Peoples of the Northern Savanna
The Fulani use the term plains kirdi for those peoples who accepted defeat and continued to live in their homeland but who refused to accept Islam. Among others they include the Guidar, the Guiziga, and the Daba, all of whom speak Chadic languages. They cultivate millet and, more recently, groundnuts (peanuts) and cotton. They keep cattle inside their houses for purposes of religious sacrifice. Their cult of ancestors is always associated with sacred objects, such as clay pots or stones that are placed inside small granaries. Each clan groups the descen- dants in the male line from a founding ancestor. Chiefs have no political power, but as intermediaries between the natural and supernatural worlds they conduct rites and sacrifices.
The Guidar in the northeastern corner of Benoue Department are a conglomerate of various groups who mixed after they refused to accept Islam and had fled from the Fulani. Another 11,000 Guidar live in Chad. In the western part of Diamare Department, near Meri and Maroua, live the Guiziga, who were hunters and masters of this region before the Fulani arrived. The Guiziga have been influenced by the Fulani, but they have refused to become Muslims. Ironsmiths no longer constitute a special caste and can intermarry with others. In recent times, women have taken to wearing cotton clothes instead of the traditional strips of leather. Some Guiziga still shave their heads, file their teeth, and ornament their bodies by scarring. The Daba are spread throughout the three departments of Benoue, Margui-Wandala, and Diamare.
There are other smaller heterogeneous groups living in the area. After scattering the western peoples and seizing their lands, the Fulani moved east and south. One of the groups in their path was the Moundang, who live near the Chadian border in the area around the tenth parallel, one-third of them in Cameroon and the rest in Chad. The people suffered under frequent Fulani attacks but were never subjugated. Nevertheless, they adopted Fulani principles of political organization and habits of dress.
The Moundang are farmers who grow millet for subsistence. They have adopted cotton as a money crop, sometimes at the expense of foodstuffs that they must often buy in the market. They also raise livestock for use as bridewealth, for religious sacrifices, and for payment of fines. They generally entrust their herds to the pastoral Fulani who live among them. The Moundang are believed to have come from the Mandara Hills about thirteen generations ago. Christianity has gained some converts among them, as has Islam. A high proportion of their children go to school.
The language of the Moundang has been classified as Adamawa, one of the branches of the Niger-Congo family, itself a subdivision of the Congo-Kordofanian stock. The Moundang are linguistically related to the Mboum, whom they may have displaced during their slow southward migration.
The Mboum are noted for their fierce resistance to the Fulani invaders in the nineteenth century; however, they were driven from their area, the site of the city of Ngaoundere, and agreed to pay tribute to the Fulani. Present-day Mboum live dispersed in isolated groups, mainly northeast of Ngaoundere and farther south near Tibati. Some live as servants with Fulani families. They are largely cultivators of millet, but many of them are also fishermen. Their language, which is spoken between Tibati and Ngaoundere and as far east as the source of the Benoue River, is fast becoming the lingua franca of that area. During World War I, Mboum had already become the language of the markets. The Mboum are divided into four chiefdoms. The bellaka (chief), who has both religious and temporal powers, rules with the help of a council of dignitaries, each of whom has specific functions. The insignia of office of the bellaka is a very high straw hat. Wherever he goes, he is preceded by an attendant, who has an enormously long and finely ornamented bronze trumpet.
Between the towns of Garoua and Ngaoundere — usually on the summit of hills that dominate river valleys — live the Dourou, who speak an Adamawa language. In recent times they have begun to adopt some features of Islam. Christian missions are also established among them. Toward the eastern border live the Baya (Baja, Gbaya), who are said to have come long ago from East Africa. Their Adamawa language, which has a great number of different dialects, is chiefly spoken in the western part of the Central African Republic, where it is spreading as a lingua franca. It is also understood by many Fulani at Ngaoundere, who in earlier times frequently owned Baya slaves. Some Dourou and Baya groups became vassals of the Fulani.
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