» | Sudanow Magazine

KHARTOUM (SUDANOW)— Under the motto of 'Let's Celebrate Together in Pride of Our Culture', the tribes of the Nuba Mountains in Khartoum celebrated the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in the Buhairah Square in Omdurman on Saturday August 15.
The world observes this Day on August 9th of each year by celebrations organized in all parts of the globe.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's message on this year's celebration focused on the health and welfare of the indigenous peoples and on maintenance of their health practices "On this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, I call on the international community to ensure that they are not left behind. To create a better, more equitable future, let us commit to do more to improve the health and well-being of indigenous peoples. "

The third Nuba celebration this year consisted of an eventful programme and was attended by representatives of the foreign communities and embassies in the presence of a huge number of other people. A number of folklore troupes and dancers from the Nuba tribes, which reside in Khartoum after drifting from their original homeland due to the difficult living and economic circumstances caused by the civil war there, participated in the occasion.
The celebration also included speeches by a number of the participants and the opening of an accompanying heritage exhibition.
Professor Shamson Khamis Kafi, the chairman of the high committee for cultural festival of the Nuba Mountains, made a speech in which he welcomed the guests.
Dr. Saber Abdin spoke on behalf of Nubaians of North Sudan, underlined that the Nuba people are the world's oldest people. He also stressed that the people of Nuba Mountains and the Nubians of North Sudan are one ethnicity.

Speaking on behalf of the organizing committee Natalina Yagoub, Miss Nubian for this year, said they were here to prove to the world that “we are indigenous people upholding their heritage, traditions, customs and their Sudanese and Nubian languages”.

"I won the Miss title because I kept my Afro-Nubian identity and the true beauty is the self-consciousness and self-pride. I am determined to uphold my identity and my dignity and to retrieve my rights," she said.