Alur people

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Alur are an ethnic group who live mainly Nebbi district in northwestern Uganda, but also in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north of Lake Albert. They are part of the larger Luo group, and their language is mutually intelligible with Acholi.

The Alur Chiefdom is probably the only one that was unaffected by the Ugandan ban on traditional monarchies in 1966.[1]

The Alur political system is a series of overlapping, interlocking chiefdoms, which were never unified in a single polity during precolonial times. Related lineages from different chiefdoms performed some religious ceremonies together, and intermarriage among chiefdoms was also fairly common. People also recognized other Alur speakers as neighbors. The Acholi claimed land east of Alur territory, and the Alur lost land in 1952, with the creation of Murchison (Kabalega) National Game Park. The Alur subsequently incorporated some Sudanic-speaking groups into their society as they expanded to the west.

Alur territory was remote from British commerce during colonial times, but once colonial boundaries were set, people found ways to profit from cross-border smuggling. Only a few churches, schools, and medical dispensaries were established, and many Alur became migrant laborers in Buganda to earn money to pay their taxes. Despite its geographical isolation, Alur territory in the 1980s showed signs of substantial but uneven acculturation, influenced by Sudanese, Zairian, and other Ugandan cultures. Alur society also became the object of some of the anti-Amin revenge that swept through the region in the 1980s.

Henry Luke Orombi the current Anglican Archbishop of Uganda is an Alur.

The Alur language is very related to Jonam language which is itself developed from Alur. But the Jonan are the Alurs that are settled along river nile. Fishing is their traditional occupation and subsistance livelihood. The Jonam are spread along the Nile River from Panyimur through Pakwach all the way up to Pawor as the Nile flow towards the Ugandan border with South Sudan.

The Alur play a traditional harp called adungu.