While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. 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. Divorce, which can occur for numerous reasons, is not uncommon and may or may not involve return of the bride-wealth; children, as members of the father's lineage, usually either stay with the father or return to him later. Recognized compensation and reconciliation procedures seem to have often limited or prevented serious conflict, especially among neighboring chiefdoms within the same zone. Nairobi: Oxford University Press. The conflict had dramatic effects on the local Certain rwodi and 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. The PEPFAR Uganda 2023 Science Summit on HIV and TB: Following the Science and Sustaining the Gains as PEPFAR Turns Twenty This report is a record of the virtual summit organized by the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Uganda for its stakeholders; Uganda Ministry of Health (MoH) including its Public Health Fellowship Program (PHFP), implementing partners, and . 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. southeast by the Langi region and to the south, across the Nile, by Bunyoro. In addition, the peace forums have worked to help establish the Amnesty Commission. "Is Alice Lakwena a Witch? Uganda Journal 19(1): 57-61. Chiefs are chosen from one lineage. From the Village to Entebbe: The Acholi of Northern Uganda and . 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. Recognized compensation and reconciliation procedures seem to In 2009, Acholi was one of the six Ugandan languages identified as having more than one The Southern Lwoo language group population. Atkinson, Ronald R. (1989). [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. development of the chiefdom and clan system in the 17th and 18th century that is still a vital Mothers are responsible for the initial care of their children and for much of their socialization. Jur Alur Traditional beliefs, however, still persist, often meshed with Christian doctrine in complex ways. T(h)uri Kumam The northerners also contributed to the further evolution of an Acholi identity, not only by introducing the name "Shuuli," which eventually became "Acholi," but by acting in ways that promoted Acholi as a meaningful ethnic and geographic entity. [6] While Acholi also lives north of the South Sudanese border, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland". The Acholi region and language 51. Makerere University (Kampala), Department of Geography. Politics has been around for millennia. [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. with the Gulu district being by far the most populated one (Uganda, 2016). The Acholi were considered a martial people by the British, and many joined the military. Pyerino Okoya and Lt. Gen Bazilio Olara-Okello. Many of the Acholi soldiers who joined the Kings African Rifles (KAR), the British colonial army, were deployed to the frontlines in southeast Asia especially in Singapore and Burma during the World War II where they held British positions against an intense Japanese offensive. ." 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. During Obote's first term as president, and especially during his The available evidence suggests that conflict in Acholi before the end 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 before the outbreak of civil war in 1986. Political Organization. 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 . settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. Malandra, Alfred (1939). [26], In 2016, the multi award-winning film, A Brilliant Genocide was produced. 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. Apart from hundreds of thousands of deaths and tens of thousands being abducted, Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. Social Control. Payera chiefdom and in 1911 they established here the Gulu township (Whitmire, 2013, pp. Identification. The political ramifications for Uganda, however, were severe. From the Holy Spirit Movement, the notorious Lords Resistance Army (LRA), led by Acholi Joseph Kony, emerged. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customised ads. The Tonga occupy much of Southern Province in Zambia (formerly No, ETHNONYMS: Batswana, Bechuana (colonial appellation) Rwot, 'ruler'). Given the low population densities and minimal land pressure, almost anyone who was willing to clear and work unused land has been welcomed by lineage heads responsible for such land and, while they functioned, by the rwodi of chiefdoms within whose domains the land lay. During the colonial period, political leadership in Acholi was Organizational Politics. Numbering between 400 and 500 by the turn of the twentieth century, these exogamous groups claim descent from a common ancestor (although means exist to incorporate many types of "outsiders" as well) and have special lineage shrines, ritual ceremonies, praise-calls, and totems. 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. 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. Hier sind Acholi-Frauen dafr bekannt, . Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. 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. [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. environment and larger distances between settlements kept the hierarchical structures Vincent (2012). Since 1996 this policy has expanded to encompass the entire rural Acholi population of four districts, one million people. Batswana are divided into a number of subgroups or "tribes": Bahurut, Shona These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. In September 1996, the Ugandan government moved hundreds of thousands of Acholi from the Gulu district into camps, ostensibly for their protection. of the nineteenth century, both among Acholi chiefdoms and with southern parts of the country. //