EmmanuelOkwacDhikwan_songToKingAkwot

Abstract

The recording at the center of this item is a song. The land can’t be good if people have no cows. Cows make the land beautiful and life becomes sweet, because lack of cows is poverty. And to the Shilluk people, if you have no cows, you are not counted as a person (dhanhø). Ogot Konam is far from the main land. It is on the Sobat River (about 20 miles) east of Malakal Town. The composer encouraged people of Ogot Konam who might have cows in Ogot and Makal on the River Nile, to take their cows to Konam, and be ready to defend their properties from raiders who may come from the other tribes of Dinka east of Ogot Konam. King Akwot is the founder of Ogot Konam, and he is considered the owner. His shrine is there. But the composer knows that Akwot is not going to bring cows to his village, but the people who live there. That is why he said, “Yääb ngan ki kwöde men gëënge bøli paare.” Let everybody look for a shield to defend the land. The composer was really addressing the people and not the king. As if he was saying: If Akwot was alive, he would not allow his village to be without cows. The land is very fertile and there is plenty of dura and the other grains, but the composer is concerned about the cows. This song challenged the people of Ogot Konam to take their cows there. So, Ogot Konam became rich indeed. Now Ogot Konam has become a district composed of many villages. Emmanuel Okwac Dhikwan is the main singer in this song; he is accompanied by other members of the Collo Starts Jazz Band.