In this article, Platinumtimes.ng will guide you through some fascinating facts and history of the Tiv culture.
Nigeria is a country in West Africa endowed with many people who are unique in culture, traditions and beliefs. Referred to as the giant of Africa because of its strong and resilient people who share lots of amazing cultures. Among these people are the Tiv or Tivoid ethnic group, their culture stands out not just because of their language but the fact that you will always find their names and food fascinating.
Tiv or Tiiv are a Tivoid minor ethnic group mostly found in Benue and Plateau States in Nigeria. They speak the Nyanza language which is specific only to it’s natives. The Tiv people are most farmers and cattle rearers and they live in their clusters in huts and settlements.
The Tiv are true Negros, they are dark,shorter and stockier than the Hausa and Fulani. They are also believed to be lovers of food and women.
They are the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria with a population of over Seven million people scattered all over Nigeria and Cameroon with it’s language spoken in Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Cross River, as well as FCT Abuja.
Location
The Tiv speaking people of Nigeria are predominantly found in the middle belt region of Nigeria, comprising of states in Benue ,Plateau, Taraba states. They inhabit the Guinea Savannah vegetation which is separated by River Benue and Katsina Ala River.
Language
The Tiv language is classified under the central or Bantoid branch – Plateau or upper Benue Bantu group of the Niger Congo sub family of African languages.
The Tiv language is spoken by about 15 million people in Nigeria with a few speakers in Cameroon. Most of speakers of the language are found in Nigeria especially in Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Cross rivers, Adamawa, Kaduna, and the FCT.
History
Oral history has it that the Tivs emerged into their present location from the southeast. They are believed to have lived at a Swem in Obudu hills from where they migrated because of population pressure to the plains.
It is also believed that the Tivs during migration had also settled temporarily with the Fulani for protection but had to leave because of their refusal to give their daughters out in marriage.
The desire to remain separate and distinguished people made the Tiv to design tribal marks on their faces for their men and on their belly for their women.
However, regardless of the numerous views held about their origin, most historians believe that the ancestors of this collective people could be traced to the Bantu people who once inhabited the Central African continent, in the Shaba area of the present Democratic Republic of Congo.
Occupation
The Tiv are a cheerful and talented people who are not afraid of their enemies or misfortunes.
They are mostly subsistence farmers whose main crops are yams, millet, and sorghum, all of which are eaten as porridge or are made more palatable by their combination of sauces and stews. Although goats and chickens are plentiful, few cattle are kept because of the tsetse fly
The Tivs pride themselves as the best farmers in the world. They take special interest on how their farms appear to people and in cultivating their yams as it is the mainstay of their economy.
Social Organization
The Tiv are a patrilineal people. This patrilineal principle permeates all cultural institutions such as the family, compound, politics, economics etc.
All Tivs regard themselves a member either of Ichongo (descendants of son Chongo) or of Ipusu(descendants of son Pusu). Ichongo and Ipusu are each divided into several major branches, which in turn are divided into smaller branches. The smallest branch, or minimal lineage, is the ipaven.
Membersof an ipaven tend to live together, the local kin-based community being called the “tar”.
This form of social organisation, called a segmentary lineage, is seen in various parts of the world, but it is particularly well known from African societies .
The Tiv are the best-known example in West Africa of a society of segmentary lineage. This system of segmentary lineage discourages concentration of authority on any single person or lineage making all of them are uniquely equal.
Beliefs and cultures
Because of westernization, some Tivs are Christians and a few of them are Muslims but their traditional religion, based on the manipulation of forces (akombo) entrusted to humans by a creator god, remains paramount.
The akombo is seen in certain symbols or emblems and in diseases that they create. A group of elders who have the ability to manipulate these forces meets at night to repair those manifestations of akombo (e.g., epidemics) that affect the group.
The Tivs are also a very practical people who would want to experiment on everything they are told before they believe it.
Some aspects of the Tiv culture that makes them spectacular includes; their food, dressing, marriage.
Tiv Food
It is said that the typical Tiv person does not joke when it comes to food. The common Tiv food are mostly solid, cooked, pounded or prepared with hot water. They are mostly carbohydrates or byproducts of yams, cocoa-yam, cassava, beans, corn, etc. The Tiv are known to be the food basket of Nigeria. The sesame seed(Beni seed) is an important food product and a cash crop produced by the Benue people.
Some common Tiv foods are ruam kumen (pounded yam), ruam nahan (turned food), akuto (sweet potato pottage), choko (dafa), akpukpa, etc and they are served alongside their special soups and snacks.
Tiv Dressing
The Tivs are great artisans, they are experts in the art of weaving and this is passed from one generation to another. Tiv people prefer their traditional attire to any other form of attire due to the strong cultural identity that comes with it.
The most famous in the Tiv traditional dressing is the A’nger attire. It is made up of white and black stripes woven together to form a beautiful design. The white color signifies peace and love while the black color signifies their African root and all these put together depicts the uniqueness of the Tiv culture.
The Tiv women wrap this fabric around the waist reaching the knees while the men wear a kind of turban wrapper and Kpaabor bag.
Another fabric is Tugudu which is used strictly for burying dead ones. The women of Tiv like to put on a special fabric known as Ivvavtyo which is worn during important occasions.
Other fabrics used by the Tiv people are Lishi, Gbev-whaa, Godo, Gurugu, Chado, Deremen and Gbagir. The Tiv fabric is patronized by lots of people and this has helped to boost their economy.
Marriage
Four kinds of marriages are recognized in the Tiv culture;
Marriage by exchange; also called yamshe, it involves sharing one’s children with other people’s as wives and husband’s. A person without a sister or close relative would remain unmarried as long as the deficiency lasted. The daughters shàred are called “aggol” while the sons entrusted with the daughters are called “guardians”.
Marriage by purchase; also called Kem marriage, before the colonial era, girls were being captured as slaves and married off to their husbands but during the colonial era, bride price was introduced as this was more honorable.
This bride price marriage is practiced in the Tiv land presently and it remedied the situation which men had to wait till later in their lives before they get married and money also aid in the marriage as the colonial Master’s insisted that men should pay bride price before taking any girl as wife.
Marriage by capture; also called kwase-nghol. This occurred as a result of inadequacies of exchange marriage, it involves ambushing the girl desired and then eloping with her to a new location. This marriage was very common during the Tiv migration and it led to inter community wars.
Sister marriage; this involves a young man making payments to remove the shell(symbolizing sexual inaccessibility) of the unmarried girl whom he is attracted . If the girl’s mother accepts the gift, the man is given sexual accessibility to the girl but this marriage ceases if the girl is married to another man.
Music and Dance
Just like every other African culture, music is part of the culture of the Tiv people. They have created a means of communication through the use of music. Some traditional music instruments used are;
Kakaki: A royal trumpet used to send vital messages from the king to the community.
Ilyu: This is an instrument made of light wooden material which is also used to gather elders for a meeting with the King. It is also used to announce the death of someone in the community.
Indyer: This is a special musical instrument made from mahogany trunk. It is used during festivals such as the Yam Festival to pass information as regards the festival to the people. It is also used to announce the success of a good harvest year.
Gbande: This is a large musical instrument played by young men of the community during festival. The gbande produces strong rhythms when played and it beats carry with it messages to the people. It is significant during occasion like coronation and death of the King.
Adiguve: This instrument resembles the violin and it is one of the popular musical instruments used by the Tiv people. During festival, the Adiguve is played to the admiration of all. It is also symbolic during the death of an elder in the community.
The Tiv people of Benue state still use some of this traditional system of communication, using the Kakaki, Agbande, Indyer, Adiguve, Ilyu, etc to pass messages to their people although the increase in the western world media is threatening the cultural communication system.
It is also worthy to note how the Tiv perform their burial ceremonies;
They attach great significance to the burial of their loved ones as it is rooted in their local customs.
Usually the dead is buried within 24 hours and no coffin is used. The corpse is washed by an elderly woman and wrapped in A’nger, Tugudu or Gbagir attire to be buried. Prior to this, messages are being sent to their ancestors informing them to await the arrival of the dead into the spirit world.
Political organization
The Tivs are outspoken, brave, fearless and an independent people who have no respect for princes, they have no obedience to cultural authority.
They have no administrative divisions and no chiefs nor councils. Leadership was based on age, influence and affluence. The leaders’ functions were to furnish safe conduct, arbitrate disputes within their lineages, sit on moots and lead their people in all external and internal affairs.