Lineage heads, assisted by lineage elders, organized both production (based on cooperative village-lineage labor) and reproduction (through the control of the material means and ideological rules of marriage). Political Organization Defined | Internal Revenue Service Since independence, a relatively few Acholi army officers have managed to accumulate substantial fortunes, as have a few traders. [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. ETHNONYM: Karanga (historical) InThe Roots of Ethnicity, Ronald R. Atkinson argues that although colonial rule and its aftermath have played a major role in shaping the particular manifestati. The thesis will centre not on the inevitability of the war, but will instead focus on the political processes that preceded it. At the same time Joseph Kony formed his own rebel group, 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. A rebellion in 1911 in response to the British confiscation of Acholi guns was the last large-scale conflict in Acholi until Amin came to power in 1971. Stream and swamp fishing are important. the area around Lake Victoria as early as the fourth century B.C. development of the chiefdom and clan system in the 17th and 18th century that is still a vital It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. He has noted that the emphasis on the distinction among ethnic groups has even been part of the internal government dialogue." Political Organization. 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. During the later nineteenth century, the emergent Acholi became involved in the international trade in ivory and slaves, which were exchanged mainly for cattle, beads, blankets, cotton cloth, and firearms. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. It is subcounty level; and larger zones of the most intensive (and peaceful) Most prominent among them was the Uganda People's Army (UPA) in Teso and Lango sub region, the West Nile Bank Frontiers (WNBF) in the West Nile region, the Uganda People's Democratic Army, the Holy Spirit Movement and the LRA in the Acholi region. [26][27], The NRA managed to defeat all the rebel groups except the LRA which culminated in a 20-year conflict. Langlands, B. W. (1971). 2.4. sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the from sexual conduct, over blackmailing and stealing, to killing someone (Vincent, 2012, pp. Museveni has held absolute power since, surviving unrest, civil war, and numerous attempts at coups. (Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs 1997. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. census of 2014, those seven districts were combined inhabited by just under 1.4 million people Conflict. Specifically, this study explored, Living with Language. social organization of acholi - Brainly.com 1679-1914." development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help Customs may reinforce social justifications for inequitable land rights for men and women. Instead, the Acholi were integrated in the 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. prefix a- denoting the 1st Person Singular (Whitmire, 2013, p. 51). ." 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. The account of the Acholi reaching of as dialects of Acholi. Childlessness is one of the most serious misfortunes imaginable; women are typically blamed, and the marriage often ends or the husband takes a second wife. 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. In East African Childhood: Three Versions, edited by L. K. Fox, 43-75. Kasozi, A. In September 1996, the Ugandan government moved hundreds of thousands of Acholi from the Gulu district into camps, ostensibly for their protection. The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda - JSTOR 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. neighboring peoples, was neither rare nor endemic. [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 Acholi region is bordered in the west by the districts 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. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse and understand how you use this website. Political organisation - Wikipedia authority of a district commissioner. Malaria and AIDS have been the primary disease causes of deaths. interpreters began to accumulate some of the new wealth brought into B. Webster, eds. The most common domestic animals are (and have long been) chickens and goats, with some cattle, especially in the dryer portions of Acholi. Comprising less than 5 percent of the country's population, during the early years of independence the Acholi constituted more than 15 percent of the police force and fully a third of the army. 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. In most chiefdoms, only members of designated lineages could make or repair royal drums. "State Formation in Acholi: The Emergence of Obbo, Pajok, and Panyikwara States c. Uganda Journal 19(1): 57-61. (UNHCR, 2012). The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Tito and Bazilio, who were Acholi by tribe, fled the country into exile. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". )[9], "Since independence in 1962, Uganda has been plagued by ethnically driven, politically manipulated violence referred to by some as a history of 'cycles of revenge and mistrust'. Purifications or atonement practices are still performed by Acholi elders in some communities. In the most recent phase of the cycle, beginning in the mid-1980s, Acholi has largely been on the receiving end of the violence. When not disrupted or dispossessed by the violence endemic since the mid-1980s, most Acholi remain primarily mixed farmers. areas of the Buganda Kingdom and their main trading routes extended eastwards towards Kenya, 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. With the coming of the ivory Nevertheless, many remain in a state of displacement. All affines, meanwhile, are known as "mother." The Lwoo. [22], In January 1986, the junta government of Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa in Uganda was overthrown by Museveni and his NRA rebels. Out of these, the cookies that are categorised as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. At first fighting against the insurgence of the army of the central government, the Traditionally, land rights were vested in localized patrilineal lineages, under the control and guidance of lineage heads and elders. 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. From the Village to Entebbe: The Acholi of Northern Uganda and . in Acholi since the mid-1980s) have led to a breakdown of any meaningful Following the limited wealth in the society and redistribution. This trade brought new wealth into Acholi that was unevenly accumulated, with rwodi and interpreters (and eventually their sons and other kinsmen) the major beneficiaries. Boys and girls are typically socialized into distinct gender roles, and do household and other chores accordingly. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. The council's representatives could mediate issues between clans, and essentially covered both civil and criminal functions, like a Supreme Court. 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. 2008. Religious Practitioners. 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. Farming and hunting dominated the live in this rural Political Organizations | Encyclopedia.com Notable among the Acholi soldiers who made the ranks were Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa, Brig. Killing of a person was prohibited but if it took place, negotiations for blood money were led by the victim's family, with agreement followed by rituals of a reconciliation ceremony to restore the killer to the community, and to bring peace between clans. 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. The combination of the two events, have put pressure on the LRA to lay down its arms. The Acholi Traditional Approach to Justice and the War in Northern thesis, University of Nairobi. As a result, many widowed Acholi have been unable to access their land on return to their homes. Before the late seventeenth century, Luo speakers were limited to only a few peripheral areas of Acholi. Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", p. 90-92, Branch, A. Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader. [10] General Tito Okello was an Acholi, and came to power in a military coup. fight the Arab slave traders and his colonial administration was viewed as not very invasive ACHOLI PEOPLE: THE FAMOUS EAST AFRICAN SPIRITUALLY AND - Blogger [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. The women have accomplished agriculturists, growing and processing a variety of food crops, including millet, simsim, groundnuts, peas, sorghum and vegetables. The Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. The Acholi of Uganda. [19], The religious leaders have tried to help end the conflict in the country of the last two decades and to reconcile the parties. Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. Dwyer, John Orr (1972) 'The Acholi of Uganda: adjustment to imperialism'. their clans, giving them the ability to accumulate wealth and power beyond their rights to land Soon after, the NRM started pacifying the northern region, which is home to several ethnics, including the Acholi and Lango. PUBLISHED: 27/01/2023. //