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The Name

Belanda is a shortened form of Beer-landa, which comes from Bongo. The Bongo used to call all their Luo-speaking neighbours Beer. A distinction was therefore necessary between the Jo Luo, whom they called Beer-gusi – [the Beer of the east] and the other Luo-speaking group they called Beer-landa [Beer of the hill]; landa means hill or mountain in Bongo. The Bongo believed the Bviri were one and the same people as the Belanda Boor because of the close association that existed between them. The Bviri are therefore known as Belanda Bviri and according to tradition they are matrineal uncles of the Belanda Boor.

Demography and Geography

The massive movement of communities due to slave-raids, wars and latter developments has rendered it difficult to establish the exact numbers of the Bviri, who live scattered between Wau and Tambura; and between Wau, Mboro, Deim Zubier and Raga in west Bahr el Ghazal.

Environment, Economy and Natural Resources

The land of the Bviri is hilly and is dissected by several seasonal streams. It lies in the rain forest. This has greatly influenced the lifestyle of the Bviri, who are predominantly agrarian, practicing subsistence agriculture. Their main crops are sorghum, maize, cassava, groundnuts, simsim, etc.

Mythology and History

The Bviri believed that many, many years ago the Bviri people started coming from the west to the east, and as they reached the land between the Ndogo and the Rodi they settled there and considered it their own motherland. Before long, this tribe consisted of the three clans.
The Gonva clan were the blacksmiths of the tribe. They worked with iron (mugo) and charcoal in order to make knives, spears, arrows, and hoes for their own use. They practised this work in separate settlements. They were also the merchants of the tribe, because they sold many of the things they made to other people who had need of them. They also cultivated, but only very little.
The Fajago were believed to produce the best chiefs who took more interest in ruling their clan than did the chiefs of the other two clans. The reason for this is because they were such good cultivators and basket makers. They therefore stayed on their farms, which they kept clean and well cultivated. Consequently they had large stores of food for sale to the rest of the tribe throughout the year. They exchanged their crops and baskets with the Gonva for iron instruments.
The Famoli were viewed as nomadic hunters. They lived simply on the flesh of wild animals, honey and edible berries and roots. They used to exchange dried meat and other forest produce with the Gonva for iron instruments and with the Fajago for baskets. The Famoli in spite of their lifestyle lived side by side with the other two clans. If the other clans decided to change their country the Famoli went with them. They were feared as wild men, because they killed anyone they met in the forest, whether from their own tribe or from some other tribe.

The Language

These three sections of the Bviri spoke the same language as it is nowadays spoken by their descendants. The only difference was that the Famoli tended to speak a form of dialect, while the Gonva and Fajago spoke the language direct. It requires more research to establish the relation between Bviri language and others neighbouring languages.

Society, Social Events and Customs

There are three kinds of Bviri dances Galu - a dance in which the big drum is beaten assisted by two smaller drums. Kama - a dance in which a small drum is beaten assisted by two or three very little drums. Ngbandala, a dance in which boys and girls show off their beauty and skill in dancing.
If a woman gives birth to an illegitimate child, she must confess the names of all the men she has laid with or else the child dies. Pieces of wood are be cut according to the number of names confessed, and tied on a string round the neck of the child. Marriage within the clan is prohibited. Incest is considered a shameful thing to do. It is customary for adults to greet children first. Men must be the first to greet women and also they must greet the chief before he greets them. But the chief still greets women and children first wherever he meets them.

Socio-Political Organisation

Although the Bviri clans produced a great number of new sub-clans, the new ones did not break away from the original clan but lived together with it.