The People of the People (Moin Jaang)

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• published: 14 Sep 2009
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http://saharanvibe.blogspot.com/2007/03/dinka-of-sudan.html Location: The Dinka are a group of several closely related peoples living in southern Sudan along both sides of the White Nile. They cover a wide area along the many streams and small rivers, concentrated in the Upper Nile province in southeast Sudan and across into southwest Ethiopia. Identity: The Dinka are one of the branches of the River Lake Nilotes. Though known for centuries as Dinka, they actually call themselves Moinjaang, People of the people. The more numerous Southern Luo branch includes peoples throughout central Uganda and neighboring sections of Zaire and the lake area of western Kenya. The Dinka peoples still live near the hot and humid homeland of the River-Lake Nilotes. They are the largest ethnic group in southern Sudan. The Dinka groups retain the traditional pastoral life of the Nilotes, but have added agriculture in some areas, growing grains, peanuts, beans, corn (maize) and other crops. Women do most of the agriculture, but men clear forest for the gardening sites. There are usually two plantings per year. Some are fishers. Their culture incorporated strategies for dealing with the annual cycle of one long dry season and one long rainy season. The Dinka are split into twenty or more tribal groups which are further divided into sub-tribes, each occupying a tract of land large enough to provide adequate water and pasture for their herds. Corseted Dinka Man, Sudan Besides cattle, the most coveted possession of a Dinka man is an intricately beaded corset. This corset is sewn on tightly and worn until marriage. The height of the beaded wire at the back indicates that the wearer comes from a family rich in cattle. The Dinka have lived pretty much on their own, undisturbed by the political movements in their area. They did fight the Ottoman Turks when they were ruling Sudan. They have periodically had clashes with neighboring peoples, such as the Atuot, with whom they have fought over grazing areas. They have not been active in national politics. Before the coming of the British the Dinka did not live in villages, but traveled in family groups living in temporary homesteads with their cattle. The homesteads might be in clusters of one or two all the way up to 100 families. Small towns grew up around British administrative centers. Each village of one or more extended families is led by a leader chosen by the group. Traditional homes were made of mud walls with thatched conical roofs, which might last about 20 years. Only women and children sleep inside the house, while the men sleep in mud-roofed cattle pens. The homesteads were located to enable movement in a range allowing year-round access to grass and water. Permanent villages are now built on higher ground above the flood plane of the Nile but with good water for irrigation. The women and older men tend crops on this high ground while younger men move up and down with the rise and fall of the river. Polygamy is allowed among the Dinka, though many men may have only one wife. The Dinka must marry outside their clan (exogamy), which promotes more cohesion across the broader Dinka group. A bride wealth is paid by the grooms family to finalize the marriage alliance between the two clan families. Levirate marriage provides support for widows and their children. All children of co-wives are raised together and have a wide family identity. Co-wives cook for all children, though each wife has a responsibility for her own children. RIGHTS OF PASSAGE - INITIATION Initiation marks a young man's passage from boyhood to adulthood. An initiate is called a parapool - "one who has stopped milking". Initiation means he no longer does a boy's work of milking, tethering the cattle, and carting dung. Initiation is marked by mutilation - tribal marks of several parallel lines or V-shaped marks - are scarified onto the youth's forehead. The pattern of scars may change over time but the parapuol is always easily recognisable as belonging to a particular tribe. This scarification takes place at any age from ten to sixteen. Initiates are warriors, guardians of the camp against predators - lions, hyenas - and against enemy raiders. Some stay with the cattle all year round. All of them stay with the cattle during the dry months but most return to the villages to help cultivate the crops during the wet season. Even in this duty, the parapuol have the role of warrior protectors. The cattle, protected by the parapuol who remain with them, are kept in camps on the plains at the base of the foothills for the entire wet season.