The Sudan Handbook

84 the sudan handbook

Chief among these communities are the Dinka (Jaang or Monyjaang in

Dinka) and Nuer (Naath in Nuer), peoples with closely-related languages

and similar ways of life. Other communities pursuing a primarily pastoral

existence include the Murle of Jonglei, the Mandari of Central Equatoria

and the Toposa and Nyangatom in Eastern Equatoria. Though they gener-

ally practise mixed agriculture, gaining a living from seasonal crops and

fishing, as well as from livestock husbandry, cattle are prominent in the

culture of these groups: exchanged in marriage, seized in raids, imitated

in dances and celebrated in song. Conflicts over livestock and access to

water and grazing are commonplace. Recurrent feuding between tribes or

tribal sections is also widespread. The resultant cycle of revenge killings

has traditionally been resolved by the payment of cattle as blood price.

In recent times, however, settlement mechanisms have been strained by

the spread of firearms and the exacerbation of feuds by wider political

and military conflicts.

Until the time of the Condominium, communities in the south lived

largely beyond the influence of any state, recognizing only diffuse and

localized forms of authority. In the nineteenth century the size and range

of Nuer communities expanded at the expense of the Dinka in the east;

Dinka communities in turn expanded further south and west. Intermar-

riage between them continues to be routine. Among the Nuer and the

Dinka, religious leaders, known in academic literature as prophets, have

had a significant influence. Nilotic prophets had a role in resistance to

British colonialism; and their teachings, particularly those of the Nuer

prophet Ngungdeng Bong, are still invoked to explain current political

events. In the recent civil war, Dinka and Nuer took a leading role in

southern resistance to rule from Khartoum. Ambivalence towards central

authority remains widespread among members of these communities,

despite the fact that they are well represented in the government of

South Sudan.

Related to the Dinka and Nuer linguistically, and through shared

myths of origin, are the Shilluk, or Collo. The Shilluk live north of the

Nuer, mainly on the west bank of the White Nile, between Malakal and

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors Renk.^ They^ are^ part^ of^ the^ archipelago^ of^ Luo-speaking^ communities^

(www.riftvalley.net).