Nuer people
The Nuer people are an ethnic group primarily located in South Sudan, particularly within the Sudd region, characterized by its swampy flood plains created by the White Nile tributary. With an estimated population of around two million, they are known for their agropastoralist lifestyle, relying heavily on cattle herding and crop production. Historically, the Nuer have displayed significant resistance to colonization and have been involved in longstanding conflicts with the British colonial powers and neighboring ethnic groups, particularly the Dinka. Culturally, the Nuer are part of the Nilotic peoples, sharing linguistic and cultural ties with groups such as the Dinka and Luo.
Central to Nuer culture is the role of cattle, which are vital for sustenance, economic stability, and religious practices, often serving as offerings in rituals. The Nuer religious system, although influenced by Christianity, retains elements of traditional beliefs, including the consultation of prophets during crises. Their social structure is noted for its egalitarianism and the absence of centralized authority, with lineage traced through the male line. The recent history of the Nuer has been marked by conflict, especially in the context of South Sudan's struggle for stability and the intertribal tensions that have ensued following the country's independence in 2011.
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Nuer people
The Nuer people are an ethnic group native to eastern Africa. In particular, the Nuer reside in the Sudd region, a swampy flood plain created by the White Nile tributary of the Nile River. Both the Sudd and the Nuer people are primarily located in the nation of South Sudan, although the Nuer also have a strong presence in Ethiopia. According to estimates from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the total population of the Nuer people in 2016 was about two million. The Nuer are best known in the West due to extensive sociological studies conducted by British anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard in the 1940s and 1950s.
The Nuer are agropastoralists, which means that their culture relies heavily on raising cattle and producing crops. As a result, they historically followed a semi-nomadic lifestyle that required them to regularly travel between distant grazing lands with their livestock. The Nuer were among the peoples most resistant to colonization from outside cultures in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This resulted in long-term conflicts with both early British settlers and the Dinka, another regional ethnic group that supported foreign colonization. In the twenty-first century, the Nuer made up the second largest ethnic group in South Sudan.
Background
The Nuer are categorized as belonging to the Nilotic family of peoples native to the Nile River valley. The earliest Nilotic people are believed to have first diverged from a common Eastern Sudanic people in eastern Africa between five and seven thousand years ago. The Nilotic peoples are connected by shared linguistic and cultural origins. Other Nilotic peoples include the Kalenjin, the Luo, the Shilluk, the Maasai, and the Dinka, all of which are native to a region stretching in a north-south line from the Sudan to northern Tanzania. Based on linguistic and cultural studies, the Nuer are believed to be most closely related to the Dinka people, from whom they may have only split within the past two to three hundred years.
The homelands of the Nuer people, called Nuerland, are located at the intersection of the upper Nile and the Bahr el Ghazal and Sobat Rivers. Nuerland is mostly found within the Jonglei and Eastern and Western Bieh Provinces of South Sudan. This area is prone to heavy rains from May through October, while November through April tends to be hot and dry by comparison. These weather patterns are ideal for the growth of the pasture lands that the Nuer rely on to feed their cattle.
The recent history of the Nuer people has been colored by regular conflict—first with various colonial powers and then with other ethnic groups. Beginning in 1898, the British Empire assumed sole political control over the region that consists of the modern-day states of Sudan and South Sudan. The British colonial territory of Sudan consisted of two regions of strikingly cultural and religious differences. The north was dominated by Islamic Arabs, while the south was largely populated Christians of Bantu and Nilotic origin. Under British oversight, political power was controlled by the Arab north. In the south, there was greater resistance to British colonialism, particularly by the Nuer. The Dinka, the Nuer's regional rivals, aligned with the British and became one of the most influential cultural groups in the marginalized south.
The Nuer strongly opposed British colonization. While they had nominally accepted British rule by World War I, they nonetheless remained fiercely independent. To end Nuer resistance, the British bombed their villages and seized many of their animals to end their nomadic lifestyles. However, the foreign political systems ushered in during British rule were alien to the Nuer, and they retained heightened levels of autonomy. Colonial leaders continued to emphasis Arab control over the entire Sudanese state—a governmental control structure that continued even after the country gained independence in 1956. Although the majority of the country's oil wealth was located in the southern Christian half of Sudan, the largely Islamic north wielded greater authority. Almost since the time of its independence, Sudan has been wracked by conflict between the north and south. The Nuer took a leadership role in the southern opposition to what they perceived as northern oppression.
Even after South Sudan gained independence in 2011, the country continued to struggle with intertribal conflict—particularly between the Nuer and the Dinka. These two made up the largest ethnic groups in the young nation, and they have since battled for control of the government. In the resulting civil war, more than two million people have been displaced. In December of 2016, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) warned that South Sudan was on the verge of repeating the patterns of ethnic cleansing that occurred in Rwanda in 1994.
Overview
Cattle form a central role in the culture of the Nuer. They serve as a source of food, fuel, income, inheritance, and clothing; a livelihood; and as a means of sacrifice in religious rituals. Children often assume names derived from their herds of animals. Cattle are used as a means of appeasing and honoring the spirits of ancestors, as well as local spirits and gods. The supreme Nuer god is named Kuoth, although the Nuer place great import in also recognizing the powers of lesser gods and regional spirits.
While missionaries made inroads in converting the Nuer people to Christianity, many practice a system that combines Christian principles with traditional African beliefs. As a result, oracles and prophets continue to play important political and social roles in Nuer culture. In traditional Nuer society, tribal members would consult with prophets during periods of drought or disease to find ways to appease the spirits. The Nuer religious system lacks the strict organization of other religions, and it was often left to the prophets to interpret the messages of the gods, spirits, and ancestors. This tradition has continued into contemporary Nuer society, where various Nuer groups follow the messages of a particular prophet. For instance, in the twenty-first century, among the most powerful figures in Nuer society included a female prophet named Nyachol, who was a devotee of the god Maani, and Gatdeang Dit, an earthly representative of Deng. While Dit used his position to advocate for peace in the name of Deng, Nyachol urged her followers to use violence to retaliate against Dinka aggression.
Evans-Pritchard's early studies highlighted the unique egalitarian and independent social structures of the Nuer. As a culture, they lacked the central leadership typically found among neighboring groups. Social groups were patrilineally descended, meaning that children were considered to be part of their father's family.
Bibliography
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. "The Nuer of the Southern Sudan." University of Oslo, www.uio.no/studier/emner/sv/sai/SOSANT1000/h14/pensumliste/evans-pritchard‗the‗nuer.pdf. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.
Feyissa, Dereje. "Alternative Citizenship: The Nuer between Ethiopia and the Sudan." The Borderlands of South Sudan: Authority and Identity in Contemporary and Historical Perspectives, edited by C. Vaughan, et al., Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, pp. 109–31.
Feyissa, Dereje. "The Nuer Constructivist Ethnic Identity Formation." Playing Different Games: The Paradox of Anywaa and Nuer Identification Strategies in the Gambella Region. Berghahn Books, 2011, pp. 53–74.
Gatkuoth, Peter Reat. "The Nuer Traditional Time: Social Life and Culture." South Sudan News Agency, 18 Nov. 2010, www.southsudannewsagency.com/index.php/2010/11/18/the-nuer-traditional-time-social-life-and-culture/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.
Gebeyehu, Temesgen. "Ethnic Conflict, Interaction and Cohabitation in Africa: The Case of Nuer and Anuak." Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review, vol. 29, no. 2, 2013, pp. 97–112.
Grabska, Katarzyna. Gender, Home & Identity: Nuer Repatriation to Southern Sudan. James Currey, 2014.
Holtzman, Jon D. "Introduction: The Nuer." Nuer Journeys, Nuer Lives: Sudanese Refugees in Minnesota. Routledge, 2016, pp. 2–7.
Hutchinson, Sharon E., and Naomi R. Pendle. "Violence, Legitimacy, and Prophecy: Nuer Struggles with Uncertainty in South Sudan." American Ethnologist, vol. 42, no. 3, 2016, pp 415–30.
"South Sudan Conflict: UN Warns of 'Ethnic Cleansing.'" BBC News, 1 Dec. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38174754. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.
"South Sudan Country Report." Genocide Watch, 6 Aug. 2024, www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/south-sudan-country-report. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.