South Sudan News Agency

By Peter Reat Gatkuoth

November 17, 2010 (SSNA) -- The Nuer people are one of largest ethnic group in the northeastern Africa which stretches from Egypt for 2000 km and westward from the Red Sea for 1500km. They are the second largest tribe in South Sudan, numbering over one million people (but not statistically demographic population count).

Principally the Nuer inhabits the swamps and expansive open grassland on either side of the Upper Nile River, and its tributaries in the Southern part of Sudan. Although these people have never had a kingdoms and have no technological skills, they are internationally known for their strong individualistic with social order and social structures maintained by community values, culture and lineage system. Therefore, the scope of this sociological insight and analysis will focus primarily on the beliefs, marriage, lineage system or culture in general.

The Nuer are extremely religious people whose beliefs can be summarized by the word Kouth (God).  “Kuoth (God) is an all encompassing God associated with the sky, but it’s always present in all things, living and dead and is also associated with the many spirits; and the spirit form of Nuer tradition.”

In the Nuer traditional culture, Kuoth (God) “supplies explanation for phenomena which cannot be explained in everyday life.” Because of the fact that it is accepted without question, the Nuer has difficulty of explaining Kuoth (God) because of its abstract nature and the fact that is used to generalize the spirits of who possesses people; and its always given “the role of creator and its said to be the origin of the ancestors.”

The Nuer, however, were “sophisticated enough to adhere to the concepts of aliveness which include the notion of a soul or spirits residing in the object.” They treat the objects they consider animate as if these things had a life, feeling, and a will of their own but did not “make a distinction between the body of an object and the soul that could enter or leave it.” The reverence that Nuer grant to deceased relatives is based on believing that in dying, they have become powerful spiritual being, or even admittedly less frequently to have attained the status of gods. This is usually based on the belief that ancestors are active members of the society, and still interested in the affairs of their living relatives.

The cult of ancestors is certainly common although not universal and has been particularly well documented in many African societies. In general, ancestors are believed to wield great authority, having special powers to influence the course of events or control the well being of their living relatives. They are often considered as the “intermediaries between the supreme God, the people, and they can communicate with the living through dreams and by possession.” The attitude toward them is one of mixed tear and reverence. If neglected, the ancestors may cause disease and misfortunes.

In the Nuer society, propitiation, supplication, prayer, and sacrifice are the various ways in which the living can communicate with their ancestors. “Ancestors worship is a strong indication of the value placed on the household, and of the strong ties that exist between the past and the present.” The beliefs and practices connected with the cult help to integrate the family to sanction the traditional political structure, and encourage respects for the living elders.

The Nuer’s traditional dearest possession is cattle. Life in earliest or traditional time depends on cattle and the Nuer always risks their life to depend this livelihood. The prestige in Nuer traditional life is measured by the quantity and quality of the cattle owned. “Either men and women take the name of their favorite oxen or cows in ritual of honor and most typically prefer to be greeted by their cattle’s’ names.”

While the Nuer do engage in the agricultural pursuits, the care of cattle is the only labor they enjoy. It is said that conversation on virtually any subject will inevitably involve a discussion of cattle and Ngundeng hymns and myths. In this ways, it is easy to understand why cattle play an important part in the Nuer’s religion and ritual.

In most instances, cows are dedicated to “the ghosts of the lineages of the owner and any personal spirits that may have possessed them at any time.” The cattle become something of an extension of the family for the Nuer. The Nuer establishes contact with those ghost and spirits by rubbing ashes along the back of oxen or cows dedicated to them through the sacrifice of cattle. There is no important Nuer ceremony of any kind that is completed without such a sacrifice in Nuer Land. Traditionally, cattle are used to buy everything from food to bride, and to pay for anything from personal debts to fines.

Many aspects of the Nuer culture are sometimes similar to the cultural aspects of the Bible’s Old Testament people which include feature of their social structure, societal system, the kinship reckoning and the extended family system aspects of marriage, divorce, rite of passage and even religious concepts of God, spirits, sin, and sacrifice. This is perhaps the fact that South Sudanese are members of the Garden of Eden and their culture may have link to others.

In the spiritual beliefs of Nuer culture, “women who are having their menstrual period cannot drink milk; visit the cattle area or eat food that had been cooked in kettle used for boiling milk” because doing so would be harmful to the cattle. Ladies are always restricted when they had their period not to visit or move inside the cattle camp or areas, and it’s conditional because doing so will endanger the life of Nuer’s cattle. If the child suffers from vomiting immediately after the villages have been visited by strangers, they are suspected to be the cause of the sickness. But standing up certain “type of green grasses” near the back door of hut will prevent harm from coming to a sick person within.

Culture is very important for Nuer people in South Sudan. Gender roles have traditionally been well-defined. Men always tend to care for cattle, and were the warriors fighting neighboring for land use, cattle and out of a sense of pride in their tribe and abilities. While women managed the household, taking care of the husbands and made most decisions regarding the rearing of children, men play their role of war and war related concern in the field. Besides that, the idea of home includes both men and women; without a man, there is no home and without a woman there is no home. In most cases, men who do not marriage are considered to be under family care and their moms always take care of their issue even if they are about forty years old. Women are often consulted on the issue of public affairs and play an important role in mediating the disputes.

Marriage is one of ultimate goals in the life of traditional Nuer men; women and its one of the primary ambition for all children. Marriage among the Nuer is brought about by payments of bride-wealth, and by performance of certain ceremonial rites. The rite cannot take place “without payments, but transfer of cattle does not by themselves bring about the union.” Both are necessary and they are process in connected movement towards the full establishment of the union. Each enforces, and reinforces the others.

The bride’s people can “enforce by holding up the rites, put the pressure on the bridegroom’s people to make the payments,” and also the bridegroom’s people can “reinforce by withholding the cattle, induce the girl’s family and kin to advance the ceremony.” First, one pedal is pressed down, and then the other as the marriage is propelled to its appointed end. It is often clear that payments should reach a certain point before a certain rite is held, and the performance of the rite is in the recognition of the transfer of cattle.

The new social ties of “conjugality and affinity” are made stronger by each payment and each ceremony so that a marriage which is insecure at the beginning of negotiations becomes surer with every new payments and rite; both sides by the giving; the receiving of cattle and by joint participation in the rite become more deeply committed to bringing about the union. Therefore, a marriage that has reached the final rite may be regarded as a stable union and will generally proved to be so. In general, girls are marrying around the age of seventeen and eighteen.

If the man “impregnates a girl, he is expected to marry her and he is sometime likely to find himself subject to the girl’s family raiding his land, properties, and taking his cattle.” Most marriages in Land are intertribal marriage. Men tend to marry women who are within visiting distance of their village, but they are strictly forbidden to marry women to whom he is even distantly related.

After the couples agree to marry, the bridegroom will go to village by villages dancing and singing his best songs with his best friend to inform his relatives, public and friends about the coming celebration of his marriage. The first day of celebration is always declared to both sides of the couples and preparations always take place in both side of the bride and bridegroom. Marriage in Nuer culture has many ceremonial steps. This ceremony includes “betrothal, wedding, and the consummation.”

Traditionally, the betrothal ceremony is sometimes necessary but it is possible to “proceed at once to the full wedding ceremony” and this is usually done when the “bridegroom is a rich man with plenty of cattle, and the bride is a girl who has passed the usual age of marriage.” Usually, the betrothal ceremony is held in the rainy season, and the wedding in the following windy season. If there is a longer interval, it is generally due to the immaturity of the bride.

The holding of the betrothal ceremony means that the marriage is provisionally agreed upon by both sides. “The transfer of cattle to the bride’s family of the betrothal is just three to ten cows.” This is used as to further acknowledge this understanding of the steps and before the ceremonies take places, it has always been agreed upon how many cattle should eventually be handed over to the bride’s family.

The wedding day is one of importance event that always takes place some weeks later, and in the meanwhile there are further discussion of a bride-wealth; not only in the home of the bride’s father, but also in the home of her “senior maternal uncle who is responsible for the negotiations on the mother’s side.”

The uncle’s claims are always “less flexible and there always been minimal disputes” about them but it depends on how strong is the relationship between the girl’s father and her uncle family. In most cases, all discussion are “settled provisionally in the father’s byre,” and than the other discussion will be left to the uncle himself who might live far away  until after the wedding or until after the consummation ceremony is done. Most of the time, both sides want to complete the “marriage without undue delay.”

“The bridegroom’s people always want their wife and the bride’s people want their cattle so that they can marry.” They might not even include or care to use the cattle of the betrothal for this purpose because these are only on pledge and if negotiation breaks down; they have at once to be returned back to the owner without any cow remaining behind. In this time, the marriage is still not yet considered to be completed until “the consummation ceremony and the birth of the couple’s first child.” After the consummation, “the wife is given the name newlywed,” and is given her own hut (from her parents) along with other various gifts such as cooking sets, mosquito net and blankets, butter, tobacco and other special things for the arrangement to go home to her husband.

During the wedding discussion, arrangements are made to hold the wedding on a certain day. In the homestead of the bride, they will make many foods, wine (beer), “two oxen will be killed and in the homestead of bridegroom, there is much rejoicing.” Men and women at that time plays, chanting poems in that night before they go to the wedding centre.

Early in the morning, “the bridegroom’s kin gather themselves to negotiation” and discuss the situation in his father’s byre. Most of the time, they know what outstanding claims are likely to be advanced because they know that the persons on the other side who stand in those relationship to the bride, and to which beasts are due by the custom. They run over quickly their “herds and assign particular beasts to meet probable claims.” A marriage concluded without all those concerns and dowry, means humiliation and even dishonor to the wire.

Unlike other tribes in South Sudan, the Nuer people traditional and even now pay dowry to the relatives of the bride not just by collecting quantity of cattle. If the bride has many relatives such as uncles, cousins, brothers and so forth, the dowry goes as much as the relative numbers but if the girl has only few relatives, you may be of luck to pay only few as forty cattle. If one of the relatives has got no cows or the bridegroom run out of the cattle, that marry may not proceed as the demand to pay the relatives is one of the major obstacle that can ruin or break down the implementation of the union.

After the agreement reach its final stages, the bridegroom will come out jumping up, jumping up and dancing with his best friends to acknowledge to the people and inform the public that they won the girl from her parents. Men always run, dancing in group, calling their name by their cattle’s names and warriors’ name.

You can easily recognize the change and the emotional faces from the men. While from the bride side, the mothers of the girls felt proud, dancing and praising their daughter in group as the best of all the girls. People eat and drink as much as they want for free as usual. This day is one of the best days in Nuer culture where all people are polite and generous to each others.

Furthermore, divorce in Nuer culture can also be granted for several reasons such as “drunkenness, sexual and temperamental incompatibility and unfriendly relationship with mother-in-law, adultery, and barrenness and impotent.” In South Sudan, when the woman divorce, the child custody typically goes to the males. If the husband and wife are having a lot of crisis, the members of the extended families, both men and women always discuss the situation in group to help settle the issue facing the couples.

If dispute is unsolvable, the wife will go to her parent’s byre/house and the husband usually remains home. His relatives will then meet with the male relatives of the wife’s family to further discuss the situation and determine the course of action. In most of the cases, the husband and the wife will follow the recommendation made by both the relatives; and the elders of the other families who are invited during the discussion.

One of critical events that also take place in the Nuer culture is “cutting of six tribal marks” on each side of forehead as the rite of passage. Rite of passage in Nuer culture is the process in which an individual’s experience movement of change from affixed position in society to another position that an individual can easily describe their change as a passage into a new realm of living. “This cutting of marks is seen as to qualify a boy for manhood” and he is then able to fight in the battles. In those traditional days, a Nuer man who was not giving marks could not participate in battle and he could not get kill for revenge, because he is considered as just a small boy even if he is the biggest man.

At the time of cutting, the boys always “remain emotionless” while this is occurring for two reasons. First, the parents, the young men whom the boys are supposed to join and girlfriends of the boys always “attend to see how brave the boys act during that period of intense suffering.” Showing fear would “subject the boy to ridicule insult and ignorance from the people.” Second, the cut could be made uneven, bearing a permanent sign that the boy flinched while they were being cut. After they all finish, the mothers of the boys will dance, sings, jumping up, jumping up and the big cow is slaughtered to show that we have a young men.

Earlier in the day, an ox, goats and sheep from each boy’s family is slaughtered, and everybody feasts. In preparation for the feasts, local traditional wine is brewed and it’s always been consumed in great quantities by the elders, older brothers of the boys and the mothers until they intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness. At this point, the mother of the boys dance and sing their love songs from sunrise in the morning until the sunset, chanting and singing the war songs all day long to celebrate the day their youngsters become men and warriors in society. During the preparation for the ceremony, all hair is shaved off, all clothing is removed and all ornaments are discarded from the boys. This ritual is usually performed on a group of boys at one time to allow them the comfort and companionship of each others, and also for the reason of age set accordingly.

After the boys are dispatched from the house they were treated in, they will be released to the villages, walking together in groups and look for the girls as their marks has a great value that mean a break down between a childhood to adulthood whereby an individual will be respected and considered as mature and complete man. You will be expected to help other and not just to be helped. You must protect your family and not just to be protected, and your wise judgment will be for the first time taken into consideration by the people and your surrounding brothers and parents.

The Nuer people have many traditional things that they consider as important for life, and they value this societal system and community value that guards them through their lives. Nuer value things that are not consider important in other part of the world as important to them.  One of the most important things is the burial of the dead body. After the death of a Nuer man, woman or a child, a grave is unceremoniously dug and the person is buried as quickly as possible. “Grave-digging privileges are always given to the other relatives of the deceased person” and only family members attended the burial.

“Graves are always dug on the left side of the person’s hut.” All the ornaments are always removed from the deceased person, and the “body is placed in the grave facing west.” At this point, no ritual occurs at the grave site. A few days after the burial, the ritual appointed leader of the family make a sacrifice asking “the ghost of the deceased person not to bother the living family members.” The mourning period lasts until the mortuary ceremony which happens several months after the death.

Traditionally, the period of mourning lasts five to six months for a man, but only two to three months for a woman or a child who died for natural death. If the deceased person has a wife, that women will only wear black clothes for almost one year and after the ceremonies, she will wear white clothes.

During this time, all hair is shaven off and no bodily ornaments are worn unless the person was murdered because the Nuer do not mourn much for a person who is murdered or kill in battle, knowing that they will revenge. The primary purpose of the mortuary ceremony is to finally sever the ties between the death and the living, and also to prevent the misfortune from happening to the relatives. The Nuer can endure and put aside an issue that lost the life of people as if they forget it but after more years, they can still come for the revenge. They can endure the worse situation for alternative options knowing that time will come and therefore, they never bother even if you treat them like slavery.

The Nuer or Naath are strongly known in Sudan for their social order and community value. Traditional norms and societal system is only one thing that Nuer beliefs the most then the others things. The community is ruled by people selected through the election process, but leaders must have certain characters that he might be known for. Leaders emerge in the community after demonstrating leadership qualities and gaining the respect of the other community members.

The Nuer do practice participatory and effective governance to support democracy system in their villages since 1800s because they see it as an effective system of governance. They always line up after one another when they are conducting an election for local community representatives such as chiefs or government representatives. Their aim to promote public administrative reform is to effectively address the community priorities and to ensure peace and security within the villages.

In many Nuer villages, people are always generous to each other, but any request which has an overtone of an order can quickly anger the Nuer men. Friends must have an obligation to be hospitable to each other. Hospitality offered by one friend must be returned by the other at a later time. Relative age is of great importance in interpersonal relations in society. Every person is in categories in terms of age set which is an association made up of equal in age. Therefore, the Nuer always considered their culture, lineages or kinship system as the best in the world according to their view of others.

NB - The view presented in this article does not represent the view of all Nuer people. It is my own sociological insight and analysis of my Nuer traditional lifestyle and customs. The author has gone through those stages; passed all those provisional tests and he is academically leading his life to academicals world. He is looking to write an article about the Nuer traditional democratic practice in Sudan and compare it with the other world democratic systems. Please contact the author of this article at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it