‘Gurtong’ Meaning
'Gurtong' is a phrase, not a word. It consists of two words:
a verb 'gur' and a noun 'tong'. 'Gur' means 'to grind' or
'to blunt' and 'tong' means 'spear'. 'Gurtong' therefore
means 'to blunt the spear' or simply 'blunt the spear' by
grinding the sharp edges of the spear against something
hard until it is blunt. The words and the phrase have their
origins in most Nilotic languages: Acholi, Jieng, Nath,
Chollo, Pari and Anyuak.
However, its symbolic meaning associated with peacemaking
has been perfected and commonly applied by the Anyuak in
settling serious disputes among members of the ethnic community
and between themselves and others. 'Gur-tong' to them therefore
means to perform a ritual in which a spear is unsharpened
by moving its sharp edges
The occasion captured in the above picture was that of
a reconciliation between an Anyuak clan with MedAir –
a Swiss-based NGO operating in Pochalla and other parts
of South Sudan. A MedAir vehicle had killed a child, who
had slipped under it without the knowledge of the driver
– a Kenyan Luo.
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The case was settled traditionally
as above. It follows a code in which there is acceptance of
guilt [killing of a fellow human being], cleansing, compensation
[paying of 'blood price'], forgiveness and therefore reconciliation
and hence the occasion 'gurtong'
against a stone until they are blunt. It is the name of a
ceremony where two parties to a conflict settle a dispute,
in which lives have been lost, through peaceful discussions.
The unsharpening of a spear symbolises forgiveness and reconciliation.
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