THE ALUR

The Alur are one of the various ethnic groups that inhabit the west Nile part of Uganda. They live amongst the Okebu, Lendu, Kakwa, Alinga and other ethnic groups of West Nile. However, unlike their neighbors who are Sudanic, the Alur are Luo.  They are Nilotics and they belong to the same language group as the Acholi, the Japadhola, the Joluo of Kenya, the Shiluk, the Anuak and other Luo of the Northern Sudan.

Alur tradition states that they migrated from southern Sudan with other Luo following the Nile banks. Their original homeland is said to have been Rumbek on the confluence of the Nile and the Bahr-el- Ghazel rivers. They moved south along the Nile Pubungu whence they dispersed, some moving on to Bunyoro, others to Acholi, yet others to eastern Uganda and on to the Nyanza province of Kenya, while the Alur moved westwards to West Nile. Historians claim however that the Alur are not purely Luo, but that they are a product of intermarriages between the Luo, the Lendu and the Okebu. But since the Alur maintained the Lwo speech and other Luo customs they should be grouped that way.

Legend

The Alur legend of origin says that there once lived a great King called Atira. He is said to have been a direct decent of God and when he died, his son Otira succeeded him. Otira is said to have in turn been succeeded by Opobo. Opobo ruled from a place called Nyraka in Lango County. When Opobo died, he left three sons Tiful, Nyapiri and Labongo.

One day, Nyapir borrowed Labongo’s spear intending to spear an Elephant. Unfortunately, the elephant went away with the spear. When the news reached Labongo, he was very annoyed and he insisted on having back his own spear in spite of Nyapiri’s pledges to offer him a substitute. Therefore, Nyapiri decided to go follow the elephant and having crossed a big river, he found himself in a cool beautiful land.

During his wandering in this land, Nyapiri encountered an old woman. The Old woman is said to have taken him to a place where, among other spears, Nyapiri was able to recognize Labongo’s spear. The old woman gave him a bead.

When he reached home, he called all his brothers and presented the spear. Every one as amazed at Nyapiri’s story, more especially, at the bead. The bead was handed over for every one to see and, in the process; an infant son of Labongo accidentally swallowed it.

Nyapiri got his revenge. He also demanded that his own bead be given back. He refused all the possible substitutes. Left with no alternative, Labongo handed over the child to Nyapiri to open and retrieve his bead. Nyapiri killed the child and got out the bead. This act is said to have annoyed all the brothers so much that they decided to separate.

Tiful having been impressed by Nyapiri’s story of a good country beyond the river, moved with his followers including Lendu and Okebu to the highlands in the west. His descendants are said to comprise of the Alur of Zaire. Nyapiri followed Tiful and traveled along the west bank of the Victoria Nile and finally camped with his followers in an area opposite Pakwach. The Land was not good for grazing and there being no salt licks his cattle began to graze away.

One day some of the cows which had disappeared were said to have come back on their own and they had salt licks adhering to their hooves. Nyapiri gathered together his people and followed the track of the cows into the highlands of West Nile. He left behind one of his sons caked Dosha to rule Pakwach. Nyapiri then established himself in the west Nile highlands.

Historians contend, however, that this story of the Alur’s entry into the west Nile, as conceived in the legend of the spear and bead, was actually a struggle for power between the two brothers over the spear, which was part of their chiefly regalia. When they entered West Nile, they are said to have mixed with the Lendu and Okebu as well as with the Sudanic Madi in the north and later on with the Nyali, the Bendi, and the Bira to the southwest.

Religion

The religious rituals of worship among the Alur were cultivated and protected by the Bandwa, the Jupa Jogi and Jupa Jok. These were in effect the Alur equivalents of the clergy. The equivalent of God was known as Jok. The manifestations of jok were more often than not in personal terms. Thus Jok could be male or female, young or old and so on. But sometimes Jok could be conceived of in non personal forms, for instance, as a situation. The ultimate nature of Jok, however, was quite unknown.

Among the Alur, worship was not routine such as every morning, evening or on Sundays and Fridays. It was necessitated by misfortunes of one kind or another which required that Jok should be appeased. The Alur believed that misfortunes or disease were not natural consequences. To them misfortunes and disease were caused and the causes took different forms. Spiritual entities or dead ancestors  could demand attention, food, beer, meat and some other forms of comfort by inflicting punishments on the living in terms of deadly diseases, misfortunes or some slight sickness which, if not recognized and appropriately attended to, could become dangerous. This could take the form of dumbness, paralysis of the body or just part of it, mental breakdown etc.

In the event of misfortune like sickness, the family head together with his brother or two associates would go to a diviner known as Julam bira, jolam wara or Anjoga to have the misfortune diagnosed. The diviner would employ the various instruments at his disposal to trace the cause of the trouble. He would then advise on the appropriate measures to take to avert the misfortune. Misfortune was said to be caused by evil spirits or by evil persons who by use of magic, could Harm otherwise health person.

Ritual marriage

The Alur had sort of religious marriage which was conveyed in the Mukeli gagi rituals. The actual ceremony took the following form:-

Some times, a married woman would be afflicted by ancestral spirits of her own people. In such an event, her husband would get cowrie shells and take them to her home. There the shells would be tied to the pole of her father’s ancestral shrine. The husband would, in effect, be pledging to pay two goats, male and female, in order to rescue the cowrie shells because such shells were not supposed to remain at his father in-law’s home for ever.

If the husband was already imitated into the religious cult, he would go to rescue the shells himself. However, if he was not yet initiated, he would not be allowed to go because a lot was involved which he, as a non-initiate, was not supposed to know. But if he was willing to be initiated there and then, he could go. In fact most husbands preferred this alternative because at the end of the ritual, the woman would cease to be his wife if he was not yet a confirmed believer. Sexual relations with the former husband would stop forthwith if he was not yet a confirmed believer.

If the initial husband hesitated to be initiated, the woman would ritually be married to another man who was already confirmed and who consented to have her as a ritual wife. The ritual husband would consider her to be his wife and would go ahead and have children with her.

Ritual joining

The actual ritual started late in the evening when the believers would sing to alert the people in the vicinity. The woman would be made to sit in the center of the circle and, after showing signs of being possessed, she would be led to a place of her own choice where a goat would be slaughtered and eaten. Another goat would be given to the believers to be slaughtered and eaten.

The husband and the wife where then made to lie down on a papyrus mat facing each other. The man would be asked to throw one of his hands and legs on the woman and the woman was asked to assume the posture and both would then be asked to play sex. This process was known as ariba (joining).Thereafter; a couple would be given grass stems to be broken simultaneously. This woman would have power over the man’s other wives if they were not ritually joined with him. If the husband was not the initiate one, he would proceed to pay bride wealth for his new wife. If, later on, the initial husband became confirmed, he would retrieve his wife. If the ritual husband had already had children with her, he was not supposed to complain. He was supposed to treat them well in the hope that he might one day be ritually married to another man’s wife with whom he might as well have children.

Economy

The Alur were settled agriculturalists. Their main crops included millet, sorghum, cassava, simsim, potatoes and a variety of beans. Now, they also grow cotton and coffee. Besides, they kept goats, chickens cattle and sheep.