This independent study examines how conflict and natural resource changes drive human migration within Nilotic tribes in South Sudan.
The Nuer, Dinka and Shilluk are Nilotic tribes living in close proximity to the White Nile. These pastoral societies organize their lives around the movement of cattle – they drive cattle to the River Nile in the dry season and away from the River Nile in the wet season. However, two primary factors have disrupted these bi-annual movements: almost half a century of civil war (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) and recurring natural catastrophes (i.e. flooding and/or drought). Specifically, the long-standing conflict created significant changes in tribal social systems by driving individuals and families out of Sudan for reasons of safety, food, and/or work. Extended kinship networks that once acted to restrain intercommunity violence and establish viable patterns of resource use were strained by the unpredictable flow of migrants north to/from Khartoum, east to/from Ethiopia, and south to/from Uganda or Kenya. Recurring bouts of flooding and drought (as well as natural resource policies and projects introduced by the state) have intensified these challenges, forcing individuals to alter their migratory patterns in such a way as to put them in direct conflict with other resource users.
Students will use various media (primarily mapping) to depict human migration patterns among Nilotic tribes in South Sudan from 1955 to the present. Specifically, the project aims to uncover two different patterns of movement that appear to be closely related. First, we will look at Nilotic tribal migration directly related to the long-standing Sudanese conflict. In particular, we will try to trace where certain groups moved in response to violence in their area and whether tribal alliances across “international” borders proved important for particular tribes. Second, we will look at how environmental catastrophes and government policies affecting resource management altered patterns of migration within South Sudan. For example, flooding (sometimes naturally occurring and sometimes due to state intervention, e.g. Jonglei Canal Project) often pushed Nuer groups east of the White Nile into Ethiopia. These events forced tribes to violate unmarked boundaries of resource use, which some researchers suggest increased inter-tribal tension and violence. Inter-tribal conflict potentially added fuel to the larger ongoing conflict, creating a positive feedback loop in which more people were forced to migrate outward for survival. Putting these two migration patterns together may provide a more accurate interpretation of how Nilotic groups have moved physically to cope with these significant livelihood stressors. In turn, this work may help to explain why South Sudan is currently experiencing an increase in violence both between and within Nilotic groups.