Tarok
Encyclopedia
Tarok are an agrarian society in the hills and on the plains southeast of Plateau State
in Nigeria
.
, Mikang and Kangke Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Plateau State
in Central Nigeria
. Their main town of Langtang
is located about 186 kilometres south-east of Jos
, the state capital. They are also found in large numbers in Shendam
, Qua'an-Pan, Kanam and Pankshin LGAs. Scattered in Nasarawa and Taraba
states are Tarok farming communities. The people have been described to some extent in anthropological and ethnographical works by Fitzpatrick (1910), Roger Blench
, Lamle (1995), Famwang and Longtau (1997). The oTárók are an amalgamation of various peoples who now form a more or less ‘homogeneous’ group. The constituents were of Pe, Ngas, Jukun
, Boghom, Tel ( Montol ) and probably Tal origins, while others still remain obscure or unknown. The culture at a micro level portrays this admixture of peoples of the Tarok nation. The focus here is a description of their language.
to refer to oTarok as a friendship term. These fresh insights are pointing to a conclusion that Tarok was a nickname given to the Tal/Ngas immigrants. The name of the original group is lost and has been replaced by the nickname. The term Pe-Tarok refers to the people who first spoke the original form of the language called Tarok today the mismatch notwithstanding. The origins of the peoples may be a knotty topic, but it is clear that Proto-Tarok is the parent of the language which is known as Tarok today (whatever might have been their original name).
/ Fulfulde and Yiwom. Its non-Chadic neighbours are Pe, Jukun-Wase and Yangkam. Tarok has spread considerably in the twentieth century and it now borders Wapan in the south-east. The Chadic languages belong to a different language phylum called Afroasiatic. Longtau explained that Tarok had settled in their present abode long before the eastern and southward movements of Boghom and Ngas respectively.
The framework of Tarok migration supports the assertion above and is based on the fact that the Tarok people are part of the Benue–Congo ethno-linguistic phylum. This conclusion is based on the assertion that the contemporary language that the Tarok people speak is of the Benue–Congo phylum. However, others of the Chadic ethno-linguistic phyla such as the Ngas, Boghom, Tel (Montol) and Yiwom joined the Benue–Congo Phylum and are given the full status of Tarokness (Lamle 1998). Also Jukun which are of the Benue–Congo group joined the Tarok and are given the same status as that of the Chadic. What is called the Tarok people are actually a consortium of many ethno-linguistic groups that mongrelized and gave birth to the Tarok people. This is because even though the cognate of the Tarok language is of the Benue–Congo phylum, their morphemes are a combination of the Benue–Congo and Chadic ethno linguistic phylum (Lamle 2008).
which retains considerable prestige and importance, despite major inroads of Christianity into the area. The ancestors, orìm, are represented by initiated males and post-menopausal women. Cult
activities take place in sacred groves outside almost all Tarok settlements. Orìm are mostly heard, but emerge as masked figures under some circumstances, especially for the disciplining of ‘stubborn’ women and for making prophecies. Orìm figures speak through voice disguisers in a language dotted with code words although framed in normal Tarok syntax and their utterances are interpreted by unmasked figures.
Each Tarok settlement of any size has a sacred grove outside it, which is conserved as the place of the orim or ancestors. The singular form, ùrìm, is applied to a dead person or an ancestor, while orìm refers to the collective ancestors and the cult itself. Men above a certain age are allowed to enter the grove and engage with the ancestors. These inhabit the land of the dead and are thus in contact with all those who have died, including young people and children who were not admitted to the orìm. On certain nights when the ‘orìm are out’, women and children must stay in their houses. Orim can also be seen ‘dressed’, i.e. appearing as masquerades, when they engage with women through an interpreter. Surprisingly, most Tarok are Christian
and Langtang hosts some large churches, but the association of the orìm with power ensures that these two systems continue to coexist
. Indeed it is said that the orìm take care to visit the houses of the retired generals and other influential figures at night to cement the bonds between two very different types of power. Orìm society is graded, in the sense that there are members who are not fully initiated and so cannot be let into the inner secrets of the society. Some of the orìm vocabulary is therefore for internal concealment, that is, there are code-words among the elder members to conceal the meaning of what is being said from junior members.
The main function of the orim from the external point of view is to maintain order, both spiritual
and actual, within the society but also to prepare for warfare and other collective action. In practice, maintaining order seems to be about disciplining women, who are forced to cook food as a punishment for being lazy or ‘stubborn’. This category of orìm is called orìm aga., literally ‘masquerade that gives trouble’ and its speciality is to fine women. There is a special season, aga. ‘time of trouble’, for meting out fines to offenders. The orìm are also in contact with the dead and it is believed that the spirits of dead children require to be fed; hence they will request special meals from the mother of such children. Orìm also have a marriage-broking function; for example, young women tell the orìm the name of the young man they would like to marry, and they find ways of passing on the message.
(rtd), Gen Domkat Bali (rtd), Brig Gen John Nanzip Shagaya
(rtd and presently Senator), Major Gen. Joseph Nanven Garba
(Deceased), Brig.Gen Musa Gambo (rtd), Brig. Gen Jonathan N Temlong (rtd), Brig. Gen Yakubu Rimdans (rtd), Brig. Gen Rimtip, Chief Solomon D. Lar
, Professor Mary Lar former Nigerian Ambassador to The Hague, Netherlands, Air Marshal Jonah Domfa Wuyep (Former Chief of the Air Staff of the Nigerian Air Force
), Prof. J.F. Jemkur (Dean of Arts & Professor of Archeology, University of Jos
, Dr. Larry Nanjul Ayuba , Ubandoma Joshua Laven , Dindam D. Killi, Esq (lawyer and former student leader) Joshua Nimyel (Ministry of Works and Housing, Plateau State Government) RTD Col. Dauda Nimyel (Ponzhi Gani) of the Pil-gani community. Col. Joseph Nimyel (School of Armour Bauchi, Bauchi State), Prince Goselle Obed Nanjul, (International Student Ambassador, Bangor University, United Kingdom).
Plateau State
Plateau State is the twelfth largest state of Nigeria, and is roughly located in the center of the country. It is geographically unique in Nigeria because its boundaries totally surround the Jos Plateau, having the Jos Plateau totally in its central and northern part...
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...
.
The Tarok People
The Tarok people call themselves as oTárók, their language as iTárók and their land ìTàrók. They are found principally in Langtang-North, Langtang-South, WaseWase
Wase may refer to:*Wase, Nigeria, a town and Local Government Area in Plateau State, Nigeria*Wase River, a river in the aforementioned LGA*Christopher Wase , English scholar, author, translator, and educator...
, Mikang and Kangke Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Plateau State
Plateau State
Plateau State is the twelfth largest state of Nigeria, and is roughly located in the center of the country. It is geographically unique in Nigeria because its boundaries totally surround the Jos Plateau, having the Jos Plateau totally in its central and northern part...
in Central 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...
. Their main town of Langtang
Langtang
Langtang is a region in Nepal to the north of Kathmandu and bordering Tibet. It is protected as Langtang National Park and has a number of high peaks including Langtang Lirung . As of 2010, the entrance ticket to the park cost 2400 Nepali Rupees for foreigners.About 4,500 people live inside the...
is located about 186 kilometres south-east of Jos
Jos
Jos is a city in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.The city has a population of about 1.5 million residents. Popularly called "J-town" or "Jesus Our Saviour" by the residents, it is the administrative capital of Plateau State....
, the state capital. They are also found in large numbers in Shendam
Shendam
Shendam is a Local Government Area in Plateau State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Shendam at.It has an area of 2,477 km² and a population of 208,017 at the 2006 census.The postal code of the area is 940....
, Qua'an-Pan, Kanam and Pankshin LGAs. Scattered in Nasarawa and Taraba
Taraba
Taraba can refer to:* Taraba State* Taraba River* Taraba, the genus of the Great Antshrike...
states are Tarok farming communities. The people have been described to some extent in anthropological and ethnographical works by Fitzpatrick (1910), Roger Blench
Roger Blench
Roger Blench is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and remains based in Cambridge, England...
, Lamle (1995), Famwang and Longtau (1997). The oTárók are an amalgamation of various peoples who now form a more or less ‘homogeneous’ group. The constituents were of Pe, Ngas, Jukun
Jukun
Jukun or Djugun or Dyugun may refer to:*Jukun people *Jukun Takum language*Jukun people *Jukun language...
, Boghom, Tel ( Montol ) and probably Tal origins, while others still remain obscure or unknown. The culture at a micro level portrays this admixture of peoples of the Tarok nation. The focus here is a description of their language.
Name of the Language
In the literature, other names have been used for Tarok as Appa, Yergam and its variants of Yergum and Yergem. The name Tarok itself has been wrongly spelt by some as Taroh. The name Appa on the other hand is used by the JukunJukun
Jukun or Djugun or Dyugun may refer to:*Jukun people *Jukun Takum language*Jukun people *Jukun language...
to refer to oTarok as a friendship term. These fresh insights are pointing to a conclusion that Tarok was a nickname given to the Tal/Ngas immigrants. The name of the original group is lost and has been replaced by the nickname. The term Pe-Tarok refers to the people who first spoke the original form of the language called Tarok today the mismatch notwithstanding. The origins of the peoples may be a knotty topic, but it is clear that Proto-Tarok is the parent of the language which is known as Tarok today (whatever might have been their original name).
Tarok in a sea of Chadic languages
Longtau described Tarok as one of the Benue–Congo languages which is almost completely submerged in a sea of Chadic languages. These languages include Ngas, Tel, Boghom, HausaHausa language
Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...
/ Fulfulde and Yiwom. Its non-Chadic neighbours are Pe, Jukun-Wase and Yangkam. Tarok has spread considerably in the twentieth century and it now borders Wapan in the south-east. The Chadic languages belong to a different language phylum called Afroasiatic. Longtau explained that Tarok had settled in their present abode long before the eastern and southward movements of Boghom and Ngas respectively.
Tarok History
In the early twentieth century people from other ethnic groups such as Tal, Ngas, Jukun, Tel (Montol/Dwal) and Yiwom (Gerkawa) migrated and settled together with the initial Timwat and Funyallang clans. People from these ethnic groups came as migrants labour workers. The Timwat and Funyallang people gave them land to settle in Tarokland after they have served the former. Colonialism and Christianity came into Tarokland by 1904 (Lamle 1995). The initial inhabitants could not trust the missionaries and colonialists as such did not encourage their people to join them. with the introduction of modernism the later migrants to Tarokland used their connections to the missionaries and colonialists to acquire western education and join the army. Today these latter migrants are at the hem of affairs in Nigeria as such tries to use their influence to change history ( cf. Lamle 2005).The framework of Tarok migration supports the assertion above and is based on the fact that the Tarok people are part of the Benue–Congo ethno-linguistic phylum. This conclusion is based on the assertion that the contemporary language that the Tarok people speak is of the Benue–Congo phylum. However, others of the Chadic ethno-linguistic phyla such as the Ngas, Boghom, Tel (Montol) and Yiwom joined the Benue–Congo Phylum and are given the full status of Tarokness (Lamle 1998). Also Jukun which are of the Benue–Congo group joined the Tarok and are given the same status as that of the Chadic. What is called the Tarok people are actually a consortium of many ethno-linguistic groups that mongrelized and gave birth to the Tarok people. This is because even though the cognate of the Tarok language is of the Benue–Congo phylum, their morphemes are a combination of the Benue–Congo and Chadic ethno linguistic phylum (Lamle 2008).
The Tarok Culture
The Tarok people have an ancestral cultCult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
which retains considerable prestige and importance, despite major inroads of Christianity into the area. The ancestors, orìm, are represented by initiated males and post-menopausal women. Cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
activities take place in sacred groves outside almost all Tarok settlements. Orìm are mostly heard, but emerge as masked figures under some circumstances, especially for the disciplining of ‘stubborn’ women and for making prophecies. Orìm figures speak through voice disguisers in a language dotted with code words although framed in normal Tarok syntax and their utterances are interpreted by unmasked figures.
Each Tarok settlement of any size has a sacred grove outside it, which is conserved as the place of the orim or ancestors. The singular form, ùrìm, is applied to a dead person or an ancestor, while orìm refers to the collective ancestors and the cult itself. Men above a certain age are allowed to enter the grove and engage with the ancestors. These inhabit the land of the dead and are thus in contact with all those who have died, including young people and children who were not admitted to the orìm. On certain nights when the ‘orìm are out’, women and children must stay in their houses. Orim can also be seen ‘dressed’, i.e. appearing as masquerades, when they engage with women through an interpreter. Surprisingly, most Tarok are Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and Langtang hosts some large churches, but the association of the orìm with power ensures that these two systems continue to coexist
Coexist
The Coexist Foundation is a charitable organization based in London, England which aims to improve religious relationships between people of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian faiths...
. Indeed it is said that the orìm take care to visit the houses of the retired generals and other influential figures at night to cement the bonds between two very different types of power. Orìm society is graded, in the sense that there are members who are not fully initiated and so cannot be let into the inner secrets of the society. Some of the orìm vocabulary is therefore for internal concealment, that is, there are code-words among the elder members to conceal the meaning of what is being said from junior members.
The main function of the orim from the external point of view is to maintain order, both spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and actual, within the society but also to prepare for warfare and other collective action. In practice, maintaining order seems to be about disciplining women, who are forced to cook food as a punishment for being lazy or ‘stubborn’. This category of orìm is called orìm aga., literally ‘masquerade that gives trouble’ and its speciality is to fine women. There is a special season, aga. ‘time of trouble’, for meting out fines to offenders. The orìm are also in contact with the dead and it is believed that the spirits of dead children require to be fed; hence they will request special meals from the mother of such children. Orìm also have a marriage-broking function; for example, young women tell the orìm the name of the young man they would like to marry, and they find ways of passing on the message.
Prominent Tarok People
Lt. Gen Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro (rtd), Lt Gen. Jeremiah UseniJeremiah Useni
Jeremiah Timbut Useni was a Lt. General in the Nigerian Army and Minister responsible for the administration of the Abuja Federal Capital Territory under the Sani Abacha military junta. He came from Plateau State. He served Nigeria in various capacities such as Minister for Transport and...
(rtd), Gen Domkat Bali (rtd), Brig Gen John Nanzip Shagaya
John Nanzip Shagaya
John Nanzip Shagaya is a Nigerian senator who was elected in April 2007 to represent the People's Democratic Party in Plateau State as member of the Nigerian Senate for Plateau South....
(rtd and presently Senator), Major Gen. Joseph Nanven Garba
Joseph Nanven Garba
Major General Joseph Nanven Garba was a Nigerian general, diplomat, and politician who served as president of the United Nations General Assembly from 1989 to 1990.-Early military career:...
(Deceased), Brig.Gen Musa Gambo (rtd), Brig. Gen Jonathan N Temlong (rtd), Brig. Gen Yakubu Rimdans (rtd), Brig. Gen Rimtip, Chief Solomon D. Lar
Solomon Lar
Chief Solomon Daushep Lar is a Nigerian politician who has held various offices at the National level for over 50 years.He was a member of the first national parliament when Nigeria gained independence in 1960....
, Professor Mary Lar former Nigerian Ambassador to The Hague, Netherlands, Air Marshal Jonah Domfa Wuyep (Former Chief of the Air Staff of the Nigerian Air Force
Nigerian Air Force
The Nigerian Air Force is the air arm of the Nigerian Armed Forces.It is one of the largest in West Africa, consisting of about 15,000 personnel and aircraft including 15 Chengdu F-7s, and 24 Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jets, armed helicopters, and military transport aircraft. However in recent years...
), Prof. J.F. Jemkur (Dean of Arts & Professor of Archeology, University of Jos
University of Jos
The University of Jos, abbreviated as Unijos, is a federal university in Jos, Plateau State, central Nigeria. The school offers courses in law, medicine, pharmacy, natural sciences, social sciences, the built environment as well as arts and humanities....
, Dr. Larry Nanjul Ayuba , Ubandoma Joshua Laven , Dindam D. Killi, Esq (lawyer and former student leader) Joshua Nimyel (Ministry of Works and Housing, Plateau State Government) RTD Col. Dauda Nimyel (Ponzhi Gani) of the Pil-gani community. Col. Joseph Nimyel (School of Armour Bauchi, Bauchi State), Prince Goselle Obed Nanjul, (International Student Ambassador, Bangor University, United Kingdom).