Total population | |
---|---|
70,000–100,000 [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
South Sudan | |
Languages | |
Mandari | |
Religion | |
African traditional religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Karo people, other Nilotic peoples |
The Mundari are a small ethnic group of South Sudan. They are a part of the Karo people, one of the Karo ethnic Group
The group is composed of cattle-herders and agriculturalists and are part of Karo people which also includes Bari, Pojulu, Kakwa, Kuku and Nyangwara. Kutuk na Mundari is also the name of their language, which is similar to Kutuk na Kuku, Kutuk na Kakwa, Kutuk na Pojulu, Kutuk na Bari, and Kutuk na Nyangwara.
The traditional Mundari tribal lands are located roughly 75 kilometers north of Juba, the capital of South Sudan, and are centered on the town of Terekeka in the state of Central Equatoria. They are bordered to the north by the Bor Dinka at Pariak, and to the south by the Bari of Juba 12 km at the Gwerkek north of Peiti Northern Bari of Juba base on 1956 British Colonial boundaries. Their lands are bounded on the east by the White Nile and extend west to Laka Ma'di in Western Equatoria state, an area roughly 100 by 75 kilometers in size.
The land, like much of South Sudan, is predominantly flat and marked by occasional isolated large hills. The low-lying land contains many rivers and lakes and is prone to flooding during the rainy season. The soil is predominantly clay-based, causing drainage and water retention problems, and provides a very fertile basis in support of cattle grazing. The main settlements in Mundariland are Terekeka, Gemeiza, Mangalla, Muni, Tombek, Tindilo, Tali, Rego, Tijor, Rijong, Koweri, and Nyori.
The Mundari, like other Nilotic tribes, are very cattle-oriented: cattle serve as a form of currency and a mark of status. Marriages are arranged by the prospective groom offering cattle to the bride's family and husbands may take as many wives as they can support. The Mundari engage in perennial cattle raiding wars with the Bor Dinka during the dry season.
Mundari men sometimes bathe their hair in cow urine; the uric acid gives the hair a red, yellow, or orange color, which they regard as beautiful. [2] [3]
The Mundari also cultivate sorghum and catch fish using nets and spears.
In common with other Nilotic tribes in Sudan, the Mundari practice ritual scarification as a rite of passage into adulthood for young men. The typical Mundari scar pattern consists of two sets of three parallel lines, each on either side of the forehead, extending in a downward slope and unconnected in the middle.
The Kakwa people are a Nilotic ethnic group and part of the Karo people found in north-western Uganda, south-western South Sudan, and north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly to the west of the White Nile river.
Equatoria is the southernmost region of South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile and the border between South Sudan and Uganda. Juba, the national capital and the largest city in South Sudan, is located in Equatoria. Originally a province of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, it also contained most of northern parts of present-day Uganda, including Lake Albert and West Nile. It was an idealistic effort to create a model state in the interior of Africa that never consisted of more than a handful of adventurers and soldiers in isolated outposts.
Central Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. With an area of 43,033 square kilometres (16,615 sq mi), it is the smallest of the original South Sudanese states. Its previous name was Bahr al-Jabal, named after a tributary of the White Nile that flows through the state. It was renamed Central Equatoria in the first Interim Legislative Assembly on 1 April 2005 under the government of Southern Sudan. Central Equatoria seceded from Sudan as part of the Republic of South Sudan on 9 July 2011. The state's capital, Juba, is also the national capital of South Sudan. On October 2, 2015, the state was splited into three states: Jubek, Terekeka, and Yei River. The state of Central Equatoria was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 February 2020.
The Dinka people are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, and the Abyei Area of the Ngok Dinka in South Sudan.
The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in South Sudan. They are spoken across a large area in East Africa, ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of Tanzania. Their speakers are mostly cattle herders living in semi-arid or arid plains.
The Bari are a tribe of South Sudan in East Africa they are Nilotic people inhabiting South Sudan. The Bari speak the Bari language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the Nilotic family.
Kaya is a city in Central Equatoria, South Sudan.
The Kuku are a Nilotic tribe of the Karo people from South Sudan. They inhabit the agricultural lands of Kajo Keji County in Central Equatoria State. The Kuku speak a Kuku dialect, also called BaKuku.
Bari is the Nilotic language of the Karo people, spoken over large areas of Central Equatoria state in South Sudan, across the northwest corner of Uganda, and into the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Kuku language, also called Kutuk na Kuku belongs to the Karo language group, of the Southeastern Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family of Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda. There is no standardized writing system for Kuku; it is sometimes written using the alphabet of a related language such as Bari or Kakwa, with the addition of characters to represent sounds that are not present in the other language. For example, the Bari alphabet can be adjusted for use in Kuku by adding the digraphs gb and kp to represent the voiced and voiceless labiovelar stops, respectively.
Ma'di is a Central Sudanic language spoken in Uganda and South Sudan. It is one of the Moru–Madi languages. The Madi people refer to their language as Ma'di ti, literally "Ma'di mouth".
The Pojulu is a tribe of the savanna lands in the White Nile Valley, in the Equatoria region of South Sudan. They are Nilotic people and part of the Karo people — which also includes Bari, Mundari, Kakwa, Kuku, Nyangwara, and the Karo Tribes Of Omo Valley in Ethiopia such as the Banna, Hamer, Mursi, Kara, Dassanech, Arbore, Nyangatom known as the Omo Karo peoples.
Mukaya Payam is situated in Lainya County in central Equatoria State, South Sudan; It was a former local administrator head for current Yei river county. The name (Mukaya) originated from Hill located about in central of the Mukaya geographical land, which is around 9 to 12 miles north of Yei river County. The Mukaya differentiates into smaller clans of Dimo (1), Dimo (2), Dimo na Godo, Rume, Kendire, Goromba, Mingale, Jolobong, Mijikango, Dongbong, Pisak, Piyasuk, Bori, Yondoru, Sowaka, Ligi, Girim, Yensot, Migibura, Bono, Muresuku, Morsak, Gokoni, Malari, Worokosuk, Bujang, Mika, Warijang, Gori, Kobo, Nyori, Morsak, Bonga, Mikatom, Jubor, and a few other smaller ones. The population of the Mukaya Payam is estimated to be 15,000 persons.
The Nyangwara, also known as the Yangwara, are a Nilotic ethnic group living in the state of Central Equatoria, South Sudan. The population numbers between 25,000 and 30,000 people, and is divided between the Terekeka and Juba Districts. Their largest town is Rokon, which lies about 53 miles west of Juba.
The Karo is a group of Eastern Nilotic tribes that straddles the Nile in South Sudan and is predominately found in Central Equatoria, and as far South as Uganda and South-West as Democratic Republic of the Congo. Karo comprises Yangwara, Bari, Pojulu, Kuku, Mundari and Kakwa. They have been erroneously called Bari-speakers by C. G. Seligman, a British ethnologist, whose first contact with Karo was likely with the Bari during British colonial rule in Sudan. Seligman categorised the six ethnic groups as "Bari Speakers" for research purposes as he did so for "Dinka Speakers, Nuer Speakers, Lou Speakers, Moru Speakers and the Azande Speakers". These other groups however, have not adopted the categorization coined by G. Seligman for ethnic identification. It is only the "Bari Speakers" who are erroneously defined as speakers of Bari language.
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.
Mongalla or Mangalla is a Payam in Juba County, Central Equatoria State in South Sudan, on the east side of the Bahr al Jebel or White Nile river. It lies about 75 km by road northeast of Juba. The towns of Terekeka and Bor lie downstream, north of Mongalla.
Terekeka County is an administrative division of Central Equatoria in South Sudan. It is the capital of surrounding Mundari and Boma counties. It lies on both the east and west bank of the White Nile north of Juba The word "Terekeka" is a combination of two words; "Tirgigi", a kind of hard shrub and "Terere" an open hard ground usually found in the middle of shrub trees. The local referral of "Terere i Tirgigi lukata" became shortened and distorted to create the current name, "Terekeka".
Clement Wani Konga is a Mundari leader who fought in the Anyanya independence movement in the south of Sudan in 1969−72. He then joined the army of Sudan and rose to the rank of major general. In 2004 he made peace with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and was appointed interim governor of Central Equatoria in South Sudan. In August 2015 he was dismissed from his post by president Salva Kiir Mayardit. He continued to be active as chairperson of the Mundari Community.
Ethnic violence in South Sudan has a long history among South Sudan's varied ethnic groups. South Sudan has 64 tribes with the largest being the Dinka, who constitute about 35% of the population and predominate in government. The second largest are the Nuers. Conflict is often aggravated among nomadic groups over the issue of cattle and grazing land and is part of the wider Sudanese nomadic conflicts.