The Dinka are known as cattle herders, but their respect and admiration for their cows goes well beyond that title. To illustrate this idea, Dau tells a story about how God gave the Dinka a choice between cows and a mysterious gift. The Dinka fell in love with the cow and chose it, so God gave the gift—which ended up being technological advances—to the West. While many factors led to the Dinka not developing in the same way as the West, a large factor is that they were content living among their cows.

For the Dinka, cows are an essential part of society that symbolizes wealth, livelihood, and the future. Dinka children drink cow’s milk throughout the day, and cows are a vital part of their initiation into adulthood and courtship. When a young man is courting a young woman, he sings songs about the beauty of his cows. Considering the relationship between the Dinka and their cows, it’s no wonder they feel they have lost the very essence of their being when they become displaced due to the war.

Stripped of their land, possessions, and cows, many displaced Dinka boys feel hopeless about their future. Even with the food, shelter, and medicine that are provided in the refugee camps, the refugees have no sense of direction without the cows that shape various elements of their culture.