AY Honors/African Lore/Answer Key

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{{ethnic group|
|group=Acholi
|image = [[Image:Kids3.jpg|250px]]
<div style="background-color:#fee8ab">
<small>Acholi children in an [[internally displaced person|IDP]] camp in [[Kitgum]]
</small>
|poptime=800,000
|popplace=[[Uganda]]<br>[[Sudan]]<br>
|rels=[[Christianity]]<br>[[Islam]]<br>
|langs=[[Acholi language|Acholi]]
|related=[[Luo (family of ethnic groups)|Luo]]
}}
'''Acholi''' (also '''Acoli''') is an [[ethnic group]] from the districts of [[Gulu District|Gulu]], [[Kitgum District|Kitgum]] and [[Pader District|Pader]] in northern [[Uganda]] (an area commonly referred to as [[Acholiland]]), and [[Magwe County]] in southern [[Sudan]]. The 1991 Uganda census counted 746,796 Acholi; a further 45,000 Acholi live outside of Uganda.<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ach Acholi: A language of Uganda], [[Ethnologue]]</ref>

==Language==
{{main|Acholi language}}

The [[Acholi language]] is a [[Western Nilotic languages|Western Nilotic]] language, classified as [[Luo languages|Luo]], and is [[mutually intelligible]] with [[Lango]] and other Luo languages.

The ''[[Song of Lawino]]'', one of the most successful African literary works, was written by [[Okot p'Bitek]] in Acholi, and later translated to [[English language|English]].

==History==
{{see also|Luo}}
The Acholi are a Luo people, who are said to have come to northern Uganda from the area now known as [[Bahr el Ghazal]] in southern [[Sudan]]. Starting in the late [[seventeenth century]], a new sociopolitical order developed among the Luo of northern Uganda, mainly characterized by the formation of chiefdoms headed by ''Rwodi'' (sg. Rwot, 'ruler'). By the mid-[[nineteenth century]], about 60 small chiefdoms existed in eastern Acholiland.<ref>Webster 1970.</ref> During the second half of the nineteenth century [[Arabic language|Arabic]]-speaking traders from the north started to call them ''Shooli'', a term which transformed into 'Acholi'.<ref>According to Atkinson (1994).</ref>

Their traditional dwelling-places were circular huts with a high peak, furnished with a mud sleeping-platform, jars of grain and a sunk fireplace, with the walls daubed with mud and decorated with geometrical or conventional designs in red, white or grey. They were skilled hunters, using nets and spears, and kept [[goat]]s, [[sheep]] and [[cattle]]. In war they used spears and long, narrow shields of giraffe or ox hide.

[[Image:Acholiland,_Uganda.png|thumb|right|257px|Acholiland, Uganda]]
During Uganda's [[History of Uganda|colonial period]], the [[United Kingdom|British]] encouraged political and economic development in the south of the country, in particular among the [[Baganda]]. In contrast, the Acholi and other northern ethnic groups supplied much of the national manual labor and came to comprise a majority of the military, creating what some have called a "military ethnocracy." This reached its height with the [[coup d'état]] of Acholi General [[Tito Okello]], and came to a crashing end with the defeat of Okello and the Acholi-dominated army by the [[National Resistance Army]] led by now-President [[Yoweri Museveni]].

The Acholi are known to the outside world mainly because of the insurgency of the [[Lord's Resistance Army]] (LRA) led by [[Joseph Kony]], an Acholi from Gulu. LRA's activities have been concentrated within [[Acholiland]], and populous Acholi remain [[internally displaced person]]s.

==Religion==
Most Acholi are [[Protestant]], [[Catholicism|Catholic]] and, in lesser numbers, [[Muslim]]. Nevertheless, the traditional belief in guardian and ancestor spirits remains strong, though it is now often described in [[Christian]] or [[Islam]]ic terms.

== Notable Acholi people ==
* [[Alice Auma]], spirit medium and rebel leader
* [[Betty Bigombe]], former MP and conflict mediator
* [[Joseph Kony]], leader of the rebel [[Lord's Resistance Army]]
* [[Matthew Lukwiya]], physician at the forefront of the 2000 [[Ebola]] outbreak
* [[Janani Luwum]], former Archbishop of the Church of Uganda
* [[Norbert Mao]], Gulu District [[Local Council]] V Chairman
* [[Tito Okello]], [[President of Uganda]] for six months in 1985
* [[Bazilio Olara-Okello]], ''de facto'' Head of State for six months in 1985 and later Chief of Defence Forces
* [[Geoffrey Oryema]], exiled singer
* [[Olara Otunnu]], former [[Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations|United Nations Under-Secretary-General]] and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
* [[Okot p'Bitek]], poet and author of the ''[[Song of Lawino]]''
* [[Akena p'Ojok]], Former UNLF Vice President, Former UPC Member of Parliament and Minister of Power In Obote II Regime

==References==
*Atkinson, Ronald Raymond (1994) ''The roots of ethnicity: the origins of the Acholi of Uganda before 1800''. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. ISBN 9970-02-156-7.
* Dwyer, John Orr (1972) 'The Acholi of Uganda: adjustment to imperialism'. (unpublished thesis) Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International .
* Girling, F.K. (1960) ''The Acholi of Uganda'' (Colonial Office / Colonial research studies vol. 30). London: Her majesty's stationery office.
* Webster, J. (1970) 'State formation and fragmentation in Agago, Eastern Acholi', ''Provisional council for the social sciences in East Africa; 1st annual conference'', vol 3., p. 168-197.

=== Notes ===

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==External links==
*[http://www.acholinet.com/ Acholinet.com]Acholi People website with News, Forums, market Place, Downloads etc
*[http://www.rupiny.co.ug Rupiny], a newspaper in [[Acholi language|Acholi]] and [[Lango]] ([[Luo languages|Luo]])
*[http://www.language-museum.com/a/acholi.php Acholi sample at Language-Museum.com]
*[http://www.ugandacan.org/ Uganda Conflict Action Network] working for peace in northern Uganda
*[http://www.invisiblechildren.com/ Invisible Acholi Children Global Night Commute]

[[Category:Ethnic groups in Uganda]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Sudan]]
[[Category:Nilotic peoples]]

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