Mambila
Encyclopedia
The Mambila or Mambilla people of Nigeria
and Cameroon
live on the Mambilla plateau
(in Sardauna Loca government area of Taraba State
in Nigeria
) and on the Tikar Plain in Cameroon
as well as in several small villages further north towards the town of Banyo. The preferred ethnonym is Mambila in Cameroon and Mambilla in Nigeria. "Nor" is also used (the word for person in Nigerian dialects of Mambila).
who can be referred to as Bo ba bo. The populations of different Mambila villages speak different dialects of Mambila or closely related Mambiloid languages. They also share a set of closely related cultural practices, in particular a conjunction of masquerade and oath-taking called "so", "shuwa", "sua" or "suaga". In the Somie dialect this is phonetically written as [ʃwaɣa]. See discussion in "Sua in Somie" cited below.
The Mambila language is a congeries of dialects and related languages. The SIL Ethnologue database gives two codes MYA for the Cameroonian dialects and MZK for the Nigerian dialects. See the survey work of Bruce Connell on the VIMS website cited below, and the article on Mambiloid languages
.
(Gembu in Sardauna Local Government) 6.71383337°N 11.25002°W in Taraba State
of Nigeria. This is a highland plateau, the northerly continuation of the Bamenda
grassfields. The plateau is dissected by many rivers (notably the River Donga) leaving a complex geography of steep valleys separated by highlands (all of similar altitude). Villages are on valley bottoms are relatively isolated from one another particularly during the rainy seasons when river crossings can be difficult (and impossible for motorised transport). Agriculture is concentrated on the valley bottoms while the highlands have been extensively grazed since the 1920s. There has been overgrazing and erosion has caused considerable problems from the late 1970s onwards. In late 2000 this led to some herders being driven from the Mambilla plateau and becoming refugees in Cameroon.
A smaller number of Mambila are to found on the edge of the Tikar plain in Cameroon at the foot of the escarpment of the Mambila plateau. At an altitude of some 700 m these villages live in a different ecological zone where oil palms grow and gallery forest is found.
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
live on the Mambilla plateau
Mambilla Plateau
The Mambilla Plateau is a highland region, found in Taraba State of Nigeria. This highland region, is the northern continuation of the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon....
(in Sardauna Loca government area of Taraba State
Taraba State
Taraba State is a state of Nigeria, named after the Taraba River which traverses the southern part of the state. Taraba's capital is Jalingo.-History:...
in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
) and on the Tikar Plain in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
as well as in several small villages further north towards the town of Banyo. The preferred ethnonym is Mambila in Cameroon and Mambilla in Nigeria. "Nor" is also used (the word for person in Nigerian dialects of Mambila).
Identification
The Mambila people of Nigeria and Cameroon regard themselves as a group with a common identity. In Nigerian dialects they refer to themselves as 'bo nor' (the people) while in Cameroon there is a collective noun Ba that is used in the unmarked sense to refer to the Mambila, and also to refer to Mambila in Cameroon on the Tikar plain (see below) contrastively with neighbouring Mambila on the highlands of the Mambilla plateauMambilla Plateau
The Mambilla Plateau is a highland region, found in Taraba State of Nigeria. This highland region, is the northern continuation of the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon....
who can be referred to as Bo ba bo. The populations of different Mambila villages speak different dialects of Mambila or closely related Mambiloid languages. They also share a set of closely related cultural practices, in particular a conjunction of masquerade and oath-taking called "so", "shuwa", "sua" or "suaga". In the Somie dialect this is phonetically written as [ʃwaɣa]. See discussion in "Sua in Somie" cited below.
The Mambila language is a congeries of dialects and related languages. The SIL Ethnologue database gives two codes MYA for the Cameroonian dialects and MZK for the Nigerian dialects. See the survey work of Bruce Connell on the VIMS website cited below, and the article on Mambiloid languages
Mambiloid languages
The dozen Mambiloid languages are a branch of Bantoid languages spoken by the Mambila and related people in Nigeria and Cameroon.The extinct Yeni language was apparently Mambiloid.-Languages:...
.
Location
Most Mambila live on the Mambilla plateauMambilla Plateau
The Mambilla Plateau is a highland region, found in Taraba State of Nigeria. This highland region, is the northern continuation of the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon....
(Gembu in Sardauna Local Government) 6.71383337°N 11.25002°W in Taraba State
Taraba State
Taraba State is a state of Nigeria, named after the Taraba River which traverses the southern part of the state. Taraba's capital is Jalingo.-History:...
of Nigeria. This is a highland plateau, the northerly continuation of the Bamenda
Bamenda
Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the North West Province. The city had a population of 269,530 at the 2005 Census, and is located 366 km north-west of the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé...
grassfields. The plateau is dissected by many rivers (notably the River Donga) leaving a complex geography of steep valleys separated by highlands (all of similar altitude). Villages are on valley bottoms are relatively isolated from one another particularly during the rainy seasons when river crossings can be difficult (and impossible for motorised transport). Agriculture is concentrated on the valley bottoms while the highlands have been extensively grazed since the 1920s. There has been overgrazing and erosion has caused considerable problems from the late 1970s onwards. In late 2000 this led to some herders being driven from the Mambilla plateau and becoming refugees in Cameroon.
A smaller number of Mambila are to found on the edge of the Tikar plain in Cameroon at the foot of the escarpment of the Mambila plateau. At an altitude of some 700 m these villages live in a different ecological zone where oil palms grow and gallery forest is found.
Climate
There is a dry season from November until April, the rains (which are abundant and regular) peaking in August. On the Mambilla Plateau the altitude is sufficient for evenings to be cool,Daytime temperatures hardly exceeds 25 °C (77 °F) making it the coldest plateau in Nigeria.External links
- Virtual Institute of Mambila Sudies
- Sua in Somie David Zeitlyn, Sua in Somie: Aspects of Mambila Traditional Religion, Sankt Augustin, Academia Verlag, 1994, 260 pp., 3 88345 375 7
- Perrin, M. J. and Hill, M. V. 1969. Mambila (Parler d'Atta): Description Phonologique. Yaoundé: Universite Federale du Cameroun.
- Perrin, Mona. 2005 Mambila Orthography Statement
- David Zeitlyn 2005 Words and Processes in Mambila Kinship: the Theoretical Importance of the Complexity of Everyday Life. ISBN Cloth 0-7391-0801-8 / 978-0-7391-0801-7
- Other work by David Zeitlyn is listed in the Oxford Research Archive