Best Travel Guide To Murle People/Tribe In South Sudan

Best Travel Guide To Murle People/Tribe In South Sudan

Experience and explore the Murle people of South Sudan. The Murle people inhabit the Pibor and Boma areas of South Sudan and migrated from Ethiopia with a small number still living there. Murle people are divided into groups, a primary agriculturalist eastern group residing in the mountainous Boma plateau and a primary pastoralist western group residing in Jonglei wetlands.

The plain Murle are predominantly pastoral and their socio-economic activities center around the herding of cattle. They practice subsistence agriculture; they also fish and hunt extensively. The Murle are extremely skillful in the arts of hunting and stalking game. In Boma where there is high rainfall the Murle practice agriculture cultivating maize, sorghum, simsim, tobacco, and coffee.

Who is the Murle Tribe? 

Murle Tribe Social Organization:

Murle society is organized by age set and both the lowland and highland Murle people share the same age sets and each age set plays a different task such as community security, border protection, and the right to marry.

The pastoralist Murle are cattle-loving and because of the small homeland area, they partly practice nomadism in search of new fresh grazing grounds for their animals which often results in conflict with their neighboring tribes of Nuer and Dinka. Like Dinka and Nuer, Murle men can only marry after paying the bridewealth of several dozen cows and this has somehow led to cattle rustling with their neighboring tribes of Dinka and Nuer.

About the Murle Tribe:

The Murle number about 300,000 to 400,000 and inhabit Pibor County in southeastern Upper Nile (Jonglei). The Murle neighbors are Nuer and Dinka, whom they call collectively (jong koth); the Anyuak, whom they call (Nyoro) and the Toposa, and Jie they call (kum). Their relationship with their neighbors is by no means cordial due to their cattle-raiding practices.

The Murle are proud people who are very proud of their language and customs. They also regard themselves as distinct from the people who live around them. At various times they have been at war with all of the surrounding tribes so they present a united front against what they regard as hostile neighbors. The people call themselves Murle and all other peoples are referred to as 'modern." The literal translation of this word is “enemy,” although it can also be translated as “strangers.”

Even when the Murle are at peace with a given group of neighbors, they still refer to them as modern.
The neighboring tribes also return the favor by referring to the Murle as the “enemy.” The Dinka people refer to the Murle as the Beir and the Anuak call them the Ajiba. These were the terms originally used in the early literature to refer to the Murle people. Only after direct contact by the British did their self-name become known and the term Murle is now generally accepted.

Murle Tribe Settlements:

Murle people live in settlements made of a series of small huts arranged in a circle and linked together by thorn hedges that keep the cattle inside and protect them from harm and highland Murle also tends to have gardens near their huts. Women mostly build the huts and grass-thatched settlements have a 'club' at the center with a big tree where elders convene to discuss village matters and also where Murle people meet to dance.

Murle Political and Social Organization:

The Murle are an acephalous society, meaning there is no hierarchy of leadership. This has serious implications when it comes to making political decisions that affect the entire tribe. Since there is “no head,” there are no strong political leaders who have far-reaching authority. A homestead, korok, typically consists of two or three generations of a family, tatok. The oldest man in the family is the de facto head of the homestead and he makes all major decisions on behalf of his extended family. This is an extremely small unit, therefore to enhance the chances for physical survival, it may unite with other homesteads through a horizontal extension of social ties.

Therefore relationships between homesteads are not primarily political but rather provide a mechanism for residential mobility, mutual help, and physical survival. The term for neighbors who assist each other is 'abaayizo', those who live together. If members of one homestead do not get along with their neighbors, they simply pull up stakes and move away, building a new korok in another area where they find the neighbors more compatible. Since the Murle people are transhumant they move easily and do not need complicated mechanisms for solving conflicts between homesteads – instead, they simply avoid them.

Since there is little hierarchy, the cohesive factor that holds Murle society together is the highly functional age sets. These are well-defined groups of men based on age, and I regard them as the core social force among the Murle. The younger age sets are a fighting force and take on the important role of protecting the tribe from outsiders. Belonging to an age set is critical. When Murle men meet each other for the first time, one of the first questions they ask is which bull, age-set, the other man belongs to. If they find out they belong to the same buul there is instant rapport and offers of hospitality and help.

All boys become members of a 'buul' in their late teenage years and they stay in the same bull for the rest of their lives. Members of an age set do not formally move from one social position to another over time, although as men get older they will marry and focus their lives on their cattle and family. It is when the Murle men are still young and single that the age sets are most important in their lives. This is the time when young men are eager to fight and prove themselves – whether in protecting their country from enemy tribes or going out on raids to procure cattle.

Marriage of the Murle:

When a young man wishes to marry, he looks to his father and his mother’s relatives to provide the marriage cattle. The bride price is transferred in a ceremony to the girl’s homestead.

Once the bride’s parents are satisfied with the dowry she is then presented to the groom.
The dowry, which is the number of accepted cattle, is divided among her relatives. The Murle speak of relatives as ‘people who have cattle between them’ (atenoc). The Murle regard incest (ngilidh) with great horror; in the past, the offense was almost invariably punished by death.

Culture of the Murle:

The Murle social and cultural life is centered around their cattle. They breed them, marry them, eat their meat, drink their blood and milk, and sleep on their hides. The Murle compose songs full of references to the herds captured in battle or raids from their neighbors. Raiding and stealing cattle is a question of honor and valor. Every important social event is celebrated by the sacrifice of a bull to ensure the participation of the ancestral spirits as well as to provide food for the assembled guests and relatives. Kinship obligations are expressed in terms of cattle.

Among the Murle there is nothing special to mark initiation into adulthood for both boys and girls. However, boys of the same age could group and give themselves a group name which is then recognized.

All Murle boys receive a secret name when they become a man. A father gives his son a large ox with beautiful colors and spreading horns. The boy then makes a riddle based on the color of this name-ox. He then goes to an old man who remembers the Toposa language. The riddle is shortened to a couple of Toposa words and this becomes the boy’s manhood name for the rest of his life. He will tell his friends his new name, but the meaning remains a secret. So Murle men go through their lives bearing Toposa names.

The Murle stresses the importance of the web of kinship ties. They are more interested in the links between living people than in their descent groups, clans, and lineages. Marriage relationship (kaavdhet) is considered the most important, and the respect paid to parents-in-law is emphasized

Mythology and History

Tradition claims that the tribe was created at a place called ''Jen'', somewhere beyond Maji in Ethiopia. The Murle has a number of myths and songs about Jen. The term Jen has symbolic meanings because it is one of the cardinal directions meaning “east.” It also refers to the location of the rising sun, a bringer of warmth and light. The rains also come from the east, bringing vital water for pastures and gardens. The Murle elders also described their original area of Jen as being a place of mountainous terrain.

Another tradition claims that the Murle was part of a larger group that migrated from around Lake Turkana. The memory of the separation from the Didinga, Lorim, and others over the soup of a gazelle is vivid in the minds of most Murle.

Culture: Arts, Music, Literature, and Handicrafts:

The Murle have evolved a culture centered around cattle which is expressed in songs, poetry, folklore, and dance. They adorn their bodies with all kinds of scars and drawings of different animals and birds while wearing different types of beads. Murle literature is invariably oral.

Neighbors and Foreign Relations:

The Murle neighbors are Nuer and Dinka, whom they call collectively (jong koth); the Anyuak, whom they call (Nyoro) and the Toposa, and Jie they call (kum). Their relationship with their neighbors is by no means cordial due to their cattle-raiding practices.

What Are Their Religious Beliefs?

The Murle are animists (believe that non-living objects have spirits), following the ethnic-religious practices of their ancestors. They believe the earth is flat and that their home in South Sudan is at the center. The word for "sky" and the word for "God" are the same: Tammu. They believe that Tammu created the universe and that rain is a gift from him. They also believe that Tammu is everywhere, all-knowing, the supreme judge and ruler, and greater than all things.

Unfortunately, the Murle also believes that some spirits dwell in animals and that the spirits of their ancestors are still present. The Murle regularly solicit the help of healers and diviners, who they believe can ward off evil spirits and curses. They believe visits to these diviners can keep the good spirits on their side, as well as keep evil spirits away from them.

Initiation into Adulthood:

Among the Murle there is nothing special to mark initiation into adulthood for both boys and girls. However, boys of the same age could group and give themselves a group name which is then recognized.

Death:

The Murle considers death as a natural culmination of life. There is mourning for the dead and in the past, the body was not buried but left to the birds and wild animals. Only chiefs are buried in a ceremony.

Murle people have a rich cultural heritage such as beautiful facial and body artistry markings, cultural dressing, settlements, cultural dances, religious beliefs, art, and crafts, and many others, and a must-visit for any tourist visiting South Sudan.

Arrange with Ultimate Wild Safaris to explore the beautiful rich cultural heritage of the Murle people.

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