Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). However, this rebellion was defeated when it attempted to attack The Acholi people (also spelled Acoli) are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples (also spelled Lwo), found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda (an area commonly referred to as Acholiland), including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. 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. The Acholi have a modified Iroquois kinship-terminology system, reflecting Acholi's patrilineal and patrilocal ideology. "[21] In discussing the peace talks of 20052007, Latigo noted leaders who called for a revival of the traditional processes of the indigenous people by which they worked for accountability and justice, namely, mato oput. Congo. This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos. In addition there were priest- or priestess-diviners, private practitioners who worked for the well-being of their clients, and witches, who worked in private for evil or destructive purposes. jok ). [19], The religious leaders have tried to help end the conflict in the country of the last two decades and to reconcile the parties. [29], Media related to Acholi people at Wikimedia Commons. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/acholi, "Acholi The Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. Wright, A. C. A. Similarly, when Yoweri Musevenis National Resistance Army (NRA) took power in 1986, there were revenge killings and looting of livestock in the north of the country. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau. Nairobi: Oxford University Press. ETHNONYM: Karanga (historical) Traditionally, land rights were vested in localized patrilineal lineages, under the control and guidance of lineage heads and elders. Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. LRA, after losing support from the local population, also turned on the people of northern With the coming of the ivory Identification and Location. Land Tenure. Apart from land, the rights to which were passed on equally to all sons, the eldest son was traditionally the designated heir of the father's property, although he was supposed to provide for the needs of his younger brothers. (1970) 'State formation and fragmentation in Agago, Eastern Acholi', This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 19:17. time was critical to the social and political development of the region. Peace negotiations to end the long-running rebellion by the Lords Resistance Army continued, while security in the north improved through 2007. - CORE window.__mirage2 = {petok:"igNXChGgDPbig_bsHwJgxoRb9NTulTcrPPRjDe2iFNY-86400-0"}; With higher population densities during the dry seasons, groups of families would fall under the rule of one person known as Jago, or clan chief (Cohen & Atieno-Odhiambo, 1968 , p . 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. 1.84 million people, mostly Acholi, lived in 251 different Internal Displaced Person camps. PUBLISHED: 27/01/2023. The Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. [10] General Tito Okello was an Acholi, and came to power in a military coup. Localized lineages have been the fundamental social units in Acholi, Acholi's role in the colonial economy was confined mainly to the peasant production of cotton as a cash crop and the provision of recruits for the colonial army or police and migrant labor for the more "developed" Buganda. The Acholi are the descendants of a variety of Luo-speaking peoples who are believed to have migrated three or four centuries ago from adjacent areas of what is now South Sudan into what is now the Acholi district of Uganda. Though some sense of a community and identity has persisted among residents, the area is characterized by substandard housing, poor environmental health and limited livelihood opportunities. development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help Crazzolara, J. P. (1950-1954). [23] This resulted in resistance building up in the region and soon a host of rebel groups sprang up in the north. Idi Amin was also from north Uganda, but was of the Kakwa people. [13] The refugees in the camps have also been subject to raids by both LRA and government forces.[10]. With colonial rule came a new hierarchy of chiefs, clerks, and policemen, all under the authority of a district commissioner. The Acholi of Uganda: Adjustment to Imperialism. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. From the Village to Entebbe: The Acholi of Northern Uganda and . [26] Conservative approaches estimates that at least 300,000 people died in the conflict that extended into the Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic. It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. Since the British had set up their administrational centre in the They are speakers of Western Nilotic languages and are traditionally farmers. When conflict did Changing Uganda: The Dilemmas of Structural Adjustment and Revolutionary Change. London: James Currey. 2008. The Age-set spokesmen handled affairs involving interclan cooperation. Each type of spirit had numerous ceremonies associated with it; many ceremonies included small offerings of food and drink. settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. "Acholi Customs may reinforce social justifications for inequitable land rights for men and women. Notable among the Acholi soldiers who made the ranks were Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa, Brig. As a result, many widowed Acholi have been unable to access their land on return to their homes. The relationship between (real) brother and sister is often very close, especially when one acts as the lapidi (nurse-child) to the other, as are the bonds between the children of sisters. During the colonial period, political leadership in Acholi was contested among those with traditional leadership qualifications and others who benefited from the new dispensation, including collaborators with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education. The cult-like militia has abducted an estimated 25,000 children over the years, forcing them to commit heinous atrocities against civilians. Numbering more than one million at the turn of the 21st century, they speak a Western Nilotic language of the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family and are culturally and historically related to their traditional enemies, the neighbouring Lango. "Is Alice Lakwena a Witch? Kin Groups and Descent. The conflict had dramatic effects on the local Acholi Sub-region is consist of seven districts, namely; Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo, Pader, Agago, Amuru and Nwoya, and are situtated in northern Uganda. 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. This period of increased contact with non-Acholi accelerated the The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Arab trading routes coming from the north, trading in goods, but also in slaves. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information. However, the date of retrieval is often important. cooperation of their rwot (chief) Aliker with the British, the centre of the colonial The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. Webster, J. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. connected and intertwined chiefdoms. The essential lawlessness of the Idi Amin and second Milton Obote regimes, however, as well as of the various rebel groups, the Ugandan army, and Karamojong raiders (who have been active in Acholi since the mid-1980s) have led to a breakdown of any meaningful social control in the area. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". be possessed by a spirit named Lakwena, the so-called Holy Spirit Movement fought a rebellion Relatively small numbers of Acholi have filled middle-level or senior civil-service positions in independent Uganda. 61). We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Tonga They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This article was most recently revised and updated by, Minority Rights Group International - World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Acholi. The available evidence suggests that conflict in Acholi before the end from sexual conduct, over blackmailing and stealing, to killing someone (Vincent, 2012, pp. Soon after, the NRM started pacifying the northern region, which is home to several ethnics, including the Acholi and Lango. The size and nature of this occasion depend on the age and status of the deceased, with the most lavish and festive celebrations taking place when the person who died was both aged and important. the furthest back is the historical reconstruction by Atkinson (2011 [1994]), who described the The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. 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. famines forced groups to move within the Acholi territory and create more cohesive forms of subcounty level; and larger zones of the most intensive (and peaceful) While rwodi, Given the low population densities and minimal land pressure, almost anyone who was willing to clear and work unused land has been welcomed by lineage heads responsible for such land and, while they functioned, by the rwodi of chiefdoms within whose domains the land lay. of as dialects of Acholi. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Acholi men say, Property cant own property, and the notion of women having independent land rights is an anomaly to them. Orientation represents an income that averages several times that of a member of the Traditionally, a young man was dependent upon his lineage head and elders both for permission to marry and for the material goods required for bride-wealth; elders of the woman's lineage were also much involved in the discussions and negotiations surrounding the marriage. Millet is the staple food of the Acholi, and tobacco is grown for trade. All lineage males, for example, are called "grandfather," "father," "brother," or "son," and all (likely resident) females "sister" or "daughter," depending upon their generational relationship to the speaker. [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]. Finally a common social order and political culture developed, and new society and 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. interpreters began to accumulate some of the new wealth brought into This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. (Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs 1997. with the British was through Samuel Baker. They keep sheep and cattle but are not as committed to pastoralism as some other Nilotic peoples are. Estimated at 1,470,554 (4.4 per cent in the 2014 census). were able gain wealth by trading mainly in ivory. Milton Obote, the independence leader, relied heavily on the support of his fellow Luo-speakers - Acholi and Langi - in government. According to Latigo, prior to colonialism, "the Acholi people maintained a traditional government that was rooted firmly in their religious beliefs, norms, and customs, which demanded peace and stability in Acholiland at all times, based on their philosophy of life. In the most recent phase of the cycle, beginning in the mid-1980s, Acholi has largely been on the receiving end of the violence. [CDATA[ Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. Hansen, Holger B., and Michael Twaddle, eds. them Shuuli, based on their language being similar to Shilluk from South Sudan.