Tribes in South Sudan

Tribes in South Sudan, There are a lot of different kinds of people in South Sudan. There are 64 tribes, or ethnic groups, that live in South Sudan. A lot of these different racial groups share a culture and a language that everyone can understand. Together, these cultural features make up the larger family units of South Sudan’s tribes. Here is a list of all 64 groups in South Sudan. Some of them are very traditional and live in ways that have been passed down for hundreds of years. You need to see them before they were destroyed by progress.

The South Sudanese tribes with the most history

South Sudan’s Mundari Tribe

They depend on cattle for food, money, and status, just like other Nilotic groups. The potential groom sets up marriages by giving the bride’s family cattle. Husbands can take as many wives as they can support. During the dry season, the Mundari and the nearby Dinka always fight over cow raiding. Midnight, Mundari men take their guns and go to the bush to protect their cattle. As a way for young guys to become adults, the Mundari practice ritual scarification. The usual Mundari scar pattern has two sets of three parallel lines, one on each side of the forehead. The lines go down and are not connected in the middle.

Dinka

The Dinka are South Sudan’s most well-known tribe. The Dinka live mostly in South Sudan and live around the central Nile valley swamps. They speak a Nilotic language that is part of the Nilo-Saharan languages and is classified as Eastern Sudanic. They are connected to the Nuer people. As of the early 21st century, there were about 4,500,000 Dinka living in many separate groups of 1,000 to 30,000 people.

Toposa and Jiye

The Karamojong people of Uganda, the Nyangatom people in southwestern Ethiopia, and the Turkana people of Kenya are all part of what is called the “Karamojong cluster.” The Toposa and the Jiye are also part of this group.
Cattle, camels, horses, goats, and sheep are just some of the animals that the Toposa raise for food and fun. Boys are taught to take care of goats and sheep first, and when they are old enough, they move on to cattle. Having cattle and a loaded gun are the most important ways to show your rank and wealth. Toposa culture is based around their cattle. The Toposa have always fought with their neighbors over water and land to graze their animals, and they have always stolen cattle.

The Larim Tribe

Larim are great builders and speak Murle. They also scar their bodies and cut their lips and noses. Larim have cattle and grow foods that grow at certain times of the year, like sorghum, maize, and beans. Woman who have lost a husband wrap plant stems around their head and legs. Larim is thought to be one of the oldest groups in South Sudan.

 the Lotuko Tribe

The Lotuko are a Nilotic ethnic group that lives in an area with mountain ranges and branches, like the Imotong mountain, which is South Sudan’s tallest peak.
As agro-pastoralists, they raise big groups of cattle, sheep, and goats. They also do hoe farming, hunting, and fishing for extra money. Land is not owned by one person, but by everyone in the society. After finding a spot in the mountains, the group decides how big each person’s garden will be, with some parts left empty for a few years.

 

Acholi people

The Acholi (also written as Acoli) are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo people (also written as Lwo). They live in Magwi County, South Sudan, and northern districts of Uganda, such as Agago, Amuru, Guru, Nwoya Omoro, and others. A 2000 census found that there are only 45,000 Acholi living in South Sudan. This means that most of them are in Uganda, where 2.1 million of them are registered as Ugandan citizens.

Adio Tribe

The Adio, who are also known as Iddio or Makaraka, are a group of people who live in Central Africa. They are connected to the Azande or NiamNiam and live in the Bahr-el-Ghazal west of Lado. They came from the Kibas’ land, which is north of the Welle River. The incisors are not taken out.
At the moment, they are part of the people of Central Equatoria in South Sudan. The Adio speak Mundu and Kakwa, but they are not Kakwa.

A few hundred Adio live in the Yei River District, along the road that goes from Yei to Maridi. They live off of farming and grow crops like cassava, telebun, maize, sorghum, beans, and sweet potatoes for food. Tse-tse bugs spread trypanosomaisis, which is also known as “sleeping sickness,” in the area where Adio lives.
This is what is causing their numbers to drop. In fact, many people think that the Adio will go extinct. The community is shrinking in part because of diseases that spread through the area and people moving to towns, where many of the elite have become part of Bari-speaking groups.

The Aja People

The Aja in South Sudan are not the same as those in Togo and Benin. The Aja are a small ethnic group that is split into two groups. The largest group lives near the Banda and lives in the upper parts of the Sopo River, while the smallest group is spread out around Raga town. Like most people, the Aja depend on farming for their daily needs. They have chickens and goats.

The Anyuak People

The Anyuak Tribe in South Sudan and Ethiopia depend on their rivers a lot and live off of what they can grow. They grow their crops next to rivers, which gives them a steady source of food.

During the dry season, the Anuak people hunt animals that are looking for water. A lot of fishing is done when it’s not the dry season. The Anuaks also move their animals at different times of the year based on the seasons (move during the dry season). The Anuak people value farming over cattle, so they don’t have as many animals as most other cultures. This means that the movement of domesticated animals is not as important to them as it is to other societies. The Anuaks work in farming, gathering, caring for animals, herding, shooting, and fishing to make money.

The villages of the Anuak don’t have much touch with the outside world, and they are very close. The people who live in the villages can easily get rid of the Headmen who are in charge of them if they are not accepted. The Anuak people run their own government in a pretty fair way. The Anuaks tend to be wary of strangers because they have had bad experiences with the Ethiopian government and other groups of people who live on the same land.

 

The Kuku People

The Kuku are a group of Karo people from South Sudan. They live in Kajokeji County, which is in the farming part of Central Equatoria State. The Kuku speak a form of Bari that is also called Kuku.

They depend on mixed farming because they are mostly farmers. They grow many types of food during the wet season, such as sorghum (also called dura in Sudan), maize, millet, cassava, sweet potatoes, and beans (loputu). They take care of a small group of horses, goats, and sheep during the dry season. The Kuku are great at taking care of bees. Also, during the dry season, they hunt together with bows and arrows. As part of their shooting, they also catch animals in nets.

There are between 20,000 and 30,000 Kuku, and some of them live in Ethiopia’s West Nile District. The Kuku were a part of a bigger group called the Bari-. Since there was a lot of fighting in the main group, they decided to split up and go to different places where everyone felt safer. The people who chose to move south and settle down were the Kuku. Some people in the tribe are known for making it rain. In 1972, after the first Sudanese civil war, an agreement was made between South Sudanese groups. Important Kuku people joined the government of South Sudan.

Men usually hunt or work on farms during the day. Most of a woman’s day is spent farming and doing jobs around the house. Women get home an hour earlier than men to start making the meal for the day. Both boys and girls their age are free to play and often help with chores around the house. Sometimes, a dad will take his kid to teach him how to hunt and grow. A mother shows her kids how to do chores around the house. To help the town stay alive, the adults must work together as a group. Elders keep the peace in their tribes or communities.

Tribe of Lango

Lango is a group of people who speak a Paranilotic language and are from South Sudan. They are farmers who are on the go. The Lango people live in Ikwoto County in Imatong State. The people who live in this area are related to the Lango people who live in Uganda to the south. The Lango are a group of about 25,000 to 30,000 people who live on the eastern side of Equatoria’s Equatoria Dongotono Mountain. There are four main cities for the Lango people: Isoke, Agoro, Logire, and Ikotos. Each of the 13 or more clans also has its own smaller town that it calls home.

The Lango and the Lotuka are alike in many ways when it comes to how they run their society. The people are split into exogamous agnatic groups. Some of them have animal ties and become animals after they die. The Lango divide people into groups based on age, but they don’t follow the Lotuka’s “new fire” ritual. The initiates live alone in the woods for five days, eating only what they can find. When they come back, they are served a feast of goat meat that has been killed but not skinned, which makes them stand out as senior servants.

Age class is important in fights, cow raids, and other social events. It also has to do with some psychological traits and how people act. There is no way for Lango to flirt with people his age. Adultery like this could lead to the death sentence. It is against the rules for women and teens to milk cows before they are initiated. No woman is allowed to join or sit in the clubhouse (nabali) for a month after giving birth to a boy. During that time, the mother brings the child and rubs oil on the logs that the men sit on as well as the child’s feet and chest. Afterward, when he grows up, he joins the group.

 

The Lokoya People

There are about 30,000 Lokoya people living in South Sudan, in the area between Jubek State and Eastern Equatoria State. They are an ethnic group that split off from the Otuho people. The people are known as Lokoya. This name comes from mispronouncing the name “Akokoya,” which the Bari gave them because they stole livestock.

The Torit area is on the east shore of Equatoria, east of Juba. This is where they live in the valleys and hills. In the Lotuka sub-ethnicity, they are part of the ohoryok group. The two main towns in the Lokoya are Liria and Ngangala. The Lokoya follow a traditional form of government that blends spiritual, political, and administrative power. The monyomiji, or leading age group, are in charge for 25 years. After that, the younger age group takes over.

The People of Lopit

The Lopit are a group of people who live in the Eastern Equatoria State of South Sudan. You can call them donge (a group) or dongioni (a single one). There are between 160,000 and 200,000 Lopit people living in the Lopit Mountains, which run from the east of Torit to the north. The Lopit area is surrounded by land on all sides.

Pari is to the north, Tennet is to the north and east, Bari is to the north and east, Lokoya and Otuho are to the north-west, Otuho and Dongotono are to the south, and Toposa and Boya are to the east. It is made up of 55 to 57 towns. The county town of Lopa is Imehejek, which is in the Lopit area. There are six governmental areas in the Lopit area. The southern ones are Imehejek, Lohutok, and Obunge. The northern ones are Arilo, Longiro, and Bule.

The Lopit are agro-pastoralists who live in hilly areas and do traditional farming as well as raising animals. You can find these types of jobs on both mountain sides and plains. As well as pumpkin, sorghum, bulrush, millet, and groundnuts, simsim, and okra are the key crops. They also gather things from the wild, like honey and shea nuts, which are used to make oil. Like other groups in the area, the Lopit go on long hunts. Some of the things they trade are chicken, honey, cattle, groundnuts, sorghum, arts, okra, calabashes, hoes, and tobacco.

People from Lopit are very proud of their culture, and this pride affects how they act and connect with others. Their material culture is similar to that of the Otuho (especially in central and northern Lopit), but it is also different. This is especially true for the southern Lopit. They have a number of cultural initiations, such as name initiation when they are children and adults, camp initiation (like Mangat), and age-set initiation.

 

The People of Lotuka

The Lotuko, also called the Latuka and the Othuo, are a Nilotic group of people who live in the Eastern Equatoria state of South Sudan. Between 500,000 and 700,000 people live there. These are the villages that make up Otuho: Hiyala, Obira, Abalua, illieu, Ifwotu, Imurok, Offi, Oming, Oguruny, illoli, Murahatiha, chalamini, Burung, Haforiere, Hutubak, Oriaju, Olianga, and Hidonge. They talk to each other in Otuho.

The Lotuka live in towns. There are sixteen known towns like this. Iliu, Hiyala, Lobira, and a few others are the most populous and the most important. A population count from 1983 says that there are between 69,000 and 75,000 Lotuka living in sixteen towns and Torit town.

The main job of a kobu, or chief, is to make it rain. But among the Lotuka, unlike other groups in the area, where the kobu doesn’t have much power outside of his job, chiefs have always had a lot of political power. It is impossible to be a truly effective rainmaker unless you come from two different lines of rainmakers. As a first wife, chiefs always choose the daughter of another chief or a rainmaker. In this way, women are just as powerful as men, and there are three women in the area who bring rain.

Lugbara or Lugbwara

A group of people called the Lugbara live mostly in Uganda’s West Nile area, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Morobo County, Republic of South Sudan. They speak the Lugbara language, which is a Central Sudanic language close to the Madi language. Their culture is very similar to that of the Madi. There are also some in South Sudan.

There, they are known by the name Mundu. The leopard is a spiritual symbol for the Lugbara. They have been poor farmers for a long time. Cassava has taken the place of rice as the main food source. A lot of different root foods are grown, along with millet, sorghum, legumes, pigeon peas, and more.

Before cassava was brought to the Lugbara to help end a famine in the 1960s caused by failed cereal crops like millet and sorghum, those crops were their main sources of food. In higher places, chicken, goats, and cattle are also important. Groundnuts, sesame seeds, chickpeas, and sweet potatoes are grown. People grow tobacco and maize to make money, and corn is used to make beer. New products that are coming up are avocados, pineapples, and mangoes. In the past, extra food was traded locally by giving it to family members as gifts or trading it for other goods.

For the Lugbwara, the clan is the most important social group, and it is usually run by the Opi, who is the clan head. People from the same clan have ancestors and agnatic lines that run through them. The clan leaders were in charge of politics and social issues, and they could curse and punish members who didn’t follow the rules. The wealthy Lugbwara took care of the poor and needy through a method called amadingo. For these people to stay in the system, land and dowry could be given to them.

 

The People of Lulubo

The 1983 census says that there are between 30,000 and 40,000 Lulubo living in Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan. South-east of Juba is Lulubo land, which is now called Lomega Payam of Juba County. People who live nearby and are related to the Olu’bo call them Lulubo, which means “far people” in Madi language. Lu means “far away” and “ba” means “people.”

Even though the Lulubo society is different from that of their neighbors, the Bari and Lotuka, it is organized and highly influenced by these other groups. Some of the things they do in their social and cultural lives are like Lotuka’s. For the Lulubo, hunting is both a traditional practice and a way to make money. Even though the age-set system is a big part of how the Lulubo run their society and government, unlike the Lotuka, the leaders still have a lot of power and make most of the decisions that affect the whole community.

The people of Maban

There are different names for the Mabaano. They are a Nilotic people who live in the fields east of Renk between the Nile and the Ethiopian Highlands. Their number is about 100,000, and they are made up of a number of separate groups. In the southern Blue Nile, the Burun group includes the Uduk, Jumjum, Ragreg, Ganza, Mopo, and Mayak. They live in Wullu, Buot, Gowali, Wedega, Mayak, Mapo, Karenkaren, Kurmuk, Yabus, Jorot, and Jale. In the upper Nile, the Mabano, Buldid, and Maiwut groups live there. There are also big cities like Buny, Kigale, and Dago. South Sudanese

The Maban land is made up of flat areas that stretch from the Nile to the foothills of the Ethiopian Highlands. The vegetation runs from poor to rich savannah, and the area gets enough rain each year to support farming.

The main crops grown are sorghum, maize, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and simsim. The income is mostly based on subsistence farming. The Maban raise pigs and chickens for their own use and to trade with other people in the area. Maban culture is based on matrilineal lines, which are used to form clans. Agrarian societies need to have social norms that are linked to farming, hunting, and other activities. Maban people get together for two big events every year:

The first one is the kornga feast, which is a time for sacrifice, confession, and healing. In October of every year, the community tells God about their mistakes and asks for forgiveness for the past year. They also ask for understanding and health for all living things. Early in the morning, people go to a nearby stream to wash away all their problems. They kill animals, drink sorghum beer, and dance (dukka-conkon) when they get back to the farm.

For this event, people wear their nicest clothes and make bead designs. The second is Gatti, the harvest feast, which takes place in December. At this ceremony, boys and girls who are old enough are getting ready to get married. Animals are killed and food and beer are given. The boys and girls show up wearing chains and looking their best.

 

The People of Madi

They live in Pageri County in South Sudan and Adjumani and Moyo areas in Uganda. The area goes from Nimule, which is on the border between South Sudan and Uganda, to the Nyolo River, where the Acholi, Bari, and Lolubo people mix with the Ma’di. From Parajok/Magwi to Uganda, it goes from east to west across the Nile. There is a place called Torit where the Madi people live. This is where the Nile River turns sharply into Uganda. In Uganda, you can find them in the Moyo and Adjumani areas on the west Nile.

There are fewer Madi in Sudan now than there were during the 22-year civil war that just ended. Most of their towns are now inhabited by people who had to leave other parts of the South. The Madi’s political and social framework are tied to their spirituality, which shapes their beliefs and customs. The people live in groups called chiefdoms, and each one is run by an inherited leader called an Opi. The Opi were in charge of both religion and politics.

People believe that the rain-makers, land chiefs (like vudipi, who has a lot of power over the land), and chiefs still have those powers after they die. There was a hierarchy of souls that was exactly the same as the hierarchy of power in society. It is spirituality that shapes the Madi’s beliefs and traditions, as well as their social and political framework. The people live in groups called chiefdoms, and each one is run by an inherited leader called an Opi.

The Opi were in charge of both religion and politics. People believe that the rain-makers, land chiefs (like vudipi, who has a lot of power over the land), and chiefs still have those powers after they die. There was a hierarchy of souls that was exactly the same as the hierarchy of power in society. The Opi (Chief/King) is Madi’s most powerful person. The elders, who are in charge of settling disagreements in the clans and towns, are next in line.