The Lugbara Tribe Did Not Exist! #WestNileCentenarySeries #OurHistory One of the first things that strike the present-day researcher asking about pre-contact Lugbara societies is that most people begin explaining that the Lugbara did not exist,either as a social or conceptual unit,prior to the invention of that name and tribal concept in the contact period.The Chairman of both the Lugbara Literature Association and the Arua Council of Elders,Mr Jason Avutia,told me that he had never heard the term until he was fourteen or fifteen years old: he only knew his clan.The word normally translated as clan is suru,a term which applies to both lineage and locality-based groups...indeed,it really means little more than group or category. Suru has the meaning of a group of people who considered themselves and were considered by others to form a group because they shared a territory and had ties between them based on common ancestry....thus suru referred to major lineage sections,clans,subclans and subtribes.The term was also used in a wider sense as suru (people) of Madi or Europeans,and as species or category,as in a suru of birds or trees. Lulua Odus history of the Lugbara says; The name Lugbara was given by foreigners,most probably the Arabs....the Arabs took the name Lugbari,a clan in Udipi Division,to refer to all the other people by mistake.The name was adopted by the Belgians and later on the by the British.As there was no traditional government or committee,the name remained unchanged.The name is artificial and baseless.The historical truth is that the Lugbara belonged to the Madi nation.They were called Madi Dyang (cattle Madi) by the Alur of Okoro.The Alur called the Madi of Okollo as Madi-Dyel (goat Madi).In the Aru district of Zaire,many people of the older generation still refer to the bygone days as Andra drio Madi-si (the old Madi-days). Excerpt from Inside West Nile by Mark Leopold. Copyright 2005.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Feb 2014 12:02:33 +0000
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