Though known for centuries as the Dinka, they actually call themselves Moinjaang, "People of the people."" (1) They have traveled in family groups living in temporary homesteads with their cattle for hundreds of years. These homes were constructed out of mud walls and grass roofs. Their country of Sudan, a desert to semi-tropical area located in Africa, has two seasons. Because both seasons consist of extreme opposites, one dry and one rainy, the groups of Dinka people moved year round for access to grass and water for their cattle. Their lifestyle has changed from mobile to settled, due to irrigation and permanent villages built on higher ground above the flood plane of the Nile River. .
In these villages the women tend to the agriculture, while the men primarily tend to the cattle. Their cattle still remain as their main stable. Cattle give them milk, butter, and ghee. Urine is used in washing, to dye hair, and to tan hides. Dung fuels fires from which ash is used to keep the cattle clean and free from blood-sucking ticks. They also use the ash to decorate themselves (body art), and as a paste to clean teeth. Cattle are not killed for meat, but if one dies or is sacrificed, the meat is eaten and the hide cured. The skins are used to make mats, drum skins, belts, ropes, and carrying halters. (2) They discuss and solve problems publicly and are very informal about it. They base their life on values of honor and dignity, and expect an individual to be generous to others in order to achieve status in their society. (1).
Polygamy is ideal for the Dinka, although they must marry outside their clan to promote more unity across the broader Dinka group. A "bride wealth- is paid by the groom's family to finalize the marriage alliance between the two-clan families. The daughter is seen as bringing her family wealth upon her marriage (wealth is traditionally measured in terms of cattle). (2).
They have no resources in terms of money.
