more. (p. 34). In addition, the peace forums have worked to help establish the Amnesty Commission. "Kony's Message: A New Koine?". "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). Bride-wealth has varied over time but has usually included iron objects, domestic animals, and, in the twentieth century, money. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) under the leadership of Joseph Kony has waged a war against Yoweri Museveni's government. that included areas now belonging to South Sudan and the northern regions of Uganda. 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. 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. According to the 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. Uganda Journal 19(1): 57-61. 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. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information. By the mid-nineteenth century, about 60 small chiefdoms existed in eastern Acholiland. Milton Obote, the independence leader, relied heavily on the support of his fellow Luo-speakers Acholi and Langi in government. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement". Idi Amin was also from north Uganda, but was of the Kakwa people. Political Organization Defined A political organization subject to Code section 527 is a party, committee, association, fund or other organization (whether or not incorporated) organized and operated primarily for the purpose of directly or indirectly accepting contributions or making expenditures, or both, for an exempt function. 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. Since independence, a relatively few Acholi army officers have managed Diversity Management in Sudan's Democratic Transitional Arrangements: Technical Paper 1, January 2023. With the coming of the ivory 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. It was a system of governance fully integrated with their religion and cosmology. By clicking 'Accept', you consent to the use of all the cookies. 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.
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