Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The government of Uganda has responded to the conflict by adopting both military and general amnesty strategies. In the most recent phase of the cycle, beginning in the mid-1980s, Acholi has largely been on the receiving end of the violence. against the central government. Idi Amin was also from north Uganda, but was of the Kakwa people. their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. The Acholi of Uganda. Farming and hunting dominated the live in this rural 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. encompasses the six closely related languages Acholi, Adhola, Alur, Kumam, Lango and Uganda's current army, various local rebel groups (some headed by apocalyptic "prophets" such as Alice Lakwena), and heavily armed Karamojong raiders have all raped, looted, killed, and destroyed, making any kind of normal life in Acholi impossible. . The Acholi, a Nilotic Lwo-speaking ethnic group, live predominantly in the central region of northern Uganda, an space collectively named to known as Acholiland. When not disrupted or dispossessed by the violence endemic since the mid-1980s, most Acholi remain primarily mixed farmers. neighboring peoples, was neither rare nor endemic. 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. In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. [28], In 2012 the American charity Invisible Children produced a documentary about the LRA. named Luo. [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. "In 1997, the Catholic, Anglican, Muslim, and later the Orthodox religious leaders of Acholi formalized their increasing cooperation on peace issues by setting up the Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative (ARLPI). million first language speakers at the time. Identification. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. Hunting tracts are owned by clans. 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. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. While rwodi, Traditionally, lineage heads and elders were the most knowledgeable aboutand involved withthe lineage and chiefdom jogi, although rwodi also had a role to play in ceremonies involving the latter. to the land by Kuturia caused a lot of death in the sub-region of Acholi. (p. 34). Under Ugandan Pres. Orientation Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives (Brandon & Seldman, 2004; Hochwarter, Witt, & Kacmar, 2000). Lineage heads, assisted by lineage elders, organized both production (based on cooperative village-lineage labor) and reproduction (through the control of the material means and ideological rules of marriage). This disorder in Acholi contrasts sharply with the solid organisation of Buganda, which always has a centralized, well-thought out and weighted responses to critical issues such as land and political contention that affect the kingdom. 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. They are speakers of Western Nilotic languages and are traditionally farmers. These guns brought 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. latest redrawing of the administrative divisions, it contains seven districts; Agago, Amuru, Gulu, 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. Whitmire (2013) on the other hand argued that a 30 Chiefly authority was however not absolute, as power was shared with lineage elders ( ladit kaka) and political authority was mainly vested in Uganda Now: Between Decay and Development. This trade brought new wealth into Acholi that was unevenly accumulated, with rwodi and interpreters (and eventually their sons and other kinsmen) the major beneficiaries. sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the 61). The account of the Acholi reaching This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It was not until 1995 that a constitutional reform recognized such cultural leaders, but they have not been fully restored to previous powers, as so much of society has changed. In terms of the afterlife, although spirits of the dead are believed to continue to exist and manifest themselves, there is no belief in a heaven to reward the virtuous or a hell to punish the sinful. administration within the region and the district headquarters were erected in the area of the 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. Over the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some seventy chiefdoms were founded throughout the area that became Acholi, leading to the development of a new social order and political culture, the spread of a new language (Luo), and the evolution of a new society and collective identity. He overthrew Obote's government and established a dictatorship, ultimately suppressing and killing 300,000 people, including many Acholi. cooperation of their rwot (chief) Aliker with the British, the centre of the colonial 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. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education. deaths. the northern parts remained ignored for a long time. represents an income that averages several times that of a member of the Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", p. 90-92, Branch, A. For example, among Acholi, husbands pay a bride price to their wives fathers, and this payment supports the traditional belief that women are the property of the husband, since a payment was made for her. Boys and girls are typically socialized into distinct gender roles, and do household and other chores accordingly. portrayed this relationship in his account as rather hostile and negative: Most of these Arabs carrying business of slave trade were coming from Egypt, they The Acholi occupy a 39,000-square-kilometer area, three-fourths of which lies within Uganda, extending roughly from 215 to 4159 N and 3325 to 3345 E. Their neighbors include the Luo-speaking Lango, Paluo, and Alur to the south and southwest, the Central Sudanic-speaking Madi to the west, and the Eastern Nilotic Jie and Karamojong to the east. The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. Hansen, Holger B., and Michael Twaddle, eds. [26], In 2016, the multi award-winning film, A Brilliant Genocide was produced. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy McKenna. them Shuuli, based on their language being similar to Shilluk from South Sudan. Millet is the staple food of the Acholi, and tobacco is grown for trade. This complex process was helped along by two major droughts, probably during the 1720s and c. 1790, which promoted larger-scale political leadership that held the promise of greater stability and security, and by the formation of neighboring identities against which members of an emergent Acholi could compete, compare, and define themselves. "Swazi" refers to the nation, tr, Fipa PUBLISHED: 27/01/2023. Since Ugandan forces pushed the LRA out of Northern Uganda, the majority were able to return to their homes, though without much in the way of government support. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Ugandan minister of internal affairs and leader of the government negotiating team, noted the effectiveness of the traditional system. p. 41). The largest political unit was the tribal section, regarded as the geographical nation. Further tidying up and smoothing over the grave take place within the week. state, political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the institutions of government. comparably flat. Its current population is estimated to be around 2.155,000 individuals, or six percent of the total national population. 17 de fevereiro de 2022 / Category . Traditionally, a grave is dug as soon as a person has died, following which a small and brief ceremony is held in the deceased's house prior to burial. As they have for centuries, Acholi farmers rely mainly on iron hoes and other hand tools. [17] Most of the LRA returnees, numbering 12,000, underwent nyono tong gweno ('stepping on the egg') after returning to their home villages, to help restore them to home. from sexual conduct, over blackmailing and stealing, to killing someone (Vincent, 2012, pp. The women have accomplished agriculturists, growing and processing a variety of food crops, including millet, simsim, groundnuts, peas, sorghum and vegetables. Localized patrilineal lineages, some of which have "brother" lineages of the same or different name in other parts of Acholi, have long been the fundamental social and economic units in Acholi. 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. Atkinson, Ronald R. (1994). This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. southern parts of the country. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. with the Gulu district being by far the most populated one (Uganda, 2016). The movement hopes to strengthen the political and economic power of women in society and so push back destruction of the natural environment. Linguistic Affiliation. Marriage has been typically patrilocal and patriarchal, with the husband and father as the undisputed head of the household. Location. The 1980 population of the Uganda Acholi was approximately 580,000 (Kasozi 1994, ii), up from some 465,000 in 1969 (Langlands 1971), perhaps 125,000 in 1900 and about 100,000 at the end of the eighteenth century (Atkinson 1994, 275-281). Milton Obote, the independence leader, relied heavily on the support of his fellow Luo-speakers Acholi and Langi in government. ." Localized lineages have been the fundamental social units in Acholi, [6] While Acholi also lives north of the South Sudanese border, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland". with chiefdoms providing a layer of organization above the lineages from (1972). The system values peace over justice, and has retributive and restorative aspects. aimed at achieving clearly-defined political goals, which typically benefit the interests of their members. [13] The refugees in the camps have also been subject to raids by both LRA and government forces.[10]. From the beginning, the Acholi were marginal compared to Britain's concern with Buganda, at the core of the colony. In the precolonial era, warfare, herding, and hunting were the domain of men. In the administrative structure of Uganda, Acholi is composed of the districts of: It encompasses about 28,500km2 (11,000 square miles) near the Uganda-Sudan border.[5]. The Acholi resisted the establishment of the Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. At the height of the insurgency, some 1.8 million people were living in camps in the north, and due to a combination of LRA activities and the Ugandan armys counter-offensives virtually the entire population of Acholiland was displaced. Recognized compensation and reconciliation procedures seem to have often limited or prevented serious conflict, especially among neighboring chiefdoms within the same zone. Acholi Sub-region is consist of seven districts, namely; Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo, Pader, Agago, Amuru and Nwoya, and are situtated in northern Uganda. They also oversaw village-lineage ritual and chiefdomwide ritual, were the main advisors to their rwot, and were responsible for most of the social control exercised in Acholi. commonly, almost any salaried job in the public or private sector higher now, due to the ongoing growth in population. Over the second half of the nineteenth century, Acholi was incorporated into international trade networks through the activities of northern, Arabic-speaking ivory and slave traders. Historically, the most important public ceremonies were probably those associated with birth, planting, harvesting, and the killing of a large animal or another human being. 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. With colonial rule The Shona-speaking peoples comprise about 80 percent of the population of Zimbabwe,, Swazi This belief underlies the customary land tenure rule that prohibits women from having rights to land independent of their relationship with their father or husband. Encyclopedia.com. Customs may reinforce social justifications for inequitable land rights for men and women. century, social stratification appears limited, owing primarily to both Identification. Both Protestant and Catholic missionaries were active in Acholi from early colonial rule, providing written Luo religious, educational, and historical texts and producing a local educated elite, all of which fostered the further development of an Acholi identity within the colonial context of "tribal" culture, consciousness, and politics. The full integration of the Acholi into the British colonial complex happened comparatively late. While Bantu speaking groups had begun to occupy Bor Lango The history and politics of ethnicity and language 37. The insurgency's military. Political Organization. morphed into Chuuli, before finally becoming Acholi as it was applicated with the pronoun 1679-1914." Due to its central location and the close Before the late seventeenth century, Luo speakers were limited to only a few peripheral areas of Acholi. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse and understand how you use this website. Much of that hierarchy continued in 1911 in response to the British confiscation of Acholi guns was the Acholi chiefdoms ranged in population from under 1,000 to as many as 20,000 people and consisted of a number of fenced villages, each with recognized land rights vested in the patrilineal lineage (kaka ) at its core. In Changing Uganda: The Dilemmas of Structural Adjustment and Revolutionary Change, edited by Holger B. Hansen and Michael Twaddle, 162-177. Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. more. (p. 34). Political Organization. All of these early inhabitants were ironworking mixed farmers, organized into localized patrilineal lineages or, in some cases, into temporary groupings of two to four such lineages. 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. Conflict. Girling (1960) notes that as late as 1950 there was still no system of individual land tenure in Acholi; however, such tenure has become increasingly common since independence. southeast by the Langi region and to the south, across the Nile, by Bunyoro. But when Idi Amin overthrew Obotes first spell in power, and when Yoweri Musevini ousted Okello, the Acholi paid heavily for their allegiances. The chiefs traditionally came from one clan, and each chiefdom had several villages made up of different patrilineal clans. Over the twentieth century, chiefdoms in Acholi have become vestigial institutions, and the fences that once enclosed villages have disappeared. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. expression of difference, but one of a common political ideology and identity (Whitmire, 2013, Since the entrenchment of colonial rule, an average of 10 to 20 percent of adult Acholi males at any one time have been involved in migrant labor or employment in the police or army that has taken them from their home and families. London: James Currey. be possessed by a spirit named Lakwena, the so-called Holy Spirit Movement fought a rebellion 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. The Acholi region and language 51. Contemporary versions or amalgams of these practitioners continue to function in Acholi. . 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. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. (Whitmire, 2013, p. 46). As droughts and Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. (Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs 1997. Death and Afterlife. He understood the emergence of an Acholi identity as a final step in a social process that did not When the camps were disbanded and people began to return to their land, customary rules for land tenure did not necessarily have the answers to some of the problems faced by Acholi people: men had lost their fathers from whom they would be granted land; children did not know where their clan land was; women were married to men without following the customary rules for marriage because of a lack of resources; and women were widowed and left with few options for survival. 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).