The Nuer women ensure the continuity of the Nuer pastoralists in East Africa. Not only as biological procreators but moreso in sustaining economic activities and social ties. This paper introduces the reader to the Nuer women by describing the Nuer people, discussing the marriage practices of this pastoralist group, and highlighting the role of married women in maintaining the clans’ survival.
The Nuer People
The Nuer is one of tribes referred to as the Pastoralists or cattle people of East Africa. They occupy parts of Sudan and Ethiopia. Cattle is most important to the Nuer as the quantity and quality of their cows define their status. A Nuer would be willing to risk his life to protect his cattle or to raid the cattle of another clan. The living patterns of the Nuer is dependent on the seasons. When rains come and flooding is expected, the tribes would bring their cattle to higher ground. With this nomadic lifestyle, the Nuer’s only build temporary houses. They return to their original abodes after some time.
According to the British anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard, the Nuer’s life revolved around their cattle. He related during his study of this tribe, all conversations with the Nuer would always revert to cattle. Evans-Pritchard maintains that the Nuer has a “pastoral mentality” and their obsession with cattle is manifested in the “linguistic profusion of cattle terminology” (Bodley, 2011, p. 105). They have names for their cattles, boys are given oxen names, and women are referred to according to the names of the cows they are milking. Cattle is the wealth of the Nuer people and when they get married, cows are transferred as bridewealth. The concept of bridewealth has also a big contribution to how the paternity of children is established in Nuer societies.
Definition of marriage
There are variations in the definition of marriage depending on the kind of society that a people belongs. For anthropologists, there is no one definition that can be applied to all societies. The definition released by the Royal Anthropological Institute in 1951 which says that marriage is a “union between a man and a woman such that the children born to the woman are recognized as legitimate offsprings of both partners (Kottak, 1991, p.298)” would not be applicable to societies where plural marriages are practices. The above definition assumes that marriage exists only between persons of the opposite sex and comprises only of a one man and one woman. However, in many societies in Asia and Africa, plural marriages exist and this could either mean there is one husband with many wives or one wife with many husbands.
Kottak (1991), an anthropologist recognizes that the definition needs to expand to become appropriate to the situation of different societies. Thus, he suggested that marriage be defined as a “socially-approved relationship between a socially-recognized male (the husband) and a socially recognized female (the wife) such that the children born to the wife are accepted as the offspring of both husband and wife” (p. 298). The term socially-recognized is important because in societies like that of the Nuer, a woman can perform the traditional duties of a wife and may also be able to perform the social responsibility of a husband. The concept of father is also defined either as the genitor or the actual biological father or as the pater, the socially-recognized father.
Plural marriages of the Nuer people
Marriage in Nuer society is defined by the transfer of the bride wealth. A woman can be a wife, a husband, and can even both to different persons at the same time. According to Bodley (2011), the women has the final say in the decision of who they will marry. Her parents, especially the father, would make sure that she is agreeable to the marriage because it is their future cattle that is at stake. Bodley (2011) explains that in case the couple separates before any children is born from the marriage, the bridewealth would be returned to the man’s family. The cattle that is given by the groom’s family to the bride’s family will have to be returned when the couple separates and no children were produced during the period the couple were together. Bodley emphasized that in the bride-wealth system, men would “sometimes explicitly equate women with cattle because, when women are given in marriage, they bring cattle in exchange” (p. 111).
The Nuer considers a wife a good woman when that person produces many children. According to John Burton, an anthropologist, in his interviews with Nuer men, “women are good—[because] they make children, and food, and beer.” (Bodley, 2011, p.112) The comments of the Nuer men, according to Burton, are actually the men’s recognition of the important role of women in ensuring their survival. The women, prepare the food, they milk the cows, do the laundry, fetch water, provide wifely duties, and bear children. In the Nuer society, a man being married is a symbol of success. It is the woman who provide the food and the children, therefore without the woman, the Nuer man would not be assured of having descendants and passing on to his descendants his cattle. The role of women is not only being biological procreators, more importantly, they manage the hearth and ensures the survival of the men and the children.
In Nuer households, there can be more than one wife. However, the first wife is not assure that she will remain as the head wife because there is always the possibility of the husband being convinced by the new wife to separate from the first wife.
A Nuer woman can also take on other men. According to Riesman (1998), there is no divorce in the Nuer society. Women can still have other man, however all her children regardless of who the biological father is, would still be considered the children of her first husband. The first husband is the pater of her children (Riesman, 1998). In instances where the husband of a Nuer woman dies, she will become the wife of the brother of his dead husband. But the children that she shall bear as a result of this union would still be considered the children of the dead man. This arrangement is called by Evans-Pritchard as “ghost-marriage” (p. 215)
A Nuer woman can also take on a wife. In cases wherein a family does not produce descendant, a woman can take on another woman as her wife. The first woman assumes the role of a socially-recognized husband. It does not matter if the first woman is already a wife to another man and have children of her own. Her responsibility towards her father’s family would be to produce descendants thus she had to become a socially-recognized husband. The person she takes on as a wife then perform wifely duties for the family and takes on a lover to be able to produce children. All the children that comes from this marriage will be considered children of the socially-recognized husband. Although the husband is not the genitor, she is the pater of the children.
Nuer women in current times
Sudan is going through social, economic, and political unrests. The conflicts in the region has resulted in populations seeking refuge in neighboring countries such as Kenya and even overseas to the US. Despite the distance, the Nuer practices and traditions are still imposed by the elders. The women, however, especially teenagers face challenges when they return to their homeland. Such difficulty is evident in the words of a 17-year old who has stayed in Kenya for a long time then came back to the native land. This girl observed that “there is no freedom for girls here, and girls are valued only when they are married and bring bridewealth” (Riesman, 1998). She said she had a hard time adjusting to life in the Nuer community, but had gradually learned the chores at home and fetching water.
It is expected that changes will take place in pastoralist societies. However, at present it is clearly evident that the traditions of the Nuer society are continued to be practiced to the present day. The women, although not often acknowledged, are the ones who ensure the continuity of the Nuer clans, and this has been clearly evident in their role in Nuer marriages.
References
Bodley, J.H. (2011). African Cattle Peoples: Tribal Pastoralists. In Cultural Anthropology : Tribes, States and the Global System, 5th edition. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. pp. 99-128.
Kottak, C.P. (1991). Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity, 5th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Riesman, P. (1998). Freedom in Fulani Social Life: An Introspective Ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp.214-215.
