About a dozen European nations gathered in Berlin at a conference chaired by Chancellor Otto von Bismark to divide up the African continent like young children dividing up a pie or pizza. With no concern for the culture, tribal diversity or the families of the continent, the map was redrawn and lands claimed. What followed was the systematic undoing of Africa, most of which still manifest in our daily way of life to this very minute.
According to the book South Sudan: A New History For A New Nation by Douglas Hamilton Johnson (ISBN 978-0821422427, 2016, pp.104-5):
“Between 1899 and 1930 there were thirty-six military patrols and campaigns:
against the Agar in 1902 and 1918;
the Azande in 1903, 1904 and 1905;
the Murle in 1908 and 1912;
the Atuot in 1910 and 1917-18;
the Anuak in 1912;
the Dinka of northern Bahr El Ghazal in 1913 and 1922;
the Lou and Gaawar in 1902, 1914, 1915, 1917 and 1927-30;
the Lotuho, Lokoya and Didinga in 1915-16;
the Mandala of western Barh El Ghazal in 1918;
the Aliab Dinka and the Eastern Jikany Nuer in 1919-20;
the Twi Dinka of Kongor in 1921;
the western Nuer in 1923, 1925 and 1928.”
And here we found one of the stories during the colonial era 1928-1929 in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by Percy Coriat from Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, UK
2007.34.1.42 – A group of Nuer prisoners, roped together, holding baggage on their heads2007.34.3.57 – Porters carrying supplies on heads during S8 Patrol of 19282007.34.3.58 – Nuer prisoners roped together by the neck, captured during S8 Patrol of 19282007.34.2.54 – Percy Coriat interrogating a Nuer prisoner during the ‘S8’ patrol2007.34.3.73 – “THE ENEMY” Group portrait of Nuer men (captured)2007.34.3.68 – “BURNING OF VILLAGE” Dark smoke billowing across the sky, with cavalry visible. The burning of Nuer villages was a feature of the military campaign against the Nuer by the BritishThe death of Gwek Ngundeng, 8 February 19292007.34.3.69 – Group portrait of British officers, J. W. G. (‘Tiger’) Wyld, Percy Coriat, and E. C. Tunnicliffe, holding the ‘trophies’ of Gwek Ngundeng after his death on 8 Feb 1929. The ‘trophies’ include the pipe (tony) and drum (bul) of Gwek’s father, the prophet Ngundeng Bong (c.1830–1906).2007.34.3.63 – A view of the mound built by the Nuer prophet Ngundeng (d.1906) at the end of the nineteenth century, and added to by his son Gwek (d.1928), who also became a prophet. The mound, known as Deng Kur and associated with the Dinka cult of the spirit Deng, was furnished by elephant tusks around its 300-foot circumference, standing over 50 feet high. Made from the baked earth, ashes and dung of old cattle camp floor layers.2007.34.3.65 – A view of the demolished mound known as Deng Kur by British officers in 19292007.34.3.67 – “END OF GWEK” The body of Gwek Ngundeng hanging from a tree, with the demolished mound known as Deng Kur, built by the Nuer prophet Ngundeng (d.1906) at the end of the nineteenth century, and added to by Gwek, visible in the background.
