A Nuer dance

56 x 54 mm | Print gelatin silver

Condition:

Blue crop line bottom [Chris Morton 20/5/2004]

Date of Print:

Unknown

Previous PRM Number:

EP.N.I.46

Previous Other Number:

44 (A135)

Accession Number:

1998.355.23.2

Description:

Two men perform a leaping movement (rau) with spears held in the right hand, and beyond them a group of men are also dancing, right outside the awning of Evans-Pritchard's tent at Yakwach cattle camp on the Sobat which Evans-Pritchard revisited in July 1935. Men with metal-bladed spears have stoppers at the ends to prevent accidental injury, whereas others have hardwood spears. Dances were more a feature of village life than cattle camps since people had more ready access to other social groups, and often accompanied ceremonies such as marriages. Such events were the main arena for courtship among Nuer youth, and often took the form of mock battles between village groups. The proximity of the tent suggests that this dance was held at the end of the day (see shadows) at the instigation of Evans-Pritchard.

Photographer:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date of Photo:

1935 July

Region:

[Southern Sudan] Upper Nile Sobat River Yakwach

Group:

Nuer Lou

Publication History:

Contemporary Publication - Reproduced as Plate VIII (facing page 85) in E. E. Evans-Pritchard's Kinship and Marriage Among the Nuer (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1990 [1951]) with the caption 'The leaping movement ( rau ) in a dance' [Chris Morton 19/5/2004]

PRM Source:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Acquired:

Donated 1966

Other Owners:

E. E. Evans-Pritchard Collection

Class:

Dance , Weapon , Shelter , Ornament

Keyword:

Dance Accessory , Spear , Tent

Activity:

Dancing

Event:

Dance

Documentation:

Original catalogue lists in Manuscript Collections. Additional material in related documents files. [CM 27/9/2005]

Primary Documentation:

Accession Book Entry [p. 98] 1966.27 [1 - 24] G[ift] PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD 1966.27.1-16 S. SUDAN. NUER TRIBE. Sixteen negative albums containing negatives and prints of photographs taken by donor during field-work. All listed in albums. Added Accession Book Entry - [p. 98 in right hand column, in pencil] Catalogue room.

Manual Catalogues [index taken from album book I, ms ink] - 46. Dancing - Lou

Note on print reverse ms pencil - "44 A135 [numerous printer's marks]" & print front border ms ink - "NUER I/46"

Other Information:

The same men appear in another image [1998.355.52] which is indexed as Yakwach village. [Chris Morton 21/5/2004]

Recorder:

Christopher Morton [20/5/2004] [Southern Sudan Project]