Man from a Nuer tribe with traditional small marks on his forhead and colorful painting on his face.

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. In Nuer eyes, however, a marriage has not been finalized until the bride has given birth to at least two children.

The Nuer language is a Nilo-Saharan language of the Western Nilotic group. It is spoken by the Nuer people of southern Sudan. Nuer is one of eastern and central Africa's most widely spoken languages. The Nuer tribe is one of the largest tribes in Southern Sudan.

Nuer living to the east of the Nile speak of their western relatives as "homeland Nuer" and have a consistent oral tradition indicating that their expansion across the Nile, as far as the Ethiopian border, has a 200-year legacy. In the process of this expansion, they forced the Anuak to migrate farther east into Ethiopia, and incorporated many Dinka into Nuer communities. Nuer versed in such matters suggest that at one time three "brothers"—Nuer, Dinka, and Atuot—once lived in a neighboring territory.

Legends suggest that they parted company to go their own ways following a dispute about the rightful ownership of a number of cattle. Both Atuot and Nuer traditions indicate that this separation and initial migration originated in a cattle camp in what is now termed western "Nuerland." These legends of migration sometimes have mythical properties, but it is prudent to appreciate them also for their historical character.