Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages. These include the Kalenjin, Luo, Ateker, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk and the Maa-speaking peoples – all which are clusters of several ethnic groups.

The terms Nilotic and Nilote were previously used as racial classifications, based on anthropological observations of their distinct body morphology. These perceptions were later widely discarded by scientists, but today they again find support in population genetics.

These terms are now foremost used to distinguish "Nilotic people" from their ethnic neighbours (mainly Bantu speaking people), based on ethnolinguistic affiliation. Etymologically, the terms Nilotic and Nilote (also spelled Nilot) derive from the Nile Valley, specifically the Upper Nile and its tributaries, where most Sudanese Nilo-Saharan-speaking people live.

Linguistic divisions

Linguistically, Nilotic people are divided into three sub-groups:

Eastern Nilotic

Southern Nilotic

Western Nilotic

Ethnic divisions

Nilotic people constitute a large part of the population of South Sudan. The largest of the Sudanese Nilotic peoples is the Dinka, which includes as many as twenty-five ethnic groups. The next largest group is the Nuer, followed by the Shilluk.

The Nilotic people in Uganda include the Luo group (Acholi, Alur and Jopadhola), the Ateker (Iteso and Karamojong), and the Lango and Kumam.

In Kenya, the Nilotes are often categorised into three subgroups:

The Plain Nilotes, who speak Maa languages: the Maasai, Samburu and Turkana

The River lake Nilotes: the Joluo (Kenyan Luo), who are part of the larger Luo group

The Highland Nilotic or Kalenjin, which includes several smaller groups: Elgeyo, Keiyo, Kipsigis, Marakwet, Nandi, Pokot, Sabaot, Terik, and Tugen

Genetics

Nilotic people have been investigated in studies of both autosomal DNA and Y-DNA.

Hassan et al. (2008) found that the three most populous groups of Sudanese Nilotes (Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk) were characterized by the predominance of Y-haplogroups A3b2 (28/53 = 52.8%), B (16/53 = 30.2%), and E1b1b (9/53 = 17.0%).

Wood et al. (2005) tested samples of three Nilotic populations (Maasai from Kenya, Luo from Kenya, and Alur from the DRC) as part of a broad survey of human Y-chromosome DNA variation in Africa and found that the predominant Y-DNA haplogroup in each of the three populations was different, with E1b1b1-M35 being the most frequent among Maasai (13/26 = 50%, including 4/26 = 15% E1b1b1a-M78 and 9/26 = 35% E1b1b1-M35(xE1b1b1a-M78, E1b1b1b-M81)), E1b1a-P1 being the most frequent among Luo (6/9 = 67%, including 4/9 E1b1a7-M191 and 2/9 E1b1a-P1(xE1b1a7-M191)), and E2a-M41 being the most frequent among Alur (6/9 = 67%).

Knight et al. (2003) have found haplogroup E1b1b1-M35 to be the most frequent Y-DNA haplogroup in a small sample of eight Southern Nilotic Datooga males from Tanzania (5/8 = 62.5%), with the remainder belonging to haplogroup Y*(xA-M91, B-M60, DE-YAP), which the authors have equated with haplogroup C and/or haplogroup F (2/8 = 25%), and haplogroup E1b1a-M2 (1/8 = 12.5%). Tishkoff et al. (2007) have tested a sample of 35 Datooga males, and likewise have found E1b1b1-M35 to be the most frequent Y-DNA haplogroup among them (19/35 = 54.3%), with the remainder consisting of 8/35 = 22.9% DE-YAP(xE1b1a-M2, E1b1b1-M35), 4/35 = 11.4% E1b1a-M2, 2/35 = 5.7% Y*(xA-M91, B-M60, DE-YAP), 1/35 = 2.9% A3b2-M13, and 1/35 = 2.9% B2b-M112. Henn et al. (2008) have found haplogroup E1b1b1g-M293 in 42.5% (17/40) and haplogroup E1b1b1-M35(xE1b1b1a-M78, E1b1b1b-M81, E1b1b1c-M123, E1b1b1d-M281, E1b1b1e-V6, E1b1b1g-M293) in 5.0% (2/40) of a sample of Datooga males from Tanzania, which suggests that a majority of this population's members of haplogroup E-M35 belong to the subclade marked by the M293 mutation.

In the autosomal study of Tishkoff et al. Nilotic groups (Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk), together with the related Nyimang people, make up a discrete genetic cluster separated from other clusters in Subsaharan Africa.

Anthropology

Nilotes are often described as gracile in build, being slimmer and of greater stature than the average human, and having long limbs with very long distal segments (forearms, calves). This characteristic is thought to be a climatic adaptation to allow their bodies to shed heat more efficiently.

Sudanese Nilotes are regarded as one of the tallest people in the world. For example, Roberts and Bainbridge reported average values of 182.6 cm for height and 58.8 kg for weight in a sample of Sudanese Shilluk. Another sample of Sudanese Dinka had 181.9 cm/58.0 kg with an extremely ectomorphic somatotype 1.6-3.5-6.2.

Other Nilotes are considerably smaller. Campbell et al. measured 172.0 cm/53.6 kg in a sample of agricultural Turkana in northern Kenya, and 174.9 cm/53.0 kg in pastoral Turkana. Hiernaux lists 172.7 cm for Maasai in southern Kenya with an extreme trunk/leg length ratio 47.7%.

Many Nilotic groups excel in long distance running. This sort of sports excellence seems to stem from their exceptional running economy resulting from slim body morphology and slender legs.

References

Category:Ethnic groups in Africa Category:Ethnic groups in Kenya Category:Ethnic groups in South Sudan Category:Ethnic groups in Tanzania Category:Ethnic groups in Uganda

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{{ethnic group |group=Dinka |image = |image_caption=Model Alek Wek, author and abolitionist Francis Bok, late revolutionary and president John Garang, current president Salva Kiir Mayardit |poptime= More than 1.5 million |popplace= |rels= Majority of 75% practice Christianity |langs=Dinka |related=Nilotic peoples }}

The Dinka is an ethnic group inhabiting the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper Nile regions. They are mainly agro-pastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing millet (Awuou) and other varieties of grains (rap) in fixed settlements during the rainy season. They number around 1.5 million people, constituting about 10% of the population of the entire country, and constitute the largest ethnic tribe in South Sudan. Dinka, or as they refer to themselves, Muonyjang (singular) and jieng (plural), are one of the branches of the River Lake Nilotes (mainly sedentary agri-pastoral peoples of East Africa who speak Nilotic languages, including the Nuer and Luo). Dinka are sometimes noted for their height. With the Tutsi of Rwanda, they are believed to be the tallest people in Africa. Roberts and Bainbridge reported average height of in a sample of 52 Dinka Ageir and in 227 Dinka Ruweng measured in 1953–1954. However, it seems that stature of today's Dinka males is lower, possibly as a consequence of undernutrition and war conflicts. An anthropometric survey of Dinka men-war refugees in Ethiopia published in 1995 found a mean height of in the Ethiopian Medical Journal.

The Dinka have no centralised political authority, instead comprising many independent but interlinked clans. Certain of those clans traditionally provide ritual chiefs, known as the "masters of the fishing spear" or "beny bith", who provide leadership for the entire people and appear to be at least in part hereditary.

Their language called Dinka as well as "thuɔŋjäŋ (thuongjang)" is one of the Nilotic languages of the Eastern Sudanic language family. The name means "people" in the Dinka language. It is written using the Latin alphabet with a few additions.

Pastoral strategies

Southern Sudan has been described as “a large basin gently sloping northward (Roth 2003),” through which flow the Bahr el Jebel River, the (White Nile), the Bahr el Ghazal (Nam) River and its tributaries, and the Sobat, all merging into a vast barrier swamp.

Vast Sudanese oil areas to the south and east are part of the flood plain, a basin in the southern Sudan into which the rivers of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia drain off from an ironstone plateau that belts the regions of Bahr El Ghazal and Upper Nile.

The terrain can be divided into four land classes:

*Highlands—higher than the surrounding plains by only a few centimeters; are the sites for “permanent settlements.” Vegetation consists of open thorn woodland and/or open mixed woodland with grasses.

*Intermediate Lands—lie slightly below the highlands, commonly subject to flooding from heavy rainfall in the Ethiopian and East/Central African highlands; Vegetation is mostly open perennial grassland with some acacia woodland and other sparsely distributed trees.

*Toic—land seasonally inundated or saturated by the main rivers and inland water-courses, retaining enough moisture throughout the dry season to support cattle grazing.

*Sudd—permanent swampland below the level of the toic; covers a substantial part of the floodplain in which the Dinka reside; provides good fishing but is not available for livestock; historically it has been a physical barrier to outsiders’ penetration.

Ecology of large basin is unique; until recently, wild animals and birds flourished, hunted rarely by the agro-pastoralists (Roth 2003).

The Dinka tribe (or Jieng) has ten subdivisions: Gok Arol, Atuot, Aliab, Bor, Chiej, Agar, Gok, Rek, Twic/Tuic East, Malual, and Ngok. Malual is the largest of those groups, numbering over a million people. The Dinka's migrations are determined by the local climate, their agro-pastoral lifestyle responding to the periodic flooding and dryness of the area in which they live. They begin moving around May–June at the onset of the rainy season to their “permanent settlements” of mud and thatch housing above flood level, where they plant their crops of millet and other grain products.

These rainy season settlements usually contain other permanent structures such as cattle byres (luaak) and granaries. During dry season (beginning about December–January), everyone except the aged, ill, and nursing mothers migrate to semi-permanent dwellings in the toic for cattle grazing. The cultivation of sorghum, millet, and other crops begins in the highlands in the early rainy season and the harvest of crops begins when the rains are heavy in June–August. Cattle are driven to the toic in September and November when the rainfall drops off; allowed to graze on harvested stalks of the crops.

Cultural and religious beliefs

The Dinka's pastoral lifestyle is also reflected in their religious beliefs and practices. They have one God, Nhialic, who speaks through spirits that take temporary possession of individuals in order to speak through them. The sacrificing of oxen by the "masters of the fishing spear" is a central component of the Dinka. Age is an important factor in Dinka culture, with young men being inducted into adulthood through an initiation ordeal which includes marking the forehead with a sharp object. Also during this ceremony they acquire a second cow-colour name. The Dinka derive religious power from nature and the world around them, rather than from a religious tome.

Following the war, Christianity predominated over Dinka religious practices, being introduced to the region by British missionaries in the 19th century and during the civil war.

War with the North and status as refugees

The Dinka's religions, beliefs and lifestyle have led to conflict with the government in Khartoum. The Sudan People's Liberation Army, led by late Dr. John Garang De Mabior, a Dinka, took arms against the government in 1983. During the subsequent 21-year civil war, many thousands of Dinka, along with fellow non-Dinka southerners, were massacred by government forces. The Dinka have also engaged in a separate civil war with the Nuer.

Sizable groups of Dinka refugees may be found in distant lands, including Jacksonville, Florida and Clarkston, a working-class suburb of Atlanta, Georgia and in the Midwest such as Omaha NE, Des Moines IA, Sioux Falls SD, and Kansas MO, as well as Edmonton in Canada.

The experience of Dinka refugees was portrayed in the documentary movies Lost Boys of Sudan by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk and God Grew Tired Of Us, Joan Hechts' book The Journey of the Lost Boys and the fictionalized autobiography of a Dinka refugee, Dave Eggers' What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. Other books on and by the Lost Boys include The Lost Boys of Sudan by Mark Bixler, God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau, and They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky by Alephonsion Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak. In 2004 the first volume of the graphic novel 'Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan' was released in Dallas, Texas, United States, chronicling in art and dialogue four lost boys' escapes from the destruction of their hometowns in South Sudan. The Florida ska punk group, Against All Authority refers to the Dinka clan in the song "Dinkas When I Close My Eyes" from their album 24 Hour Roadside Resistance.

1991 Bor Massacre

On November 15, 1991 the event known as the "Bor Massacre" or Southwestern Dinka Massacre commenced in South Sudan. Forces led by the breakaway faction of Riek Machar deliberately killed an estimated 2,000 civilians in Bor and wounded several thousand more over the course of two months. It is estimated a 100,000 people left the area following the attack. Famine followed the massacre, as Machar's forces had looted and burnt villages and as well as raiding cattle. An estimated 25,000 more people died as a result of hunger, according to Amnesty International.

The Bor massacre was triggered by a coup declaration against the then SPLM chairman, the late Dr. John Garang on August 28, 1991, by the current vice president of the government of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar. His motives are believed to be an attempt to hurt the Dinka, and to create a pluralistic less Dinka centric model for the SPLM. Thousands of civilians in the Bor area died when Dr. Riek's Nuer forces turned against them and killed them after his failure to topple Dr. John Garang. Some people had perished in the Bor areas as determined by the United Nations assessment of casualties in 1992.

Dr. Riek described the incident as "propaganda" and "myth" despite evidence of mass killing shown by bones and corpses in the aftermath of the massacre.

Notable Dinka

Among well-known Dinka are:

Abel Alier, known as Wal Kwai the first southerner to be become Vice President of Sudan in 1972

John Garang, Former First Vice-President of Sudan and President of South Sudan, Commander in Chief of Sudan People's Liberation Army and Chairman of Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

Lt. General Dominic Dim Deng, South Sudan's first political officer of SPLA, Minister for SPLA Affairs.

Lt. General Salva Kiir Mayardit, Dr. Garang's successor as First Vice-President of Sudan and President of South Sudan, Commander in Chief of Sudan People's Liberation Army and Chairman of Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

Alek Wek, a notable fashion model.

Manute Bol, Former NBA player. One of the two tallest players in the league's history.

Luol Deng, current NBA player.

Francis Deng, author, SAIS Research Professor.

Valentino Achak Deng, a former Lost Boy and subject of What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, a biographical novel written by Dave Eggers.

John Bul Dau, one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan", author of God Grew Tired of Us, his autobiography, and subject of the documentary of the same title.

Majak Daw, the first Sudanese Australian to be drafted by a senior Australian Football League club. Daw selected with pick 9 in the rookie draft by the North Melbourne Football Club on December 15, 2009. Daw's achievement is all the more notable given he has only been playing the game for four years.

References

Further reading

Category:Ethnic groups in Sudan Category:Ethnic groups in South Sudan Category:Pastoralists Category:Nilotic peoples Category:Indigenous peoples of East Africa

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