Murle
Encyclopedia
The Murle are an ethnic group
residing in Pibor County, Jonglei State, South Sudan
as well as in Ethiopia
. They have also been referred to in the literature as Beir by the Dinka or others who got information from them. Their language
is part of the Surmic language cluster, which includes some adjoining groups in Sudan, as well as some non-contiguous groups in Ethiopia.
in a country where localized and unpredictable shortages occur in rain, drinking water, bush fruits and cattle grass. This necessitates a partly nomadic lifestyle over large distances. As a result, in times of shortages they have frequently come into conflict with numerically larger groups, including the Dinka and Nuer.
The Murle (like the Dinka and Nuer) have a tradition in which men can only marry when they pay a bride wealth of several dozens of cows. Education and jobs are almost absent and there are very few possibilities to earn money by producing for domestic or foreign markets. As a result, the only way to acquire cows for marriage, quicker than through breeding them, is by stealing. With roads absent and normal policing almost impossible in a vast territory, Murle, Dinka and Nuer raid each other equally, unlike the more wide spread notion that only the Murle are the offenders.
The Murle have a traditional history of how their people have migrated over the years in a clockwise direction around Lake Turkana
(Arensen 1983). In the 1930's they have negotiated small pockets of 'homeland' in Pibor, where they are always allowed to graze their cattle and grow crops, even when in conflict with neighbors. This homeland is far too small for their survival, so they have a common interest to be at peace with Dinka and Nuer, so that they can graze their cattle over wider areas. But the smallness of their homeland and the almost absence of police protection makes them very vulnerable in conflicts. When some of them believe that they will not get peace and sufficient water and grazing rights, survival instincts align with 'bride hunger', sometimes driving the young men into risky cattle rustling adventures against their larger neighbors.
In the north-south war many Murle sought protection with the Nuer against North-Sudanese militia and slave raiders. In those cases they were often kept almost as slaves. In 2006 Save the Children reported a few cases in which desperately poor Murle sold one of their children to Nuer, in the hope that that kid would at least be fed by others, and the remaining kids would have a bit more food each.
With the country still awash with machine guns from the north-south war, 'cattle rustling' quickly runs out of control, killing dozens or hundreds people in tit for tat escalations. Many Nuer reason that Murle are the grand children of immigrants with much less rights to use land and graze cattle. So Murle cattle, argue some Nuer, was raised on stolen grass, so most of their cattle actually belongs to the Nuer.
Along South Sudan
's border with Ethiopia
, a rebellion is smouldering among the Murle, with civilians caught in the conflict. Civilians alleging torture
by the Sudan People's Liberation Army
(SPLA) claim fingernails been torn out, burning plastic bags dripped on children to make their parents hand over weapons and the villages of Laor and the Tanyang people burned alive in their huts because rebels were suspected of spending the night in the village.
On august 18th 2011, Murle youngsters sacked and burned the air strip village of Pierri and a dozen surrounding hamlets, killing over a hundred people, abducting dozens or hundreds of children and stealing up to tens of thousands of cattle. . One explanation might also be the drought: Pierri has one of the very few functioning dry season drinking water wells, often with thousands of people queuing for its water. Nuer have often excluded Murle from using this water.
Because Murle have very few people in the government or even speaking English, it is difficult for journalists and researchers to check any claims against the Murle.
Part of such conflicts can be prevented by sinking much more drinking water wells. Also a national conference on drinking water, land use rights and land redistribution, might help, if Murle survival needs and all their arguments are taken serious.
Also state intervention in bride wealth culture (moving it away from virtual slave trade to an exchange of intentions and nominal tokens) and strong state action against illegal taxation by local leaders in Nuer, Dinka and Murle society is needed.
Also, South-Sudan, with its enormous agricultural potential during the rainy season, needs to be connected to regional and world markets, so that through agriculture and cattle breeding, the economy can be based on something else then tit for tat theft.
http://www.gurtong.org/resourcecenter/people/profile_tribe.asp?TribeID=86
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
residing in Pibor County, Jonglei State, South Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
as well as in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. They have also been referred to in the literature as Beir by the Dinka or others who got information from them. Their language
Murle language
Murle is a Nilo-Saharan Eastern Sudanic language spoken by the Murle people, spoken in the southeast of South Sudan, near the Ethiopian border...
is part of the Surmic language cluster, which includes some adjoining groups in Sudan, as well as some non-contiguous groups in Ethiopia.
Culture
Murle in most cases practice a blend of animism and Christianity. Elders and witches often function as trouble fixers. But they are PastoralistsPastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
in a country where localized and unpredictable shortages occur in rain, drinking water, bush fruits and cattle grass. This necessitates a partly nomadic lifestyle over large distances. As a result, in times of shortages they have frequently come into conflict with numerically larger groups, including the Dinka and Nuer.
The Murle (like the Dinka and Nuer) have a tradition in which men can only marry when they pay a bride wealth of several dozens of cows. Education and jobs are almost absent and there are very few possibilities to earn money by producing for domestic or foreign markets. As a result, the only way to acquire cows for marriage, quicker than through breeding them, is by stealing. With roads absent and normal policing almost impossible in a vast territory, Murle, Dinka and Nuer raid each other equally, unlike the more wide spread notion that only the Murle are the offenders.
The Murle have a traditional history of how their people have migrated over the years in a clockwise direction around Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana , formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake...
(Arensen 1983). In the 1930's they have negotiated small pockets of 'homeland' in Pibor, where they are always allowed to graze their cattle and grow crops, even when in conflict with neighbors. This homeland is far too small for their survival, so they have a common interest to be at peace with Dinka and Nuer, so that they can graze their cattle over wider areas. But the smallness of their homeland and the almost absence of police protection makes them very vulnerable in conflicts. When some of them believe that they will not get peace and sufficient water and grazing rights, survival instincts align with 'bride hunger', sometimes driving the young men into risky cattle rustling adventures against their larger neighbors.
In the north-south war many Murle sought protection with the Nuer against North-Sudanese militia and slave raiders. In those cases they were often kept almost as slaves. In 2006 Save the Children reported a few cases in which desperately poor Murle sold one of their children to Nuer, in the hope that that kid would at least be fed by others, and the remaining kids would have a bit more food each.
Massacres
In most South-Sudanese cattle cultures, the bride-wealth system, and illegal taxing by some unscrupulous local leaders stimulates young men to find excuses to steal cows from their own cousins. Local leaders then sometimes try to quell or prevent intra-tribal fighting, by directing that aggression outward, to other tribes. Also, Murle are seen by surrounding, more powerful tribes as primitive people with strong magic powers, and therefore they are often blamed for unexplained disease or theft or arson.With the country still awash with machine guns from the north-south war, 'cattle rustling' quickly runs out of control, killing dozens or hundreds people in tit for tat escalations. Many Nuer reason that Murle are the grand children of immigrants with much less rights to use land and graze cattle. So Murle cattle, argue some Nuer, was raised on stolen grass, so most of their cattle actually belongs to the Nuer.
Along South Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
's border with Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, a rebellion is smouldering among the Murle, with civilians caught in the conflict. Civilians alleging torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
by the Sudan People's Liberation Army
Sudan People's Liberation Army
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as a rebel political movement with a military wing known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army estimated at 180,000 soldiers. The SPLM fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudanese...
(SPLA) claim fingernails been torn out, burning plastic bags dripped on children to make their parents hand over weapons and the villages of Laor and the Tanyang people burned alive in their huts because rebels were suspected of spending the night in the village.
On august 18th 2011, Murle youngsters sacked and burned the air strip village of Pierri and a dozen surrounding hamlets, killing over a hundred people, abducting dozens or hundreds of children and stealing up to tens of thousands of cattle. . One explanation might also be the drought: Pierri has one of the very few functioning dry season drinking water wells, often with thousands of people queuing for its water. Nuer have often excluded Murle from using this water.
Because Murle have very few people in the government or even speaking English, it is difficult for journalists and researchers to check any claims against the Murle.
Part of such conflicts can be prevented by sinking much more drinking water wells. Also a national conference on drinking water, land use rights and land redistribution, might help, if Murle survival needs and all their arguments are taken serious.
Also state intervention in bride wealth culture (moving it away from virtual slave trade to an exchange of intentions and nominal tokens) and strong state action against illegal taxation by local leaders in Nuer, Dinka and Murle society is needed.
Also, South-Sudan, with its enormous agricultural potential during the rainy season, needs to be connected to regional and world markets, so that through agriculture and cattle breeding, the economy can be based on something else then tit for tat theft.
External links
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=murhttp://www.gurtong.org/resourcecenter/people/profile_tribe.asp?TribeID=86