Further Readings
Amen, R. U. N. (1996).Metu Neter:Vol. 1 .The Oracle
of Tehuti and the Egyptian System of Spiritual
Cultivation. Brooklyn, NY: Khamit Corporation.
Barrett, L. (1974).Soul Force. Garden City, NY: Anchor
Press/Doubleday.
Brokensha, D. W. (1966).Social Change in Larteh,
Ghana. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Dinizulu, G. (1974).The Akan Priest in America.
New York: Aims of Modzwe.
Dunham, K. (1983).The Dances of Haiti. Los Angeles:
University of California Press.
Gonazalez-Wippler, M. (1989).African Magic in Latin
America. New York: Original Publications.
Houck, J. (1995).Spirits,Blood and Drums:The
Orisha Religion in Trinidad. Philadelphia: Temple
University Press.
Hurston, Z. N. (1938).Tell My Horse. Philadelphia:
J. B. Lippincott.
Jahn, J. (1961).Muntu. New York: Faber and Faber.
Jones-Jackson, P. (1987).When Roots Die: Endangered
Traditions in the Sea Islands. Athens: University of
Georgia Press.
Mason, J. (1985).Four New World African Rituals.
Brooklyn, NY: Yoruba Theological Archministry.
Mitchell, F. (1999).Hoodoo Medicine:Gullah Herbal
Remedies(Rev. ed.). Columbia, SC: Summerhouse
Press.
Rabateau, A. J. (1980).Slave Religion:The“Invisible
Institution”in the Antebellum South. New York:
Oxford University.
Vlach, J. (1978). Graveyards and Afro-American Art. In
Long Journey Home: Folklife in the South [Special
Issue].Southern Exposure, 5 (2–3), 161–165.
NUER
The Nuer are an African people who live in south-
ern Sudan near the conjunction of the Nile and
Sobat Rivers in an area that has been called the
Bahr el Ghazal. They call themselves “naath.” It is
an accepted fact that the Nuer cross the border
into Ethiopia, and their concentrated region
encompasses Lake No. The Nuer are an ancient
people whose common linkages to the Atuot and
the Dinka have brought about certain common
customs and a mixture of traditions. Cattle are
important among all three groups, and it is
believed that the separation of these three peoples
occurred over cosmological and religious disputes
about the nature of cattle in the society. The Nuer
moved more deeply away from any contact with
the Western world and found that they were more
protected from the interference of either the
Muslims or the Christians until the 19th century.
In effect, the Nuer are still believed to have
resisted Westernity longer than any other people
in southern Sudan.
Nuer culture revolves around cattle, which the
Nuer see as representing the highest religious
value among the people. Therefore, they have
developed a system where wealth for all purposes
is measured in cattle. The husband gives the
wife’s family cattle as a part of the bride wealth.
A person who has lots of cattle is considered
fortunate indeed. All cosmological and religious
concepts relate to the holding of cattle. Cattle
change hands in ways that allow the society to
continue the process of marrying and prospering.
For example, when a man gives cattle to his
bride’s family, the men in her family are then able
to marry and give cattle to other matrilineages.
This system ensures the continuation of the
custom and the sharing of wealth.
Among the Nuer, marriage is staged. One does
not get married in a single day; rather, the mar-
riage must go through various stages before it is
finalized. When the bride has given birth to a
certain number of children, typically two, the
marriage is said to be final. The families say that
the marriage is tied, knotted, when a third child is
born. Only when this happens can a wife become
a full-fledged member of the husband’s clan. Most
Nuer women seek to have at least six children. A
man may have multiple wives and many children
who do not live in the same household, although
they all live in the man’s clan territory.
One aspect of Nuer beliefs and customs that
has attracted attention is the ghost marriage.
This occurs when a man dies and his lineage is
able to have him father children after his death
because of the ability of his lineage to make cat-
tle exchanges to define kinship and descent. If
the man’s male relatives can use his cattle, then
those cattle can be exchanged in a marriage rela-
tionship as a gift from the dead man. Therefore,
the children of the union are considered
“fathered” by the deceased. At the base of this460 Nuer