The Acholi are the largest and commonest tribe in Northern Uganda and considered to be of Luo ethnicity occupying areas of Gulu, Amuru, Lamwo, Kitgum, Pader, Nwoya and Agago districts. The Acholi Language is a western-Nilotic categorized as Luo just like the Lango and Alur. Luo is a general dialect spoken by different tribal groups of Luo attachment occupying areas of western Kenya, north and eastern Uganda, west Nile as well as South Sudan.
The word Acholi is a misnomer that was eventually adopted for convenience over the years and refers to people locally known as Luo Gang hence the reason why their neighbors (Langi) refer to the Acholi as “Ugangi” meaning the people of the home.
The acholi are said to have migrated from Bahr el Ghazel of South Sudan at about 1000 CE to the present day Northern Uganda much as the main Luo group moved down under the leadership of Olum and finally settled within Pubungu near Pakwach. However, other books have traced their origin to intermarriage between the Luo and Madi people. It is said that towards the end of the 17th Century, a new socio-political order emerged amongst the Luo in northern Uganda characterized by mainly chiefdom by Rwodi or Rwot (meaning ruler) and the tradition of chiefs also emerged from one clan resulting to every chiefdom with different villages that were made up of several patrilineal clans.
Traditional Acholi communities were arranged small settlements that lived within circular huts characterized with a peak and mid-sleeping platform, jars of grain and a fire place. It is the responsibility of women to smear the walls with mud and conventional or geometrical decorations of red, grey and white while the men were primarily hunters who used spears and nets to catch wild game.
Legends put that the Luo was the first man with no human parents but have sprung from the ground. It is believed that his father was Jok (God) and the mother was the Earth. When it comes to culture and customs, the Acholi recognize two different birth customs-the normal birth as well as the Jok Anywala (godly birth). After a child is born, he or she is named after the third or fourth day whereby in the house there would be the mother, child and some relatives then the delegation from the child’s paternal and maternal relatives led by the old woman who acted as the midwife would go to the house carrying the winnowing tray (locally known as “adero” in one hand carrying a knobbed stick (ogwec) used for stirring simsim into ready cooked food in another hand. A lot of initiations and processes are conducted and a visit to the Acholi people will introduce you to the details of the culture of the Acholi people.
When it comes to dances, the Acholi people have some of the most invigorating and interesting cultural dances and songs about everyday occurrences but some of the songs are well known incidents in the past. There are generally 8 interesting dances that include Myel wanga, Atira, Lalobaloba, Ladongo, Otiti, Bwola, Apiti and Myel awal.