Descriptive Essay on Nuer People

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Introduction

The Nuer people are an Indigenous people from Sudan now known as South Sudan. Their livelihood is based on the many uses of the cattle. With the environment changing through cycles of droughts and floods, the Nuer people have been able to adapt to the severe changes that come with living in Sudan (Peters-Golden, 2012). Pastoralism is favored over horticulture, although their way of life is a mix of both. The Nuer people live a unique lifestyle from the rest of society as they often are on the move. Their main resource, cattle is easy to transport from one place to another (Peters-Golden, 2012). Their shelter is made up of light material that is built in only a few hours. These factors make them easily able to move to other locations once their pastureland goes bad or the season’s change (Peters-Golden, 2012). The traditional Nuer people depend on one another, through a kin-based society as they don’t follow any type of central political system. The Nuer people have had a past of conflict with other groups. History shows they have had to fight for their right to practice their way of life, whether it was with the British, the Dinka or the current civil war in South Sudan (Encyclopedia, n.d). The warfare with the different groups affected the Nuer people’s culture in a negative way. Many Nuer people have had to leave Sudan and found refuge in other nations. Due to unsolved conflicts between the many groups. The conflict remains unresolved as the Nuer people continue to go through conflict while trying to adapt to the changes in the world today.

Lifestyle

The Nuer people’s way of life is strongly influenced by their use of cattle. Cattle can often be used to settle any type of conflict or retribution (Peters-Golden, 2012). It is used for rituals and used to make many resourceful items from the raw material it can provide. Cattle is given as a gift once a Nuer marriage occurs as a way to connect both, the male and female cattle and family lineage. Due to the unpredictable environment they live in, cattle diseases prevent them from solely depending on pastoralism, therefore horticulture makes up for when the cattle is lost (Peters-Golden, 2012). They benefit off the cattle as they often need to move to new places and the cattle stores the milk within itself, so the Nuer people do not have to carry it (Peters-Golden, 2012). Due to the severe weather in the region of Southern Sudan, they often are on the move transitioning to higher grounds when flooding season begins (Peters-Golden, 2012). Once flooding season ends drought season is upon them, the Nuer people have to move back to lower grounds where they have to find land for their cattle to settle as well as a water supply (Peters-Golden, 2012). The Nuer people believe in “Kwoth” as their god that is guiding their way of life (Peters-Golden, 2012). They sacrifice their cattle to “Quoth” in hopes of well-being and good health (New world encyclopedia, n.d). The Nuer people do not have any political hierarchy dictating their way of life but instead have been very kin-based by depending on one another through a segmentary lineage system. The Nuer people are known to be fighters and are raised from a young age to fight (Peters-Golden, 2012). Due to their way of life, deaths may occur which would result in the intervention of the Leopard-Skin Chief. An individual not connected to the lineage of the village can investigate and dictate what the punishment much be. Often it is the payment of close to 50 cattle (Peters-Golden, 2012). The one who did the killing would remain under the Leopard-Skin Chiefs’ watch until all of the payment was complete, which in many cases took years (Peters-Golden, 2012). The Nuer people today continue to practice the many traditions that were passed down from their ancestors.

The Dinka People

The Dinka people, much like the Nuer people resided in the southern part of Sudan starting in the early 19th century (Peters-Golden, 2012). However, the Dinka peoples were the first to reside in Sudan therefore they were able to attain 10 times more land than the Nuer people had (Peters-Golden, 2012). Starting around 1820, over the next 40 years, the Nuer people would expand their territory taking over much of the Dinka people’s land. Due to the severity of the weather, the Nuer people were often on the move which led them to look for new land (New world encyclopedia, n.d). The Nuer people were successful at raiding Dinka people’s territory based upon the segmentary lineage system they lived by helping them overpower the Dinka people (Peters-Golden, 2012). They used weapons such as spears and club and did ambush-style attacks. The Nuer people and Dinka people shared similar languages and cultures which made it easier to integrate the Dinka people into the Nuer lifestyle (New world encyclopedia, n.d). Cattle raids were often practiced among both of groups (ECC Platform, n.d). As a way restocks on cattle when inventory was low, raids were necessary in order to maintain their lifestyle. The Dinka people were not well equipped to fight back and lost a good amount of their land and cattle to the Nuer people by the end of the 1800s (Peters-Golden, 2012). With the Nuer and Dinka people being two of the largest ethnic groups in Southern Sudan, they have had a history filled with conflict that is still going on today (ECC Platform, n.d).

British

The British impacted the way Sudan would transition into after their attempt at colonizing Sudan. They invaded Sudan in the late 19th century (Encyclopedia, n.d). The Nuer people greatly resisted the British settler’s quest to conquer the Nuer people’s land (Encyclopedia, n.d). The British were not expecting the Nuer people to be so connected with one another despite not having a political hierarchy (Encyclopedia, n.d). This made it very difficult for the British as they were attempting to take control of most of the Nuer people’s land despite their resistance. When the 1920s came, the British continued their quest to conquer the rest of Sudan by bombing many of the Nuer people’s villages who were resisting their order. The British eventually were able to conquer Sudan but struggled to manage the Nuer people due to their unwillingness to become colonized (Encyclopedia, n.d). The British left Sudan giving it its independence in 1956 as tensions were high. The Nuer people did not find peace as a civil war had broken out which they would play a critical role in (Encyclopedia, n.d).

Independence

Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, was led by an Arab-led government (Peters-Golden, 2012). Their goals were to force the Islam religion upon Africans in the southern part of Sudan who originally were christened or Indigenous people (Peters-Golden, 2012). The impact of these policies resulted in a civil war breaking out which led to many people leaving the southern part of Sudan (Peters-Golden, 2012). Many groups were formed as a result of the military actions, one of the most powerful ones, the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement also known as SSLM. The government also attempted to construct a canal to benefit the northern side of Sudan in order to improve its exports (Peters-Golden, 2012). This would have resulted in the Nuer, Dinka and many of the Southern communities losing their livelihood as much of the pastureland would go to waste (Peters-Golden, 2012). The SSLM was successful at stopping the canals from further construction as they argued it would have hurt the environment (Peters-Golden, 2012).

Civil War

Since 1983, the civil war in Sudan cost more than two million lives. The civil war started up the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement known as SPLM which was made up of a dozen leaders who were mostly representatives from the Nuer people or the Dinka people (Peters-Golden, 2012). In 1991, a Nuer member made an attempt to overrule the founder of the SPLM, a Dinka member which led to an outbreak of chaos (Peters-Golden, 2012). After years of war between the two groups, a conference was held looking to find peace (Peters-Golden, 2012). In 2003, an agreement was reached in Washington, D.C during the Dinka Nuer Reconciliation conference ending the civil war (Peters-Golden, 2012). An agreement was made claiming that the Dinka and Nuer would be reflected as “now one people” (Peters-Golden, 2012).

In 2011, Southern Sudan reached its independence when close to 99% of the southern Sudanese population voted for in favor of its independence (Williams, J, 2017). Therefore, the nation split into two, Sudan and South Sudan. With the Nuer and Dinka leading the population of more than 60 different ethnic groups in Southern Sudan, members set aside their personal tensions in order to gain independence from Sudan (Williams, J, 2017). Southern Sudan’s new president, Salva Kiir was from a Dinka tribe and chose to appoint a Nuer member, Riek Machar to be the vice president as a way to reduce tensions between the groups (Williams, J, 2017). The peace didn’t last long as Riek Machar started to criticize the way Salva Kiir was running the country (Williams, J, 2017). This eventually led to more chaos as both members represented their own ethnic group which already had a long historic rivalry. Thousands of people on both sides of the conflict were impacted as a result of warfare as many people lost their lives and others were displaced (Williams, J, 2017). In 2013, Salva Kiir relieved Riek Machar of his role as vice president due to much controversy but the conflict still continued (BBC News, 2018). In August of 2018, Salva Kiir’s party and Riek Machar’s party signed a deal to make peace within the nation which included Machar returning to his role being one of the five vice presidents for South Sudan (Mednick, S, 2018). The reaching of the agreement was a good sign for the Nuer people as not only were they finally looking to reach peace but Riek Machar, a Nuer member would represent as vice president for the country.

Nuer People today

Today, civil war continues in Southern Sudan leaving many ethnic groups facing an uncertain future. The constant warfare going on in Southern Sudan has led many to flee the country in hopes to gain refugee status elsewhere (Peters-Golden, 2012). Sudan holds the world’s most internally displaced population and it is estimated that since 2013 more than 2 million people have searched for refugee status (CFR, n.d). Many Nuer people leaving Southern Sudan will have to learn to live a different lifestyle as it may be more difficult to practice their own way of life in another country. Regardless of the ones who have fled, the Nuer people in South Sudan have to live through constant warfare while trying to live their traditional life (Encyclopedia, n.d). Due to all the conflicts the Nuer people have faced over the past few decades, they are continuing to adapt to the changes that come upon them.

Globalization

The many different events that have transpired over the past few decades have threatened the Nuer people’s traditional way of life. From feuds with neighboring communities, British colonization and civil war, many of the Nuer people fled their motherland country. With that said, the ones who no longer reside in South Sudan are able to practice their traditional way of life. Since the weather in South Sudan cycles from flooding season to drought season, the Nuer people’s way of life has been built on mobility (Peters-Golden, 2012). The use of cattle made it very easy for the Nuer people to get around (Peters-Golden, 2012). The new country the Nuer people may have fled to may not have the same environmental conditions as South Sudan. Therefore, the Nuer people may be forced to change their way of life and not depend so much on pastoralism.

The Nuer people depend on a kin-based society in order to dictate their way of life (Peters-Golden, 2012). When Nuer people settle down in other nations, they may not have all of their family members with them, making them have to be more independent than what they’re used to. The Nuer people residing outside of South Sudan may look for other Nuer members to build a relationship that could be compared to a kin-based relationship.

The Nuer people have been on the move from region to region. About half a million Nuer people were displaced in Ethiopia only to be pushed out due to the Ethiopian revolution. From Ethiopia, many moved to Kenya and the United States of America (Peters-Golden, 2012). Church in the United States of America have played a role in helping the Nuer people resettle (Peters-Golden, 2012). The church would raise money in order to sponsor a Nuer family helping them with their transition (Peters-Golden, 2012).

Conclusion

The Nuer people have such a unique way of life. Their traditional lifestyle has been practiced for decades and continues to this day. Unfortunately, many of the Nuer people today are not able to live the same way as many of their ancestors did. Many Nuer people are being forced to adapt to the changes around them. Due to their way of life built around cattle as well as kinship, they now have the difficult task to find a way to maintain their identity. The Nuer people have been through a lot of conflicts which has led them to change their way of life. Whether it was with their rival neighbors, the Dinka people, who competed for much of the same land the Nuer people used or the British, who attempted to colonize Sudan. The Nuer people stuck together which ended up working in their best favor. The Nuer people continue to struggle with conflict to this day as a rivalry between the Nuer and Dinka people continues to heat up. It is essential that world leaders recognize the importance of the many indigenous groups like the Nuer people around the world. The Nuer people have stuck together and adapted to the changes of their environment while maintaining their traditional rituals that were passed down for decades. With globalization changing the world, the Nuer people are a great example of the many different ethnic groups who are being negatively impacted by globalization.

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