Luo peoples

Last updated
Luo
LuoLocation.png
Luo location in East Africa
Total population
18,596,000
Regions with significant populations
East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Congo (DRC)
Religion
Christianity; Traditional religions; Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Nilotic peoples
Especially Atuot, Burun, Dinka, Jumjum, and Nuer
A map of some of the Luo peoples Luo Language.svg
A map of some of the Luo peoples

The Luo (also spelled Lwo) are several ethnically and linguistically related Nilotic ethnic groups that inhabit an area ranging from Egypt and Sudan to South Sudan and Ethiopia, through Northern Uganda and eastern Congo (DRC), into western Kenya, and the Mara Region of Tanzania. Their Luo languages belong to the western branch of the Nilotic language family.

Contents

The Luo groups in South Sudan include the Shilluk, Anuak, Pari, Acholi, Balanda Boor, Thuri and Luwo. Those in Uganda include the Alur, Acholi, Jonam and Padhola. The ones in Kenya and Tanzania are the Joluo (also called Luo in Kenyan English).

The Joluo and their language Dholuo are also known as the "Luo proper" by Kenya based observers, even though their dialect has more Bantu loan words than the rest. The level of historical separation between these groups is estimated at eight centuries. Dispersion from an alleged Nilotic core region in South Sudan is presumed to have been triggered by the turmoil of the Muslim conquest of Sudan. [1] [2] The migration of individual groups over the last few centuries can to some extent be traced in the respective group's oral history.

Origins in South Sudan

Shilluk men in South Sudan Sudan Malakal two Shiluki 1936.jpg
Shilluk men in South Sudan
Shilluk Kingdom (yellow) c. 1800 Southern Sudan - 1800.png
Shilluk Kingdom (yellow) c. 1800

The Luo are part of the Nilotic group of people. The Nilotes had separated from the other members of the East Sudanic family by about the 3rd millennium BC. [3] Within Nilotic, Luo forms part of the Western group. [4]

Within Luo, a Northern and a Southern group is distinguished. Dholuo is part of the Southern Luo group. Northern Luo is mostly spoken in South Sudan, while Southern Luo groups migrated south from the Bahr el Ghazal area in the early centuries of the second millennium AD (about eight hundred years ago).

A further division within the Northern Luo is recorded in a "widespread tradition" in Luo oral history: [5] the foundational figure of the Shilluk (or Chollo) nation was a chief named Nyikango, dated to about the mid-15th century. After a quarrel with his brother, he moved northward along the Nile and established a feudal society. The Pari people descend from the group that rejected Nyikango. [6]

Ethiopia

[ citation needed ]

Anuak girls in Dimma, Ethiopia Anuak Girls, Dimma (10399695426).jpg
Anuak girls in Dimma, Ethiopia

The Anuak are a Luo people whose villages are scattered along the banks and rivers of the southwestern area of Ethiopia, with others living directly across the border in South Sudan. The name of these people is also spelled Anyuak, Agnwak, and Anywaa. The Anuak of South Sudan lives in a grassy region that is flat and virtually treeless. During the rainy season, this area floods, so that much of it becomes swampland with various channels of deep water running through it.

The Anuak who live in the lowlands of Gambela are Luo people. These have accused the current Ethiopian government of encroachment. The government's oppression has affected the Anuak's access to education, health care, and other basic services, as well as limiting opportunities for the development of the area.

The Acholi also spelt Acoli, another Luo people in South Sudan, occupy what is now called Magwi County in Eastern Equatorial State. They border the Uganda Acoli of Northern Uganda. The South Sudan Acholi numbered about 10,000 on the 2008 population Census.

Uganda

Acholiland in Uganda Acholiland, Uganda.png
Acholiland in Uganda
Acholi man in South Sudan Richard Buchta - Portrait of an Acholi man.jpg
Acholi man in South Sudan

In the 1500s, a small group of Luo known as the Biito-Luo (Paluo), led by Labongo encountered Bantu-speaking peoples living in the area of Bunyoro. These Luo settled with the Bantu and established the Babiito dynasty, replacing the Bachwezi dynasty of the Empire of Kitara. According to the legends, Isingoma Mpuga Rukidi (Grandson to Labongo), the first in the line of the Babiito kings of Bunyoro-Kitara, was the twin brother of Kato Kimera, the first king of Buganda. These Luo were assimilated into the Bantu's society and lost their language and culture.

Later in the 18th century, other Luo-speaking people moved to the area that encompasses present-day South Sudan, Northern Uganda, and North-Eastern Congo (DRC) – forming the Alur, Jonam and Acholi.

Between the middle of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, some Luo groups proceeded eastwards. One group called Padhola (or Jopadhola - people of Adhola), led by a chief called Adhola, settled in Budama in Eastern Uganda. They settled in a thickly forested area as a defence against attacks from Bantu neighbours who had already settled there. This self-imposed isolation helped them maintain their language and culture amidst Bantu and Ateker communities.

Those who went further a field were the Jo k'Ajok and Jo k'Owiny. The Ajok Luo moved deeper into the Kavirondo Gulf; their descendants are the present-day Jo Kisumo and Jo Karachuonyo amongst others. Jo k'Owiny occupied an area near Got Ramogi or Ramogi hill in Alego of Siaya district. The Owiny's ruins are still identifiable to this day at Bungu Owiny near Lake Kanyaboli.

The other notable Luo group is the Omolo Luo who inhabited Ugenya and Gem areas of Siaya district. The last immigrants were the Jo Kager, who are related to the Omollo Luo. Their leader Ochieng Waljak Ger used his advanced military skill to drive away the Omiya or Bantu groups, who were then living in present-day Ugenya around 1750AD.

Kenya and Tanzania

Luo dancers in Eldoret, Kenya COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Luo dansers in krijgskostuum tijdens de Eldoret Agricultural Show TMnr 20014319.jpg
Luo dancers in Eldoret, Kenya

Between about 1500 and 1800, other Luo groups crossed into present-day Kenya and eventually into present-day Tanzania. They inhabited the area on the banks of Lake Victoria. According to the Joluo, a warrior chief named Ramogi Ajwang led them into present-day Kenya about 500 years ago.

As in Uganda, some non-Luo people in Kenya have adopted Luo languages. A majority of the Bantu Suba people in Kenya speak Dholuo as a first language and have largely been assimilated.

The Luo in Kenya, who call themselves Joluo ("people of Luo"), are the fourth largest community in Kenya after the Kikuyu, Luhya and Kalenjin. In 2017 their population was estimated to be 6.1 million. In Tanzania they numbered (in 2010) an estimated 1,980,000 . The Luo in Kenya and Tanzania call their language Dholuo, which is mutually intelligible (to varying degrees) with the languages of the Alur, Acoli, and Padhola of Uganda, South Sudan and Jo Nam or Alur of Congo.

The Luo (or Joluo) are traditional fishermen and practice fishing as their main economic activity. Other cultural activities included wrestling (yii or dhao) kwath for the young boys aged 13 to 18 in their age sets. Their main rivals in the 18th century were the Lango, the Highland Nilotes, who traditionally engaged them in fierce bloody battles, most of which emanated from the stealing of their livestock.

The Luo people of Kenya are nilotes and are related to the Nilotic people. The Luo people of Kenya are the fourth largest community in Kenya after the Kikuyu and, together with their brethren in Tanzania, form the largest single ethnic group in East Africa.

This includes peoples who share Luo ancestry and/or speak a Luo language.

Notable Luo people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Kenya</span>

The demography of Kenya is monitored by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in East Africa. Its total population was at 47,558,296 as of the 2019 census.

The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the northern border area of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-speaking peoples, Teso people also known as Iteso or people of Teso, Karo peoples, Luo peoples, Ateker peoples, Kalenjin peoples, Karamojong people also known as the Karamojong or Karimojong, Datooga, Dinka, Nuer, Atwot, Lotuko, and the Maa-speaking peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adhola people</span> Ethnic group of Uganda

The Adhola people, also known as Jopadhola, are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples that live in Tororo District of Eastern Uganda and comprise about eight percent of the country's total population. They speak Dhopadhola,, which belongs to the Western Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family. They are primarily pastoralists. The Jopadhola call their land Padhola which, according to historian Bethwell Ogot, is an elliptic form of "Pa Adhola" meaning the "place of Adhola", the founding father of the Jopadhola people. Officially, land of the Adhola is called Padhola, but the Baganda who misinterpret 'Widoma' – a Dhopadhola word for 'war cry' meaning 'You are in trouble' refer to the Jopadhola as "Badama". The social structure of the Jopadhola can be described as semi centralised because there is no traditional centralized government and its organization is limited to a clan called Nono. There are over 52 clans, each with cultural practices, common ancestry and a distinct lineage.

The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, along with the Eastern Nilotic languages and Southern Nilotic languages; Themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. The about 22 Western Nilotic languages are spoken in an area ranging from southwestern Ethiopia and South Sudan via northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Uganda to southwestern Kenya.

The dozen Luo, Lwo or Lwoian languages are spoken by the Luo peoples in an area ranging from southern Sudan to western Ethiopia to southern Kenya, with Dholuo extending into northern Tanzania and Alur into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They form one of the two branches of the Western Nilotic family, the other being the Dinka–Nuer. The Southern Luo varieties are mutually intelligible, and apart from ethnic identity they might be considered a single language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Uganda</span>

In Uganda the most spoken language in the capital city is Luganda, followed by English, as all schools in Uganda use it in their studies due to the introduction of English during the colonial period. English is also the language of business and judicial matters. Most spoken after Luganda and English is Swahili. This language is more common in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. Swahili is taught in schools as an optional additional language and it is mostly spoken by the Ugandan army. In 2005, there were talks to include Swahili as the second official language as it was seen as neutral, however this is still not ratified by the government. Swahili is used among some communities bordering South Sudan and Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acholi dialect</span> Southern Luo dialect

Acholi is a Southern Luo dialect spoken by the Acholi people in the districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Amuru, Lamwo, Agago, Nwoya, Omoro and Pader in northern Uganda. It is also spoken in South Sudan in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shilluk people</span> Nilotic ethnic group of South Sudan

The Shilluk is a major Luo Nilotic ethnic group that resides in the northeastern Upper Nile state of South Sudan on both banks of the Nile River in Malakal. Before the Second Sudanese Civil War, the Shilluk also lived in settlements on the northern bank of the Sobat River, close to where the Sobat joins the Nile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anuak people</span> Luo Nilotic ethnic group in the East Africa

The Anyuak, also known as Anyuaa and Anywaa, are a Luo Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting parts of East Africa. The Anuak belong to the larger Luo family group. Their language is referred to as Dha-Anywaa. They primarily reside in the Gambela Region of western Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Group members number between 200,000 and 300,000 people worldwide. Many of the Anyuak people now follow Christianity. It is one of the first of the Nilotic groups to become almost entirely Christian, following the Shilluk people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luo people</span> Nilotic ethnic group in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

The Luo of Kenya and Tanzania are a Nilotic ethnic group native to western Kenya and the Mara Region of northern Tanzania in East Africa. The Luo are the fourth-largest ethnic group (10.65%) in Kenya, after the Kikuyu (17.13%), the Luhya (14.35%) and the Kalenjin (13.37%). The Tanzanian Luo population was estimated at 1.1 million in 2001 and 3.4 million in 2020. They are part of a larger group of related Luo peoples who inhabit an area ranging from South Sudan, southwestern Ethiopia, northern and eastern Uganda, southwestern Kenya, and northern Tanzania, making them the largest ethnic group in East Africa.

Adhola, also known as Jopadhola and Ludama, is a dialect of Southern Luo spoken by the Adhola people of Uganda. Dhopadhola is generally mutually intelligible with Acholi, Kumam, Lango and Alur of Uganda and Dholuo of Kenya.

The Dholuo dialect or Nilotic Kavirondo, is a dialect of the Luo group of Nilotic languages, spoken by about 4.2 million Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania, who occupy parts of the eastern shore of Nam Lolwe and areas to the south. It is used for broadcasts on Ramogi TV and KBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shilluk Kingdom</span> c. 1490 – 1865 kingdom in East Africa

The Shilluk Kingdom, dominated by the Shilluk people, was located along the left bank of the White Nile in what is now South Sudan and southern Sudan. Its capital and royal residence were in the town of Fashoda. According to Shilluk folk history and neighboring accounts, the kingdom was founded by Nyikang, who probably lived in the second half of the 15th century. A Nilotic people, the Shilluk managed to establish a centralized kingdom that reached its apogee in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, during the decline of the northern Funj Sultanate. In the 19th century, the Shilluk were affected by military assaults from the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the destruction of the kingdom in the early 1860s. The Shilluk king is currently not an independent political leader, but a traditional chieftain within the governments of South Sudan and Sudan. The current Shilluk king is Reth Kwongo Dak Padiet who ascended to the throne in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of South Sudan</span>

South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a 2021 population of around 11 million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Western political institutions, with land held by the community and elders acting as problem solvers and adjudicators. Today, most ethnic groups still embrace a cattle culture in which livestock is the main measure of wealth and used for bride wealth.

Southern Luo is a dialect cluster of Uganda and neighboring countries. Although Southern Luo dialects are mutually intelligible, there are six ethnically and culturally distinct varieties which are considered to be separate languages socially.

Pochalla is a county in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, South Sudan. The capital of the state, where the governor and state parliament is located, is in Bor town, which is situated on the Nile River at the western end of the state. Pochalla is to the extreme east of the state, located on the border with Ethiopia. Much of the County is sandwiched between two rivers, the Akobo, which forms the national boundary to the east, and the Oboth to the west. The dominant people group are the Anyuak who border the Murle to the west and the Nuer to the North, both of whom are cattle keeping tribes, who have a culture of raiding to increase their cattle numbers. To the east in Ethiopia, the Anuak have had tensions with the government, so communications are weak.

Luo language or Lwo language may refer to:

The Luo are a Nilotic ethnic group that live in Western Bhar Gazal, South Sudan. They are part of a larger group of ethno-linguistically related Luo people of East Africa. They speak the Luo language

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acholi people</span> Ethnic group of South Sudan and Northern Uganda

The Acholi people are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples, found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. The Acholi were estimated to number 2.3 million people and over 45,000 more were living in South Sudan in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethur</span> Ethnic group

Ethur tribe is one of Uganda's minority communities living in Abim District, located in northeastern Uganda. The Ethur people are herdsmen and practice goat rearing, cattle keeping and agriculture for their livelihood. They are subsistence farmers who sell or exchange products with neighboring tribes. Additionally, the Ethur people are potters and blacksmiths who make various products for sale to neighbouring tribes.

References

  1. "Historic Mombasa - Kisumu". www.friendsofmombasa.com. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  2. "History Atlas". www.historyatlas.com. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  3. John Desmond Clark, From Hunters to Farmers: The Causes and Consequences of Food Production in Africa, University of California Press, 1984, p. 31
  4. Bethwell Ogot, History of the Southern Luo: Volume 1 Migration and Settlement.
  5. Conradin Perner, Living on Earth in the Sky, vol. 2 (1994), p. 135.
  6. Simon Simonse, Kings of Disaster: Dualism, Centralism, and the Scapegoat King in Southeastern Sudan, BRILL (1992), p. 53.
  7. "The world's most wanted young players". The Guardian. 28 January 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  8. Omolo, Joseph Tom (2013-12-16). "Luther in Africa". Oxford Handbooks Online. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199604708.013.032.

Further reading