THE ALUR PEOPLE AND THEIR UNIQUE CULTURE

The Alur people occupy West Nile region of Uganda and they are amazing ethnic group to discover while on Uganda cultural safari tour. This ethnic group live in north-western Uganda and north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) occupying a number of areas that include Zombo, Nebbi and parts of Arua district while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they live around the northern side of Lake Albert.

They form part of the larger Luo group and speak Alur, a language closely related to Jonam, Adhola and Acholi (also Luo). However, some Alur speak Kebu or Lendu but their dialects differ considerably with the Alur on the highland (known as Okoro) speak relatively different dialect from the lowland Alur (Jonam) and sometimes it becomes difficult to understand each other. The Alur people are believed to have migrated from South Sudan with the other Luo following the Nile Banks and their original homeland was Rumbek on the confluence of the Nile River and Bahr-el-Ghazel and moved South along the Nile Pubungu where they later dispersed to Bunyoro, eastern Uganda, Alcoholic while others to Nyanza Province of Kenya and the Alur people moved to West Nile region. There are several legends that explain their origin including the famous story of Gapir and Labongo.

Ukuru features as the biggest Clan of the Alur and was founded in 1630 when Ngira, a member of the Aryak family left with few young men including his younger brother known as Ijira and took over the territory from the native Bantu inhabitants. Traditionally, they live in grass thatched huts with the homesteads being in the central part of the territory to ensure control and were farmer-herders who grew mainly millet, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cassava, pumpkins, maize and green vegetable while they rear chickens, goats and sometimes cattle.

Men perform most of the work for instance rearing domestic animals, cultivating crops and building huts as well as fishing and hunting while the women were in-charge of keeping the house clean, cooking and taking care of children but when it comes to socializing, men and women keep their space in social life and rarely mix so as to reduce aggression and jealousy from husbands. These people are naturally social which is generally the most important factor for male dominance by the Alur and land is not individually owned by the Alur people.

Ritual or religious marriages were passed on in the “Mukeli gagi” rituals whereby a married woman is afflicted by ancestral spirits by her own people and the husband gets Cowrie shells to take them home and tied to the pole of her father’s ancestral shrine. The husband would be pledging to pay 2 goats-a male and female to rescue the Cowrie shells because they are not meant to remain at his father-in-law’s home for ever.

In summary, to have an in-depth exploration about the Alur people and their unique culture, traditions, a Uganda cultural safari in West Nile is worth taking.