The Nuer people of South Sudan share two special connections with Nebraska. One is there are more Nuer living in Nebraska than anywhere outside South Sudan. The other is their preoccupation with cattle.
Terese Svoboda will present an evening of poetry and music, sharing the culture of the Nuer with Nebraskans and the Nuer living in Nebraska. Svoboda says the Nuer were made famous by E. Evans Pritchard’s classic text on social anthropology. But she says she shares her own personal connection to the people as well.
"There was a beautiful film that was made and I accompanied a filmmaker to make a sequel to that movie in 1975 & 1976. And I lived there for a year, all around that area and collected their songs which is the main cultural expression they have since they move all the time with their cattle.”
Terese Svoboda’s presentation Cleaned the Crocodile’s Teeth: Nuer Song takes place June 12th at 7:30 p.m. in UNL’s Student Union. The event is offered by the Nebraska Summer Writer’s Conference and Caring People Sudan.
For details, the website is nebraskawriters.unl.edu.