on the Margi
Interesting piece of online ethnography on the Margi tribe on the border with Cameroon. We can use the word 'tribe' again can't we?
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10 comments:
This made my day. What a beautiful way to look at humanity. That last statement by the little boy got me.
Thanks for sharing Jeremy.
Well, if you're an ignorant White man who wishes to insult people, you can use the word 'tribe'.
http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/loc01/
Jeremy, this was one of the most interesting pieces on your blog I've come across, and you barely gave it two lines.
I had heard of the Margi, was through Wikipedia, where I was looking at the ethnic map of the of the country.
Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nigeria_linguistic_1979.jpg
I'd heard of all the groups represented, except the Margi. They occupied a large area, and I was thinking to myself who are these people?
I was not expecting you to get much of a response to this, from my experience of Nigerians from the south, they are at best dismissive of 'Northerners', or at worst insulting. The 'Northerners' responded in kind.
An example of this can be found in the link:
http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-12884.0.html
I particularly enjoyed the piece by James Vaughan, it was insightful and honest. The people were beautiful, unpretentious and dignified. Whether in their traditional attire or the more contemporary clothing that has been adopted today. It was good to see that this branch of humankind was given some deserved exposure.
I'm reasonably familiar with the culture of the so-called 'South', and most people from Nigeria I've interacted with are from the 'South'. Either they knew next to nothing about life further north of Lokoja, or just termed everyone as 'Hausa' and Muslim.
I always wanted to know what were the Hausa like before they adopted Islam? I was only ever able to get a few slithers of information how their 'Forebear' who killed a snake, whilst he was migrating from the East. I'm not sure of the spelling of his name "Bayajidaa" or something like that. Not much was mentioned about pre-Islamic Hausa society, apart from a few lines about the Mazugawa.
Although the Margi are different from the Hausa, there must be some commonality between them and the pre-Islamic Hausa. Indeed the pre-Islamic Margi, are not that far removed from the 'Southerners', who were pre-Islamic or pre-Christian.
Yet the last 200 (or less) years of external influence has caused people from both camps ('North' & 'South') to view each other as 'aliens' (even though they share more in common than they would care to admit), to the extent that they are willing to massacre one another at the drop of a hat, no questions asked.
As an aside, that whole Eastern frontier between Nigeria and Cameroun, seems to be the most beautiful part of the country to visit, stretching from the relatively undisturbed forests in Cross River all the way up to plains of Lake Chad and all points in between, it contains the largest nature reserves, dramatic scenery and diverse peoples.
"We can use the word 'tribe' again can't we?"
We?
Thanks Jeremy...
Will we ever be free of the PC police? Say goodbye to independent thought, strangle creativity at birth, practise flagrant hypocrisy - just so long as you don't offend anybody at anytime on any subject under the sun.
Thanks for the infor about the Marghis but no thanks. There are 900,000 or more marghis today living in 5 or more Local government area in both Borno and Adamawa states. 1. Madagali Local government,2. Askira Uba, 3. Mubi, 4.Gwoza, 5. Michika, and Bornu. I wish and pray that the Joshua project Missionaries tell the truth and do a good investigative clean work instead of listening to some minor tribes which descended from the hills less than a century ago telling them things. Marghi dynasty has existed in Nigeria since the 12th century. Missionaries, do what Christ will do, the right thing and tell the truth. If you can't do it right, don't bother.
Marghi people also live in Damboa and Damaturu local governments of Borno State of Nigeria. Check it out.
Pastor Takwama
Have you missionaries also checked out, Sukur, Pallam, Maiva,Mandara Marghi, shuwa, wurongayandi, Duhu,Kopa,kirchinga, districts of Adamawa and Isgu, Madubu, Dambua, Gwoza, Bornu,Pazza-Uba,districts of Borno State of Nigeria? Where did the Marghi East of Kanem Bornu Empire Go? Check it out. Thanks
Angilda Takwama Sr
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