Pastoralism and Its Defining of the Dinka

Pastoralism is a vital form of economic means in many areas especially in Africa. Pastoralist use animal domestication and herding as a way to make their living. Lene states that there are twenty million pastoralists in Africa (Lene 1998). This method of livelihood has been very success for those living in arid and inhospitable regions such as the deserts. Pastoralists travel around grazing grounds with their herds so they have food and can trade for what they need and can't produce themselves (Lene 1998).

In southern Sudan, the Dinka tribe has forged their cultural identity on the cattle they herd. Every part of their life in impacted and revolves around their cattle. The Dinka mostly herd their prized cattle, but also a few goats and sheep (Deng 1998). This tribe is the largest ethnic minority in Sudan with their numbers reaching several million (Deng 1998). The tribe has been left isolated through out most of history until the past several decades leaving them to keep a rich culture in where they live to respect their cattle much as the Hindu.

Every part of the Dinka life is controlled by their cattle. Their status in the tribal society depends on the number of cattle that you own. A main goal in life for these people is to get married and have many children (Deng 1998). A son may not marry unless a generous dowry of cattle is given to the bride's family. Many families that do not have daughters may end up poor because they will not receive any dowry, but must pay out for their sons to marry and produce children. In Dinka society those without successors lose their soul because it can not be passed down through male heirs (Deng 1998). They believe that they will live immortality if they have male successors and will pay all of their cattle to make sure their souls have a resting place after they die (Deng 1998).

This relationship with their cattle leads them to a different meaning of wealth or poverty than the traditional Western view. Western culture success means you have lots of money, a large house, and many people that admire you. The Dinka believe that if you have a large family, many cattle, plenty of grazing land and you can help those that need assistance you are the wealthiest (Deng 1998). Instead of seeing someone as poor the tribes leaders help the follow tribesmen and make sure you are taken care of and not neglected. Deng states that it is the chiefs main role to make sure everyone in the tribe has at least enough food and shelter to survive (Deng 1998). This collective type of herding has kept the tribe going when many other pastoral tribes are switching to more modern ways of living.

Over the last fifty years war has almost constantly raged in Sudan between the Arab north and the Christian south (Macklin 2003). Wax claims that most Dinka are now living in refugee camps that are taking their livelihoods away from them (Wax 2004). The soldiers raided their cattle and raped their women living them with no food, water, shelter, or cattle (Macklin 2003). They rely on the UN World Food Program to provide them with nourishment (Wax 2004). Cattle, which used thrive in the area, are now in short supply. Without their livestock the Dinka have no income, dowry, or food.

Every aspect of these once rich people's lives has been impacted. One of the main traditions in this culture is the giving of a dowry, or gift, to the bride's parents in order for her to wed their son. Today there are no cattle to give so the parents just agree to pay the dowry when the war is over and they can be productive again (Buckley 1997). For the past fifty years these people have been marrying on credit that will not be able to be paid. The main source of income was by using daughters to increase herds and maintain or raise the wealth of their parent's family (Buckley 1997). This is seen as more honest than stealing from anyone that was not a family member to increase herd size (Lene 1998).

Dinka used to use songs and myths that would tell that they were so great. (Buckley 1997). They now sing about how because there were so involved in their cattle that God is punishing them. The war has taken their cattle and their honor away from them living them feeling empty and no sense of self-respect (Deng 1998). Buckley says that traditions, celebrations, and even some of their languages have been lost by the upheaval over the last several decades (Buckley 1997). The elderly that were once seen as the highest members in their society now are left to take care of themselves since younger family members don't have the money or means to do so for them (Deng 1998). The Dinka are starting the believe that the Arab and European way of life must be superior to their own since they are rich and the Dinka now have nothing.

The cultivation of rice has been seen as the answer to the starvation and loss of agriculture by the United Nations (Deng 1998). Many worldwide organizations are trying to help the Sudanese find a different way of life. Railroads and canals are being built to create jobs and to promote safer living conditions for the tribes living in the southern part of the country (Deng 1998). The Dinka have had a hard time adjusting to all of the modern attempts to change them since they did not view themselves as primitive as many people do (Deng 1998). They just have a different sense of what is important and what it means to be wealthy. The Dinka have had many controversies with the attempts to modernize them causing the civil war to rage on until the past several years.

Recently the Dinka have started to become interested in becoming modernized. Most Dinka still do not believe in using their cattle to plow or use them as harness animals, but they are starting to see the animals in a different view (Deng 1998). Deng reports that many of the tribesmen now use tractors to help with the village or camps farming productivity (Deng 1998). It is good to see that the tribe refuses to change their core belief while they show their willingness to adapt to the situation they are currently placed in. People that require a high dowry for their daughters are seen as greedy and are looked down upon.

Another point that Deng brings across is that they are willing to use what little cattle they have left to sell them for money (Deng 1998). The area they have inhabited for generation is rich in oil and they have money for the future, but these tribes have had no reason to develop this resource (Deng 1998). This is a main reason for the war. The government wants to take advantage of the land with oil drills that the cattle use for grazing. The Dinka would have very few choices for grazing elsewhere because the governments of the surrounding countries keep closed borders (Lene 1998).

Deng also talks about how the Dinka now have found a place for social services in their tribes (Deng 1998). They now want their children to be educated and for them to have access to health care that was until the past decade non-existent (Deng 1998). They want a government that can serve the well being on their people, but the war is blocking attempts for them to achieve this goal. Most of a generation of them has been killed in fighting as they support the guerilla fighters opposed to the current Sudanese government (Wax 2004).

Lene brings up a great point that pastoralism must change in order to survive (Lene 1998). Most research shows that this method of raising animals is more productive than developed ranches but governments are making it impossible for the people to roam and live their life as they have in the past (Lene 1998). This does not mean that the Dinka have to become replicas of what is seen as normal. If the Dinka can find a way to accept modern technology and still find a way to maintain their individual beliefs then a new form of pastoralism could sustain them for many decades to come.

References

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