The Return of Ngundeng's Dang
A Photographic Record by Douglas H. Johnson
A dang is a ceremonial stick used by both Nuer and Dinka. The dang of the Nuer prophet Ngundeng was said to have been used by him to direct the power of Kuoth (Divinity). It was lost to the Nuer in 1929 when his son Guek was killed in battle with Sudan government troops, and the dang was taken back to England by Percy Coriat, then District Commissioner of the Lou Nuer. In 1977 I was shown the dang by Coriat's widow. In 1999 Coriat's daughter put the dang up for auction, along with other mementos of her father's time in Sudan, so I bought the dang, with the intention of eventually returning it to the Lou Nuer. In 2009 the dang was finally returned, first in a ceremony in Juba in May, and then in July when it was presented to the public at a larger ceremony involving the whole of the Government of South Sudan. These are some of my photos of both occasions. Coriat's photos are now in the Pitt Rivers Museum. My account of the first occasion in May is published in Sudan Studies Number 40 (July 2009), available to all members of SSSUK. You can learn more about Ngundeng, Guek (and Coriat) in my books, Nuer Prophets and Governing the Nuer (this is a desperate attempt to increase sales).
|
Ngundeng's Mound on the horizon, 1926 (Coriat's photos). Ngundeng constructed a large conical mound as a permanent shrine, which could be seen 5 miles away across the flat clay plain. |
|
Percy Coriat climbing Ngundeng's Mound, January 1928 (Coriat's photos). |
|
After the demolition of Ngundeng's Mound, 8 February 1928 (Coriat's photos). The RAF had failed to damage the Mound when it was bombed in December, so the government had to demonstrate its power over the 'witchdoctor' by calling in the Royal Engineers to blow it up. They succeeded only partially. |
|
The death of Guek Ngundeng, 8 February 1929 (Coriat's photos), but where is the dang? |
|
Trophies of war, 8 February 1929 (Coriat's photos). l to r: Mayan Lam Tutthiang (interpreter), Major J.W.G. Wyld (DC Bor), Percy Coriat (DC Abwong), Capt. E.C. Tunnicliffe (DC Pibor) with Ngundeng's relics taken after the death of Guek Ngundeng (but where is the dang?). |
|
The remains of Ngundeng's Mound, 22 June 1975. |
|
Ngundeng's grave, 31 March 1976 (late Stephen Ciec Lam in white suit next to the man with the flag). |
|
Mrs Kay Coriat with Ngundeng's dang, Bournemouth, 1979. |
|
Ngundeng's dang and friends, Oxford, 10 January 2009. l to r: DHJ, Hussein Mar Nyuot (Deputy Governor, Jonglei State), Rev. Gabriel Gai Riam (Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Jonglei State), Philip Lyon Roussel (the last British District Commissioner of the Lou Nuer). |
|
The crowd at Juba airport when the dang (and I) arrived, 16 May 2009 (photo: J.G. Dak, Sudan Tribune). |