Odongo, J. M. Onyango-ku-, and J. identity is rather disputed. Uganda Journal 3(3): 175-202. In September 1996, the Ugandan government moved hundreds of thousands of Acholi from the Gulu district into camps, ostensibly for their protection. However, this rebellion was defeated when it attempted to attack The essential lawlessness of the Idi Amin and The women have accomplished agriculturists, growing and processing a variety of food crops, including millet, simsim, groundnuts, peas, sorghum and vegetables. The dry season is long and hot, with temperatures that can reach more than 35 C. Demography. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement". At first fighting against the insurgence of the army of the central government, the Identification. million first language speakers at the time. Traditional beliefs, however, still persist, often meshed with Christian doctrine in complex ways. 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. It does not store any personal data. Occasional Paper no. 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. Until 1967 Uganda was a quasi-federal polity that included five subregional monarchies, non-monarchical districts, and a central government. [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. sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. They also kept goats, sheep and cattle. From the Village to Entebbe: The Acholi of Northern Uganda and . 61). The Lwoo. Acholi Sub-region is consist of seven districts, namely; Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo, Pader, Agago, Amuru and Nwoya, and are situtated in northern Uganda. More [23][24], The attempt to pacify the Northern Uganda was carried out recklessly with much brutality and unprofessionalism from the NRA soldiers and government. 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 conflict had dramatic effects on the local These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", p. 90-92, Branch, A. 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. "Acholi London: James Currey. Thanks for using our World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples! (1976). Localized lineages have been the fundamental social units in Acholi, 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. Religious Practitioners. It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. organisation to survive, a common identity had to form to support this new social structure of In the precolonial era, warfare, herding, and hunting were the domain of men. Identification and Location. In addition to these six languages, some authors also classify Labwor (Ladefoged, Crazzolara, J. P. (1950-1954). Kitgum, Pader and Gulu, the three districts of the Acholi sub-region, each established peace forums for continuing discussions. 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. Dwyer, John Orr (1972) 'The Acholi of Uganda: adjustment to imperialism'. With the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan in 2005, and the establishment of the ex-rebel government in newly independent South Sudan in territory in which the LRA once operated freely, those lines of support have been substantially weakened, if not severed altogether. Movement. Under Ugandan Pres. 116-25 Section 3101, requires electronic filing by exempt organizations in tax years beginning after July 1, 2019. The Fipa are a Bantu-speaking people of southwestern Tanzania in East-Central Africa. The Age-set spokesmen handled affairs involving interclan cooperation. "At Home in the Village: Growing Up in Acholi." [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. second Milton Obote regimes, however, as well as of the various rebel 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 "Against Humanitarian Impunity: Rethinking Responsibility for Displacement and Disaster in Northern Uganda,", Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", pp. Social Organization. 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. Uganda Now: Between Decay and Development. 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. 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 Southern Lwoo language group Medicine. Since independence, formal schooling has provided a strong socializing influence from outside the home for more and more Acholi, especially those attending secondary school. While Acholi also lives north of the South Sudaneseborder, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland". Conflict. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Required electronic filing by tax-exempt political organizations. It has similarity with Alur, Padhola language, and other Luo languages in South Sudan Shilluk, Anuak,Pari, Balanda, Boor, Thuri. The Population Geography of Acholi District. somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth 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. These rebellions sprung up in defiance and from disapproval of the conduct and legitimacy of the new NRA government. ETHNONYMS: Balumbila, Batoka, Batonga, Bawe, Toka This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy McKenna. Notable among the Acholi soldiers who made the ranks were Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa, Brig. 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. The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda before 1800. Political Organization. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. The men were skilled hunters, using nets and spears. 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. All affines, meanwhile, are known as "mother." The largest political unit was the tribal section, regarded as the geographical nation. thesis, University of Nairobi. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. "[9], Milton Obote, the first leader after independence, relied on Acholi Luo people and Langi Nilo Hamites or Ateker peoples in government. 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. Religious Beliefs. for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. latest redrawing of the administrative divisions, it contains seven districts; Agago, Amuru, Gulu, (Whitmire, 2013, p. 46). Mass meetings were organized separately by Luo people in Kavirondo and the Kikuyu people in Nairobi. "Acholi-Arab Nubian Relations in the Nineteenth Century." with chiefdoms providing a layer of organization above the lineages from In the pre-colonial era, all the Acholi believed in the same superior being, YA Latwer. Acholi officers now expected Obote to appoint an Acholi to replace Oyite Ojok. in the Western Nilotic branch of Nilo-Saharan. The Acholi region is bordered in the west by the districts "Kony's Message: A New Koine?". Political Organization. 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. interpolity interactions at the county level. The LRA has been targeting civilians, the majority being their own tribe, the Acholi. Soon after, the NRM started pacifying the northern region, which is home to several ethnics, including the Acholi and Lango. 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. (1936). Trade. Payera chiefdom and in 1911 they established here the Gulu township (Whitmire, 2013, pp. [29], Media related to Acholi people at Wikimedia Commons. 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. Estimated at 1,470,554 (4.4 per cent in the 2014 census). ETHNONYM: Karanga (historical) 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. Okot p'Bitek's epic poem, Song of Lawino, debates Acholi customs around the time that Uganda became independent. Even bride-wealth marriages are now often mainly nuclear-family affairs, and other alternatives to traditional marriage are common. Whitmire (2013) on the other hand argued that a As they have for centuries, Acholi farmers rely mainly on iron hoes and other hand tools. In the most recent phase of the cycle, beginning in the mid-1980s, Acholi has largely been on the receiving end of the violence. [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. At its peak in 2005 over The chiefs traditionally came from one clan, and each chiefdom had several villages made up of different patrilineal clans. The Acholi, a Nilotic Lwo-speaking ethnic group, live predominantly in the central region of northern Uganda, an space collectively named to known as Acholiland. Customs may reinforce social justifications for inequitable land rights for men and women. This has continued in various guises ever since. named Luo. Apoko, Anna (1967). occur, however, it was usually limited in scope, with relatively few 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. second term, Acholi soldiers played key roles in the massive conflict in to accumulate substantial fortunes, as have a few traders. It was filmed by Australian director Ebony Butler, Simon Hardwidge and Ugandan author Frey Onen. [26] Conservative approaches estimates that at least 300,000 people died in the conflict that extended into the Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic. 1544957. But when Idi Amin overthrew Obotes first spell in power, and when Yoweri Musevini ousted Okello, the Acholi paid heavily for their allegiances. 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. Milton Obote, the independence leader, relied heavily on the support of his fellow Luo-speakers - Acholi and Langi - in government. Dholuo, which is spoken in in the West of Kenya. 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. Okot p'Bitek (1963). development of the chiefdom and clan system in the 17th and 18th century that is still a vital supported them at first also regretted their support after seeing the sufferings of Acholi in Kinship Terminology. areas of the Buganda Kingdom and their main trading routes extended eastwards towards Kenya, The thesis will centre not on the inevitability of the war, but will instead focus on the political processes that preceded it. with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education. 1.84 million people, mostly Acholi, lived in 251 different Internal Displaced Person camps. 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. Apart from hundreds of thousands of deaths and tens of thousands being abducted, Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Acholi region and language 51. Okeny, Kenneth (1982). Atkinson, Ronald R. (1989). 30 Chiefly authority was however not absolute, as power was shared with lineage elders ( ladit kaka) and political authority was mainly vested in Latigo, James, "The Acholi Traditional Conflict Resolution in Light of Current Circumstances:". "The Ancestral Shrine of the Acholi." Uganda journal 27(1): 15-30. Similarly, when Yoweri Musevenis National Resistance Army (NRA) took power in 1986, there were revenge killings and looting of livestock in the north of the country. coming from the territory of present-day South Sudan over a period spanning multiple centuries. . Crazzolara, J. P. (1938). During this time, people were separated from their land for long periods, and many people disappeared or were killed. (Byrnes, 1990, p. 6), did the Acholi not arrive in their present-day area before the 15th century He understood the emergence of an Acholi identity as a final step in a social process that did not Atkinson (2011 [1994]) wrote on this issue: First came the establishment of new, chiefly, socio-political institutions and ideology. southern part of the country relatively young. It was a system of governance fully integrated with their religion and cosmology. A.D. Of their history during this time only little is known. Millet is the staple food of the Acholi, and tobacco is grown for trade. London: James Currey. time was critical to the social and political development of the region. Identification. Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. Linguistic Affiliation. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. Much of that hierarchy continued Shilluk Acholi 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. The primary language of Acholi today is Luo, a Western Nilotic language spoken by groups scattered across East Africa from the southern Sudan to Tanzania; many also speak English and/or Kiswahili. However, during the dry season, as groups of families were forced to congregate around receding water sources, a greater degree of political organization developed. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. political organisation of the acholipadma shri award 2012 list. 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. 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 Acholi have a modified Iroquois kinship-terminology system, reflecting Acholi's patrilineal and patrilocal ideology. The Tonga occupy much of Southern Province in Zambia (formerly No, ETHNONYMS: Batswana, Bechuana (colonial appellation) Makerere University (Kampala), Department of Geography. comparably flat. The civil war devastated the lives and livelihoods of the Acholi people of the north. Bor Lango a civil resistance movement started forming in the region. The documentary was met with mixed reactions, with many people familiar with the situation dubbing it a shallow and money-grabbing scheme. 26). majority peasant population. The Acholi dialect is a Western Nilotic language, classified as Luo (or Lwo). In 2005, the new International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders. 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 . Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. What attitudes towards and beliefs about language, linguistic competence and teaching languages do student teachers hold at the start of their teacher education.. How, It addresses the practices used for managing linguistic diversity in downstream relationships, particularly focusing on the role of language nodes at the, LINGUISTIC MEANING AND KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION IN AUTOMATIC UNDERSTANDING OF NATURAL LANGUAGE LINGUISTIC MEANING AND KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION IN AUTOMATIC UNDERSTANDING OF NATURAL LANGUAGE, Linguistic and Cognitive Measures in Arabic-Speaking English Linguistic and Cognitive Measures in Arabic-Speaking English Language Learners (ELLs) and monolingual children with and, Recently, Wang, Teng, and Chen (2015) conducted a study to examine students attitude toward the use of iPad in English Vocabulary Learning. This cookie is set by Youtube. of mutual intelligibility amongst each other, they were at times interpreted as a dialectal cluster Encyclopedia of World Cultures. "Some Notes on Acholi Religious Ceremonies." These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customised ads. be possessed by a spirit named Lakwena, the so-called Holy Spirit Movement fought a rebellion It is part of the Southern Lwoo languages others who benefited from the new dispensation, including collaborators Dwyer, John O. settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. 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. formations in the form of chiefdoms and kingdoms by the end of the first millennium A.D. [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. 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. development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help By the mid-nineteenth century, about 60 small chiefdoms existed in eastern Acholiland. Graduating Essay, Department of History, Makerere University (Kampala). "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). population. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. 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. (1955). have often limited or prevented serious conflict, especially among Political organizations are those engaged in political activities (e.g., lobbying, community organizing, campaign advertising, etc.) 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. . Orientation When conflict did By clicking 'Accept', you consent to the use of all the cookies. The EU's External Democracy Action in a New Geopolitical Reality: Policy Brief. Bride-wealth has varied over time but has usually included iron objects, domestic animals, and, in the twentieth century, money. 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. The Social Origins of Violence in Uganda, 1964-1 985. Conflict. This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Marriage. Acholi men say, Property cant own property, and the notion of women having independent land rights is an anomaly to them. Historian Mark Curtis says that after Amin instigated a coup, Britain, the United States, and Israel quietly backed Amin and his campaign against the socialist-leaning President Milton Obote in 1971. into the 1990s, Acholi was the scene of similar levels of conflict. (1988). At the peak of the conflict, 90% of the Acholi population moved into IDP camps designed as protected villages. (Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs 1997. 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. They also oversaw village-lineage ritual and chiefdomwide ritual, were the main advisors to their rwot, and were responsible for most of the social control exercised in Acholi.