Moru is an ethnic group of

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

. Most of them live in

Western Equatoria Western Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of . The state capital is Yambio. The state was divided into counties, each headed by a County Commissioner. Western Equatoria seceded from Sudan as part of the Republic of South Sud ...

. They speak Moru, a Central South Sudanic language. Many members of this ethnicity are

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, most being members of the Episcopal Church of the South Sudan (ECS). The Pioneer missionary in the area was Dr Kenneth Grant Fraser of the

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

(CMS). The population of this ethnicity possibly does not exceed 200,000.

History

The clearest communal historical narratives are of attacks by the Azande, particularly those that drove them onto Odo hill near

Lui ''Lui'' (; ) is a French adult-entertainment magazine created in November 1963 by Daniel Filipacchi, a fashion photographer turned publisher, Jacques Lanzmann, a jack of all trades turned novelist, and Frank Ténot, a press agent, pataphys ...

, raids by slavers from the North. It was loosely part of the Ottoman-Egyptian province of

Equatoria Equatoria is the southernmost region of South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile and the border between South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Juba, the national capital is the largest city in South S ...

, administered by

Sir Samuel Baker Sir Samuel White Baker (8 June 1821 – 30 December 1893) was an English explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He also held the titles of Pasha and Major-General in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. ...

and then

Charles George Gordon Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Charles George Gordon Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon , was a British ...

and finally

Emin Pasha Mehmed Emin Pasha (born Isaak Eduard Schnitzer, baptized Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer; March 28, 1840 – October 23, 1892) was an Ottoman physician of German Jewish origin, naturalist, and governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria ...

. The Moru area was then part of the

Lado Enclave The Lado Enclave (; ) was a leased territory administered by the Congo Free State and later by the Belgian Congo that existed from 1894 until 1910. Situated on the west bank of the Upper Nile in what is now South Sudan and northwest Uganda, it wa ...

, in the far north east of the

Congo Free State The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...

, later

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

from 1894 to 1910. Dr Kenneth Grant Fraser, a physician and missionary for the Gordon Memorial Sudan Mission (GMSM) of the

(CMS) of England, and his wife Eileen began working in South Sudan in 1920 to improve access to health care, establish churches, and improve education. Fraser organized the establishment of a hospital at Lui and developed a program that trained and equipped medical workers to provide medical care under his direction at the hospital. Leper colonies were created under his direction. He trained teachers and evangelists to serve schools and churches that were established in Moruland along main roads. The buildings also operated as dispensaries. The benefits have included a good quality of education for the Moru people and reform of some harmful indigenous practices and customs.

Demographics

The Moru, who belong to the ethnic group which includes the

Madi Multichannel Audio Digital Interface (MADI) standardized Standardization (American English) or standardisation (British English) is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties ...

Lugbara Lugbara may refer to: *Lugbara people *Lugbara language Lugbara, or Lugbarati, is the language of the Lugbara people. It is spoken in the West Nile region in northwestern Uganda, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Orientale Provi ...

Avukaya The Avukaya are an ethnic group of South Sudan. Some members of this ethnic have fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to persecution. About 50,000 members of this ethnic group live in South Sudan. Many members of this ethnic group bel ...

and

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

and

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, live in the southern part of Mundri County,

, South Sudan. Mundri County is located in Central Western part of Equatoria Region in

Province. It is between 4°N and 6°N of Equator and 29°E and 31°E. There are five main divisions of the Moru, namely: Miza; Ägyi; Moroändri; Kediro and 'Bari'ba, who each live in a distinct area and have their own dialectical differences. Other partial divisions can also be recognised. The northern part of

Mundri County Mundri is a village in Kaithal tehsil of Kaithal district of Haryana in India.Jur cluster, which includes the Beli, Sopi, Mödö, Nyamusa, Wira, Biti and

Morokodo The Morokodo are an ethnic group numbering over 40,000 people living in the South Sudanese state of Western Equatoria Western Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of . The state capital is Yambio. The state was divided into c ...

. Although they are often erroneously classified as Moru they form a distinct language group, more closely related to the Bongo and

Baka Baka, baká or BAKA may refer to: Ethnicities and languages * Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon), an African ethnic group * Baka people (Congo and South Sudan), an African ethnic group * Baka language, a dialect cluster of Cameroon and Gabon * Baka ...

. The Moru have received the most attention in the past and Moru Miza was the vernacular used in education and the church throughout the district. Settlement is in extended family groups surrounded by their gardens. These families are linked together into clans under headmen and sub-chiefs, but there are few physical concentrations of villages. The term village is generally used to describe the people who relate to one centre.

Agriculture

Most families are subsistence farmers depending on rain fed agriculture to produce food for their families. Any surplus may be sold for cash or bartered for products that cannot be produced locally. The staple crop is

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

which is grown in various field types in association with

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

cowpeas The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few input ...

, bulrush millet and

finger millet Finger millet (''Eleusine coracana'') is an Annual plant, annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and Semi-arid climate, semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and Self-pollination, self-pollinating speci ...

. Other important crops are groundnuts,

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

sweet potatoes The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...

okra Okra (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in some English-speaking countries as lady's fingers, is a flowering plant in the Malvaceae, mallow family native to East Africa. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions aro ...

, pumpkins and various green vegetables. Livestock are kept mainly on the northern and eastern sides of the district. The most commonly kept animals are sheep and goats. Poultry are kept by most households. The number of cattle has increased during the last two decades. Harvested grain in Mundri

Contact with the wild bush is important, and many of the relishes are obtained from wild sources. Hunting and fishing are important economic and social activities. Other wild foods include vegetables, wild fruit, fungi and insects, especially termites. The bush is also the source of building materials, fuel and fibres. The traditional way of cultivation is for close relatives to cultivate together in one area. This is traditionally called a Kätiri, and is traditionally made of segments divided round a central marker such as a large tree or ant hill.

Dancing

Between and during economic activities, the Moru spend a lot of time on other cultural pursuits which are of non-economic values. Predominant among the many cultural and social activities are dancing and singing. Both of these activities serve as recreation and realization of cultural values. Drumming, dancing and singing in Moru society are related to the three seasons. The correlation between the drumming, dancing and singing, the three seasonal periods, and general physical and economic welfare of the people, is one of the most interesting features of the Moru society. From January to April, food is abundant, the people are healthy, physical labour is very little, and there is a great deal or idle time. During this time, the dance performed is called ''RUMA''. The number of drums used during this dance is four. The biggest drum is called ''Dugye'' (sometimes also called ''Lari Endre'' ‘the mother drum’), the medium size drum is called Ruma, from which the dance takes its name, and the two small high pitched drums are called ''Lari Ngwa'' ‘Children of the Drum’. From May to August, when there is a great deal of agricultural economic activities, the dancing is called ''DEGO''. The number of drums used during this dance is one ''Dugye'' and two small ''lari ngwa''. With the peoples' strength sapped by the heavy labours and the assumed or real scarcity of food, the movements or this dance begin slow in relation to the rhythm or the songs which is also slow. The movements progress to Ngala when the movements and steps become considerably quicker and faster. ''DEGO'' dances are infrequent and do not last a complete night. From September to December the dance is called ''YELU''. The number of drums used is five. They consist of one ''Dugye'', one ''Diri'' (also known as ''Biri'') and three small high-pitched drums ''Lari Ngwa''. The movements which are involved reflect the great health and strength which the people have just acquired as a result of eating freshly harvested crops. ''YELU'' is the harvest season dance.

Musical Instruments

The ''Kudi'' and ''Lekyembe'' are harps which play important roles in Moru society. They serve as recreation and realization of cultural values. They particularly play a role during engagement between males and females. They are also used as important instruments for covering long distances and entertainment. A rattle called ''gara'' is used by women in church or at dances. It is made from a small

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds ha ...

that has been dried. It has a spherical body and narrow tapering neck with rounded end that serves as the instrument's handle. It is filled with a number of medium-sized seeds, normally okra, inserted through a circular hole cut into the centre of the top, and then resealed.

References

Sources

* CATFORD, J.R. (1953) ‘The Introduction of Cotton as a cash crop in the Maridi area of Equatoria.’ Sudan Notes and Records. Vol 34. * DAVISON, R.A. (1982) Mundri agriculture Development District Exploratory Soil Survey. RMANR Planning Dept Report No 31. Booker Agric International Ltd. * EATON-EVANS, M.J. (1981) Nutrition survey Report. Mundri District. Nov 1980-July 1981. Project Development Unit, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Southern Region, Democratic Republic of the Sudan. * ELIAS, Scopas.M. (1987) Taoye Opi Moru Ro Kyeno Kayi Ro. (Behaviour of the Past Moru Chiefs) Moru Literature Committee – Juba. * ELIAS, Scopas Mägyä. (1996) Longo Moru ro Madrasa ya;– Moru school song book. Summer Institute of Linguistics * ELIAS, Scopas Mägyä. (1996) Canon Ezra: My best friend in Sudan. Summer Institute of Linguistics * EVANS-PRITCHARD, E.E. (1938) 'A note on rain makers of the Moro clan' - MAN XXXVIII * FELKIN, W. (1883) 'Notes on the Madi or Moru Tribe.' Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 12. pp. 303–353. * FRASER, K.G. (1926) 'Witchcraft and Healing in the Moru Tribe.' in The Mission Hospital. * KAYANGA, Samuel E. (1998) ‘Son of the Soil;– Man of God: Andarea Apaya (1908-1966).’ p. 98–107 in WHEELER, Andrew (ed) Announcing the Light: Sudanese Witnesses to the Gospel. * KAYANGA, Samuel E. (1998) ‘A Vision of Family: Elizabeta William and Early Women’s Ministry amongst the Moru.’ p. 108-117 in WHEELER, Andrew (ed) Announcing the Light: Sudanese Witnesses to the Gospel. * KAYANGA, Samuel E. (1998) ‘Faith, Integrity and Freedom: Elinana Jabi Ngalamu (1917-1992).’ p. 230-252 in WHEELER, Andrew (ed) Announcing the Light: Sudanese Witnesses to the Gospel. * MORU LITERACY PROGRAMME . (2007) Moru–English Dictionary. * NALDER, L.F. (1936) Equatorial Province Handbook. Vol 1. Mongalla; Sudan Government Memoranda No 4. * NALDER, L.F. (1937) A tribal survey of Mongalla Province. OUP for the International Institute, London. * RMANR (1983) Mundri Smallholder Survey Report – Report No 55 – Planning Dept RMANR * SELIGMAN, C.G. & B.Z. (1932) Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan. London. Routledge & Sons. * SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1989) Indigenous Knowledge and Technical Change in a Subsistence Society; Lessons from the Moru of Sudan. ODI Agricultural Administration Network Paper No.9. London, ODI. * SURAYA, Issa .(2012) Odragba's legend: A tale from the Republic of South Sudan * SURAYA, Issa. (2012) When God left: collections of short poems * SURAYA, Issa .(2012) Odragba's legend: A tale from the Republic of South Sudan * SURAYA, Issa. (2012) When God When God left: collections of short poems * SURAYA Issa. (2019) Being true to yourself: Are you a loyal friend? * SURAYA Issa. (2022). What Does Trust Mean To You? * SURAYA Issa. (2023). Things Your Domestic Workers would love to tell you—But Will not: cleaners tell all * SURAYA Issa. (2023). (Princess Nora and the Pigeon: Season 1 * TINGWA, Peter O. The History of the Moru Church in Sudan. {{authority control Central Sudanic peoples Ethnic groups in South Sudan Western Equatoria Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo