Demography and Geography
The Ma`di people inhabit the south-western part of Torit district where the Nile River makes a sharp bend into Uganda. In Uganda, they are found in west Nile districts of Moyo and Adjumani. The porous nature of the borders between Sudan and Uganda has made the Madi move and settle freely on either sides of the border during the civil wars in the two countries. The just concluded 22 year civil war sufficiently diminished the number of Madi in the Sudan and most of their villages are now occupied by displaced people from other parts of the South.
Environment, Economy and Natural Resources
Madi territory is hilly and traversed by rivers and streams. The Madi are sedentary agrarian community. Their economy is based on subsistence agriculture, in which the main crops are sorghum, maize, cassava, groundnuts and tobacco. In the 1960s, the farming of tobacco was introduced as a cash crop but this was disrupted by war. The Madi rear small herds of cattle, goats and sheep as well as fowl.
Mythology and History
The mystery of birth tends to puzzle the Madi, whose beliefs are based on reproduction and hence, their origin as a people. Rabanga is the supreme being responsible for creation. In addition to being a spirit, Rabanga was also regarded as the earth in the sense of ‘Mother Earth’. This was grounded in the logic that everything is born from the earth.
Language
The Madi speak madi tongue. A Sudanic language related to the Moro, Lugbwara, Keliku and Avukaya, which might point to their common origin.
Society, Social Events, Attitudes, Custom
The social and political set-up of the Madi is closely interwoven with spirituality and this informs their attitudes and traditions. The society is organized in chiefdoms headed by a hereditary chief known as the Opi. The Opi exercised both political and religious powers.
The rain-makers, land chiefs – vudipi (who exercises an important influence over the land) and the chiefs are believed to retain similar powers even after their deaths. There was a hierarchy of spirits corresponding exactly to the hierarchy of authority as it existed in the society.
Birth
The birth of twins is considered an ill-omen among the Madi attributable to Rabanga. Twins were regarded as mysterious creatures and in fact the elder of the twins was named Ejaiya meaning ”take him to the bush” and the younger Rabanga.
Death
Death among the Ma`dsi is respected and the deceased is mourned for 3 or 4 days during which several rituals are performed. The close relatives of the deceased slaughter a billy-goat for the funeral rite (karama). A widower may marry after a prescribed period of mourning. However, a widow is given an opportunity to choose a relative of deceased to take care of her and the children.
Rainmaking
There are more than 45 rainmaking centres in the Madi country. With only two exceptions, rain could be made by the rainmaker by using a special set of stones which, were usually white in colour. The Madi believe that ‘rain stones’ come with rain from the sky and they are categorised as ‘male’ and ‘female’ stones.
The male stones are conical with fairly sharp points while the female ones would be either round or conical but perhaps without sharp points. The rainmaker could tell which is which without any difficulty. Once the rain stones were discovered, the fact was reported immediately to the chief. They are kept in special pots lest they jump about when it is raining or when lightening strikes.
Judicial System
The chiefs and clan elders exercise judicial powers of settling cases. However, in cases where the suspect pleaded innocence to accusations of stealing or adultery, the witch doctor was consulted. The witch doctor would take a handful of spear grass and order the accuser and the accused to hold each end of the grass. The witch doctor would then cut the spear grass with an arrow. Whoever was guilty would fall sick and the truth would establish itself through the consequences.
Spirituality and Beliefs
The whole life of the Madi is centred on the belief that their ancestors survived after death as spirits known as ori. It is believed that the ori could intervene directly in human affairs. The Madi attribute every misfortune to the anger of a spirit and in the event of a misfortune or sickness, they would immediately consult an odzo or odzogo (witchdoctor) to find out which ancestor was behind the ordeal.
Sacrifices were then offered to the particular spirit in order to avert its malign influence on the living. The powerful families among the Madi bas were believed to have powerful ancestral spirits to help them. ”Babu-garee” constitutes the whole paraphernalia of the spirits of the dead.
Neighbours and Foreign Relations
The Madi stalk the common borders with Uganda. They neighbour:
Acholi to the east,
Bari and Lulubo to the north
Kuku to the west
Latest Developments
The end of the first war in 1972 brought some development to Madi land. The opening up of tobacco farms and other agricultural activities had prospects to social and economic transformation. The concluded long running civil war however forced most of the Madi people to abandon their homes and migrate to Uganda where they are living either among their relatives in Moyo and Adjumani or in refugee camps.
Further Reading
Seligman, C. G., and Seligman, B. Z., ‘Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan.’ George Routledge & Sons Ltd., London, 1932.
Richard Nzita & Mbaga- Niwampa, ‘Peoples and
