GeorgeAgyethDaak_songTheBoatOfTheArab

Abstract

The recording at the center of this item is a Shilluk song. A boat carrying army went from Malakal to Akorwa in Mwomo in July 1965, and took every good thing into the boat. Then the army burnt the shrine, and Akorwa Village. The boat caught fire on its way to Malakal, and sank in front of Odaango Village. So, King Kur went to Omdurman to complain to the Imam of Ansar for destroying their religious and cultural sites. Then the two leaders went to the government to complain. The government stopped forcing the people to become muslims in the south. Joseph Nyayang, the composer was in Bur Village when Nyikango’s shrine in Akorwa was burnt. So, he was tempted to compose a song about the incident, but he resisted the idea because he is a Christian and did not want to compose songs about Nyikango. Then he became very ill and lost the taste of everything (his grain beer became dirty). He became so weak that he gave in and went to the centre of the village and started singing this song; he thought that Nyikango was angry with him because he didn't want to sing the song that came to him concerning the incident.