At the beginning of this study, the reader was encouraged to look beyond the relative stability, peace and fellowship of one’s own musical neighborhood to the different, frequently tumultuous, and relatively unknown African musical neighborhood. He was urged to reappraise his musical thoughts through contact with other people’s music and patterns of behavior.

The great diversity of life and practice that exists on the continent of Africa has frequently been generalized to relatively meaningless stereotypes. Africa is simply too large to focus on. Perhaps the best way to gain an understanding of Africa, if that is possible, is to concentrate on one neighborhood with specific boundaries and prescribed lifestyles. By studying the social patterns of one culture and the music that has developed out of these patterns, it is hoped that one’s own cultural understanding has been deepened and one’s musical and socio-cultural sensitivities for the rest of Africa have been awakened.

1. The Problem

The purpose of this study was to determine the stylistic characteristics of Anuak music and its function in the society. Answers have been proposed for the following questions:

1. What are the racial, physical, social and cultural characteristics of the Anuak tribe?
2. How does music function in the Anuak culture?
3. What provision is made for transmitting the musical heritage?
4. What are the stylistic characteristics of vocal and instrumental music?

2. The Procedure

From June 13 to August 3, 1972 and from December 27, 1972 to January 16, 1973, I carried out on-site research in the Pokwo, Ethiopia area among the Anuak tribe. Upon return from the field, I met weekly with Anuak informants to translate the verbal content of the songs recorded. This activity continued from the end of August 1972 through early June 1973 in my studio at the Good Shepherd School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

2.1. Informants

To aid in the investigation, informants were contacted for the elicitation of musical and verbal information, the analysis of tribal practice and behavior, and in further analysis and clarification of collected data, both musical and socio-cultural. Missionaries working in the Pokwo area on the Presbyterian Mission station were conversant with the tribe, having been in the area for a minimum of fourteen years to a maximum of 23 years. These individuals, (Donald McClure, Marie Lustad, Niles Reimer, Carl Templin, and Joan Yilek), were interviewed at length regarding a wide range of subjects relating to Anuak socio-cultural practices.

A native informant was procured who could regularly accompany me on the taping and information gathering excursions. The man contacted, Paul Nyinyoni Ojulo, was a mature individual in his late twenties with a background of being the leader of the Anya Nya freedom fighters of the South Sudan.  In this role, he commanded about 25,000 troops (Guerilla warfare) in fighting against Arab forces. Being in a high position of leadership, he possessed a bearing and reputation that commanded respect of all villagers in the Anuak area. All villagers were familiar with him, respected him, and held him in esteem even above the village chiefs. Because of these attributes, and because he understood the objectives of the study, the investigation proceeded with maximum efficiency and dispatch. The investigator and informant sought to maintain fair treatment for all participants, honest representation of our motives, and to display high esteem for the people and their cultural expressions. Nyinyoni was the best possible individual to assist in this work.

Informants were also contacted to assist in translating the musical text. These individuals were educated Anuaks living in Addis Ababa. They assisted in analyzing word content of the various songs and provided insights regarding socio-cultural aspects as these subjects were alluded to an in the musical texts. Several assistants were involved in this work, but the major translation tasks were accomplished by two individuals, Agwa Alemo and Paul Abulla.

Further assistance was sought for the musical analysis, transcribing notation from tape to the written page. An extended period of time was spent attempting to find some computer assisted help such as melographic or spectrographic analysis. It was found that programs were not available, or results yielded the wrong kind of information. Therefore, two individuals, (Joseph Waters and Ruth Stuck), with a high degree of pitch perception were contacted who assisted in the notational transcription.

2.2. Interviewing

The organizational structure of the Human Resource Area File provided the framework for the interview procedure used with the missionary authorities. The informant was first asked to discuss any area of tribal practice in which he had the greatest interest or involvement. Then the informant was questioned regarding specific areas as outlined by the HRAF taxonomy. This combination of open-ended elicitation and structured elicitation provided insight and richness of detail as well as completeness and breadth of analysis.

2.3. Recording and Collecting

Every attempt was made to gain as wide a cross section of music as possible. One of the major functions of the chief informant was to acquire the services of the song leaders and the known soloists of the various villages. Each day, he arranged for singers to be in a certain location and would inform me of location and time. Locations for recoding ranged up and down the river area. In several cases, the singers came to Pokwo to sing as word about the study spread. Because the Pokwo area was a center for clinic services and because of its proximity to the large town of Gambela, refugees from the Sudan were in the area as were other people on a temporary basis. Therefore, by moving up and down river to various recording opportunities in several villages, and by being available to people in the Pokwo locale, a good representative sample of musical practice was gained from the entire tribe.

2.4. Vocal Music Procedures

The following specific procedures were observed for solo vocal recording: Natural locations were chosen. The individual had full view of the equipment and all were aware of what was being done. The singer sang what he knew with no advice given by the investigator. As the tape was played back for the performer, informants on the scene were asked about the categories of the songs as well as other questions regarding origin, age, and other features. Singers were asked their names, ages, and other matters of interest. All details mentioned, as well as other matters of practice, were noted in the field reports. Photos and movie footage were taken of all performances.

Group village performances were arranged for by the informant. Village protocol was carefully followed as to authority figures and proper handling of financial arrangements. The villagers and their leaders determined what they wished to perform with no coercion applied or suggestions made. Categories of songs and dances were derived from the performance. All village activity during the music-dance situations were described by slide, film, tape, and written comment.

The recordings of children’s songs and dances were made in natural settings with the children playing the games that accompany the songs. Children’s song performances, as well as most all other performances, were at the request and arrangement of the investigator and informant. The major exception to this was the recording of the hymns in the usual Sunday morning service. Several music occasions were in progress when I happened on them. But permission was always gained before proceeding with taping. Whether a natural unplanned occasion or at the request of the investigator, the performers were always made aware of our presence and permission was always sought before intruding.

2.5. Instrumental Music Procedures

A similar approach to that of vocal recording was followed for the recording of instrumental music. A natural setting was desired, and no attempt was made to improve the sound by moving into any kind of studio. Instruments were measured, construction materials, maker and age were discussed; specific playing and tuning techniques were observed, demonstrated, and recorded. The performer was questioned about the music performed as to its origin, age, genre, as well as his own playing background and training. Photos and movie footage were taken of the setting and the detail of instrument construction.

Procedures for membranophone recording were followed (with limited success) to separate the complex rhythmic patterns. All performers were recorded as they would normally play. Then each drum part was recorded individually with the pulse kept constant. The patterns of the ensemble were then recombined. All instruments were measured for size, height, width of top and bottom; type of wood, inner and outer construction, where made, by whom, and age…all were noted. Each individual was asked about his musical background. Value judgments regarding the quality of player or singer were derived from informants on the scene or those listening to the tapes at a later time. The recording of chordophones, aerophones, and idiophones followed a similar procedure. For melodic instruments, written and taped recordings were made of pitch and tuning of the instruments.

3. Organization of Results

After gathering the materials, procedures were followed to organize the results and provide translation and interpretation of the song content and the interview content.

3.1. Song Subject content Analysis

Informants assisted in the analysis of the content of the songs gathered in the field. All songs were translated and described quite specifically. In addition, when the informant was reminded of some aspect of Anuak behavior, folklore, tradition, or other relevant information, this information was noted. Such elaboration was encouraged so to provide further depth to the information being collected, as well as illumination of the song texts. Exact word for word translations were not attempted except for several representative selections. In these cases, a close correspondence between Anuak and English is shown. In several cases, more than one informant analyzed the same song at different times. This was to provide a control. Comparison of texts helped to determine if translations were accurate or spurious. It has been concluded that translations, though not always clarifying subtleties nor giving total content, are nevertheless, accurate as far as they go. Some translations are much more highly detailed than others owing to the informants involved, the amount of time given to the song, and the patience shown by the informant or the investigator.

3.2. Further Socio-Cultural Analysis

Further analysis of the culture was derived from study and analysis of the field notes, from interviews made while in the area, plus any relevant writings about the tribe and African cultures. Such information, plus those materials derived from the informants in the translations of the songs, was categorized according to the HRAF cataloging system and filed in that order. Reporting of this information in this study also corresponds in order to the HRAF pattern in large measure.

3.3. Technical Structural Analysis of the Music

In dealing with the recorded and transcribed musical notation, a procedure was followed patterned after analytical models described by Ekwueme and Nettl. From the 850 (approximate) recorded examples, ten from each genre (except for children’s songs) were selected and analyzed. Selection of songs for analysis was initially determined randomly and refined by considering the documentation available and textural interest. Each song was analyzed as follows:

1. The song in its setting (according to genre)
   1. Identification by number
   2. Identification by place of recording
   3. Identification by date of recording
   4. Identification by date of transcript
   5. Source of song, if known
   6. Performers identified with mode of performance indicated
   7. Informant(s) involved in the verbal translation
2. Characteristics of the song
   1. Translation of the text. All texts were translated.
   2. Melodic analysis. Representative pieces were notated and were studied to determine general characteristics and theoretical foundations.
      1. Shape. Direction of movement.
      2. Range. From lowest to highest sung tones in the recording.
      3. Interval employment. A count was made of all intervals contained in the song (as displayed).
      4. Scale, mode, and tonality. Scale patterns were constructed, mode and tonality were deduced.
      5. Timbre, texture, and intensity were described.
   3. Harmony. Triadic harmony, harmony from imitation, overlapping or doubling, and other aspects were described.
   4. Rhythm. Metric pulse patterns were described as were tempo indications, if possible.
   5. Form. The formal structure of each song was described. In the case of notated call and response selections, these were graphically represented.
   6. Employment of instruments. If used, instruments were identified. Playing techniques and styles were described.
3. Summary. At the end of each genre discussion, summary statements are made about texts, melody, harmony, rhythm, form and instrumental employment. At the conclusion of the chapter, summary statements are made about the entire body of Anuak music with comparisons and contrasts drawn with the music of other parts of Africa.

4. The Racial and Physical Characteristics of the Anuak Tribe

The Anuak tribe inhabits a territory along the western border of Ethiopia mainly along the Baro and Gilo Rivers and extends beyond Ethiopia into the Sudan. About two-thirds of the Anuak population live in Ethiopia. The Anuak live in a lowland area, more culturally linked with tropical Africa than with the highland cultures of Ethiopia.

The Anuak tribe is of Nilotic origin, tracing its ancestry back to the Luo tribe of Kenya. Population estimates range in the 50,000 area. Low nutritional levels, inadequate diet, famine, disease and violence contribute to a high mortality rate and low life expectancy. The Anuak tribe speaks a Nilotic language, a member of the Achobi language area, considered by some to be a Shilluk dialect. The language is highly monosyllabic, somewhat tonal, and effectively descriptive of the culture.

The Anuak area an agricultural people concentrating on the cultivation of sorghum and corn. They utilize the most basic of agricultural implements, relying on a steel tipped digging stick. Villages are situated along the banks of the rivers with well-defined borders and distinctive architecture, and number from 50 to 500 inhabitants. The river dominates the Anuak’s life. He builds his settlements on the river, depends on it for food and travel, depends on its flooding for his crops, and is victim of its pestilence and disease in the steamy residue of flooding.

Living in the lowland areas, the Anuaks are open to the movement of nomadic tribes who occasionally threaten their settlements. Because they live in an area considered unfit for habitation by the highland Ethiopian, the Anuak have been left relatively free of governmental dominance and relatively untouched by highland culture.

5. The Social and Cultural Characteristics of the Anuak Tribe

The Anuak seeks a wife and enough to eat as his major sources of satisfaction. Because of complex dowry arrangements and because of limited cultivation methods, egalitarian qualities, and crop failure, these major sources of satisfaction are not always available.

The age set is a dominating influence in the society of the Anuak. It functions at virtually every age level and is an agency for education, a source of governance, a peer group for fellowship, a protective society, a power bloc for agitation and upset, and a means for maintaining the status quo. Political power resides in the dominant age set, the Jo Burra, and the chief. In the Baro River area, this power is attained by force and kept only as long as the group in power is strong enough to maintain authority.

Courtship and marriage practices and preparations dominate the discussions of the people and provide the motivation for much of the Anuak economic system. Courtship rituals are followed, and the acquisition of adequate dowry is fundamental to a stable marriage. Dowry is collected through extended family inheritance, the marriage of older or younger sisters, or the repaying of financial obligations.

Family relations are centered around the mother and child. The husband and wife do not live together extensively until later in life. The raising of the child after it is weaned is usually the responsibility of the mother and the grandmother. As the boy grows older, he learns from his peers and later from the men in the village. Girls remain at home, learning skills that prepare them for their role in life.

Community relations are dominated by the Jo Burra and the chief. The Jo Burra is actively involved with the chief in the day-to-day ruling and leadership of the typical Anuak village. The chief rules with consensus and may be deposed. He is chosen from the dominant lineage of the community and is accorded certain honor and privilege, but maintains power depending upon his skills of consensus leadership and his generosity. He is responsible to the Ethiopian government for the village and all the activities within. Justice meted out by the chief, his advisors, and Jo Burra is generally swift and good. Amhara courts are avoided if possible.

Intervillage relations may be cordial as in intercommunity dances, or hostile. Fighting may occur for revenge motives which escalate out of proportion to the original infraction. Cooperation among villages against a common enemy or threat is difficult to achieve. Villages maintain independence and are self-contained. Intertribal relations are frequently strained. Conflicting lifestyles between Nuer and Anuak cause friction. Ethiopian government regulations meted out through the various government agencies are met with resentment. The background of slavery relations in the not too distant past and other inequities have caused a typical stance of unfriendliness to other tribes.

Certain social problems prevail among the Anuak and tend to disrupt the community, are causes of fighting and have certain debilitating effects on the people or on the economy. Included among these problems are general poorness, hunger and starvation because of limited planning, flooding and resulting sickness, and considerable laziness brought on as a result of egalitarian concepts and possibly low energy levels.

Social problems affect certain aspects of the musical performance of the people as well. The general poorness and often times hunger of the singer is sung about in virtually every song.

The occasions for performance are also affected by the flooding that occurs. During the times of high water, the villages are impassable, the dancing floors are flooded, and the villages cannot get together for any kind of musical occasion. Intervillage dances occur most when the rivers are low so that large numbers of villages can attend.

Certain qualities of the Anuak set him apart and allow one to recognize the culture as being Anuak. The Anuak practices reciprocity. They are an egalitarian society, and everything is shared. The term Anuak means to share, to eat together, to be united. They seem to have a low self-esteem and limited belief in their own capabilities. Anuaks tend to operate as a group and think in group terms. There is little room for the individual in this society.

Recreational activities are quite limited. Conversation occupies a great deal of time and is highly valued. What holidays that are observed are associated with celebrations within the culture and are informal, impromptu, and tied to the events that are important to the culture.

Religious beliefs do not follow the Ethiopian Coptic patterns but are traditionally centered around an animistic view of the world. Anuak folk tales and practices imply a creator who is unreachable and unloving. Lesser deities are worshipped and feared. The missionary church has influenced the lives of the people and has been quite successful in working within the folkways of the people. Many Christian teachings are understandable to the Anuak because they are imbedded in their traditional lifestyle.

Educational responsibilities among the Anuak have traditionally been in the hands of the mother and the grandmother. As the child grows older, he is influenced by the age set peer group and the father and elders of the village in informal settings. Traditional educational patterns remain the accepted means of learning those things that are important to the tribe and the means for passing on the culture. Formal education is gaining in acceptance and children are now being encouraged to attend public school. Change occurs as more and more educated young people move into positions of leadership or who can convincingly show a better way. As in the rest of Ethiopia, literacy rates remain low.

Change is slow but certain forces are bringing about gradual adjustments to Anuak traditional life. Education brings an influx of new methods and ideas; media provides a window to the word; Arabic and highland Ethiopian culture contacts occur; contacts with other tribes, the West and the mission affect change. Evidence of cultural change can be found in music preferences, in the increasing adoption of Ethiopian ways of life, by a greater desire for things, by a rejection of certain elements of the old culture, and by acceptance and desire for medical and other humane improvements. Change is slow but certain and can be expected to increase.

6. The Function of Music in Anuak Society

As in any society, music serves several functions for the Anuak. First, music functions to provide satisfaction of tribal and individual life. On frequent occasions, the entire village or several villages are involved in music making. While the overall tribal group experience dominates and is the most obvious, music also functions to satisfy the individual life of the Anuak as well. Music provides companionship and is a help when dealing with emotional needs in times of happiness as well as times of stress and mourning.

Music functions in the socialization of the Anuak into tribal life and practice. Beginning with lullabies, music has a socialization function. Songs accompany play in childhood and are the foundational element of intervillage dances. Music contains cues of acceptable practices to partners for dance and courtship. Music provides a means and an excuse for getting together and celebration in an otherwise bland and hard existence.

Music functions as a prime method by which the Anuak inculcates values that are important to the culture. The hymns effectively relate spiritual truths and function as a tool for teaching values. Music contributes to the integration of society by encouraging village and age group pride. Music helps maintain proper behavior patterns through allowing the singer to give advice and at times ridicule in a socially acceptable pattern. Music provides a method by which the important individuals of the village are displayed for praise and honor.

Music functions as the deposit of history. The Agwaga and Obero and the marching songs in particular provide the vehicles for the remembrance of the past. The past is remembered, and the present is recoded as new events and culturally changing forces receive mention in the songs that are continually being prepared.

Music functions to provide economic gain for the singer or singers. The songs sung may function chiefly in a specific way such as in praise to the chief, as a war song, a love song, or dancing song. But within each type, one finds references to the singer’s needs and his desire for economic return.

Music functions as the major traditional educational tool. The songs of the Anuak inculcate tribal history, myth, values, attitudes, beliefs, and practice. Values are sung about in the love songs and the dancing songs; warnings are given, and criticism are offered in the dancing songs, Agwagas and Oberos; people are held up to respect and others to ridicule. In all, teaching is taking place.

7. Transmission of the Musical Heritage

The Anuak methods of teaching are chiefly limited to imitation and repetition. From the mother, the grandmother, and then from the age set and from older teachers, the song teaching and learning process among the Anuak is largely that of imitation. The culture allows for that imitation by accepting the child into its celebrations, fully integrating him into the activities of village life. Imitation is the basic method of learning, and repetition solidifies that learning. The child will repeat over and over the skill he is attempting to learn, be it a song or learning to play the drum.

Other teaching devices are used informally including mnemonic aids for drum pattern learning and negative or positive reinforcement. Mistakes are met with laughter or insult, and successful performance on a drum results in giving the young further opportunity to be heard by the whole village.

Parents provide a good deal of the teaching, as do song leaders and experts on instruments. Teachers of music are a very informal assembly of artists who display by example the skills to which others aspire.

Composers actively keep the music culture alive through a continual flow of new music composed for the events of the village. Composes receive no more honor than anyone else, but they are not looked down upon either. Composer-singers are indispensable members of the Anuak society and the key to the success of their celebrations.

8. Stylistic Characteristics of Anuak Music

Anuak music has specific identifiable qualities which may be generalized. First of all, Anuak music may be placed into several rather specific types of genre which seem to be constant from one village to another throughout the entire area of the Anuak. These genre are as follows: lullabies, children’s songs, play songs or game songs; hymns; love songs; dancing songs, of which there are several types; songs of boasting: Nirnam or marching songs; Oberos: songs in praise to the chief or laments for the dead; and Agwagas: chiefly war songs. All songs studied fit into these genre with very few exceptions.

All songs contain texts which emphasize certain qualities. Except hymns, the naming of names is an important element in all types of Anuak music. In naming the individual’s animal names, the individual is praised, remembered, and the singer is rewarded. The texts carry advice to the chief and to the villagers without recrimination befalling the singer. Songs provide a means of historical reconstruction, provide guidance in the proper respect to be paid to the chief, help teach religious belief and practice, and in so doing are the major educational tool. The song text is highly verbal and is quite possibly more important to the Anuak than the melody. Poetic speech and rhyme occur at times but are not dominant.

The shape of Anuak songs is predominantly downward from a high beginning. Anuak songs display a wide pitch level range with the soloist part having a tendency to be wider and higher than the chorus parts. Extremes in range seem to be wider than typical African practice. Intervals analyzed show a preponderance of unisons, major seconds and minor thirds, with a strong representation of perfect fourths. This reflects a high verbal content of the songs, the monosyllabic nature of the language, the stepwise and small interval movement of melody lines and a tendency toward a definite tonal center. Pentatonic modes predominate. What chromaticism there is may be attributed to acculturative influences. Some improvisation is present, but most songs are composed and performed with little alteration. Melodies are sung with an open, full-bodied, carrying quality. A characteristic village performance is one of thick textures and very full intensity.

Harmony in Anuak music is minimal and only occurs in vocal music where solos and chorus overlap, or when the soloist rounds off his own phrase while the chorus continues. There seems to be no intentional vertical harmony in village singing situations. Some vertical harmony is found in the performance of the Anuak thom and possibly the thumb piano (thom).

Rhythm is dependent on some instrument for pulse and accompaniment. When an accompaniment is present, the pulse is strongly duple with some triplet feeling overlying. Cross rhythms occur in the performance of the master drummer against the consistent beat of the smaller drums. Each genre tends to have its own type of rhythmic accompaniment, which is a way of identifying the genre.

Forms may include short song form, theme and variation, non-repetitive and repetitive or other forms. But the overall performance form is call and response. At times there is an overlapping of parts and the relative length of calls to responses varies considerably. But the concept of a soloist and a chorus is the pattern for the great bulk of Anuak music.

Instruments used range from a variety of found sounds such as the stamping of feet, the shaking of a rattle, the playing of a gourd or gasoline can, and the pounding of bottles on the ground; to the expected sounds of the drums, the flute, the thom (thumb piano) and the Anuak thom. Instrumental accompaniment is integral to the production of Anuak music. Each genre has its compliment of instruments and its own ascribed patterns of rhythms within which to work. Songs may be identified by genre, by the beat pattern as well as by text. Generally, the basic instrument of the Anuak is the drum. The Anuak claim possession of the Anuak thom, though the existence of similar lyre type instruments in local tribes would imply a shared ownership.

The culture of the Anuak is alive and in many ways, very sophisticated.  The music of the Anuak is fully integrated in the culture and gives meaning to the existence of the people, meeting their many emotional, social and aesthetic needs.

We have lost our paradise; and with it, we have lost music as an unseverable part of life itself. Rarely do we realize our loss and its magnitude. We are too hopelessly blinded and deafened by our assumed progress toward enormous symphony orchestras, giant concert halls, ticket offices, managers and publicity, and we take for granted that there must be dilettantes and professional, insatiable fans as well as indifferent and outright unmusical persons, music lovers and music haters—and we do not see that this is no progress but simply change in aims and values.

It is the other man who knows and understands: the Oriental and even the Primitive. And once in a while he speaks out and opens the eyes of those who want to see. “Many, many notes, but no better music.”^[1]

9. Need for Further Study

A study of this scope opens many opportunities for further investigation. Of course, it may be said that such studies are worthwhile among other tribes. But we will limit our suggestions to directions for further study among the Anuak tribe only.

1. Drum construction. The highly involved construction of the Anuak drum deserves study.
2. The use and expanse of the Anuak thom. The Anuak thom is very similar in appearance and in playing technique to instruments of neighboring tribes. A comparative study would be worthwhile.
3. The dances of the Anuak. An involved study of the dances including the sequence, movement patterns, social implications, and representative songs would have value. The music of the tribe is tied up in the dance. To give attention only to the music does not give the complete picture of Anuak musical practice.
4. Analyze the music from a different perspective. Perhaps the analysis of a few songs or the songs from one village only would give new insights into music function in the cultural life of the village or the individual.
5. An analysis of melody for tonal stress effect. It would be of value to determine the amount of effect the tonal element in the language has on melody.
6. A more in-depth analysis of modality, or rhythm or other musical elements. Each area could be studied for more specific findings.
7. A cross-cultural study of the music of a similar or contrasting tribe. It would be of value to study the music of the Shilluk or Dinka and draw comparisons and contrasts.
8. A detailed study of the instrumental music of the Anuak. Though instrumental music is all word-related, it would be of value to study the instrument usage of the drum ensemble and the various other instruments found among the Anuak.