The Langi people primarily reside in the northern regions of Uganda, particularly in the districts of Apac, Lira, and Dokolo.
As part of the larger Luo ethnic group, the Langi people have a unique cultural identity and language.
Here’s a summary of Langi's way of life.
Langi People Family Structure
The Lango people are a patrilineal society. Men tend to reside near their fathers forming clusters of patrilineally related kin in each neighbourhood.
They live in domestic units with a husband, wife, and children. However, an extended family is formed when the man allows his unmarried brothers and sisters to live in the same compound.
In a polygamous setting, a husband is responsible for providing each wife with a house. Each household functions independently, and the man alternates between the households of each wife.
Langi Clans
There are 134 known clans of the Lango. However, there are only branches of the main Lango clans.
They are derived from six core clans;
Arak
Atek
Okii
Ober
Bako
Okarowok.
They traditionally identify themselves with a symbol of a rhino. They had hereditary chiefs who headed the clans regardless of kinship.
Langi Dialects
The Lango speak Lango, a Luo language, and a sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages.
Lango identifies with the Luo-speaking people, refuting the theory that they are Ateker even though they share some clan names.
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Age Sets
Lango men also were divided into a chain of age grades. Age sets were the basic unit. It included a group of age-mates who were at puberty.
They afterwards underwent initiation together in a ceremony that involved the whole community.
Initiation happened after every four years, and those who were initiated during that time were considered of the same age set.
At the end of that period, the set was given an animal name and declared closed. A fresh batch is identified and established. Four sets are formed this way to complete a generational set.
The break between one generation set and the next was marked by several years when no initiations, so a new generation set began about twenty-five years after the previous one.
The formation of a new generation set entailed promoting the preceding one to a more senior grade, its duties and privileges changing accordingly.
Langi People Naming System
Newborns were named in a ceremony where close family members were present.
They were given ancestral names at birth to remember people who died a long ago and were part of the clan by blood.
Langi Kinship
The Langi distinguished between two levels of descent group: the lineage (doggola), and above that the clan (atekere).
The lineage and the clan were named groups whose members were referred to as, for example, Jo Elwia (’The Elwia people’, a lineage) or Jo Arak (’The Aralc people’, a clan).
If a clan was small, compact, and of recent origin, it might not make any further distinction, and clan and lineage would be the same.
Marriage/Courtship
Marriage among the Lango was celebrated with considerable importance to the bridewealth.
Traditionally, most marriages were polygamous and were considered by most men, provided they could afford the bride price.
The dowry included fourteen head of cattle and a significant amount of other goods, such as cooking pots and hoes used for farming.
Culturally, mothers helped their sons acquire enough cattle for the bride price by convincing their husbands.
More so, boys could wait for their sisters to get married to obtain some of their bride prices to pay for their marriages.
Boys would likely marry when they are old enough and have obtained bridewealth. Girls were married when they entered puberty and learned something about home keeping and taking care of their husbands.
Most marriages were arranged by the parents of both the girl and boy. In other instances, they were allowed to court one another and later get engaged through traditional marriage.
Polygamy
Instead of engaging in adultery and fornication, polygamy has been valued as the only means of fully satisfying the sexual needs of a traditional Lango man.
Hence, most Lango men practiced polygamy.
Gender Roles in Marriage
Gender roles were defined among the Lango people. Men did all the hard work while the women did the light ones around the household.
The men helped in agricultural labor, and the women did the weeding and harvesting. The women were also responsible for bearing and caring for children until they were old.
Divorce
Divorce was only allowed in situations of infidelity. When a woman was unfaithful, her husband would divorce her, and in most cases, dowry was returned if children were not involved.
Inheritance
Traditionally, cattle were the only significant wealth among the Lango. When a man died, his cattle were the figure of inheritance.
His sons were the main heirs, the firstborn son who inherited more. Wives of the deceased were taken care of by their sons after the death of their husbands.
Death
The Lango believed in life after death. When a person dies, they believe that the soul departs from them and takes up residence where the burial took place near their living kin.
The dead became ancestors and played a vital role among the living.
A dead person was placed in a grave near caves and a rocky area next to the villages to be near their kin when they became spirits.
The spirits protected the community and were highly respected.
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