230 THE CULT OF NYAKANG AND THE DIVINE KINGS OF THE SHILLUK 



is nothing surprising in there being a strong, ahnost religious, feeling for any tree growing 

 near a slirine. 



The Appearance of the Shilluk Kings in Anijial Foeji 



Assumption of Dead kings may assume the form of certain animals ; Yur Adodit always takes that of 



animal forms ^^^ insect called akwan (in Arabic gamal en nebi), which appears to be the larval form of one 

 Shilluk kings of the MantUhe. I only discovered this important belief by the fortunate accident of an 

 akicaii settling upon my camera while I was making enquiries near the grave shrine of 

 Yur Adodit, which was being repaired. I was about to examine the insect when I was 

 asked not to touch it by the ba;)ig Choi whom I had been questioning. The hxHij, with 

 his face showing the greatest pleasure, took the insect in his hands and reverentially 

 carried it to the shrine, only the base of which had been built up, and deposited it on a 

 leafy branch which was thrust into the ground in the centre of the shrine, i.e. over the 

 grave of Yur Adodit. Choi told me that the appearance of Yur Adodit in his animal 

 form showed that he was favourably dispiosed to me, and was not displeased at my 

 enquiries concerning the shrine, and after this incident it was distinctly easier to obtain 

 information from Choi and his people. 



Nyakang, Dag and Nyadwai all apjjear as a white bird called aknk (in Sudanese 

 Arabic rekuUja), or sometimes as a giraffe, though I gathered that this was very unusual. 

 If a giraffe came straight towards the village in which the shrine stood, exhibiting no sign 

 of fear, it would be concluded that it was a spirit-ainnial, and the attendants at the tomb 

 would sacrifice a sheep or perhaps even a bullock. Father Banholzer adds " long-bodied 

 grasshoppers " and " a kind of snake called red " as forms in which Nyakang appears. 



I am indebted to Dr. Lambie for pointing out that unusual behaviour on the part of 

 almost any land animal will lead the Shilluk to look upon the creature as a temporary 

 incarnation of Nyakang. Thus, " if a little bird flies into the midst of a crowd of people and 

 is not frightened, or attracts someone's notice in a special manner they say 'Nyakang.'" 

 Dr. Lambie adds that unusual behaviour on the jjart of a water animal will be put down 

 to the animal containing the spirit of Nikaiya (Nyakai). Occasionally Nyakang would 

 appear as a bull. A very old Shilluk of the royal family told Dr. Lambie that w'hen he 

 was a youth, fifty or more years ago, Nyakang appeared as a white bull. Dr. Lambie's 

 informant was sent to tell the king, who ordered sacrifices to be made in addition to 

 those already offered by the local chief. 

 Respect shown I may here refer to the Shilluk attitude towards the crocodile ; this animal is generally 



to crocodile spared, as some of the worst man-eaters are believed to be men whom other crocodiles 

 have taken, and very dark coloured crocodiles are supposed to be either men-crocodiles 

 or their descendants. Further, there is a firm belief in the crocodilian attributes of the 

 ancestors of Nyakang recorded upon inuje 219. Nikaiya (Nik-kieya, pajje 219) is still 

 definitely associated with the crocodile, for she lives in the river, and though in old days 

 she would assume human form and at times come to the village by night in all friendliness, 

 she might seize a man or woman and bear him or her off to her home in the river guarded 

 by okdk fishes, and there change her victim into a crocodile to be a spouse to one of her 

 crocodile relatives. Nyakai brings luck to those whom she visits by night to ask for fire ; 

 if a barren woman bears a child after such a visit it will be called Nyakai, and tire 

 father will take a sheep and kill it and throw it in the river. Nyakai is known by her 

 short, stout figure and great muscular development, and by the fact that she "eats" 

 (mouths) her words. That the river is the true home of Nyakai, even in her most spiritual 



