TupacLaaWol_songWhatTheArabsCaused

Abstract

The Shilluk recording at the center of this item is a song. The composer is Chief Akoko of Lelo Village. Lelo is to the west of Malakal Town, on the other side the Nile. The song is a mourning song according to the Shilluk tradition. The composer is mourning his father whose memorial was done in their deserted village. The memorial ceremony is done within one year depending on the financial situation in a given family. The village was deserted because of the first war between the ruling Arabs and the Anyanya freedom fighters of South Sudan. That war started in 1955 and ended by the Addis agreement in 1972. The villages were often burnt by the Arabs’ army, but when the army goes back to the town, people come back and put on new roofs on the walls of the burnt houses. So there was no security. The composer’s father died during that war. So, the composer says that he will not abandon the village for good, before he does the funeral rite of his father. And this was what he did. In this song he says that his father was like a fig tree. Fig trees in Chollo land are desired for their cool shadows. So a person who is like a fig tree is generous and welcomes guests. He says that the fig tree had fallen down with its head to the river, meaning that he died pleading with the forefathers and God calling for curse on those who caused unrest. And that the remaining villages that are not burnt will fall, and then God will bring peace.