OttoGwadoAyoker_songJalabias

The recording at the center of this item is a Shilluk song. The composer of this song is Amon Tuk Kaal, from Oryang Village, in Mwomo District in the far north. He he was jailed by the Chief of Mwomo for burning the grass in Mwomo plains and dividing it among the people who wanted to cultivate, including non-Shilluks. And when King Kur (1951-1974) went to Mwomo on a visit,Tuk Kaal presented his case in a song which he called Ogwal Ámag yi Ogwal, which means A Frog Caught A Frog” [NB That song is also part of the Collection of Shilluk narratives and songs, performed by Owacci Obwonyo Anay.] The King then released him. Tuk Kaal did not stay in his village after he was released. He was afraid of the chief. So, he went to live in Melut, on the eastern side of the Nile. There in Melut, he became a Muslim. Tuk Kaal was a composer, and his song, ‘ogwal ámag yi ogwal’ made him very popular indeed, because he was encouraging agriculture. [NB That song is also part of the Collection of Shilluk narratives and songs, performed by Owacci Obwonyo Anay - datashare.is.ed.ac.uk.] He made a mistake by becoming a Muslim. When one becomes a Muslim, he/she must change his/her way of life, and be dressed in jalabia. The composer in this song is urging the Shilluks not to wear the lawø, especially the 'áwaangkaajø'. 'Áwaangkaajø' is a (lawø) cloth worn on the shoulder but it is not big enough to cover the whole body. Shilluk people fought with the Arab Muslims for a long time because they do not accept Islam. Shilluk even consider a circumcised person as defiled. Tuk Kaal became a caller (the man who shouts calling Muslims for prayers) but he failed to convert any Shilluk man to Islam. He made a sharp turn from good to worse. The Shilluk people did not forgive him although he composed songs in which he says that it was a mistake for him to accept circumcision. This item consists of a recorded Shilluk song (wav file), accompanied with annotation (in Praat TextGrid) and associated information: metadata, permissions and speaker questionnaire. The associated information is also summarized, in a spreadsheet. The TextGrid annotation includes Shilluk orthography, translation, and comments.