The Neur People
This is an excerpt from the paper...
In Nuer Journeys, Nuer Lives Jon Holtzman performs an anthropological study of the Nuer people of southern Sudan who have migrated to Minnesota. The community of Nuer in the Twin Cities numbers about 200 people, who were either sent there directly by religious groups as they fled the destruction caused by the civil war in their country, or they moved there voluntarily to rejoin friends and relatives after having been initially placed in another city (Holtzman 9). While the migration of refugees to the United States is certainly nothing new, Holtzman notes that the migration of populations from rural Africa to America does contrast significantly with more traditional immigrant populations to the United States (Holtzman 2). Nonetheless, they now represent a growing number of groups from sub-Saharan Africa resettling in the United States. Consequently, they provide an informative and interesting anthropological analysis that could have significance for migration patterns to the United States in the future.Anthropologists have been familiar with the Nuer people of the southern Sudan for generations. The Nuer are classified as agropastoralists, which means they subsist on a mixed economy of animal husbandry and agricultural cultivation (Holtzman 2). Current population estimates locate over a million Nuer people living today and they form the second largest ethnic group in southern Sudan (Holtzman 2). In Nuer Journeys Holtzman contends
. . .
ased government control. But perhaps the most significant change in Nuer life is the effect of the perpetual and bloody civil war that explodes regularly between the traditional/African south and the Muslim/Arab north (Holtzman 7).
The displacement of Sudanese people by the civil war in Sudan has been the catalyst for the migration of Nuer people to the United States. Essentially, the traditional peoples of sub-Saharan Sudan refuse to be exploited by the western-leaning Arabic rulers in northern Sudan. While many Nuer refugees fled to Ethiopia, they were further displaced by war within that country's own borders. Consequently, many Nuer fled to Kenya, from where they have migrated to Australia, Canada and the U.S. (Holtzman 8-9).
Clearly, the changes in traditional Nuer life in the Sudan are entirely different from the adjustments the Nuer have been compelled to make once they enter the United States. Holtzman points out that the Nuer have had to adjust to new material conditions such as living in an apartment, using a stove and buying food in a store instead of raising it themselves (Holtzman 49). In addition, most Nuer arrived in the United States without even basic literacy skills or competence in English. Many of them
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Kun Buol, United Holtzman, Politically Nuer, Sharon Hutchinson, Holtzman Nuer, United Nuer, Nuer Sudan, Evans-Pritchard Nuer, United Consequently, Nuer Religion, nuer people, holtzman notes, civil war, nuer life, united holtzman, southern sudan, holtzman 3, nuer journeys, holtzman 2, nuer journeys nuer, journeys nuer, journeys nuer lives, bloody civil war, nuer life sudan, holtzman contends nuer,
Approximate Word count = 2079
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
More Essays on The Neur People
|