DINKA

A people of Sudan.

The Dinka are a Nilotic people in the Republic of Sudan. Numbering over two million, they are the most numerous ethnic group, inhabiting about a tenth of its 1 million square miles (2.6 million sq km). The land of the Dinka is rich savanna broken by the Nile River, its tributaries, and the Sudd, the great swamps of the Nile that flood the grasslands during the rainy season (May to October) and fall during the dry season (November to April). The Dinka are separated by these rivers and swamps into some twenty-five independent groups. In the past they were governed by lineages rather than any single authority.

Their physical characteristics, ethnic pride, and striking cultural uniformity bind the Dinka together as one people, despite their widespread geographical dispersion. They call themselves not Dinka but Monyjang, which means "the man," or "the husband of men." They are convinced of their superiority to all others, whom they call "foreigners" (juur; singular, jur).

The Dinka are devoted to their cattle, which provide them with many of their worldly and spiritual needs, from dairy products (supplemented by fish and grain) to protection against illness or death. Cattle are the social cement for "bride wealth" (for marriage) and "blood wealth" (to resolve disputes). The Dinka are a proud people who, despite the ravages of civil war in Sudan, will nevertheless continue to survive.

See also Nile River; Sudd.

robert o. collins