The Shilluk ( Shilluk: ''Chollo'') are a major Luo Nilotic ethnic group of Southern Sudan, living on both banks of the river

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

, in the vicinity of the city of

Malakal Malakal is a city in South Sudan. It is the capital of Upper Nile State, South Sudan, along the White Nile River. It also serves as the headquarter of Malakal county and it used to be the headquarter of Upper Nile Region from 1970s to late 1990s ...

. Before the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated ...

the Shilluk also lived in a number of settlements on the northern bank of the Sobat River, close to where the Sobat joins the Nile. The Shilluk are the third largest ethnic group of Southern Sudan, after their neighbours the Dinka and Nuer. Their language is called '' Dhøg Cøllø'', ''dhøg'' being the Shilluk word for language and mouth. It belongs to the Luo branch of the Western Nilotic subfamily of the Nilotic languages.

History and culture

Richard Buchta - Shilluk woman holding jar

Richard Buchta - Shilluk material culture II

Richard Buchta - Shilluk material culture I

The Shilluk and the Anuak are the closest related members of the Luo Nilotic groups, many of the words in the Shilluk language are made up of words from dha anywaa or the Anuak language. Historically, the Shilluk were led by a king Reth who is considered to be from the divine lineage of the

culture hero A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group ( cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are impo ...

Nyikang, and whose health is believed to affect that of the nation. Formerly, their society was fairly hierarchical, with castes of royals, nobles, commoners, and slaves. Like most Nilotic groups, cattle-raising formed a large part of their economy; however, agriculture and fishing were more significant than usual, and most were sedentary. The Shilluk people created the

Shilluk Kingdom The Shilluk Kingdom, dominated by the Shilluk people, was located along the left bank of the White Nile river in what is now South Sudan and southern Sudan. Its capital and royal residence was in the town of Fashoda. According to Shilluk folk h ...

which existed in Southern Sudan since (1454 to Present).

Physique

The Shilluk, along with the Dinka, have been described as some of the tallest people in the world. Dinka Ruweng males investigated by D. F. Roberts in 1953–54 were on average 181.3 cm (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) tall, and Shilluk males averaged 182.6 cm (6 ft 0 in). Generally, the Nilotic people are characterized as having long legs, narrow bodies and short trunks, an adaptation to the hot climate of the Southern Sudan region. However, male Shilluk refugees measured in 1995 in Southwestern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

were on average only 172.6 cm (5 ft 8 in) tall. As the study points out, Nilotic people "may attain greater height if privileged with favorable environmental conditions during early childhood and adolescence, allowing full expression of the genetic material."Chali D (1995). "Anthropometric measurements of the Nilotic tribes in a refugee camp". ''Ethiopian Medical Journal''. 33 (4): 211–7. PMID 8674486. Before fleeing, these refugees were subject to

privation Privation is the absence or lack of basic necessities. Child psychology In child psychology, privation occurs when a child has no opportunity to form a relationship with a parent figure, or when such relationship is distorted, due to their treatm ...

as a consequence of the succession of civil wars in their country from 1955 to the present.

Religion

Most ''Shilluk'' have converted to Christianity, while some still follow the traditional religion or a mixture of the two; small numbers have converted to Islam. The Shilluk pride themselves in being one of the first Nilotic groups to accept Christianity, the other being the Anuak people. The Episcopal Church of the Sudan which dates the event to the late 19th Century when the

Church Mission Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

first began to send missionaries. Colonial policies and missionary movements have divided ''Shilluk'' into between the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

denominations. The Catholic Church was historically assigned the western bank of the Nile and ran missions stations at Lul, Detwoc,

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

and Yoynyang, while the American Inland Mission ran a mission station at

Doleib Hill Doleib Hill was a mission station established by the American Inland Mission in southern Sudan, located approximately south of the city of Malakal, on the northern bank of the Sobat River, then in the former Upper Nile province of Sudan, the pres ...

, located to the south of Malakal on the eastern side of the Nile, but situated on the Sobat river. The Shilluk were a minority in the SPLM faction for most of the

, their number peaking in the late 1980s and the pre-ceasefire fighting in 2004.

Violence

During the summer of 2010, the

Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a ...

(SPLA), in an attempt to disarm the tribe and stop a local Shilluk rebellion, burned a number of villages and killed an untold number of civilians in South Sudan's Shilluk Kingdom. Over 10,000 people were displaced in the midst of the rainy season and sent fleeing into the forest, often naked, without bedding, shelter or food, with many children dying from hunger and cold. Violence has started again in April 2011 with a SPLA crackdown on rebel controlled regions. Shilluk and well as Nuba are the alleged victims.

Footnotes

References

* This section discusses number systems in ''Dhok-Chollo''.

External links

*
The Shilluk people, their language and folklore (1912)

The Gateway to Shilluk Community

Library of Congress Photo of two Shilluk men, dated 1936

Shilluk, Dhocolo in South Sudan
{{authority control Ethnic groups in South Sudan Nilotic peoples