Gloria Ssali Art Collections

Nuer Bride - South Sudan

Marriage in Nuer (Næy tin Naath) all legal marital unions are recognized through the exchange of bride-wealth, in the form of cattle, between the husband’s kin and the rightful claimants of these goods among the family of the bride. A standard ideal of forty (50-or 80) head of cattle comprises or made up, the expected number of cattle to be received by the bride’s family. In Nuer eyes, however, a marriage has not been finalized until the bride has given birth to at least two children. The actual exchange of bride-wealth cattle is so a lengthy process and can be stalled or broken off by a number of phenomena or things appearing to view. Once a third child has been born of the union, Nuäär consider the marriage to be tied. The women has become a full member of her husband’s agnatic lineage, along with her children, through marriage, the continuity of the husband’s lineage has been assured, and following the birth of two or three children, the wife’s role in expending relationships of kinship has been realized. Whatever else the bride’s family and kin get, they must get certain animals or the marriage cannot take place. Hence these basic claims take precedence and their titles are always the first to be acknowledged