Nilotic peoples

Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages. These include the Kalenjin, Luo, Ateker, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk and the Maa-speaking peoples – all which are clusters of several ethnic groups.[1]

The terms Nilotic and Nilote were previously used as racial classifications, based on anthropological observations of their distinct body morphology. These perceptions were later widely discarded by scientists,[2] but today they again find support in population genetics.[3]

These terms are now foremost used to distinguish "Nilotic people" from their ethnic neighbours (mainly Bantu speaking people), based on ethnolinguistic affiliation. Etymologically, the terms Nilotic and Nilote (also spelled Nilot) derive from the Nile Valley, specifically the Upper Nile and its tributaries, where most Sudanese Nilo-Saharan-speaking people live. [4]

Contents

Linguistic divisions

Main article: Nilotic languages

Linguistically, Nilotic people are divided into three sub-groups:

Ethnic divisions

Nilotic people constitute a large part of the population of South Sudan. The largest of the Sudanese Nilotic peoples is the Dinka, which includes as many as twenty-five ethnic groups. The next largest group is the Nuer, followed by the Shilluk.[5]

The Nilotic people in Uganda include the Luo group (Acholi, Alur and Jopadhola), the Ateker (Iteso and Karamojong), and the Lango and Kumam.

In Kenya, the Nilotes are often categorised into three subgroups:

Genetics

Nilotic people have been investigated in studies of both autosomal DNA and Y-DNA.

Hassan et al. (2008)[6] found that the three most populous groups of Sudanese Nilotes (Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk) were characterized by the predominance of Y-haplogroups A3b2 (28/53 = 52.8%), B (16/53 = 30.2%), and E1b1b (9/53 = 17.0%).

Wood et al. (2005) tested samples of three Nilotic populations (Maasai from Kenya, Luo from Kenya, and Alur from the DRC) as part of a broad survey of human Y-chromosome DNA variation in Africa and found that the predominant Y-DNA haplogroup in each of the three populations was different, with E1b1b1-M35 being the most frequent among Maasai (13/26 = 50%, including 4/26 = 15% E1b1b1a-M78 and 9/26 = 35% E1b1b1-M35(xE1b1b1a-M78, E1b1b1b-M81)), E1b1a-P1 being the most frequent among Luo (6/9 = 67%, including 4/9 E1b1a7-M191 and 2/9 E1b1a-P1(xE1b1a7-M191)), and E2a-M41 being the most frequent among Alur (6/9 = 67%).[7]

Knight et al. (2003) have found haplogroup E1b1b1-M35 to be the most frequent Y-DNA haplogroup in a small sample of eight Southern Nilotic Datooga males from Tanzania (5/8 = 62.5%), with the remainder belonging to haplogroup Y*(xA-M91, B-M60, DE-YAP), which the authors have equated with haplogroup C and/or haplogroup F (2/8 = 25%), and haplogroup E1b1a-M2 (1/8 = 12.5%).[8] Tishkoff et al. (2007) have tested a sample of 35 Datooga males, and likewise have found E1b1b1-M35 to be the most frequent Y-DNA haplogroup among them (19/35 = 54.3%), with the remainder consisting of 8/35 = 22.9% DE-YAP(xE1b1a-M2, E1b1b1-M35), 4/35 = 11.4% E1b1a-M2, 2/35 = 5.7% Y*(xA-M91, B-M60, DE-YAP), 1/35 = 2.9% A3b2-M13, and 1/35 = 2.9% B2b-M112.[9] Henn et al. (2008) have found haplogroup E1b1b1g-M293 in 42.5% (17/40) and haplogroup E1b1b1-M35(xE1b1b1a-M78, E1b1b1b-M81, E1b1b1c-M123, E1b1b1d-M281, E1b1b1e-V6, E1b1b1g-M293) in 5.0% (2/40) of a sample of Datooga males from Tanzania, which suggests that a majority of this population's members of haplogroup E-M35 belong to the subclade marked by the M293 mutation.[10]

In the autosomal study of Tishkoff et al.[3] Nilotic groups (Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk), together with the related Nyimang people, make up a discrete genetic cluster separated from other clusters in Subsaharan Africa.

Anthropology

Nilotes are often described as gracile in build, being slimmer and of greater stature than the average human, and having long limbs with very long distal segments (forearms, calves). This characteristic is thought to be a climatic adaptation to allow their bodies to shed heat more efficiently.

Sudanese Nilotes are regarded as one of the tallest people in the world. For example, Roberts and Bainbridge[11] reported average values of 182.6 cm for height and 58.8 kg for weight in a sample of Sudanese Shilluk. Another sample of Sudanese Dinka had 181.9 cm/58.0 kg with an extremely ectomorphic somatotype 1.6-3.5-6.2.

Other Nilotes are considerably smaller. Campbell et al.[12] measured 172.0 cm/53.6 kg in a sample of agricultural Turkana in northern Kenya, and 174.9 cm/53.0 kg in pastoral Turkana. Hiernaux[13] lists 172.7 cm for Maasai in southern Kenya with an extreme trunk/leg length ratio 47.7%.

Many Nilotic groups excel in long distance running. This sort of sports excellence seems to stem from their exceptional running economy resulting from slim body morphology and slender legs.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Nilotic", The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.
  2. ^ The Forging of Races Cambridge University Press THE FORGING OF RACES - by Colin Kidd Excerpt
  3. ^ a b Sarah A. Tishkoff et al.: The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans
  4. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Article: Nilot
  5. ^ Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Sudan: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991.
  6. ^ [1] H. H. Hassan et al:. Y-Chromosome Variation Among Sudanese: Restricted Gene Flow, Concordance With Language, Geography, and History
  7. ^ Elizabeth T Wood, Daryn A Stover, Christopher Ehret et al., "Contrasting patterns of Y chromosome and mtDNA variation in Africa: evidence for sex-biased demographic processes," European Journal of Human Genetics (2005) 13, 867–876. (cf. Appendix A: Y Chromosome Haplotype Frequencies)
  8. ^ Alec Knight, Peter A. Underhill, Holly M. Mortensen et al., "African Y Chromosome and mtDNA Divergence Provides Insight into the History of Click Languages," Current Biology, Vol. 13, 464–473 (March 18, 2003).
  9. ^ Sarah A. Tishkoff, Mary Katherine Gonder, Brenna M. Henn et al. (2007), "History of Click-Speaking Populations of Africa Inferred from mtDNA and Y Chromosome Genetic Variation," Molecular Biology and Evolution 24 (10) : 2180–2195. doi:10.1093/molbev/msm155
  10. ^ Brenna M. Henn, Christopher Gignoux, Alice A. Lin et al., "Y-chromosomal evidence of a pastoralist migration through Tanzania to southern Africa," PNAS (August 5, 2008), vol. 105, no. 31, 10693–10698
  11. ^ D. F. Roberts, D. R. Bainbridge: Nilotic physique. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1963, p. 341-370
  12. ^ B. Campbell, P. Leslie, K. Campbell: Age-related Changes in Testosterone and SHBG among Turkana Males. American Journal of Human Biology, 1/2006, p. 71-82
  13. ^ Jean Hiernaux: The People of Africa. Encore Editions, 1975)
  14. ^ Bengt Saltin: The Kenya project - Final report. New Studies In Athletics, vol. 2, pp. 15-24