LUO COMMUNITY

The Luo culture, Habits, Migration and Settlement

 

Introduction

Social structure refers to the pattern of social relationships in a society. Such structure regulates the interactions among members of the society, providing guidelines within the cultural norms for achieving the goals defined by cultural values. Generally, social structure maintains societal stability. However, when the social structure and the societal values become incompatible, the structure must embrace social change to allow the society to survive and continue healthy development. While a variety of sociological approaches have sought to describe the development and maintenance of social structure, understanding the relationship between structure and change is necessary for the development of a peaceful world society.
The early study of social structures has informed the study of institutions, culture and agency, social interaction, and history. Alexis de Tocqueville was apparently the first to use the term social structure; later, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, Ferdinand Tönnies, and Émile Durkheim all contributed to structural concepts in sociology. Weber investigated and analyzed the institutions of modern society: market, bureaucracy and politics as in democracy.

Culture and Habits

 
Social relations among the Luo are governed by rules of kinship, gender, and age. Descent is patrilineal which is traced through the male line to determine kinship. Kin align themselves for purposes of exchange of goods, marriage, and political alliance. Names are received through the male line, and after marriage women reside in the homesteads of their husbands. A married woman builds up alliances for her husband's family by maintaining strong relationships with her brothers and sisters who live at her birthplace or elsewhere. It is expected that after marriage a woman will bear children for her husband's lineage. Bride wealth, given by her husband and his family, contributes to the woman's ability to maintain ties with her own family throughout her life. By having children, a woman greatly enhances her power and influence within the lineage of her husband. As the children grow, they take special care of her interests. Perhaps as many as 30 percent of Luo homesteads are polygynous; in which a man has more than one wife. This contributes to solidarity between a mother and her children, and between children born of the same mother. Polygyny is commonly accepted by both men and women, provided traditional ideas and regulations are maintained. These include, for example, a special recognition for the first wife or "great wife," whose house and granary are located prominently at the back of the homestead opposite the main gate. Subsequent wives have homes alternatively to her right and left in the order of their marriage. Sons are provided with homes adjacent to the main gate of the compound in the order of their birth. The husband maintains a homestead for himself near the center of the compound, his own brothers, if they have not yet formed their own homesteads; reside on the edge of the compound near its center. As Luo become wealthy in Luo land or elsewhere, it is common for them to build a large house for their mother. This is especially necessary if she is a "great wife," as it is considered improper for younger wives to have larger homes than wives more senior to themselves. Visiting and being visited is the major source of pleasure for the Luo. The social principles regarding age, kinship, and gender impose a heavy schedule of ritual obligations on Luo, regardless of their place of residence. Attendance at funerals is a significant obligation for all Luo. At funerals, Luo consume large amounts of meat, beer, and soft drinks and socialize with friends and relatives. Funerals last for four days for a male and three days for a female. After the burial and expression of grief through speeches and viewing of the body, there is a period of feasting and celebration. After the funeral of a man, a rooster which symbolizes masculinity to the Luo is taken from his house and eaten by his relatives. This signifies the end of his homestead. When a new homestead is founded, a man is given a rooster from his father's home. Visitors for funerals gather from far and wide and are housed around the compound of the dead person, which is where he or she will be buried. This location and the duration of the ritual is an excellent opportunity for young people to meet and observe members of the opposite sex, or for elders to discuss marriage alliances that they might wish to promote. Dating may well follow initial meetings or deliberations at the funeral. 

Kinship

 
This factor is the very social organization in the Luo society, it defined the obligation of the members of the Luo society it also defined privileges of members, kinship has two levels; the nuclear and the extended family, the nuclear family in made of the male head who has unchallenged power, his wife or wives, their children and the unmarried daughters of the male head. The nuclear served many functions and it was important in the Luo society; it is the centre of education where parents teach their children values common practices and customs , it is also the survival of the Luo society and it has a role to protect the children. The extended family comprises the parents, children, relatives, aunts and uncles this formed a clan. The clans where identified by totems. Kinship therefore still plays an important role in the Luo society up to date even though some believes and values have been eroded by the modern world like the unchallenged power of the male head. Politics, economy, and education is therefore played from the male down to the siblings, the male head is the decision maker when it comes to the running of business within the nuclear family and the leadership goes down to the wives then to the male sons from the eldest to the youngest. Education is done in gender basis the female are educated by their mothers and aunties while the male are educated by their father and uncles. 

Sex

 
In the traditional Luo society sex is a very important factor in term of advantage in the social structure, the female is termed as the second sex, when it comes to food the male has the advantage over the female because the belief says that the male has to take care of the Kinship and the clans as a whole and therefore he has to be strong and eat good food. The male also have an advantage over the women, they are always the beneficiary in division of wealth. In the division of labor men are advantaged, since women are the laborers and this led to men marrying many wives who will provide more labor when it comes to house work and food production. Sex also plays a big role in religion and leadership within the Luo society, the leadership is that of hierarchal and patriarchal, the women have a low status when it comes to leadership even though this element of sex is not important in the modern world due to human rights, and the upraised civil societies. The most notable fact about the Luo economy is that women play the primary role in farming. Before the introduction of the modern money economy, the garden was the centerpiece of the women's world of work. Industrious women could earn considerable wealth by exchanging their garden produce for animals, handicrafts, pots, and baskets. A young girl is expected to help her mother and her mother's co-wives in farming land owned by her father, brothers, and paternal uncles. Even though a girl may go to school and rise to a prominent position in society, there is often still a strong association with the land and digging. Men are preoccupied with livestock and spend a great deal of time in "social labor" concerned with placing their cattle in good contexts, such as bride wealth exchanges, trading partnerships, and commercial sales. In the modern economy, cattle and goats have a monetary value as well. Men have control over animals and cash crops.
Illustration

The woman cannot build a house on her own there has to be a man, in case of death of her husband she has to be inherited by one of the male in that community since customs indicate that there is no house without a male head to make decisions. 

Age

 
It is important factor in the Luo society. Age is divided into two which are age-grating and age set; age is the stages one passes from infancy through adolescence, adulthood to death. Age-set is group of persons of the same sex, age, going through the same life circle at the same step and same time. A Luo have roles in age grade one is expected to behave certain way according to his or her age, they also believe in ancestral spirit which is the last stage in age grading. Politics is played according to one’s age: children and young adults are not expected to lead meetings of were adults and senior adults are,  in most cases any leader of the Luo like the Craftsman, Traditional chiefs, or medicine men are either adult male or senior adult male. The age set also plays an important role in the Luo society people who are of the same age or have just a slight variation, have grown and matured together in the same manner have obligations to do certain things together or are expected to behave in certain ways; people of the same age are expected to grow and mature in the same manner and if one tends to delay it is questioned by the society and the elders advice the victim to try and catch up with the age-set. However the age is not very important in the modern world since some of the roles of an upper age grade can be taken by the lower age grade therefore age does not reflect that much as in the past.

Illustrations
Children are expected to obey the elders under any circumstance; they are not allowed to question or socialize with the elders. If boys from the age-set are married and one is still delaying the community might decide to look for a wife for the delaying one so as to make them equal in terms of maturity.

Locality
According to the last national population census conducted in 1989, the Luo number over 3 million people, or about 13 percent of Kenya's total population. Along with the Luhya, the Luo are the second largest ethnic group in the country, behind the Gikuyu. Most Luo live in western Kenya in Western province or in the adjacent Nyanza province, two of the eight provinces in Kenya. Some Luo live to the south of Kenya in Tanzania. Many Luo also live in Nairobi. Most Luo maintain strong economic, cultural, and social links to western Kenya, which they consider home. Over the past 500 years, the Luo have migrated slowly from the Sudan to their present location around the eastern shore of Lake Victoria. This area changes from low, dry landscape around the lake to more lush, hilly areas to the east. The provincial capital of Kisumu is the third-largest city in Kenya and is a major cultural center for the Luo.
Illustration
Home has a great importance to the Luo community, when a member of the Luo community dies in a different place or outside the western and Nyanza province it is important for his funeral to take place in his home area since they value home and traditional customs according to their believe has to take place like ‘Tero boru’ which is chasing the bad ancestors who brought death.

"A traditional home for the luo"

Occupation/ Ranking

 
This is a factor which affects the social structure in a subjective manner; it affects one’s conscious to reference group with one will share status, these reference implies to group one would like to belong, imagine to belong and actually belong. The Luo society have created stereotypes in their behavior towards ranking and occupation, they give respect to people of a higher ranking in the society and lack respect to those who have no ranking or occupation. One would feel comfortable if they belong to a certain group with relatively equal ranking or occupation. The Luo society valued ranks like Traditional chiefs, elders, medicine men and midwives. To some extend the ranking and occupation went hand in hand with age.
Illustration
The Traditional chiefs in the Luo society will get a high sit in a gathering and will be treated special since he is a leader and deserves respect. They will always be allowed to eat first, pass their opinion before anyone and sometimes their decisions are final.

Religion
Christianity has had a major impact on Luo religious beliefs and practices. Today, religious communities draw on beliefs both from indigenous practices and from Christianity. The Anglican Church, known as the ACK, and the Roman Catholic Church are very significant among the Luo. Many people, however, do not draw sharp distinctions between religious practices with European origins and those with African origins. Mainstream churches draw on a rich Luo musical and dance tradition. For many Christians, the ancestors continue to play a significant role in their lives. In traditional belief, the ancestors reside in the sky or underground, from where they may be reincarnated in human or animal form. Ceremonies are sometimes performed when naming a baby to determine if a particular spirit has been reincarnated. The spirits of ancestors are believed to communicate with the living in their dreams. In the Luo religion, troublesome spirits may cause misfortunes if they are not remembered or respected. Luo refer to spirits by the term ‘juok’, or "shadow." The Luo refer to God by many names that indicate his power. For example, ‘Were’ means "one certain to grant requests";  ‘Nyasaye,’ "he who is begged";  ‘Ruoth’ "the king"; ‘Jachwech,’ "the molder"; ‘Wuon Koth, "the rain-giver"; and ‘Nyakalaga,’  "the one who flows everywhere." Prayers and requests are addressed to God by those in need of his assistance. Christianity has fused most notably with traditional religious beliefs and customs in "independent Christian churches," which have attracted large followings.
Illustration
The Nomiya Luo Church, which started in 1912, was the first independent church in Kenya. The founder of this church, Johanwa Owalo, is believed to be a prophet similar to Jesus Christ and Muhammad. Owalo later teamed up with a Catholic priest and began teaching a new theology that rejected both the Pope and the doctrine. 

Property

 
The Luo people had property ownership which in various levels promoted a sense of belonging, influenced their social economic and political network; it indicated status, one who has no property he is in a low status and when he has property he is in a high status. One climbs the political ladder due to his wealth, social capital is also important as far as property is concern in the Luo society, one could get prestige and have many networks not only with material wealth but also through social networks. Property like land was communal in the ancient Luo communities though now the land Swynnerton plan was brought by the British has eroded the system; land was owned by a superior authority and it was very important, Luo people had rights over community which was divided into clan and further divided into nuclear were the male head was the owner of the land then separates the land to his married sons. Material property like cattle also played a big significant in the Luo society. Cattle were used for economic and social functions.
Illustration
Polygyny is practiced with the Luo community due to property; a man with a lot of land marries many wives who will take care of his land in terms of cultivating it and producing more food.

Migration and Settlement

Introduction

 
Migration is the movement of people from one place to another in search for better opportunities and thus causing settlement, hunters and gatherers for instance are moving from one place to another in search of economic opportunity. Migration therefore brought about exploration of the world were people moved freely looking for adventures, technology was spread due to moving from one place to another, culture was diffused and lost; people got new ideas, beliefs, and new crops and products spread from one place to another. Movement and settlement brought was caused by ecological change, development of food production and conflict; the change of climate for instance in the Sahara desert made tremendous movement in search for better water catchment areas and better conducive environment for survival, food technology also made people to move from one place to another due to dense population, this bigger population might have brought about scarce recourses which brought about fighting.

The Luo ethnic group makes up around 25% of Kenya's population, making it the 3rd largest ethnic group after the Kikuyu and the Luhya. There are approximately 12 sub-groups within the tribe. They are a very large group, with their territory spreading beyond Kenya, into Tanzania, Sudan and Uganda. The traditional occupation of the Luo is fishing, though many are also farmers or work jobs in the larger cities. Luo community, according to history emerged from the Southern part of Sudan. During the olden days, as history reads they were one community which included the Kalenjins who later came to be known as the highland Nilotes, and the Masai group who later came to be known as the plane Nilotes. Luo community came to be known as the River-Lake Nilotes. The naming of these communities came about according to their prevailing activities during the times of migration. The Luo community, however, were the most unique. During this migration, they followed the river Nile and settled along Lake Victoria hence the name.

It is written in history that the river lake Nilotes probably originated at Wau in southern Sudan, near the confluence of the Meride and Sue Rivers. The Kenya Luo migrated into western Kenya via today's eastern Uganda, the first wave arriving sometime around 1500 AD. These arrivals came in at least five waves which is said to have been arriving at different times; The Joka-Jok who migrated from Acholiland, were  the first and largest migration who comprise the Jo-Karachuonyo, Jo-Kabondo, Jo-Nyakach, Jo-Kanyada, Jo-Kadem among others settled in the south part of Nyanza which is today in the location of Homabay District, Karachuonyo District, Rongo, areas of South Nyanza sugar company and Migori District. Another group migrating from Alur joined the Joka-Jok. The Jo-K'Owiny who migrated from Padhola includes Jo-Sakwa, Jo-Uyoma, Jo-Seme, Jo-Asembo, Jo-Kajulu, Jo-Kisumo among others who settled in the Kisumu region and parts of the northern Nyanza. The Jok’Omolo are said to have come from Pawir and arrived later, they include the Jo-Alego, Jo-Ugenya, Jo-Gem, and Jo-Yimbo who settled in the northern side of Nyanza. The Abasuba an heterogeneous group in southern Nyanza, with Bantu peoples from Buganda and Busoga were assimilated into groups such as JoKaksingri, Jo-Kaswanga, Jo-Gwassi, Jo-Kamasengre among others, settled around Suba district and Mbita.

The main Luo livelihood is fishing, farming and pastoral herding. It is said that they moved along river Nile in search for fish since it was one of their main food source and their population was increasing and the river would not sustain the growing population, they were forced to move from different direction, some moved to the east of Uganda like the Acholi, some moved to the west side of Kenya, others moved to Tanzania and Ethiopia.  As African communities they were encountered with diseases which forced them to move from their origin. ‘Jwok’ which means witchcraft also made some of the population to move since they believed witchcraft and ancestral believes and thus they could fear bad spirits and had to move because diseases indicated bad curse and bewitched from ‘Jwok’. They termed Some of the tropical disease as ‘Chira’ which is a curse could force them to move since these was a bad indication of bad land and even though they moved with some of these diseases while migrating the medicine men had to look for an alternative to cure ‘Chira’ as they moved from one place to another they discovered some plants which were suitable for medicinal purposes and consumption. Conflict among themselves and enemies also contributed to their migration, as man is a political animal and always want authority over the other; the Lou people were fighting one another for power, since resources are always inadequate the weaker once had to be forced to migrate to other places. Conflict between outside enemies also brought about movement since there was unrest between their neighboring communities which forced them to move. 

Inadequate rainfall is one of the major causes of there migration; since they were rearing animals and the land was affected by little rain they had to move for greener pastures, ‘Kech’ refers to hunger forced them to look for other opportunities in other areas; This indicates the desertification of Sahara; the desert was increasing and there was no food and water for there animals and this forced them to look for opportunities for there livestock since livestock was part of there wealth and they used these domestic animals for food, rituals and social transactions such as pledges incase unlawful behavior and paying brides wealth. In the 19th and 20th century in the coming of the British the Luo came in to contact with the European which forced there movement to urban centers in the construction of the Kenya Uganda railway since the British were targeting the Nile river. Early British contact with the Luo was indirect and sporadic. Relations intensified only when the completion of the Uganda Railway had confirmed British intentions and largely removed the need for local tribal alliances. In 1896 a punitive expedition was mounted in support of the Wanga ruler Mumia in Ugenya against the Umira Kager clan led by Gero. Over 200 were quickly killed by a Maxim gun. In 1899, C. W. Hobley led an expedition against Sakwa, Seme and Uyoma locations in which 2,500 cattle and about 10,000 sheep and goats were captured. By 1900, the Luo chief Odera was providing 1,500 porters for a British expedition against the Nandi. In 1915, the Colonial Government sent Odera Akang’o, the ‘ruoth’ (the lord) of Gem, to Kampala, Uganda. He was impressed by the British settlement there and upon his return home he initiated a forced process of adopting western styles of "schooling, dress and hygiene". This resulted in the rapid education of the Luo in the English language and English ways. The Luo generally were not dispossessed of their land by the British, avoiding the fate that befell the pastoral tribes inhabiting the Kenyan "White Highlands". Many Luo played significant roles in the struggle for Kenyan independence, it made them move to Kenyan town since they were educated and had to look for opportunities,the lawyer C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek, for example, used his expertise to defend Mau Mau suspects in court. This indicates the luo moving to urban regions of Uganda and Kenya. Another example is when Kenya got independence in 12thDecember 1963, Oginga Odinga, a prominent Luo leader, declined the presidency of Kenya, preferring to assume the vice presidency with Jomo Kenyatta as the head of government. Their administration represented the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party. However, differences with Jomo Kenyatta caused Oginga to defect from the party and abandon the vice presidency in 1966. His departure caused the Luo to become politically marginalized under the Kenyatta and subsequently the Moi administrations.

The migration made the Luo to adopt to many conditions which has made them to be heterogeneous community, The Luo people and dialects of their language have historic roots across the Lake Victoria region. Chief among the powerful families to which the Luo trace their ancestry were the Sahkarias of Kano, the Jaramogis of Ugenya, and the Owuors of Kisumu, whose clans married several wives and had multitudes of grandchildren and heirs to various chieftainships. Leaders of these lineages typically had multiple wives and intermarried with their neighbors in Uganda and Sudan. The Luo tribe, through intermarriages and wars, are part of the genetic admixture that includes all modern East African ethnic groups as well as members of the Buganda Kingdom, the Bunyoro Kingdom, the Toro Kingdom, and the Nubians of modern day Sudan. They had many ethnic neighbors with whom they frequently inter-related, including the Nandi, Luhya, Kipsigis and the Kisii. As a result, treaties and intermarriages were accomplished, resulting in a mixture of inter-cultural ideals and practices. As is the case with all so-called tribes of modern day East Africa, Luo history is intricately interwoven with the histories of their neighbors, attesting to the complexity of East African pre-colonial history. The interaction of the Bantus other Nilotes and mores so the British made them intermarry and change some of there believes and customs. The Bantus influence their language which led to the borrowing of words such as ‘Nyasae’ which refers to God; they borrowed this from the luhya.  Abasuba intermarried with the baganda and the Busoga during there migration which affected there language dialect, the Luo of the southern Nyanza and that of the northern have different dialect in there Luo speaking. The British on the other hand made brought education and industrialization which changed the Luo Ethnic and cultural ideology and had to move from one place to another for instance in the buiding of the Kenya-Uganda railway, these movement brought a lot of interests such as social, political and economic interest and force the Luo to move to Urban centers were they participated.

The movement however has caused much positive and negative change as far as the social structure of the Luo is concerned. Culture for instance has changed rapidly due to diffusion, invention, discovery, culture loss and acculturation were they acquired both material and non material culture and this has affected their social structure. Time indicates that the Luo are heterogeneous group because they have intermarried, shared and borrowed culture from one society to another. The modern world therefore is said to erode the culture and beliefs which were and are still being practiced by the Luo. Today there are two different spoken dialect among the Luo, the North Nyanza (JoSiaya, JoAlego, JoUgenya, JoSakwa) whose dialect is much influenced by the Bantus from the Western Kenya and Uganda ; The South Nyanza (JoKarachuonyo, JoKarungu, JoKamagambo) whose dialect is influenced by the Suba, Kisii and Kalenjin. Urbanization for instance has attracted most of them especially the expert who have taken the modern education, example is the Kenyan government; they have been interested in leadership and politics since Kenya was colonized by the British, Jaramogi Odinga and Achieng Oneko in that matter have been playing a big role in Kenyan politics,