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Uganda Alur
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.
Data as of December 1990
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