Otuho tradition and culture

Lotuko (Otuho)

The Name | Demography and Geography | Environment, Economy and Natural Resources |Mythology and History |The Language | Society: Social Events, Attitudes, Customs and Traditions |Marriage | Birth | Naming | Divorce | Relationships | Death | Social and Political Organisation, Traditional Authority, etc. | Spirituality, Belief and Customs |Culture: Arts, Music, Literature, Handicraft | Neighbours and Relationships | Latest Developments | Diaspora

The Name
The nationality calls itself Otuho (Otuko), but is popularly known as Lotuho (Lotuka). The Lotuko .

Demography and geography
The Lotuka live in settlements. There are sixteen known such villages of which Iliu, Hiyala, Lobira, etc. are the most important in terms of their population dominance. The Lotuka number approximately sixty nine to seventy thousands according to the 1983 population census crowded in the sixteen villages and Torit town .

Environment, economy and natural resources
The Lotuka live in the mountains and adjoining plains. They are perfectly agro-pastoralists keeping large herds of cattle, sheep and goats. They engage in subsistence agriculture with main crops grown being sorghum, ground nuts, sesame, and maize in the plains, while in the hill they grow telebun, dukhn, sweet potatoes, a kind of yam, and tobacco.

Mythology and history of the Otuho
The Lotuka have no traditions of an extraneous origin. Iliu, according to Lotuka’s tradition, near the south end of the Lopit Mountains was their original home. However, the lack of water drove the Lotuka to Imatari, and to near Logurun, where, a Chief called Ngalamitiko, who figures largely in their lore, ruled over them. When Ngalamitiko grew old, the people wished to replace him by his son Loghurak.

Loghurak requested them to wait till he was dead but they refused insisting that he should abdicate in favour of his son – a rebellion by the younger generation. He, therefore, sent ‘his dog’ with a message to the Chief of the Akara , urging him to destroy Imatari. The Akara, who came with a vast army only after his death, destroyed Imatari, and slaughtered the Lotuka .

The survivors fled in different directions and settled more or less in the places they now occupy between the Lopit and Dongotono Mountains, Torit, east bank Equatoria. The Lotuka history is that of internecine warfare among its different clans punctuated by combined raids by these clans on the Boya, Imatong, etc.

Language
The Lotuka are Otuho-speaking. This language is spoken by other smaller groups Horiok , Imatong, Dongotono, etc., related to the Lotuka.

Lotuka society, social events, attitudes and customs
The basic social unit of the Lotuka is the Hang, which comprises the people who consider themselves as descendants of a common ancestor in a patrilineal sequence. Individual strangers could be adapted to a hang and become part of it.

The hang and its members observe norms peculiar to it, which include hospitality, protection and support to individual people belonging to the clan. Each kang has its particular animal, such as the elephant, crocodile and the hyena, into which it is believed that its members transform into after death. They however kill these animals the belief notwithstanding. According to Lotuka tradition the kidongi, marabat and kobu are the kang Igagu and are therefore the dominant. The hang are exogamous.

Social age and the incorporation of a homestead into a village, together with the kinship system, form the basis of society, asinya, of the Lotuka. A person, atulo can develop his life, rights and duties only as part of a village – amiji and under the protection of the age set organisation.

Marriage
The Lotuka practice exogamy. A member of the hang Lomia, Lowudo or Lomiai may only marry into the Igago group, and vice versa. A feast is held but there is no ceremony. The bride’s father keeps about half the dowry and distributes the remainder among his and the bride’s mother’s relations. It is customary for young men to work at the cultivation, etc., of their father-in-law for about two years. Mothers-in-law are treated with great respect. The son-in-laws use particular forms of speech when addressing them. Girls marry when they reach odwo at about fourteen. Marital relations aim at stability between the families

Beliefs
Naijok, a neuter form, is conceived chiefly as bringing death and disease. Everything not understood, however, is ascribed to naijok. The expression Orogho naijok is a common one. The word is also used for menstruation, and a derivative noloijok for hiccups.

The Lotuka village
The Lotuka village –amiji or amangat consists of quarter: faura – a meeting and dancing place; alore – lies in the middle of the faura and marked with ebony stakes driven firmly into the ground. The ejulet – sacrificial stone lies in front of the alore. The olebele is a platform under which initiated men of the amangat meet to discuss the day. The Hadufa – house of the drums has it quarter in the village.
The Lotuka houses are larger than is the case with most tribes in their viccinity. They are built close together, with a stout ebony and bamboo palisade between them. Each man has his sheep pen adjoining his house. They keep their houses and yards very clean, but throw ail refuse into the streets, which soon become several feet higher than the yards.

Each quarter of the village has its dancing place, with a clump of ebony stakes in the middle on which the drums are hung. At one side is a large house in which the drums are kept and where unmarried men and strangers sleep. A fig tree is usually planted at one side, under which is a log platform where the men sit in the evening. There are also platforms at (he street comers where the women and youths collect.

In every village the hereditary headman sacrifices a bull or a goat at the beginning of each cultivating season and also at the re-building of the village, in the event of an epidemic, etc. It is believed that angry words used on the occasion of the sacrifice for good crops will adversely affect the crops. Nalam or ceremonial hunt, the nature of ensuing year is prognosticated from the characteristics of animal killed. Children born with one testicle are buried alive; it is believed if allowed to live they will cause the death of all their male relatives.

War and warfare
The war equipment of a Lotuka includes a helmet of human hair, sewn together and plastered with red ochre. It is decorated with brass ornaments and a plume of feathers of a kind of weaver bird. The shield, usually of buffalo hide, is bleached white, and three or four small-bladed spears are carried. In the old days the Lotuka considered a man a woman until be had killed. And there are few, if any, middle aged men who do not boast of a cognomen sitting by the fires. The idea is not yet extinct. A man would not deliberately attack one of his own hang even in battle, but if he killed him in the heat of action no blame was attached.

Socio-political organisation and traditional authority of the Lotuka
Chiefs
The principal functions of a kobu or chief, is to make rain, but among the Lotuka, as distinct from other neighbouring tribes of the district with whom the kobu seldom has any power outside his function, the chiefs have always had a good deal of political power. No one can be a really efficient rain-maker who is not descended from rain-makers on both sides. Chiefs always marry as principal wife the daughter of a chief or rain-maker. Women have equal power with the men in this respect, and there are three female rain-makers in the district.

Monyomiji
The nongopira or ceremonial making of fire is held every sixteen years. Two straight sticks are cut. If they are weak or crooked so will be the men or women of the next generation. All fires in the village extinguished and re-lighted with the fire made with these sticks. On this occasion the men of the younger generation take over the duties of military service from their seniors. They are given a collective name which they endeavour to make renowned in songs. Men above or below the age fight as volunteers.

The monyomiji or graduates are responsible for the daily running of public affairs and the well-being of the community: they keep internal peace, settle disputes. The declare edwar or state of ‘non-violence’ in which no fighting is allowed in the village. The monyomiji can fire and appoint rain-makers

Spirituality and beliefs
Magicians
Magicians Ibwoni or Neibwoni are found in every village and behave like ordinary people while some of them smear themselves with dirt, belch loudly and repeatedly, and roll their eyes and pretend to throw fits.

Lotuka culture, arts, music, literature and handicraft
The Lotuka culture shows in the daily life of the village and in the art of war and warfare for which they are renowned. Cultural artefacts include the shield, the copper helmets fitted with ostrich feathers, the skin apron worn by women etc.The drums, usually kept on the house of drums in the village, consist of a large drum mother of all drums – for alarm nogora or honye and five other drums ahalur and egongi and the three angariok, which are usually kept together. The Lotuka musical instruments include: a large horn natar, which is two metres long made of bamboos sticks bound together and five small trumpets –ekangahien. Like other ethnic communities in South Sudan, most of the Lotuka literature is oral comprising folklore, stories, songs and poems.

Neighbours
The Lotuka neighbour the Lopit and Pari to the north, Lokoya and Lulobo to the northwest; Acholi to the south and Logir and Dongotono to the southeast; and the Didinga and Boya to the east. The Lotuka have been known to be anti-foreigners who came to lord over them. The Arabs are particularly resented for their role in slavery

Latest Developments
The most spectacular development in the Lotuka land is the long running war. This has caused much division among the Lotuka and sufferings. It has led to almost complete breakdown of law and order precipitating inter-clan warfare, cattle raids, etc.

Lotuka Diaspora
There is a small Lotuka community in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Apart from that it is difficult to quantify the Lotuka Diaspora.

Further Readings
Fitz. R. R. Somerset, ‘The Lotuka.’ Sudan Notes and Records, Vol. I, 1918 pp 161-168
Simon Simonse, ‘Kings of Disaster: Dualism, Centralism and the Scapegoat King in the Southeastern Sudan.’ PhD Dissertation presented to Amsterdam University, 1990.

Andreas Grüb, ‘The Lotuho of the Southern Sudan: An Ethnological Monograph.’ Studien zur Kulturekunde, 102 Band, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1992.

Adapted from Gurtong.net

An arieal view of an Otuho homestead. (North of Torit EES)

Education in South Sudan

The only high School in Torit Town. EES (2009)

The people of south Sudan are at a stage when the basics of civilization has began to hold key positions in their livelihoods. For the record, vast majority of citizens of south sudan are uneducated. literacy levels in Sudan lag behind most developing nations,in effect it registers one of the lowest scores in the world.Knowing this has not altered government’s perspective into the future which is sad to know. The people of south sudan have been unfortunate since independence and have not had equal footing with its neighbours as far as development is concerned. Most current graduates and school leavers hold certificates from East Africa if not overseas. The reason is obvious,for those unaware it is because of a long standing political instability  for as long as My parents can remember. Luckily we are if not the leaders of the future. Any step into the future ie tomorrow has to be approached consentioulsy with  pragmatism. First we need to strengthen the preparation of our children in the lower primary, stretching to higher primary. High school needs to include extensive and concise curriculum to better make the soon to be undergraduates best placed to have little difficulty in university.This is with the aim of preparing them for a competetive global economy. Thirdly our tertiary insitutions should understand the importance of science and technology and make this the basis of every blue print they hope to put forward. A dynamic and technologically sane society is one that has higher propects for success. When we talk of South Korea, it certainly stands as an obvious example. The republic of south Korea were able to jump to a level of a developed nation in less than 40 years. In the 50s South Korea had an equal if not less GDP standings when compared to the west African nation of Ghana at the time. Asia is one place South Sudan needs to look up to in both business and technology. Men and women of south sudan I encourage you to convince and provide for your children to go to school and to study hard.This is a sure way to achieve peace and development in Africa.

TORIT

Main Street Torit, South Sudan (Nov. 2009)

Torit is  a post conflict town. It is one of the towns in the south of Sudan that has taken much of the heat from the over 20 year guerilla warfare waged by SPLA/SPLM against the northern Sudan oppressive governments. Many politicians put it this way, that Torit being the first to register dissatisfaction against Arab domination has continued to bear its seeds consequentially. This being evident in its short history. To date the scars of war are obvious much to the disadvantage of its people. Basic infrastructure destroyed during the struggle have not had the required refurbishment. Hospitals, health centers, lie in ruins, schools and colleges have not taken shape to meet the required basic standards to be made useful. Roads are dilapidated, clean water and sanitation is far from being close to adequate for human settlement. People in this Historic town live by Gods grace, for such a huge population of persons to aggregate in a tiny space with the sort of ’service available’ is a miracle. We fear the lives of these people are on a tight balance, being synonymous to sitting on a time bomb! Our request is to bring the government of Sudan, south Sudan, and of EES to notice. We need to see change in form of development. We need a new well serviced hospital with sufficient staffing. We need technical colleges. We challenge the Minister of health to improve the sanitation of this famous town and work with the environment minister to improve the River Kinatie water basin. Most importantly the state governor needs to ensure this town continues to represent the belief all southerners have which is self sufficiency for development and progress! We as a community however appreciate some of what the current government has done, it is through their achievements that we belief there is potential for better outcomes if hard work is ensured. We are tired of losing young lives to simple diseases such as malaria, cholera and yellow fever all being the result of, poor sanitation and ultimately poor governance.

Community Service we need to Support

Two weeks ago, we invited members of the community to assist one of our own with house chores. The response was extraordinary, with each an every member almost raising their hand to help.

I was more supprised at how deep down in our hearts we habour the love and desire to help the less fortunate.I guess this is the 1st basic instinct engrained in human beings.On the other hand the world of nowadays has taught us something different. We have learnt that man can be very selfish, man can be devilish, to extents of exterminating the gift of life which is life its self.I remain perplexed at how tables can turn without notice, at how a friend can turn to foe in seconds and never to regret the preceding events.

Members in Melbourne on a weekend of community service

Religion from its inception I believe was designed to control the uncotrolled outbursts of anger and sin, to help society lead a rather peaceful existance, to help us raise our children in a world of positive morals. We  human beings owe a lot to religion, however the use of religion to discriminate , encourage revenge and perpetrate violence is again the evidence that may be man himself is the devil we have so much talked about.

Living in a country where someone has not spent his early childhood, feels new and strange, it almost has the contant reminder that we are in  foreign.This is so as  the  day to day connection with food in the shops, the culture, the trees in the back yard, flowers in the gardens, the dirt  on the roads is lacking.

He who has no inherent attachment will for ever feel uninvited.I believe  as immigrants   half of our lives is spent struggling to be accepted by the locals, the other half making a living if at all lucky.This depresses me to the bone, it disturbs my concious, I could go sobbing all day when I focus my mind on how to deal with mountain of challenges.
This is the reason why, we need greater association of friendship & communities to help us go through some of these not simple but important life hurdles  to survive in what was initially the  ‘panacea’ of our problems  also known as the ‘promised land’.

Famine & Draught in South Sudan -Thank you community

Members attending a fundraising event for Hunger is Sudan 17th Oct 2009

Dear friends, you truly stood by us today when we  held the prayer and fundraising event at Yarraman sports-ground hall.

I would like to aknowledge support of Equatoria community leader Mr Wani Mansour, Mu Beshir George,Otuho elders, Otuho women, Otuho youth, Equatoria community members and Otuho community executives.Our fundraising was able to raise  $ 497 ASD. This was by far and by most standards a low scheme event, but with a great outcome.

We prayed for our suffering brothers and sisters in Sudan, and hope that they can hang on untill the most needed help arrives.We cannot guarantee when, however all efforts are being made by OCA (Otuho community of Australia) to ensure  we deliver the needed help in collaboration with the  Sudan council of churches.Together we hope to bring to an end the gruesome event,  a cummulative outcome of many years of instabilty and poor governance.

Members of OCA would like to take this opportunity to request the government of South Sudan to address this apparent lack of food to her citizens. This  would not be the case were it not for the result of poor prioritization and lack of basic understanding in capacity building,which is a major undertaking that has continued to be overlooked by the local and national authorities.

The government and not the church should be at the forefront of lobbying for help to its people, the government ought to know we are in a era when they are responsible to and for everybody in the South of Sudan.They shall therefore be to blame when, we lose our important work force to famine, they will be to blame when our future leaders succumb to famine .

Lastly we  and the larger  civil society  organizations of Sudan shall hold them (government and politicians) accountable when our nation fails, especially when the result of failure is  acrued from malnutrition ,starvartion, disease and premature death.

Since relative peace was attained in 2005, we have had our hopes high, we are however now noticing  that, these very hopes are on the edge of being dashed.With all due respect  the honours is upto the  government to step up in meeting its obligation to the people of South Sudan. We are tired of waiting…singed concerned citizens of South Sudan.

Hunger Appeal for South Sudan

News  is that famine is rife in south Sudan. We are losing friends and family every day to hunger. This is not new news, in fact this news far too late. Thanks to the local and state governments for concealing this tragedy with high clout political events for such a long time. I am flabbergasted to say the least. The mission of the Southern government and its state representatives from day one, is to take care of the vulnerable,look after the sick  and feed its people. This unfortunately is not the message resonating amongst our political relatives in Sudan. Hearing of this news makes me feel like I have betrayed my people, because I am born in Sudan, and as a relative and a human being, I am obliged to at any cost defend , help and support my people in such situations.For this reason, I take responsibility to call on all caring persons to support us of ’Otuho community’ in this cause. In case of intention to support us, help people in Africa/Sudan please visit www.otuhocommunity.com.au and follow links to  the contact page to obtain our commonwealth bank account details for a donation.THANK YOU

For Love of Community

Today is 6th August 2009. Its less than 4 months to the end of the year, January 2009 lies in the remote part of my memories, I am looking forward to Jan 2010. This year has been a roller coster, much for a demanding job and community activities, still counting. Don’t get me wrong, I am not intending to resign, what I am trying to say is… Thank you to all community members thus far,  we should continue working together in building the necessary strut and ties,we are definitely on our way to redemption. We need publicity we need affirmative action and direction. This will not come easy it will not float to our doors and yards, we shall need to make the steps forwad to reach a better future for our selves and our children. Much thanks goes to our executive team and dedicated community members. Now lets stop the gossip and face  the future with determination!

Visit Gurtong.com on the link below

http://www.gurtong.org/ResourceCenter/weeklyupdates/wu_contents.asp?wkupdt_id=3016

Otuho Health education sessions launched

It  has been Otuho executive’s interest to assist with education of the Otuho members on important health issues,including women’s health, child health and men’s health. On the 20th of june, we witnessed the first of a kind in Australia, a local program for the local people by the local people. A very important milestone. We hope to continue with these sessions monthly for the next 6 months, after which an overall assessment of this pilot program will be completed.Paving  way to a much healthier community. People from the Sudanese community are invited, including the local Australian population. Session dates, time and venue shall be communicated through the otuhocommunity.com.au website.

power point presentation, Otuho health session

Otuho online

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