Dinka: Legendary Cattle Keepers of Sudan

by Angela Fisher, Carol Beckwith, Francis Mading Deng (Foreword)

This seminal volume on the indigenous African Dinka group is a landmark documentation of a vanishing people in war-torn Sudan. World-renowned photographers Angela Fisher and Carol Beckwith have devoted their lives to documenting the rapidly disappearing ceremonies and cultures of the indigenous people of Africa. In breathtakingly poignant images, they present a story that started with their first visit to the Dinka thirty years ago. Living in harmony with their cattle, the Dinka have survived years of war only to find their culture on the brink of vanishing forever. Where the White Nile River reaches Dinka country, it spills over 11,000 square miles of flood plain to form the Sudd, the largest swamp in the world. In the dry season, it provides abundant pasture for cattle, and this is where the Dinka set up their camps. The men dust their bodies and faces with gray ash—protection against flies and lethal malarial mosquitoes, but also considered a mark of beauty. Covered with this ash and up to 7’ 6" tall, the Dinka were referred to as "gentle" or "ghostly" giants by the early explorers. The Dinka call themselves "jieng" and "mony-jang," which means "men of men."

Genres: Photography

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2010

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning photographic record of the Dinka way of life. The text throughout is minimal, allowing the pictures to speak for themselves, but at the back is a series of thumbnail images with a sentence or two of further explanation. This can be appreciated by anyone with an interest in tribal life and custom, but is not a book that will particularly deepen your knowledge about the Dinka. However, that is not its purpose. It gives some insight into the background of one way of tribal life amongst the many tens of tribes indigenous to South Sudan, and helps provide some visual context for the periodic and deadly inter-tribal cattle raids that are under-reported in the western press.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous photography of an amazing people! It's heartbreaking though, because it's a way of life that has been nearly wiped out by civil war and Christian missionaries. I would wish for more text, but there are other books for that.