Anuak

The Anuak are a Luo Nilotic people of the Upper Nile, living in the riverine lowlands of the Baro and Gilo rivers, in Gambela in western Ethiopia and across the border in South Sudan.

Their traditions trace a common origin with the Shilluk and other Luo peoples in the Gezira, between the Blue and White Niles; between the 1100s and the 1400s their ancestors moved south and east under environmental pressure and warfare, into the lowlands where they made their home.

Unlike the cattle-focused peoples around them, the Anuak grew sorghum on the riverbanks alongside herding, fishing and hunting, and their villages were governed by headmen the villagers could depose. Their religion centred on a supreme spirit, Jwøk, and on holy trees in certain villages.