Payera chiefdom and in 1911 they established here the Gulu township (Whitmire, 2013, pp. The Acholi live in small hamlets among patrilineal kin. Religious Beliefs. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps. Political Organization. neighboring chiefdoms within the same zone. contested among those with traditional leadership qualifications and Ironworking, mainly but not entirely confined to certain lineages, appears to be almost as ancient as agriculture, going back perhaps to the first millennium b.c. 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. more. (p. 34). The Acholi resisted the establishment of the He had established the Equatorial Province in 1870 ETHNONYMS: Ebantfu ba kwa Ngwane (the people of Ngwane), emaSwati, emaSwazi, Swati Okot p'Bitek (1963). Estimated at 1,470,554 (4.4 per cent in the 2014 census). The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Common synonyms for this type of organization are "interest groups," "pressure groups," and . Location. During Uganda's colonial period, the British encouraged political and economic development in the south of the country, in particular among the Baganda. These rebellions sprung up in defiance and from disapproval of the conduct and legitimacy of the new NRA government. [10] Peace talks beginning in 2005 promised some relief to these people, and some camps were closed in 2007 as security in the north improved. 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. Uganda Journal 7(1): 27-43. 23 Feb. 2023 . Acholiland or "Acoli-land" (also known as the Acholi sub-region) is a necessarily inexact ethnolinguistic taxonomy that refers to the region traditionally inhabited by the Acholi. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. 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. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Ugandan minister of internal affairs and leader of the government negotiating team, noted the effectiveness of the traditional system. be possessed by a spirit named Lakwena, the so-called Holy Spirit Movement fought a rebellion 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. The most common domestic animals are (and have long been) chickens and goats, with some cattle, especially in the dryer portions of Acholi. 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. Army membership has also supplied a distinct, if largely negative, socializing influence on many Acholi young men. Conflict. The Acholi, unlike many of their southern neighbours, did not create a form of Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The available evidence suggests that conflict in Acholi before the end of the nineteenth century, both among Acholi chiefdoms and with neighboring peoples, was neither rare nor endemic. [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. When conflict did occur, however, it was usually limited in scope, with relatively few deaths. (1991). Bor Lango PDF "Acholi Youth Are Lost": Young, Christian and (A)political in Uganda famines forced groups to move within the Acholi territory and create more cohesive forms of Crazzolara, J. P. (1938). The camps caused misery and sufferingwith a conservative death toll of 1,000 people a week. "The Ancestral Shrine of the Acholi." 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. This special access to Uganda's security forces has alternately presented opportunity and danger as a succession of regimes replaced one another in a cycle of political violence often played out in ethnic (or "tribal") terms. southern parts of the country. Rwot, 'ruler'). During Obote's first term as president, and especially during his Other uncategorised cookies are those that are being analysed and have not been classified into a category as yet. They were also against the power consolidation approach of the NRA, which included mass arrest, torturing, killing, cattle raiding, food crop destruction, and looting and burning of villages. Purifications or atonement practices are still performed by Acholi elders in some communities. and tributes paid to them. In war, the men used spears and long, narrow shields of giraffe or ox hide. population. All affines, meanwhile, are known as "mother." A rebellion Certain rwodi and 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. Acholi: Talking Politics in Northern Uganda Many Ugandans follow politics with keen interest, and President Yoweri Musevei's 34-year tenure notwithstanding, politics is a frequent topic of in-depth conversation and spirited debate among friends and acquaintances, and my conversations with my mentor are no exception. According to the 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. London: Oxford University Press. 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. for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the Idi Amin was also from north Uganda, but was of the Kakwa people. Relatively small numbers of Acholi have filled middle-level or senior civil-service positions in independent Uganda. "Land Tenure in Acholi." This conflict lasted until 2008 and ended with the LRA fleeing to Eastern 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. Webster, J. the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), echoing some of the spiritual themes used by the Holy Spirit Uganda, leading raids all over the region. The men were skilled hunters, using nets and spears. (1955). Idi Amin (197179) the Acholi were severely persecuted and their men systematically executed for their past association with the colonial army and for their support of Pres. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. Kin Groups and Descent. Acholi by international trade, and descendants of some of these men used Political organisation - Wikipedia Bride-wealth has varied over time but has usually included iron objects, domestic animals, and, in the twentieth century, money. Political Organization. The Acholi have small chiefdoms of one or more villages, each with several patrilineal clans. The Migration of Nilotes and Their Settlement | SpringerLink The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". 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. Over the twentieth century, chiefdoms in Acholi have become vestigial institutions, and the fences that once enclosed villages have disappeared. In East African Childhood: Three Versions, edited by L. K. Fox, 43-75. [10] General Tito Okello was an Acholi, and came to power in a military coup. neighboring peoples, was neither rare nor endemic. Dholuo Political Organization. Updates? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". morphed into Chuuli, before finally becoming Acholi as it was applicated with the pronoun Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. In 2005, the new International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders. Visit the repository for full metadata or to contact the repository team The settlement of the Acholi in their current territory is compared to the ethnic groups in the Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). This included both agricultural and hunting land. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The relationship between the Acholi and the British had for a long time been rather loose and "Against Humanitarian Impunity: Rethinking Responsibility for Displacement and Disaster in Northern Uganda,", Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", pp. 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. [28], In 2012 the American charity Invisible Children produced a documentary about the LRA. Identification. 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. Luo peoples - Wikipedia groups, the Ugandan army, and Karamojong raiders (who have been active This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile. fight the Arab slave traders and his colonial administration was viewed as not very invasive https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/acholi, "Acholi The civil war devastated the lives and livelihoods of the Acholi people of the north. common identity had already formed prior to that during the 18th century. The Acholi's harrowing ordeal began under Idi Amin's dictatorship in the seventies. ETHNONYMS: Afipa, Wafipa Orientation But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Acholi, also spelled Acoli, also called Gang or Shuli, ethnolinguistic group of northern Uganda and South Sudan. [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. - CORE Western Nilotic Eastern Nilotic Southern Nilotic, Burun Lwoo Nuer-Dinka Teso-Turkana Bari Maa-Lotuko, North South The EU's External Democracy Action in a New Geopolitical Reality: Policy Brief. jok ). During Obote's first term as president, and especially during his second term, Acholi soldiers played key roles in the massive conflict in other parts of Uganda, where hundreds of thousands of peoplemany of them innocent civilianslost their lives; from the mid-1980s into the 1990s, Acholi was the scene of similar levels of conflict. et al., 1972; Heine & Knig, 2010) and Chopi (Storch, 2005) as individual languages, instead Each type of spirit had numerous ceremonies associated with it; many ceremonies included small offerings of food and drink. with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education. second Milton Obote regimes, however, as well as of the various rebel This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 26). 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. The Shona-speaking peoples comprise about 80 percent of the population of Zimbabwe,, Swazi In the most recent phase of the cycle, beginning in the mid-1980s, Acholi has largely been on the receiving end of the violence. It is part of the Southern Lwoo languages The dry season is long and hot, with temperatures that can reach more than 35 C. Demography. Encyclopedia.com. Administrative divisions within Acholi, however, both during colonial rule and since independence, have often reflected preexisting sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the subcounty level; and larger zones of the most intensive (and peaceful) interpolity interactions at the county level. alongside the other Luo groups in Uganda and Kenya following several waves of migration During the colonial period, political leadership in Acholi was You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. By clicking 'Accept', you consent to the use of all the cookies. PDF University of Bradford eThesis Acholi men say, Property cant own property, and the notion of women having independent land rights is an anomaly to them. Acholi form organisation - New Vision Official They were approached in regard to such general concerns as good health, fertility, and appeals or thanks for good harvests in ceremonies that usually emphasized the consciousness, cohesiveness, and continuation of their respective groups as functioning corporate entities. 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. 116-25 Section 3101, requires electronic filing by exempt organizations in tax years beginning after July 1, 2019. Okot p'Bitek (1971). Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", p. 90-92, Branch, A. Its current population is estimated to be around 2.155,000 individuals, or six percent of the total national population. Organizations that are driven by unhealthy levels of political behavior suffer from lowered employee organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and performance as well as higher levels of job anxiety and depression. journalist who created an account of the history and traditions of the Acholi, wrote that the the area around Lake Victoria as early as the fourth century B.C. After his own father, however, a man's strongest kinship ties are typically with his mother's brother. In most chiefdoms, only members of designated lineages could make or repair royal drums. their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. From the beginning, the Acholi were marginal compared to Britain's concern with Buganda, at the core of the colony. He was defeated in January 1986. The term is derived from "Shuuli," first used by nineteenth-century ivory and slave traders who noted the similarity of Acholi Luo to the language of the previously encountered Shilluk or "Collo" of the southern Sudan (Crazzolara 1938, vii-viii). Ocheng, D. O. This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. 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? represents an income that averages several times that of a member of the Forging Forgiveness: Collective Efforts Amidst War in Northern Uganda [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]. World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. 30 Chiefly authority was however not absolute, as power was shared with lineage elders ( ladit kaka) and political authority was mainly vested in 13.4 Organizational Politics - Organizational Behavior Precolonial trade, both within Acholi and throughout the region, focused mainly on obtaining iron ore and finished iron products in exchange for baskets or products of the farm, herd, or hunt. Before the late seventeenth century, Luo speakers were limited to only a few peripheral areas of Acholi. environment and larger distances between settlements kept the hierarchical structures The Acholi region and language 51. Most political organizations take the form of a voluntary association of persons or organizations that pools its members' and constituents' financial and other resources, and engages in conventional political actions to affect policy-making outcomes. "The Concept of Jok among the Acholi and Lango." 1orthern Uganda or Acholiland is formally known as the Acholi sub-region, an area inhab N - ited primarily by speakers of the Acholi language, whom I refer to as the Acholi. B. K. (1994). ETHNONYM: Karanga (historical) The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. [26][27], The NRA managed to defeat all the rebel groups except the LRA which culminated in a 20-year conflict. Subsistence and Commercial Activities. In . . The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. The Acholi of Uganda: Adjustment to Imperialism. Acholi - Minority Rights Group The main point of contact Jur Alur 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. Identification. in Acholi since the mid-1980s) have led to a breakdown of any meaningful political organisation of the acholipadma shri award 2012 list. The existence of separate chiefdoms was therefore not an Further he described how this negative experience led to generally negative attitudes towards Changing Uganda: The Dilemmas of Structural Adjustment and Revolutionary Change. majority peasant population. Contemporary versions or amalgams of these practitioners continue to function in Acholi. Since independence, a relatively few Acholi army officers have managed to accumulate substantial fortunes, as have a few traders. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Boys and girls are typically socialized into distinct gender roles, and do household and other chores accordingly. The council's representatives could mediate issues between clans, and essentially covered both civil and criminal functions, like a Supreme Court. 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.' This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Pottery and basket making were widespread and relatively nonspecialized arts, carried out by both men and women. It was a system of governance fully integrated with their religion and cosmology. Latigo, James, "The Acholi Traditional Conflict Resolution in Light of Current Circumstances:". 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. "[9], Milton Obote, the first leader after independence, relied on Acholi Luo people and Langi Nilo Hamites or Ateker peoples in government. However, to what degree this emergence was accompanied with the creation of a common Notable among the Acholi soldiers who made the ranks were Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa, Brig. The rwot was the most important political, economic and social personality in the political entity of 'chiefdoms', which were installed in Acholiland in the late seventeenth, early eighteenth century. Dwyer, John Orr (1972) 'The Acholi of Uganda: adjustment to imperialism'. Even though the recent history of conflict can in some ways be tracked all the way back to the 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. Congo. More Certain rwodi and interpreters began to accumulate some of the new wealth brought into Acholi by international trade, and descendants of some of these men used their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. southeast by the Langi region and to the south, across the Nile, by Bunyoro. The PEPFAR Uganda 2023 Science Summit on HIV and TB: Following the Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Acholi conceive of death as an inevitable, personal defeat and tragedy, against which there is no ultimate defense. reported that the Acholi chiefs generally accepted the position of Baker, as he had helped them We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. As of September 2009, large numbers of Acholi people remain in camps as internally displaced persons. [29], Media related to Acholi people at Wikimedia Commons. The third group of spirits were those of unknown persons and dangerous beasts; these were hostile, personified as ghosts, believed to cause sickness and other misfortunes, and dealt with by means of spirit possession. As droughts and Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. His stated political aims are to rule Uganda according to the Biblical Ten Commandments. Like Tattered Grass Beneath Warring Elephants: The Destruction of the