Who Are the Nuba?
The Nuba are a diverse collection of indigenous peoples inhabiting the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, Sudan. Numbering approximately 2-3 million and speaking over 50 distinct languages from multiple language families, they are united more by geography and shared experience than common ancestry. Famous for their spectacular body painting, wrestling traditions, and resistance to Arabization, the Nuba have faced decades of warfare, displacement, and cultural suppression while maintaining remarkable resilience. Their mountains became a fortress preserving traditions that slavery, colonialism, and modern conflict could not destroy.
Mountains of Refuge
The Nuba Mountains rise abruptly from the surrounding plains of central Sudan, creating a natural fortress that attracted diverse peoples seeking refuge over millennia. Archaeological evidence suggests habitation for thousands of years, with various groups retreating to the mountains to escape slave raiders, conquering armies, and hostile neighbors. This geography created extraordinary diversity—adjacent valleys sometimes contain peoples speaking entirely unrelated languages with distinct customs.
The mountains provided both protection and isolation. Terraced agriculture on hillsides, supplemented by lowland farming in good times, supported substantial populations. Each hill or cluster of hills developed as a semi-autonomous community with its own traditions, though trade, intermarriage, and shared enemies created connections. The rugged terrain made conquest difficult and allowed the Nuba to preserve non-Arab, non-Muslim traditions longer than surrounding populations.
Wrestling Culture
The Nuba are famous worldwide for wrestling, celebrated in Leni Riefenstahl's controversial photographs that brought their athletic traditions to international attention in the 1970s. Wrestling matches between villages are major social events, combining sport, ceremony, and community celebration. Wrestlers train intensively, follow special diets, and represent their communities' honor. Matches follow traditional rules, with winners earning status and marriage prospects.
Traditional wrestling occurred alongside elaborate body painting and decoration, with wrestlers and spectators adorned in ash, ochre, and natural pigments in patterns indicating age, status, and affiliation. Young men competed near-naked, their painted bodies glistening with oil. These practices declined under Islamist government pressure—the Sudanese state considered them un-Islamic—but continue in modified form, representing Nuba resistance to cultural assimilation.
Religion and Culture
Traditional Nuba religion varied by group but commonly included belief in a supreme being, ancestor veneration, and spirits associated with mountains, trees, and other natural features. Rituals marked agricultural seasons, life transitions, and community events. Rainmakers, diviners, and spiritual leaders held important positions. These practices coexisted with later-adopted religions—some Nuba became Muslim through trade contacts; others converted to Christianity through missionary activity.
Today, the Nuba are religiously mixed: approximately half Christian, a quarter Muslim, and a quarter maintaining traditional beliefs (often combined with world religions). This diversity created unity across religious lines during conflicts with the Islamist government, which attempted to forcibly convert the entire population. Nuba identity transcends religious difference, rooted in shared geography, resistance history, and cultural practices like wrestling that unite communities.
War and Genocide
Since 1985, the Nuba have suffered devastating conflict. During Sudan's civil war, the Nuba largely supported the southern SPLM/A despite being geographically in the north. The Sudanese government responded with scorched-earth campaigns, aerial bombardment, forced displacement, and what many observers term genocide. Hundreds of thousands died or fled; traditional communities were destroyed; and government "peace camps" attempted forced Islamization of survivors.
The 2005 peace agreement ended Sudan's civil war but left South Kordofan's status unresolved. When South Sudan became independent in 2011, fighting resumed in the Nuba Mountains as the population's aspirations were ignored. The government resumed aerial bombing of civilians, destroyed food supplies, and blocked humanitarian access. The conflict continues with little international attention, making the Nuba Mountains one of the world's most severe ongoing humanitarian crises.
Survival and Hope
Despite decades of war, the Nuba persist. Armed resistance continues in the mountains, protecting populations from government attacks. Refugee communities in South Sudan and abroad maintain connections and advocacy. Documentation efforts preserve languages and traditions threatened by displacement. Young Nuba, many born in conflict, carry forward identity while dreaming of peace.
The Nuba story illustrates both the vulnerability of marginalized peoples and the power of resistance. Their mountains, which provided refuge for millennia, continue to shelter communities determined to survive. Wrestling matches still occur despite bombing campaigns. Languages are taught to children in caves serving as classrooms. The Nuba represent humanity's capacity to maintain culture, dignity, and hope under almost impossible circumstances—a testament to resilience that deserves recognition and support.
References
- Nadel, S.F. (1947). The Nuba: An Anthropological Study of the Hill Tribes in Kordofan. Oxford University Press.
- African Rights. (1995). Facing Genocide: The Nuba of Sudan. London.
- Human Rights Watch. (2012). "Under Siege: Indiscriminate Bombing and Abuses in Sudan's Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States."