The Religion of the DINKA in Sudan

A. THE DINKA

The Dinka are a group of tribes living in southern Sudan. They are nearly a million people in number. They speak different dialects of a common language. They live in the swamps and flat country near to the White Nile and the rivers which flow into it from the west.
Most Dinka spend their lives looking after cattle. The cattle are their wealth, and are precious to them. Young men, in particular, become closely attached to the bulls with which they are associated. The flow of water in the streams and rivers varies very greatly during the course of the year, and because of this the Dinka often have to set up their cattle camps many miles from their homesteads. They spend long periods in the tribal cattle camps in the dry season, camping out in the open. The men are absent from home caring for the cattle at other times as well. In the rainy season the Dinka stable their cattle in large huts near their homesteads. [p. 16]
Most Dinkas grow crops of grain and vegetables. Sowing takes place after the first rains in March or April, and harvest comes in October at the end of the rainy season. Some poor tribes have no cattle and little cultivation: they depend upon fishing and hunting.
Up to the present time, their way of life has been a simple rural one. Dinka homes are made of mud and wattle, with grass roofs. Each family has a few pots, gourds, household utensils, and spears. Like most cattle-owning peoples they make good use of skins, e.g. as leather vessels for holding milk and water, for bed-mats, and as garments for the women.
Not all Dinka share the religious beliefs described in this chapter. Many thousands have become Christians or Muslims. [p. 16]

B. BELIEFS OF THE DINKA ABOUT GOD

1. The Powers
The Dinka believe that there are superhuman Powers in the world, which affect their lives for good or ill. These Powers are able to act in ways which are beyond ordinary human ability. They are unseen, and their strength is more than human. The Dinka call these Powers ‘jok’, which may be translated as ‘spirit’ or as ‘power’. Sometimes the Dinka refer to the Powers as Nhialic, which means ‘that which is above (in the sky)’. The Dinka treat these Powers in a religious way, praying to them, and offering sacrifices to them. They believe that the powers are closely related to the Dinka. Some tribes believe that their first ancestor was one of these Powers. [pp. 16, 18]

2. Nhialic
Nhialic means ‘that which is above 9in the sky)’. Dinkas use the word as a general term for all the powers which they worship. At other times, they use it when speaking of the sky. Dinkas also use it, however, as a personal name for the greatest of the Powers. They address prayers to Nhialic, and refer to him as ‘creator’ and ‘father’. In particular, they believe that he is the one who gives rain from the sky which is his home. Christian Dinka use Nhialic to translate the word ‘God’ in the Bible. [p. 18]

3. Clan-Divinities
Each clan has its own clan-divinity or divinities. Individual people may also respect the clan-divinity of other clans if they are related to them by marriage or in other ways. The Dinka associate a great number of different emblems with the clan-divinities. They believe that the divinities are present in these emblems, or are linked with them in a special way. These emblems include many kinds of animals, birds, insects, and trees, and also larger objects like the forest, the rain, the river Nile, and the planet Venus.
Dinka treat the emblems of their own clan-divinity with great respect. Members of the lion or hyaena clan, for example, leave portions of sacrifices for these animals to eat, and those who are associated with the river throw sacrifices into it. [p. 18]

4. ‘Free’ Divinities
These are not connected with particular clans. The Dinka know them by personal names, but not all Dinka know them all. Some of the most important are:
Deng or Dengdit: the name means ‘rain’, and Deng is particularly associated with rain, thuder, and lightning.
Garang: this fre-divinity is associated with red-brown, and with red and brown colors in association with white. Men possessed by the power of Garang are believed to be able to cure sickness. ‘Garang’ was also the name of the first man.
Abuk: Abuk is a kindly divinity and thought to be female. The Dinka associate Abuk particularly with women.
Macardit: ‘the great, black one’ is a harmful Power. The Dinka associate Macardit with the evil influences which hurt men. They try to cool his anger by sacrifice. [p. 18]
The Dinka do not generally imagine the divinities or Nhialic to have human forms. They know them as the Powers which operate in Nature, and associate them with emblems which they take from the great variety of natural objects. [p. 19]

5. The Spirits of the Dead
The Dinka believe that every human being has within him a soul or spirit, called atiep or tiep. This word also means ‘shadow’. When a person dies, his atiep jumps from the body and remains near the house or place of burial. Sometimes a person dreams that an atiep asks for food: he then prepares food and leaves it in a bowl until evening. The atiep has power to hurt its relatives by causing sickness.
Dinka sacrifice animals as offerings to their dead. They also observe periods of mourning aftet a burial, when they do not cut their hair, or wash, and they refrain from sexual intercourse. The atiep become weaker as time passes. After a few generations they may be forgotten without harmful results. [p. 19]
The spirits of more important dead people are called jok, and are associated with the divinites. They include the ancestors of particular strong and powerful. The Dinka pray to them for help, especially in times of stress or danger. When a Dinka throws a spear at a hippopotamus, for example, he cries out ‘jongawa’, ‘O spirit (jok) of my father’. On important occasions, for example in illness, the Dinka sacrifice to the jok of their ancestors, as well as to the divinities.
Sometimes the Dinka build small shrines as ‘houses’ for the spirits of important people who have died. These are usually low mounds of clay in which they erect bull’s horns or small trees. The people place offerings near them. [p. 19]

The Presence of the Powers
The Powers of various sorts which the Dinka worship make their presence known in various ways.
(a) They show their presence through rain, thunder, and lightning, and the changes of the seasons.
(b) They show their presence in strange or unusual events. For example, a Dinka who noticed a very large pumpkin in his garden said ‘the spirit has fallen’: he would not eat it until he had sacrificed a goat.
(c) They show their presence by causing sickness.
(d) They show their presence by dreams, or by causing feelings of memorse or guilt.
(e) They show their presence by taking possession of human beings and speaking through their mouths. [p. 19]