Dinka people

The Dinka tribe (Dinka: Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Bor[1] to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three Provinces which were formerly located in southern Sudan), and the Abyei Area of the Ngok Dinka in South Sudan.

This article is about ethnic group. For the language, see Dinka language. For other uses, see Dinka (disambiguation).
Jieng/Dinka
Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ
Portrait of Dinka man
Regions with significant populations
 South Sudan4.5 million
Languages
Dinka
Religion
Christianity, Dinka religion, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Nuer and Atwot

They number around 4.5 million people according to the 2008 Sudan census, constituting about 18% of the population[2] of the entire country and the largest ethnic tribe in South Sudan. Dinka, or as they refer to themselves, Muonyjang (singular) and jieng (plural), make up one of the branches of the River Lake Nilotes (mainly sedentary agropastoral peoples of the Nile Valley and African Great Lakes region who speak Nilotic languages, including the Nuer and Luo).[3] Dinka are noted for their height, and, along with the Tutsi of Rwanda, they are believed to be the tallest people in Africa.[4] Roberts and Bainbridge reported the average height of 182.6 cm (5 ft 11.9 in) in a sample of 52 Dinka Agaar and 181.3 cm (5 ft 11.4 in) in 227 Dinka Ruweng measured in 1953–1954.[5] However, it seems that the stature of today's Dinka males is lower, possibly as a consequence of undernutrition and conflicts. An anthropometric survey of Dinka men, war refugees in Ethiopia, published in 1995, found a mean height of 176.4 cm (5 ft 9.4 in).[6] Other studies of comparative historical height data and nutrition place the Dinka as the tallest people in the world.[7]

The Dinka people have no centralised political authority, instead comprising many independent but interlinked clans. Some of those clans traditionally provide ritual chiefs, known as the "masters of the fishing spear" or beny bith,[8] who provide leadership for the entire people and appear to be at least in part hereditary.

History

History
Sudanese tribesmen raid a Dinka village in around 1870

According to oral traditions, the Dinka originated from the Gezira in what is now Sudan. In medieval times this region was ruled by the kingdom of Alodia,[9] a Christian, multi-ethnic empire dominated by Nubians.[10] Living in its southern periphery and interacting with the Nubians, the Dinka absorbed a sizable amount of the Nubian vocabulary.[11] From the 13th century, with the disintegration of Alodia, the Dinka began to migrate out of the Gezira, fleeing slave raids and other military conflicts as well as droughts.[12]

Conflict over pastures and cattle raids has been happening between Dinka and Nuer as they battled for grazing their animals.[13]

As part of Sudan

The Dinka's religions, beliefs, and lifestyle have led to conflict with the Arab Muslim government in Khartoum. The Sudan People's Liberation Army, led by the late Dr. John Garang De Mabior, a Dinka, took arms against the government in 1983. During the subsequent 21-year civil war, many thousands of Dinka, along with non-Dinka fellow southerners, were massacred by government forces. Since the independence of South Sudan, the Dinka, led by Salva Kiir Mayardit, have also engaged in a civil war with the Nuer and other groups, who accuse them of monopolising power.[14]

Christianity

In 1983, due to Sudan's second civil war, many young educated Dinka men and women were forced to flee from the cities where they were working back to rural villages. Some of these men were Christians who had been converted by the Church Missionary Society. They took their faith with them when they fled.[15] Among these men and women were ordained clergymen who began preaching in the villages. Songs and praises were used to teach the primarily illiterate Dinka about the faith and Biblical lessons.[16] Most Dinka have converted to Christianity and are learning how to adapt or reject ancient religious practices and rituals to match Christian teachings.[17] The Christian conversion of the Dinka people did not only happen in the rural villages but also among Dinka refugees as they fled the war-torn country. The Lost Boys of Sudan were converted in significant numbers in the refugee camps of Ethiopia.[18]

Dinka Bor Masscre

On November 15, 1991, the event known as the "Dinka Bor Masscre" commenced in South Sudan.[19][1] Forces led by the breakaway faction of Riek Machar deliberately killed an estimated 2,000 civilians of Dinka Bor that included Hol, Nyarweng,Twic east, Athooc, and Gök[20] wounded several thousand more over two months. Much of their wealth was destroyed, which led to mass death due to hunger. It is estimated that 100,000 people left the area following the attack.[21] [22]

Pastoral strategies
An example of rainy season temporary settlements—note the stilts upon which the huts are built to protect against periodic flooding of the region.
Cattle of the Dinka people, Juba, South Sudan

Southern Sudan has been described as "a large basin gently sloping northward",[23] through which flow the Bahr el Jebel River, the White Nile, the Bahr el Ghazal (Nam) River and its tributaries, and the Sobat, all merging into a vast barrier swamp.

Vast Sudanese oil areas to the south and east are part of the flood plain, a basin in southern Sudan into which the rivers of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia drain off from an ironstone plateau that belts the regions of Bahr El Ghazal and Upper Nile.

The terrain can be divided into four land classes:

  • Highlands: higher than the surrounding plains by only a few centimeters; are the sites for “permanent settlements”. Vegetation consists of open thorn woodland and/or open mixed woodland with grasses.
  • Intermediate Lands: lie slightly below the highlands, commonly subject to flooding from heavy rainfall in the Ethiopian and East/Central African highlands; Vegetation is mostly open perennial grassland with some acacia woodland and other sparsely distributed trees.
  • Toic: land seasonally inundated or saturated by the main rivers and inland water courses, retaining enough moisture throughout the dry season to support cattle grazing.
  • Sudd: permanent swampland below the level of the toic; covers a substantial part of the floodplain in which the Dinka reside; provides good fishing but is not available for livestock; historically it has been a physical barrier to outsiders’ penetration.

The ecology of the large basin is unique; until recently, wild animals and birds flourished, rarely hunted by the agro-pastoralists.[23]

The local climate determines the Dinka's migrations and their agro-pastoral lifestyle, responding to the periodic flooding and dryness of the area in which they live. They begin moving around May–June at the onset of the rainy season to their “permanent settlements” of mud and thatch housing above flood level, where they plant their crops of millet and other grain products. These rainy season settlements usually contain other permanent structures such as cattle byres (luak) and granaries. During the dry season (beginning about December–January), everyone except the aged, ill, and nursing mothers migrates to semi-permanent dwellings in the toic for cattle grazing. The cultivation of sorghum, millet, and other crops begins in the highlands in the early rainy season, and the harvest of crops begins when the rains are heavy in June–August. Cattle are driven to the toic in September and November when the rainfall drops off and allowed to graze on harvested stalks of the crops.[24]

Dinka tribes

The number of Dinka sub-divisions is hotly contested as the border or line between group, sub-division, and sections is blurred and often difficult to determine. For example, one can divide the Atuot into Apaak and Reel, Bor into Bor, Twic, Nyarweng and Hol[20] and Panaruu into Awet and Kuel and Ciec into Ador and Lou, where Ador and Lou are sub-divided into Ciec Manyiel (Jieng).[25][26][27]

Rek people

The Rek are an ethnic group in South Sudan, a subgroup of the Dinka.[28] Its members speak South-Western Dinka, also called Rek, a Nilotic language. Many members of this ethnicity are Christians. Some estimates put the Rek population at or exceeding 500,000 people.[29]

Cultural and religious beliefs
Dinka tribesmen, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, c. 1912
Main article: Dinka religion

Their religious beliefs and practices also reflect the Dinkas' pastoral lifestyle. The Dinka religion, just like most other Nilotic faiths, is Polytheistic, but has one creator, God, Nhialic, who leads the Dinka pantheon of gods and spirits. He is generally distant from humans and does not directly interact with them.[30] The sacrificing of oxen by the "masters of the fishing spear" is a central component of Dinka's religious practice. Age is an important factor in Dinka culture, with young men being inducted into adulthood through an initiation ordeal that includes marking the forehead with a sharp object. Also, during this ceremony, they acquire a second cow-color name. The Dinka believe they derive religious power from nature and the world around them rather than from a religious tome.[31]

Dinka diaspora

The experience of Dinka refugees was portrayed in the documentary movies Lost Boys of Sudan by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk and God Grew Tired Of Us, Joan Hechts' book The Journey of the Lost Boys and the fictionalized autobiography of a Dinka refugee, Dave Eggers' What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. Other books on and by the Lost Boys include The Lost Boys of Sudan by Mark Bixler, God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau, They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky by Alephonsion Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak and A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. In 2004 the first volume of the graphic novel Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan was released in Dallas, Texas.[32]

Notable Dinka
  • William Deng Nhial, a political leader of Sudan African National Union, SANU and co-founder of Anya Anya military wing of the liberation of Southern Sudan
  • Abel Alier, known as "Abel Alier Kwai", the first southerner former president of the High Executive Council of Southern Sudan and Vice President of Sudan (1972-1982).

Michael Makuei Lueth, A lawyer, spokeman and current minister of Information and Postal Service for South Sudan.

  • Hussein Abdelbagi, one of the Vice Presidents of the Republic of South Sudan.
  • Deng Adut, defence lawyer and former child soldier
  • Aliir Aliir, Australian Rules Footballer
  • Mathiang Yak Anek, 19th-century female chief and escaped slave
  • Adut Bulgak, First South Sudanese WNBA player, 2016 draft
  • George Athor, Sudan People's Liberation Army lieutenant general and an SPLA dissident
  • Francis Bok, author
  • Manute Bol, deceased former NBA player, one of the two tallest players in the league's history
  • Manyang Mayom, Current journalist, son of Mayom Meen Lai who die during Sudan-South Sudan civil war. Manyang rose as an orphan and became influential in South Sudan through a skillful journalistic approach. He remains a human rights defender after he undergoes odd with South Sudan leaders in a series of ceremonies.
  • Bol Bol, current NBA player, son of Manute Bol
  • Wenyen Gabriel, NBA Player

Philip Kuol Awuou, Businessman and a Former child Soldier of South Sudan.

Dinka/Jieng tribal groups

This list of Dinka tribal grouping by region. Note that these divisions are further divided into several subdivisions; for example, Dinka Rek is subdivided into Aguok, Kuac, and many other things, but they speak the same language; only the pronunciation is slightly different.

  • Dinka Agar - (Lakes State), Barh El Ghazal
  • Dinka Apaak Lakes State Bahr El Ghazal
  • Dinka Gok Lakes State Bahr El Ghazal
  • Dinka Ciec/ (Jieng)- (Lakes State), Barh El Ghazal
  • Dinka Aliab - (Lakes State), Barh El Ghazal
  • Dinka Twic - (Warrap State), Barh El Ghazal
  • Dinka Rek - (Warrap State, and parts of NBG and Western Barh El Ghazal), Barh El Ghazal
  • Dinka Luanyjang - Warrap State Bahr El Ghazal
  • Dinka Malual - (NBG), Barh El Ghazal
  • Dinka Ngok - (Abyei,Malakal), Barh El Ghazal
  • Dinka Padang - (Unity State), Upper Nile
  • Dinka Bor - (Bor), Jonglei
  • Dinka Nyarweng, Jonglei
  • Dinka Hol, Jonglei
  • Dinka Twic East, Jonglei
  • Ruweng, (Unity State), Upper Nile
  • Dongjol , Upper Nile

There are no Dinka tribes in the region of Equatorial; Dinka is located in the regions of Bahr El Ghazal and Upper Nile respectively.

Food habits

Men and women eat meals separately. When milk supply is low, children will get priority. Children are breastfed until 2-3 years of age, augmented by cow's milk from 9-12 months. After about one year, children will start eating solid food (porridge). After children turn three, they eat two meals a day. Adults also eat two meals a day.[34]

See also

References
  1. "Captain J. Liddell's Journeys in the White Nile Region". The Geographical Journal. 24 (6): 651–655. 1904. doi:10.2307/1776256. ISSN 0016-7398. JSTOR 1776256.
  2. Ancient Historical Society Virtual Museum, 2010
  3. Seligman, C. G.; Seligman, Brenda Z. (1965). Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  4. "The Tutsi". In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa 1885-1960. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
  5. Roberts, D. F.; Bainbridge, D. R. (1963). "Nilotic physique". Am J Phys Anthropol. 21 (3): 341–370. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330210309. PMID 14159970.
  6. Chali, D. (1995). "Anthropometric measurements of the Nilotic tribes in a refugee camp". Ethiopian Medical Journal. 33 (4): 211–217. PMID 8674486.
  7. Eveleth and Tanner (1976) Worldwide Variation in Human Growth, Cambridge University Press; --Floud et al 1990 Height, Health and History: Nutritional Status in the United Kingdom, 1750-1980, p. 6
  8. Lienhardt, G. (1961). Divinity and Experience: the Religion of the Dinka. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  9. Beswick, Stephanie (2004). Sudan's Blood Memory. University of Rochester. pp. 21–23. ISBN 1580461514.
  10. Werner, Werner (2013). Das Christentum in Nubien. Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche ["Christianity in Nubia. History and shape of an African church"] (in German). Lit. p. 160. ISBN 978-3-643-12196-7.
  11. Beswick, Stephanie (2004). Sudan's Blood Memory. University of Rochester. p. 21. ISBN 1580461514.
  12. Beswick, Stephanie (2004). Sudan's Blood Memory. University of Rochester. pp. 29–31. ISBN 1580461514.
  13. Diamond, Jared (2012). The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?. Penguin. ISBN 978-1101606001.
  14. "As South Sudan implodes, America reconsiders its support for the regime". The Economist. 12 October 2017.
  15. Zink, Jesse (April 2017). "Women and Religion in Sudan's Civil War: Singing through Conflict". Studies in World Christianity. 23 (1): 67–83. doi:10.3366/swc.2017.0170.
  16. Nikkel, Marc R. (1992). "Aspects of Contemporary Religious Change among the Dinka". Journal of Religion in Africa. 22 (1): 78–94. doi:10.2307/1580785. JSTOR 1580785.
  17. Fancher, Karen (2006). "Ritual and Sacrifice Among the Dinka of Southern Sudan: Implications for Christian Evangelism and Discipleship". Global Missiology English. 3 (3).
  18. Snyder, Kathryn (1 January 2010). 'In My Heart I Had a Feeling of Doing It': A Case Study of the Lost Boys of Sudan and Christianity (Thesis).
  19. Sudan (1912). Reports on the Finance, Administration, and Condition of Sudan. F. Nimr.
  20. Sudan (1912). Reports on the Finance, Administration, and Condition of Sudan. F. In villages, Nimr.
  21. Clammer, Paul (2005). Sudan: Bradt Travel Guide. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841621142. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  22. Beswick, Stephanie (2004). Sudan's Blood Memory: The Legacy of War, Ethnicity, and Slavery in South Sudan. Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press. p. 217. ISBN 1-58046-151-4. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  23. Roth 2003
  24. Deng, Francis Mading. The Dinka of Sudan. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, 1972.
  25. "TECOSS". Twic East Community of South Sudan. Archived from the original on 2011-06-19.
  26. "Sudanese Twic Association of Michigan". Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  27. "The UN Refugee Agency". UNHCR.
  28. Beswick, Stephanie (2006). Sudan's blood memory: the legacy of war, ethnicity, and slavery in early South Sudan (Reprinted. ed.). Rochester, NY [u.a.]: Univ. of Rochester Press. ISBN 9781580461511.
  29. Middleton, John; Tait, David (2013). Tribes Without Rulers Studies in African Segmentary Systems. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. pp. 97–108. ISBN 9781136532139.
  30. Lienhardt, Godfrey (1961-01-01). Divinity and Experience : The Religion of the Dinka: The Religion of the Dinka. Oxford University Press, UK. ISBN 978-0-19-159185-3.
  31. Beswick, S. F. (1 January 1994). "Islam and the Dinka of Southern Sudan from the Pre-Colonial Period to Independence (1956)". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 29 (3–4): 172–185. doi:10.1163/156852194X00298. S2CID 143445534.
  32. Cuellar, Catherine (June 28, 2004). "'Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan': Comic Book Tells Harrowing Tale of Refugee Children". NPR News. NPR.
  33. "Leader of Dinka tribe killed in Sudan attack". Al Jazeera English. 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  34. Ogilvy, Susan M. (11 March 1981). "Food habits of the Dinka in the Jonglei area of Sudan--a preliminary study". Journal of Human Nutrition. Retrieved 11 March 2023 – via agris.fao.org.

Further reading
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