Spirits of both of these types were generally beneficent. Identification. The Acholi, unlike many of their southern neighbours, did not create a form of 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. They have also "played a vital role in Acholi traditional reconciliation processes and in preparing the community to receive former combatants. many of them children, the conflict led to the displacement of millions. 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. These rebellions sprung up in defiance and from disapproval of the conduct and legitimacy of the new NRA government. The most common domestic animals are (and have long been) chickens and goats, with some cattle, especially in the dryer portions of Acholi. state, political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the institutions of government. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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.' Ceremonies. Corrections? majority peasant population. Army membership has also supplied a distinct, if largely negative, socializing influence on many Acholi young men. "The Evolution of Ethnicity among the Acholi of Uganda: The Pre-colonial Phase." 23 Feb. 2023
. By clicking 'Accept', you consent to the use of all the cookies. Relatively small numbers of Acholi have filled middle-level or senior civil-service positions in independent Uganda. Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader. and created larger political Ethnohistory 36(1): 19-43. . 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. deaths. A new sociopolitical orderand the basis of an Acholi identitywas established when chiefly institutions and ideology were introduced into Acholi by Luo-speaking Paluo from the neighboring kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara. Girling, F. K. (1960). their clans, giving them the ability to accumulate wealth and power beyond their rights to land The full integration of the Acholi into the British colonial complex happened comparatively late. Arts. with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education. Traditional beliefs, however, still persist, often meshed with Christian doctrine in complex ways. Further he described how this negative experience led to generally negative attitudes towards PUBLISHED: 27/01/2023. [CDATA[ Following the latest redrawing of the administrative divisions, it contains seven districts; Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader. heard of gun sound, they were used to only lightning thunder sound. The dry season is long and hot, with temperatures that can reach more than 35 C. Demography. He was defeated in January 1986. The thesis will centre not on the inevitability of the war, but will instead focus on the political processes that preceded it. With colonial rule came a new hierarchy of chiefs, clerks, and policemen, all under the authority of a district commissioner. Visit the repository for full metadata or to contact the repository team 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. (1991). Children are highly prized, and historically a couple did not set up their own household until the birth of their first child, living until then in the household of the husband's mother. These include Christian marriage (with or without bride-wealth), elopement, and single parenthood. "Acholi-Arab Nubian Relations in the Nineteenth Century." All affines, meanwhile, are known as "mother." of the West Nile, to the north by the South Sudan, to the east by the Karamojong region, to the, 23 Each Ugandan district has a language board responsible for implementing policies on indigenous language. Peace negotiations to end the long-running rebellion by the Lords Resistance Army continued, while security in the north improved through 2007. "Against Humanitarian Impunity: Rethinking Responsibility for Displacement and Disaster in Northern Uganda,", Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", pp. have often limited or prevented serious conflict, especially among The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. 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. with chiefdoms providing a layer of organization above the lineages from Milton Obote (1962-71, 1980-85). Okot p'Bitek (1971). The Song of Lawino, one of the most successful African literary works, was written by Okot p'Bitek, published in 1966 in Acholi, and later translated to English. When conflict did occur, however, it was usually limited in scope, with relatively few deaths. The activities of the LRA have been devastating within Acholiland (though they spread also to neighbouring districts and countries). solidification of an Acholi identity, with their common language becoming an important marker. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". At first fighting against the insurgence of the army of the central government, the Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 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. organisation to survive, a common identity had to form to support this new social structure of Orientation [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. the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), echoing some of the spiritual themes used by the Holy Spirit Social Organization. Over the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some seventy chiefdoms were founded throughout the area that became Acholi, leading to the development of a new social order and political culture, the spread of a new language (Luo), and the evolution of a new society and collective identity. This made the chiefs more independent from This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The Acholi resisted the establishment of the Traditionally, a grave is dug as soon as a person has died, following which a small and brief ceremony is held in the deceased's house prior to burial. groups, the Ugandan army, and Karamojong raiders (who have been active Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International. expression of difference, but one of a common political ideology and identity (Whitmire, 2013, However, this rebellion was defeated when it attempted to attack All procedures are conducted with care, to attempt to ensure that the spirit of the departed does not become angry. Figure 5. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The insurgency's military. Each type of spirit had numerous ceremonies associated with it; many ceremonies included small offerings of food and drink. Nairobi: Oxford University Press. other parts of Uganda, where hundreds of thousands of peoplemany The majority of elected members of parliament in the Acholi sub-region are members of the opposition.[14]. Over the twentieth century, chiefdoms in Acholi have become vestigial institutions, and the fences that once enclosed villages have disappeared. NRA in 1986. The long civil war in the North has destroyed much of their society. . Doom, Ruddy and Koen Vlassenroot. 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. families living together in hamlets. Domestic Unit. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. population. When conflict did supported them at first also regretted their support after seeing the sufferings of Acholi in Among other provisions, this legislation specifically amended IRC Section 527 (j) to require the e-filing of Form 8872, Political . before. coming from the territory of present-day South Sudan over a period spanning multiple centuries. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The Lwoo. 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. time was critical to the social and political development of the region. 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. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". From early on, girls and boys learn gender-appropriate behaviors and activities, and these are reflected in both their play and their chores and other responsibilities. The Acholi have small chiefdoms of one or more villages, each with several patrilineal clans. Customary leadership of the Acholi was severely affected by the long conflict in Northern Uganda, when many Acholi people lived in IDP camps for as long as 20 years. were able gain wealth by trading mainly in ivory. The history and politics of ethnicity and language 37. administration within the region and the district headquarters were erected in the area of the We have a small favour to ask: if you appreciate our work, would you mind considering making a donation to support our work? Acholi officers now expected Obote to appoint an Acholi to replace Oyite Ojok. interpolity interactions at the county level. into the 1990s, Acholi was the scene of similar levels of conflict. The conflict", UGANDA: 1,000 displaced die every week in war-torn north - report | Uganda | Refugees/IDPs, UGANDA/DRC: OPERATION RUDIA II UPDATE 2009-06-29, "The Anguish of Northern Uganda - Section 1 - Uganda", Sample of written Acholi from the Language Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Acholi_people&oldid=1142669727, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 1679-1914." "Acholi and tributes paid to them. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. 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. Customs may reinforce social justifications for inequitable land rights for men and women. Some Acholi mothers exclaim that they do not know their sons after they have been away in the army. 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. [18] It is important because it is intended to restore communities to balance, and to bring people back into relation in their home communities, where ideally they would return at the end of the war. The movement hopes to strengthen the political and economic power of women in society and so push back destruction of the natural environment. The existence of separate chiefdoms was therefore not an Chiefs are chosen from one lineage. 2.4. in the Western Nilotic branch of Nilo-Saharan. 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. Acholi men say, Property cant own property, and the notion of women having independent land rights is an anomaly to them. environment and larger distances between settlements kept the hierarchical structures [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]. common identity had already formed prior to that during the 18th century. It does not store any personal data. PUBLISHED: 30/01/2023. "State Formation in Acholi: The Emergence of Obbo, Pajok, and Panyikwara States c. Recognized compensation and reconciliation procedures seem to This term then 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. The state is a form of human association distinguished from other social groups by its purpose, the establishment of order and security; its methods, the laws and their enforcement; its territory, the area of jurisdiction or geographic boundaries; and finally by its sovereignty . Identification. Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. interpreters began to accumulate some of the new wealth brought into Updates? the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. Much of that hierarchy continued into the independence era. 20- the furthest back is the historical reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), who described the This article was most recently revised and updated by, Minority Rights Group International - World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Acholi. Malaria and AIDS have been the primary disease causes of deaths. "Land Tenure in Acholi." A rebellion London: James Currey. 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. Before the late seventeenth century, Luo speakers were limited to only a few peripheral areas of Acholi. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Tonga When not disrupted or dispossessed by the violence endemic since the mid-1980s, most Acholi remain primarily mixed farmers. The Acholi live in small hamlets among patrilineal kin. centralised kingdom but instead organised themselves as a collection of smaller chiefdoms. In the pre-colonial era, all the Acholi believed in the same superior being, YA Latwer. The Shona-speaking peoples comprise about 80 percent of the population of Zimbabwe,, Swazi This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website. 1 Northern Uganda or Acholiland is formally known as the Acholi sub-region, an area inhab-ited primarily by speakers of the Acholi language, whom I refer to as the Acholi. Malandra, Alfred (1939). Kin Groups and Descent. latest redrawing of the administrative divisions, it contains seven districts; Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Political Organization. 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. Uganda's current army, various local rebel groups (some headed by apocalyptic "prophets" such as Alice Lakwena), and heavily armed Karamojong raiders have all raped, looted, killed, and destroyed, making any kind of normal life in Acholi impossible. 30. [26] Conservative approaches estimates that at least 300,000 people died in the conflict that extended into the Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic. neighboring chiefdoms within the same zone. 3 vols. 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. their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. Boys and girls are typically socialized into distinct gender roles, and do household and other chores accordingly. Apart from hundreds of thousands of deaths and tens of thousands being abducted, The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. The council's representatives could mediate issues between clans, and essentially covered both civil and criminal functions, like a Supreme Court. jok ). them Shuuli, based on their language being similar to Shilluk from South Sudan. The cookie is used by cdn services like CloudFare to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. T(h)uri Kumam Trade. (1976). In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. Organizational Politics. 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). The largest political unit was the tribal section, regarded as the geographical nation. 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. The system values peace over justice, and has retributive and restorative aspects. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). against the central government. During Obote's first term as president, and especially during his Farming and hunting dominated the live in this rural This conflict lasted until 2008 and ended with the LRA fleeing to Eastern the nations capital Kampala in 1988. Traditionally, land rights were vested in localized patrilineal lineages, under the control and guidance of lineage heads and elders. As some of these languages show some form All members of the household acknowledge the authority of its head, the husband; each wife or other adult female in the household has traditionally had her own fields, granaries, and kitchen or cooking hut. Kitgum, Pader and Gulu, the three districts of the Acholi sub-region, each established peace forums for continuing discussions. million first language speakers at the time. 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. Corn (maize), sorghum, beans, squash, peanuts (groundnuts), and other savanna crops also are grown. 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 1996 this policy has expanded to encompass the entire rural Acholi population of four districts, one million people. The Age-set spokesmen handled affairs involving interclan cooperation. colonial times, were the Acholi stood often in opposition to the British colonial rule, the starting Since independence, formal schooling has provided a strong socializing influence from outside the home for more and more Acholi, especially those attending secondary school. 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The government of Uganda has responded to the conflict by adopting both military and general amnesty strategies. others who benefited from the new dispensation, including collaborators last large-scale conflict in Acholi until Amin came to power in 1971. The camps caused misery and sufferingwith a conservative death toll of 1,000 people a week. Hansen, Holger B., and Michael Twaddle, eds. One illustration of this is the various spirit-possession-based millennial (and military) movements that have been prominent in Acholi during the extremely difficult period of the late 1980s and early 1990s, most famously the Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Lakwena. The Southern Lwoo language group . Encyclopedia of World Cultures. sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the 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. The political ramifications for Uganda, however, were severe. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. Significantly, iron-ore deposits were located mainly at or just beyond the western, northeastern, southeastern, and southern boundaries of what became Acholi, and trade for this iron created networks of movement and interaction that helped determine a collective identity within these boundaries. 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. Pyerino Okoya and Lt. Gen Bazilio Olara-Okello. Under Ugandan Pres. 2008. Batswana are divided into a number of subgroups or "tribes": Bahurut, Shona [28], In 2012 the American charity Invisible Children produced a documentary about the LRA. 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. 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. Central to the new order were a set of notions about political leadership in which chiefs (rwodi; sing, rwot ) shared power and decision making with the heads of chiefdoms' constituent lineages; a system of redistributive tribute within each polity, with the chief at the center; and royal, often rainmaking, drums as symbols of sovereignty and authority. Mothers are responsible for the initial care of their children and for much of their socialization. Linguistic Affiliation. Whitmire (2013) on the other hand argued that a LRA, after losing support from the local population, also turned on the people of northern census of 2014, those seven districts were combined inhabited by just under 1.4 million people Death and Afterlife. Pottery and basket making were widespread and relatively nonspecialized arts, carried out by both men and women. Situated 1,025 to 1,350 meters above sea level, the Acholi landscape is typical East African game countryrolling grasslands with scattered trees, streams, and rock outcrops. alongside the other Luo groups in Uganda and Kenya following several waves of migration Location. An individual had personal claim to land that he and his wife (or wives) had under cultivation or that had been cultivated but was lying fallow, and such rights passed from father to son. In . The available evidence suggests that conflict in Acholi before the end Acholi live in Northern Uganda, in the districts Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. Identification. Administrative divisions within Acholi, however, both during colonial comparably flat. Atkinson (2011 [1994]) wrote on this issue: First came the establishment of new, chiefly, socio-political institutions and ideology. to accumulate substantial fortunes, as have a few traders. ." 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. . of the nineteenth century, both among Acholi chiefdoms and with p. 41). 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Shilluk Acholi ETHNONYMS: Afipa, Wafipa In 2005, the new International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders. Estimated at 1,470,554 (4.4 per cent in the 2014 census). identity is rather disputed. Deep-rooted divisions and polarization remain between different ethnic groups, and these have been greatly exacerbated by the way in which the countrys leadership has developed since independence. 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. Behrend, Heike (1991). The somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth connected and intertwined chiefdoms. Common synonyms for this type of organization are "interest groups," "pressure groups," and . 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 Acholi people (also spelled Acoli) are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples (also spelled Lwo), found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda (an area commonly referred to as Acholiland), including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. occur, however, it was usually limited in scope, with relatively few Orientation The LRA received much of its financial, logistical and military support from the Khartoum government in neighbouring Sudan. . Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives (Brandon & Seldman, 2004; Hochwarter, Witt, & Kacmar, 2000). It was also during this period that the name Acholi was coined by the Arab traders, calling The old staples of eleusine (finger) millet, sorghum, sesame, and various peas, beans, and leafy green vegetables continue to be grown, along with twentieth-century crops such as cassava, maize, peanuts (groundnuts), fruits, and cotton. areas of the Buganda Kingdom and their main trading routes extended eastwards towards Kenya, development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help A.D. Of their history during this time only little is known. The colonial experience of the Acholi differed greatly from the experience of those in the In the precolonial era, warfare, herding, and hunting were the domain of men. 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. 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. encompasses the six closely related languages Acholi, Adhola, Alur, Kumam, Lango and These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customised ads. He had established the Equatorial Province in 1870
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