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Dinka Online Network
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DINKA PROFILE
The Dinka are a group of several closely related peoples living in southern Sudan along both sides of the White Nile. They cover a wide area along the many streams and small rivers, concentrated in the Upper Nile province in southeast Sudan and across into southwest Ethiopia.
History: Ancient pictographs of cattle in Egypt give reason to associate the Dinka with the introduction of domesticated cattle south of the Sahara. Around 3000 BC, herders who also fished and tilled settled in the largest swamp area in the world, the area of southern Sudan where the flood plain of the White Nile is also fed by the Rivers Bor, Aweil and Renk. The Dinka are one of three groups that gradually developed from the original settlers. Dinka society spread out over the area in recent centuries, perhaps around AD 1500. The Dinka defended their area against the Ottoman Turks in the mid-1800s and repulsed attempts of slave merchants to convert them to Islam. Otherwise they have lived in seclusion.
Identity: The Dinka are one of the branches of the River Lake Nilotes. Though known for centuries as Dinka, they actually call themselves Moinjaang, "People of the people." The more numerous Southern Luo branch includes peoples throughout central Uganda and neighboring sections of Zaire and the lake area of western Kenya. The Dinka peoples still live near the hot and humid homeland of the River-Lake Nilotes. They are the largest ethnic group in southern Sudan.
The Dinka groups retain the traditional pastoral life of the Nilotes, but have added agriculture in some areas, growing grains, peanuts, beans, corn (maize) and other crops. Women do most of the agriculture, but men clear forest for the gardening sites. There are usually two plantings per year. Some are fishers. Their culture incorporated strategies for dealing with the annual cycle of one long dry season and one long rainy season.
The boys tend goats and sheep while the men are responsible for the cattle. The cattle are central to the Dinka culture and worldview. A man will identify with one special ox, will name it and compose songs and dances about the ox. He calls himself by the name of the ox, which is given to him at his initiation to adulthood. The ox will be referred to by many reference names, allusions to the direct name, which is actually its colour. The Dinka expect an individual to be generous to others in order to achieve status in the society. The Dinka base their life on values of honor and dignity. They discuss and solve problems in public forums.
Language: The Dinka peoples speak a series of closely-related languages which are grouped by linguists into five broad families of dialects. The five languages are called Northeastern, Northwestern, Southeastern, Southwestern and South Central. Each subgroup calls its own speech by the group's name and over thirty dialects have been identified among the five language groupings. Some writers refer to these technically distinct languages as one language. The Dinka languages are written in Latin script. A large percentage are reported to be bilingual in Sudanese Arabic.
In the broader Nilotic family the Dinka languages are most closely related to Nuer and Atuot. The Atuot are culturally Dinka, but the language is different enough to be a sixth separate language group. The Atuot and Dinka have often had bloody encounters over grazing areas in droughts.
Political Situation: The Dinka have lived pretty much on their own, undisturbed by the political movements in their area. They did fight the Ottoman Turks when they were ruling Sudan. They have periodically had clashes with neighboring peoples, such as the Atuot, with whom they have fought over grazing areas. They have not been active in national politics.
Customs: Before the coming of the British the Dinka did not live in villages, but traveled in family groups living in temporary homesteads with their cattle. The homesteads might be in clusters of one or two all the way up to 100 families. Small towns grew up around British administrative centers. Each village of one or more extended families is led by a leader chosen by the group.
Traditional homes were made of mud walls with thatched conical roofs, which might last about 20 years. Only women and children sleep inside the house, while the men sleep in mud-roofed cattle pens. The homesteads were located to enable movement in a range allowing year-round access to grass and water. Permanent villages are now built on higher ground above the flood plane of the Nile but with good water for irrigation. The women and older men tend crops on this high ground while younger men move up and down with the rise and fall of the river.
Polygamy is the ideal for the Dinka, though many men may have only one wife. The Dinka must marry outside their clan (exogamy), which promotes more cohesion across the broader Dinka group.
A "bride wealth" is paid by the groom's family to finalize the marriage alliance between the two clan families. Levirate marriage provides support for widows and their children. All children of co-wives are raised together and have a wide family identity. Co-wives cook for all children, though each wife has a responsibility for her own children.
Girls learn to cook, but boys do not. Cooking is done outdoors in pots over a stone hearth. Men depend upon women for several aspects of their life, but likewise the division of labor assigns certain functions to the men, such as fishing and herding, and the periodic hunting. After initiation to adulthood, the social spheres of the genders overlap very little. The basic food is a heavy millet porridge, eaten with milk or with a vegetable and spice sauce. Milk itself, in various forms, is also a primary food.
The Dinka wear few clothes, particularly in their own village. Adult men may be totally nude except for beads around the neck or wrist. The women commonly wear only goatskin skirts, but unmarried adolescent girls will typically be nude. Clothes are becoming more common. Some men will be seen in the long Muslim robe or short coat. They own very few material possessions of any kind.
Personal grooming and decoration are valued. The Dinka rub their bodies with oil made by boiling butter. They cut decorative designs into their skin. They remove some teeth for beauty and wear dung ash to repel mosquitoes. Men dye their hair red with cow urine, while women shave their hair and eyebrows, but leave a knot of hair on top of the head.
The major influence formerly was exercised by "chiefs of the fishing spears" or "spear masters." This elite group provided health through mystical power. Their role has been eradicated due to changes brought about by British rule and the modern world. Their society is egalitarian, with no class system. All people, wealthy or poor, are expected to contribute to the common good.
The primary art forms are poetry and song. There are certain types of songs for different types of activities of life, like festive occasions, field work, preparation for war and initiation ceremonies. History and social identity are taught and preserved through songs. They sing praise songs to their ancestors and the living. Songs are even used ritually in competition to resolve a quarrel in a legal sense. Women also make pottery and weave baskets and mats. Men are blacksmiths, making all sorts of implements.
Religion: The Dinka believe in a universal single God, whom they call Nhialac. They believe Nhialac is the creator and source of life but is distant from human affairs. Humans contact Nhialac through spiritual intermediaries and entities called yath and jak which can be manipulated by various rituals. These rituals are administered by diviners and healers. They believe that the spirits of the departed become part of the spiritual sphere of this life. They have rejected attempts to convert them to Islam, but have been somewhat open to Christian missionaries.
Cattle have a religious significance. They are the first choice as an animal of sacrifice, though sheep may be sacrificed as a substitute on occasion. Sacrifices may be made to yath and jak, since Nhialac is too distant for direct contact with humans. The family and general social relations are primary values in the Dinka religious thought.
Christianity: The Sudan Interior Mission began work among the Dinka in the 1930s, along with the Uduk and Mabaan peoples. From these groups, gospel work has spread to surrounding peoples including the Jum Jum, Berta, Gumus, Ignessena, and Shilluk.
DINKA BOYS INITIATION.
The Dinka pastoralist people live in the south and central part of Sudan, along the River Nile. Their life revolves around dairy cattle. The Dinka people are often separated and scattered over thousands of square kilometers in order for each family to have enough pasture and water. The Dinka society is male-dominated.
The Dinka, like many pastoralists in Africa, send males through several defined stages during their lives. There are rituals and ceremonies, which mark the beginning of each stage. Dinka have a strong set of customs that are important to solidify their identity as The “Muonjang”. There is identity by age as well by group. Each age set helps a man define the roles he should play at each stage of life.
The Dinka boys are initiated in the removal of six lower teeth ritual, which is the first of all series of initiation boys undergo. The initiation of removal of lower teeth is done at age five and seven or when the six set appear completely. The removal of lower teeth is a group initiation. All the boys who are ready are initiated together. After this initiation, boys are taught their responsibilities, such as herding cattle, protecting cattle from wild animals or even from cattle raiders. The purposes of initiation to society are; it helps children to realize changes in themselves and know their manhood responsibilities. To children this is period excitement because it change their from less defined responsibilities such as being send their mother to more defined man responsibilities. However, it is painful because of pain associate with it and social restriction thereafter such as not eating alone or while standing, not sitting with women, or talking about hunger in public or present women.
After their initiation the boys will be responsible for herding cattle. When they are out in the bush looking after their cattle, the boys usually perform different games, which are preparation for their future responsibilities. For example, they make shields from cow skins and bundles of sorghum stalks to represent spears. Their group is divided into two, and each section represents a different community. Then they start fighting among themselves or sometimes, instead of sorghum stalks they can use soft clay to represent stones, which are used in fighting between related communities.
Besides the warlike play, the boys usually perform some games, which are meant to test heir strength. For example, bullfights. In this game the boys’ leaders, usually the strongest, ask each member of a group to choose an opponent. Then two persons at a time fight and the rest of the group watches them. When one is defeated, the winner smears on mud and then other started the fight goes until only one champion is left,who then joins the team of leaders. The leaders don’t participate in the bullfight. The boys also practice wrestling, which is done the same way as the bullfight. The champion in wrestling joins the team of wrestlers called “the Cat”. They are called that because their backs don’t touch the ground. However, it very dangerous, because there are possibilities of spearing sorghum into someone's eye. Another dangerou things with the game is environment in which the game is plays, usually in forests which are bushes and thorny. Therefore, the thorn can prick because most children in rural villages walk bare footed. I remembered two cases to myself one is a case whenI was cut by pieces glasses and another one is when I was serious pricked by thorn.
There are some other games played by boys in which the punishment’s suggested before the game is started. The punishment should not be less than the number of participants and leaders. The examples are “Seek and Find” or “Racing”. In the “Seek and Find” game the boys will be hiding in bushes, leaving two or more boys, depending on the size of the group, to search for them and the and the leaders to watch. Then the first three or five to be found are to be punished. Because they believe that if they were in an ambush, then those who do not hide properly will betray the group. They can also play “Racing”, in which people run about five kilometers, and those who are unable to run or the latest to arrive at the station where the leaders are, are punished. The punishment is usually corporal in which the punished people are whipped. The lashes for the punishment are always equal to the number of people in a group or twice the number, and should, and should not be less. The victims of the day are rebuked and encouraged to exact revenge the following day on their fellows. They do not come home if they let themselves be victimized again. The victimized boys may caused serious harm or even death in cost reverge.Besides there are chances of breaking one another in wrestling for "the cat" championship.
The second initiation takes place when the teenager passes from childhood to adulthood. This initiation is done to boys between the ages of fifteen and seventeen. It is not done in a uniform way like the first one among six sections of Dina. Each section carries out this initiation in a different way. However, the responsibilities of the initiation boys are the same. The ritual is often a test of bravery. Therefore, it should be something subjected the boys into painful condition so that they have to endure it. For example, in some sections cuts are made around the head, leaving permanent scars. Other sections send boys to live in forests for a month or more after which they came home with some parts from dangerous animals, such as a tiger skin, a leopard skin, or a lion’s tail, a buffalo’s tail, an elephant tusk, and so on. All these are tests of masculinity among Dinka Boys.
The Dinka boys experience a lot problems at their adolescent life than any other boys because of their expected social responsibilities toward their society, which are seen in term hardship and endurances, therefore, need early preparation for children, hence the Dinka are subjected to a series painful practices And restrictions. For example a boy as early as six years spend little or no time with his
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