The
Lugbara live in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
, and South Sudan. In Lugbara mythology,
Adroa
Adroa is the supreme god or spirit of the Lugbara people of central Africa.
Adroa is a god they worship, and this aspect of the god was known as ''Adroa 'ba o'bapiri'' ('God the creator of men'). Adroa was said to have created the first man, Gbo ...
appeared in both good and evil aspects; he was the creator god and appeared on
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
as a
man
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...
who was near death. He was depicted as a very tall white man with only one half of a body, missing one
eye
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...
, one leg, etc. His children were called the Adroanzi.
The Adroanzi were nature gods of specific
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
s,
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s and other sacred wild areas. At night, they followed people and protected them from
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s and bandits as long as they did not look over their shoulder to ensure that an Adroanzi was following; if the person did so, the Adroanzi killed them. The people they killed, they ate. They were also sometimes known as water snakes. Some Africans consider them gardeners.
Hero-ancestors
God created Gborogboro (‘the person coming from the sky’) and a woman named Meme (‘the person who came alone’). Meme bore a boy and girl who in turn produced a male and female pair. The names and number of generations vary according to various myths. Some myths say the
siblings
A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child.
While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...
did not have intercourse but women gave birth after goat's blood was poured on their legs to symbolize
menstruation
Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...
. Lugbara believe
conception occurs three to four days after menstruation. However, all versions state that
bridewealth
Bride price, bride-dowry (Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dowr ...
was not given. All this took place at a place called Loloi by Lugbara, somewhere in
Southern Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Con ...
.
The last pair of siblings produced the two hero-ancestors, Jaki and Dribidu (‘the hairy one’) who came to the present land of Lugbara and begot many sons (founders of the current clans). Both heroes could perform supernatural and magical feats. Jaki died on Mount Liru while Dribidu died on Mount Eti (Wati) in Terego where he had settled. His other name was Banyale (‘Eater of men’) because he ate his children until he was discovered and driven away from his earlier home in the East bank of the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
. He enjoyed the human
liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
a lot.
See also
*
Lugbara language
Lugbara, or Lugbarati, is the language of the Lugbara people. It is spoken in the West Nile sub-region, West Nile region in northwestern Uganda, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Orientale Province.
Classification and dialects
Th ...
*
Lugbara people
The Lugbara are a Central Sudanic ethnic group who live mainly in the West Nile region of Uganda, in the adjoining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and few in South Sudan. They speak the Lugbara language, a Central Sudanic langu ...
*
Lugbara proverbs
References
* Middleton, J. (1960). ''Lugbara religion; ritual and authority among an East African people''. London: Published for the International African Institute by the Oxford University Press. Reprinted 1999; .
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