History | Customs | Gumuz

Customs

After several centuries of Arab Sudanese influence, the Berta are now mostly Muslim and many speak fluent Arabic. Due to their intermarriage with Arab traders, some Berta were called Watawit -the local name for "bat", meaning that they were a mix of two very different groups. However, they still have traditional customs that are similar to those of their Nilo-Saharan neighbors. For example, there still exist ritual specialists called neri, who have healing and divination powers. They are the ones who know how to deal with evil spirits (shuman). Rain-making rituals are also found among the Berta, as among other Nilo-Saharan and Nilotic communities.

In their wedding ceremonies music is played by males with large calabash trumpets (was'a). The groom arrives to the wedding on a donkey and carrying a banga (throwing stick) in his hand. After the wedding, the husband has to build a hut and live in his wife's village for a year or more, tilling their father-in-law's land. Divorce is accepted. The Berta decorate their faces with scarifications, usually three vertical lines on each cheek, which they consider to be symbols of God (each line is interpreted as the initial letter of Allah, the Arabic alif).

The Berta are slash-and-burn agriculturalists. Their staple food is sorghum, with which they make porridge in ceramic vessels. They also make beer with sorghum. Beer is prepared in large ceramic containers called awar and is'u. Working parties play an important role in Berta society. When somebody wants to build a house or cultivate a field, he calls his neighbors for help and provides beer and food.