Inside Africa

The Mundari: The tribe dying for their cows

Thomas Page
By Thomas Page, for CNN
Updated 5:55 AM EDT, Wed August 31, 2016
A Mundari man guards his precious Ankole-Watusi herd with a rifle. Photographer <a href="http://www.tariqzaidi.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Tariq Zaidi</a> visited the Mundari tribe in South Sudan twice in 2016 to document the lives of these fiercely protective herdsmen who face war, rustlers and landmines as they care for their animals.
A Mundari man guards his precious Ankole-Watusi herd with a rifle. Photographer Tariq Zaidi visited the Mundari tribe in South Sudan twice in 2016 to document the lives of these fiercely protective herdsmen who face war, rustlers and landmines as they care for their animals.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
Dawn breaks over a Mundari cattle camp. The animals are the main source of sustenance for the nomadic tribe located on the banks of the Nile.
Dawn breaks over a Mundari cattle camp. The animals are the main source of sustenance for the nomadic tribe located on the banks of the Nile.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari man wakes up next to his animals and brushes his teeth with a stick. Tribesmen will often sleep with their cattle, and as close as two feet away from their most prized animal.
A Mundari man wakes up next to his animals and brushes his teeth with a stick. Tribesmen will often sleep with their cattle, and as close as two feet away from their most prized animal.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari girl helps a lamb to suckle on a cow's teat. It is not just the Mundari people who benefit from the cow's milk.
A Mundari girl helps a lamb to suckle on a cow's teat. It is not just the Mundari people who benefit from the cow's milk.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari boy drinks milk straight from the cow's udder.
A Mundari boy drinks milk straight from the cow's udder.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A young Mundari boy holds his precious Ankole-Watusi cow in the middle of the camp. When Zaidi visited, he estimated the camp had approximately 500 animals, whose value can reach up to $500 each.
A young Mundari boy holds his precious Ankole-Watusi cow in the middle of the camp. When Zaidi visited, he estimated the camp had approximately 500 animals, whose value can reach up to $500 each.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari man takes advantage of the purported antibacterial properties of the cow's urine. An extra benefit is that ammonia in the urine will dye his hair orange.
A Mundari man takes advantage of the purported antibacterial properties of the cow's urine. An extra benefit is that ammonia in the urine will dye his hair orange.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
The Mundari encourage their cattle to cross the Nile to get to an island where they will graze for the next few months. Finding new pasture is problematic, due to the prevalence of landmines laid during the war.
The Mundari encourage their cattle to cross the Nile to get to an island where they will graze for the next few months. Finding new pasture is problematic, due to the prevalence of landmines laid during the war.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari man relaxes in the soft, peach-colored ash and dust of a dung fire. Zaidi says its consistency is close to that of talcum powder, and is applied to the skin as a means of sun protection.
A Mundari man relaxes in the soft, peach-colored ash and dust of a dung fire. Zaidi says its consistency is close to that of talcum powder, and is applied to the skin as a means of sun protection.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari woman with the ritual facial scarring, typical of the Mundari tribe, and covered in ash, a purported natural antiseptic which also protects the skin from insects.
A Mundari woman with the ritual facial scarring, typical of the Mundari tribe, and covered in ash, a purported natural antiseptic which also protects the skin from insects.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari woman clears the ground of sticks and dung before the cattle return home from the pastures. Women also milk the animals and look after the children.
A Mundari woman clears the ground of sticks and dung before the cattle return home from the pastures. Women also milk the animals and look after the children.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
Before the cows settle in for the night, they return to their master.
Before the cows settle in for the night, they return to their master.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari tribeswoman washes herself in the Nile at sunset. Bathing in the river is a rare site according to the photographer.
A Mundari tribeswoman washes herself in the Nile at sunset. Bathing in the river is a rare site according to the photographer.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A Mundari man washes his cows with ash to protect them from insects during the night. The camp drums can be seen in the distance.<br />
A Mundari man washes his cows with ash to protect them from insects during the night. The camp drums can be seen in the distance.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A young Mundari man keeps watch over the fire and his cows during the night. Cattle rustling is a serious and deadly issue in the area, as cattle is often used as a dowry in marriages, the price of which has increased in recent years.
A young Mundari man keeps watch over the fire and his cows during the night. Cattle rustling is a serious and deadly issue in the area, as cattle is often used as a dowry in marriages, the price of which has increased in recent years.
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press
A day in the life of the Mundari

Story highlights

The Mundari people dedicate their lives to caring for their livestock

Their breed of cows, Ankole-Watusi, grow up to eight feet tall, and are worth up to $500 each.

These animals are viewed as the tribes most valuable asset and they go to extreme lengths to protect them.

The Mundari sleep among their cattle and guard them with machine guns.

CNN  — 

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country, and it has witnessed immense change since gaining independence in 2011. The promise of peace has given way to civil war, and tribal rifts continue to run deep, permeating political affairs. Over two million people have been displaced according to the UN, and tens of thousands killed.

Amid the tumult is the Mundari, a people who would rather get on with doing what they do best: looking after their cattle.

Meat the family

It would be hard to find a more dedicated group of herdsmen than the tribe who live on the banks of the Nile, north of the capital Juba. Their entire lifestyle is geared around caring for their prized livestock, the Ankole-Watusi, a horned breed known as “the cattle of kings.”

The performance I witnessed was the Gule Wamkulu, a secret cult and ritual practiced by the Nyau brotherhood during the harvest, as well as important ceremonies, like weddings and funerals. Gule Wamkulu means "The Great Dance" in the Chewa language. It is performed by the Nyau, who wear masks and costumes that represent the spirits of animals, called "nyama," and of their ancestors, called "mizimu." The ritual has had UNESCO protection since 2005, when it was included as one of 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The performance I witnessed was the Gule Wamkulu, a secret cult and ritual practiced by the Nyau brotherhood during the harvest, as well as important ceremonies, like weddings and funerals. Gule Wamkulu means "The Great Dance" in the Chewa language. It is performed by the Nyau, who wear masks and costumes that represent the spirits of animals, called "nyama," and of their ancestors, called "mizimu." The ritual has had UNESCO protection since 2005, when it was included as one of 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
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These cows grow up to eight feet tall, and are worth as much as $500 each. It’s no wonder the Mundari view these animals as their most valuable assets (or that they guard them with with machine guns).

Photographer Tariq Zaidi spent a fortnight earlier this year documenting their lives and the devotion they show towards these animals. Zaidi has captured tribes and indigenous people from over 30 African nations, though he was nonetheless taken aback by the relationship between man and beast.

RESTRICTED mundari cows 2
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of cattle to the Mundari people,” says Zaidi, “these animals are everything to them.”

The photographer describes how “almost every man I met wanted me to take a picture of them with their favorite cow.” Their wives and children, on the other hand, were given short shrift.

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Perhaps this is in part due to the function and symbolism of the Ankole-Watusi. Each bovine is so highly prized that it is rarely killed for its meat. Instead, it is a walking larder, a pharmacy, a dowry, even a friend. It is clear that cow is a resource maintaining not just a people, but a way of life.

The Mundari, tall and muscular, may “look like bodybuilders,” says Zaidi, “but their diet is pretty much milk and yogurt. That’s it.” Other bodily fluids have more unlikely uses. Mundari men will squat under streams of cow urine, both an antiseptic, Zaidi suggests, and as an aesthetic choice – the ammonia in the urine color the Mundari’s hair orange.

Meanwhile dung is piled high into heaps for burning, the fine peach-colored ash used as another form of antiseptic and sunscreen by the herdsmen, shielding them from the 115-degree heat.

RESTRICTED mundari cows 3
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press

The cows, adds Zaidi, are among the world’s most pampered. He says he witnessed Mundari massaging their animals twice a day. The ash from dung fires, as fine as talcum powder, is rubbed into the cattle’s skin and used as bedding, while ornamental tassels swat flies from the eyes of the herd’s most prestigious beasts.

Outflanking war

The Mundari sleep among their cattle, “literally two feet away from their favorites” says Zaidi, and guard them at the point of a gun. It’s not unreasonable for the tribe to go to these lengths.

RESTRICTED mundari cows 4
courtesy Tariq Zaidi / ZUMA Press

“Rustlers are a huge issue for them,” the photographer explains. “Their cattle are a form of currency and status symbol, and form a key part of a family’s pension or dowry. Since the end of the civil war, thousands of men have returned to South Sudan looking for wives, which has pushed up the ‘bride price’, making these animals even more precious and increasing lethal cattle raids.”

Such raids have been deadly for the Mundari, but the effects of war are manifold. Landmines make finding fresh pasture a dangerous lottery. When he visited, Zaidi says the tribe were using a small island in the Nile as a safe haven. The conflict, he adds, has the paradoxical effect of preserving their way of life.

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“The ongoing war in South Sudan has cut off the Mundari tribe from the rest of the world,” he says. “They don’t venture into the town, they stay in the bush, and it’s why their unique way of life endures.”

Zaidi says the Mundari have no taste for war and “their guns are not to kill anyone but to protect their herd.” All the Mundari want to do is take care of their livestock, he argues, “and they will protect them at all costs.”

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