Moru

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Moru is an ethnic group of Sudan. Most of them live in Equatoria. They speak Moru, a Nilo-Saharan language. Many members of this ethnicity are Christians. The population of this ethnicity possibly does not exceed 100,000.

The Moru is the most educated tribe in the Equatoria Region.

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The Moru, who belong to the ethnic group which includes the Madi, Lugbara, Avokaya and Logo of Uganda and Zaire, live in the southern part of Mundri County, Equatoria Region, Southern Sudan. There are five main divisions of the Moru, namely: Miza; Ägyi; Moroändri; Kediro and 'Bali'ba, who each live in a distinct area and have their own dialectical differences. ^[1] Other partial divisions can also be recognised.

The northern part of Mundri County is inhabited by the Jur cluster, which includes the Beli, Sopi, Mödö, Nyamusa, Wira, Biti and Morokodo. Although they are often erroneously classified as Moru they form a distinct language group, more closely related to the Bongo and Baka. The Moru have received the most attention in the past and Moru Miza has been the vernacular used in education and the church throughout the district.

Settlement is in extended family groups surrounded by their gardens. These families are linked together into clans under headmen and subchiefs, but there are few physical concentrations of villages. The term village is generally used to describe the people who relate to one centre.

Most families are subsistence farmers depending on rain fed agriculture to produce food for their families. Any surplus may be sold for cash or bartered for products that cannot be produced locally. The staple crop is sorghum which is grown in various field types in association with sesame, cowpeas, bulrush millet and finger millet. Other important crops are groundnuts, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, okra, pumpkins and various green vegetables. Livestock are kept mainly on the northern and eastern sides of the district. The most animals are sheep and goats. Poultry are kept by most households.

Contact with the wild bush is important, and many of the relishes are obtained from wild sources. Hunting and fishing are important economic and social activities. Other wild foods include vegetables, wild fruit, fungi and insects, especially termites. The bush is also the source of building materials, fuel and fibres.

BIBLIOGRAPHY of some texts relating to the Moru

CATFORD, J.R. (1951) ‘Kätiri Cultivation in the Moru District of Equatoria’. Sudan Notes and Records Vol 32.

CATFORD, J.R. (1953) ‘The Introduction of Cotton as a cash crop in the Maridi area of Equatoria.’ Sudan Notes and Records. Vol 34.

DAVISON, R.A. (1982) Mundri agriculture Development District Exploratory Soil Survey. RMANR Planning Dept Report No 31. Booker Agric International Ltd.

EATON-EVANS, M.J. (1981) Nutrition survey Report. Mundri District. Nov 1980-July 1981. Project Development Unit, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Southern Region, Democratic Republic of the Sudan.

ELIAS, Scopas.M. (1987) Taoye Opi Moru Ro Kyeno Kayi Ro. (Behaviour of the Past Moru Chiefs) Moru Literature Committee - Juba.

ELIAS, Scopas Mägyä. (1996) Longo Moru ro Madrasa ya – Moru school song book. Summer Institute of Linguistics

ELIAS, Scopas Mägyä. (1996) Canon Ezra: My best friend in Sudan. Summer Institute of Linguistics

EVANS-PRITCHARD, E.E. (1938) 'A note on rain makers of the Moro clan' - MAN XXXVIII

FELKIN, W. (1883) 'Notes on the Madi or Moru Tribe.' Proceed¬ings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 12. pp. 303-353.

FRASER, E. (1938) The Doctor comes to Lui: A story of beginning in Sudan. Wayman & sons Ltd., London

FRASER, K.G. (1926) 'Witchcraft and Healing in the Moru Tribe.' in The Mission Hospital.

FURULÄ, John Barayona. (1988) Moru Cultural Dance. Moru Literature Project, Juba.

KAYANGA, Samuel E. (1998) ‘Son of the Soil – Man of God: Andarea Apaya (1908-1966).’ p. 98-107 in WHEELER, Andrew (ed) Announcing the Light: Sudanese Witnesses to the Gospel.

KAYANGA, Samuel E. (1998) ‘A Vision of Family: Elizabeta William and Early Women’s Ministry amongst the Moru.’ p. 108-117 in WHEELER, Andrew (ed) Announcing the Light: Sudanese Witnesses to the Gospel.

KAYANGA, Samuel E. (1998) ‘Faith, Integrity and Freedom: Elinana Jabi Ngalamu (1917-1992).’ p. 230-252 in WHEELER, Andrew (ed) Announcing the Light: Sudanese Witnesses to the Gospel.

LAWIRI, E.B. (1987) The Growth of the Church in Moru Country. Moru Literacy Project, Mundri, Sudan.

MORU LITERACY PROGRAMME . (2007) Moru-English Dictionary.

NALDER, L.F. (1936) Equatorial Province Handbook. Vol 1. Mongalla; Sudan Government Memoranda No 4.

NALDER, L.F. (1937) A tribal survey of Mongalla Province. OUP for the International Institute, London.

RMANR (1983) Mundri Smallholder Survey Report - Report No 55 - Planning Dept RMANR

SELIGMAN, C.G. & B.Z. (1932) Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan. London. Routledge & Sons.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1979) Appropriate Extension for Food? Agricultural Development of the Moru of Southern Sudan. MSc Thesis AERDC. University of Reading

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1987) Extension assistants' Training Manual for Mundri District. ACROSS, Nairobi.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1983) Liti Doñgo Kyi'di ro (Booklet in Moru on fruit tree planting) ACROSS, Mundri.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1989) Using Indigenous Knowledge in Relation to Subsistence Sector Extension: Interaction between the Agricultural and Wild Environments in Moru Agriculture in Southern Sudan. PhD Thesis AERDD, Reading University.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1989) Indigenous Knowledge and Technical Change in a Subsistence Society; Lessons from the Moru of Sudan. ODI Agricultural Administration Network Paper No.9. London, ODI.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1990) "Local Knowledge and Alternative Poisons" in FOOTSTEPS No.2.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1991) "A trap, a fish poison and culturally significant pest control." p.146-149 in HAVERKORT, B et al Joining Farmers' Experiments. I.T. Publications.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1991) "Trees in the garden: Interaction between the wild and agricultural domains in practice among the Moru of the Southern Sudan" in Unasylva vol. 42 No.164.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1992) "Barefoot vets for sheep and goats" in FOOTSTEPS No.10.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1993) "Fusing tradition and science to design a better granary" in ILEIA Newsletter 3/93.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1994) "Understanding weeds in a subsistence society - Moru perception of herb species in the garden." pp.191-211 in AHMED, M.M.M. (ed) Indigenous Farming Systems, Knowledge and Practices in the Sudan. Institute of African and Asian studies, University of Khartoum, Sudan.

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1997) "Understanding traditional perceptions of wood ash: a means of communicating soil fertility." in ILEIA Newsletter vol.13 No.3

SHARLAND, Roger.W. (1998) "Kenneth Grant Fraser: Mission, Evangelism and Development among the Moru." p.146-160 in PIERLI, F., M.T. RATTI & A.C. WHEELER Gateway to the Heart of Africa: Missionary Pioneers in Sudan.

SHARLAND, Josilen N. (2000) Losi ñgaemba ditoko ro känisa Moru ro ya. REAP Nairobi

SHARLAND, Josilen N. (2005) Ori Kristo'ba ro. REAP Nairobi

TINGWA, Peter O. The History of the Moru Church in Sudan.

TUCKER, A.N. (1940) The Eastern Sudanic Languages. OUP