Tiv Tribe in Benue state

Location of the Tiv tribe

The Tiv tribe is located between 6° 30′ and 8° 10′ north latitude and 8° and 10° east longitude, sharing boundaries with Chamba, Jukun, Igede, Iyala, Gakem, Obudu, Idoma, Mada, and Kolo in Taraba State, and Idoma, Mada, and Kolo in Nassarawa State.

The Tiv and the Republic of Cameroon share an international connection at the southeastern angle. The Tiv ethnic group, which numbers around four million people, lives in Nigeria’s middle Belt states of Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, and South-South Cross River, as well as a few Tivs in central African Cameroon.

Origin of the Tiv tribe

Scholars have studied the oral history of the Tiv tribe, claiming they descended from a man named Tiv. However, determining his immediate father among Shon, Takuruku, and Awange is challenging. Traditions suggest that Tiv abandoned his family after a disagreement and relocated to Swem with his wife and two kids, Ichôngo and Ipusu.

Oral historians know nothing about the beginnings of these relationships. Ichôngo’s sons were Turan, Ikurav, Iharev, Nôngov, Ugondo, and Masevwhilest Ipusu’s were Shitire, Ukum, Kparev, and Tongov. These tribes make up the Tiv segments in the Benue Valley today, and they still identify with the basic ancestry of Ichôngo and Ipusu in their social and political institutions.

The Tiv traditionally refer to Swem as their ancestral homeland. Still, most researchers on Tiv history are not convinced due to the lack of reliable results from various attempts to locate Swem. There is also no consensus among researchers on the location of Swem. Akiga claims to have visited Swem in 1934, while Bohannan and Bohannan associate Swem with the Ngol Kedju hill in the Bamenda highlands of Northwestern Cameroon.

Makar suggests Swem is a mountain 36 miles southwest of Yaro Gusa’s compound, while Gbor considers Swem a group of hills in the Wum District of Mamfe Division in the Camerouns. Orkar refers to Swem as the “traditional cradle and spiritual centre” of the Tiv.

At the same time, Dzurgba argues that Swem is located on one of the highest hills at the source of the Katsina-Ala River in the Akwaya sub-division of southwestern Cameroon. These Cameroonian groups claim to be Tiv, and their kith and kins also reside in the Moon District in Kwande local government area of Benue State, Nigeria.

The lack of agreement among researchers and scant evidence on Swem’s exact location has led some to compare it to a mythical place like the Biblical Garden of Eden. However, the Tiv are argued to have migrated from Swem to their present abode in the Benue Valley.

Makar suggests that the Bafum people’s attack, population explosion, and the need for suitable land for food production may have been the primary reasons for migration. He also suggests that the desecration of the Ilyum altar by Karagbe from the Nôngov Clan prompted the migration.

Makar claimed that the Tiv tribe migrated southwards across the Bamenda highlands in Cameroon to the Nwange groups of hills, where they encountered hostile groups such as Ugee, Utange, Undir, Ulive, Ugbe, and Iyon. These groups forced the Tiv to leave the area in three groups: Kparev and Ukum, Tongov, Ikurav, Nôngov, Turan, and Masev, Iharev, Ugondo, and Shitire.

However, Akiga and Gbor argued that the Tiv people migrated from Swem to Ibinda Hill in a single group. Akiga maintained that the Tiv started identifying themselves in groups at Ibinda, choosing settlements according to their clans. The sons of Ipusu settled on the greater Ibinda, known as Ibinda Shitire, while those of Ichôngo settled on the lesser Ibinda, known as Ibinda Iharev.

Ogundele refuted this idea by claiming that Ibinda is just one hill range or complex and that not all Tiv groups lived there at the same time. He also maintained that Ibinda Shitire and Ibinda Iharev were mere different occupation phases on the same hill complex by two or more different Tiv groups.

After leaving Swem, Akiga and Makar further agreed that the Tiv fought several wars with different groups, particularly the Ugenyi (Chamba). These wars created traumatic experiences that led to the separation of groups in separate geographical environments in the Benue Valley today.

Some Tiv groups have no record of any fight with the Ugenyi in their traditions, and even where such records exist, they are in entirely different areas. Oral historians in Ukum and Tongov only remembered the Ugenyi attack, which their combined forces repelled near the confluence of Katsina-Ala and Loko. It is doubtful whether the Tiv were always careful in identifying their enemies during their wars due to panics created by hostile groups.

For example, in the Shitire area, most informants pointed out that the Chamba or Ugenyi had a series of attacks on them and inspired other Uke (non-Tiv) groups against them. The decisive war between the Tiv and Ugenyi on Ushongo Hill might not have involved all Tiv lineages. It is hoped that a multidisciplinary approach to studying the history of the Tiv clans, including parts of Cameroun occupied by groups like Iyon, Ugbe, and Bafum, would provide a reliable assessment of the evidence for the origin and migration of the Tiv into the Benue Valley.

Religion

Tiv traditional religion is a traditional system of beliefs in Aôndo, manifested in Akombu, and practices directed towards the fundamental concerns of the Tiv society or nation. Tiv Traditional Religion has survived and flourished despite attacks from Western Christianity and British colonialism. Their cosmology, religious beliefs, and physical and metaphysical conceptions constitute an inseparable worldview.

Tiv cosmology centres on the existence of Aôndo (God), akombo (rituals), tsav (witchcraft), azôv and ujijingi (spirits), or umache (man and human), tar (land, district, locality), and gbaaôndo (nature) as natural.

There are contextual similarities between Western Christianity and Tiv Traditional Religion, such as the Tiv Tyumbun (Tiv water baptism) and the Christian Holy Communion, Tiv ikpyagher í kuraiyol (Tiv Protective Amulet) and Christian scapular or chaplet, and Tiv Akeshi or Akweshi (Tiv Anointing Oil) and Christian Anointing Oil.

The Tiv people also had their own culture and traditions, and the new religion should have established practices that contextually had similarities with the Holy Bible’s practices instead of abolishing the Tiv traditions directly or indirectly on the platform of the Christian religion.

The resilience of Tiv Traditional Religion and its ability to adapt to Western Christianity have made it a valuable resource for the Tiv people and their culture.

Traditional attire

The Tiv people have 55 different types of clothes, including Ishundan, Ngurgbev, Gele, Agberazenga, Godo, Tugudu, Mule-U Tiv, Agende-a-kurugh, Shandezaan, Gbev-war, Swen-Karagbe, Ivav-ityo, and A’nger. The A’nger is the most popular among these cultural attires.

It is a black and white-striped, plain-woven cloth produced on the narrow band loom by the Tiv of Benue State. The Tiv tribe used the A’nger as money and a measure of value when exchanging goods. It was a form of trade, allowing a man to marry a woman in return for an A’nger cloth. The A’nger cloth is paraded in all aspects of Tiv events and festivities, acting as an important costume.

The Tiv people regard the white and black colour symbols on the A’nger as symbols of peace, harmony, honesty, and sincerity, which mirror their behaviour while interacting with others.

According to scholars, the A’nger’s black and white stripes represent the characteristics of the zebra, which is a tranquil, innocent, and beautiful animal. According to this notion, the A’nger’s black and white colours represent truth and honesty in dealing with problems, characterising a typical Tiv man.

The zebra’s nature and the tranquillity of the Tiv people are reflected in the colours of a’nger. A Tiv man never adopts a neutral stance; instead, he always takes a stand on any issue that concerns him, no matter the repercussions. They detest inequality and injustice and will not tolerate anybody who challenges these ideals, either as individuals or as a group. 

Because of this, the Tiv people in Nigeria are now wrongly perceived as violent, rebellious, irritable, and volatile. However, as the black and white colours on the A’nger represent, the Tiv people are peaceful and welcoming.

Tiv Marriage 

The Tiv notion of marriage is based on the idea of the family, known as “tsombor” or “tsombur,” which refers to the umbilical cord that unites mother and child before birth. The Tiv family is a never-ending chain of relationships and kids who descend from a common ancestor.

Marriage to the Tiv is more than just a sexual and economic relationship; it is also a strategy for family preservation through the birth of further children. This method also allows for complicated group alliances to preserve societal balance and coherence. The perceived potential of a woman to have children and contribute to farmland were the most critical elements in choosing a bride.

Male children’s rights stem from their relationship with their father’s kinsmen (ityo) and mother’s kinsmen (Igba). A male child’s father’s kinsmen viewed him as their “Anter,” whereas his mother’s kinsmen saw him as their “Anigba” and paid him full compliments because he was his sister’s son (ingyor).

As an “anigba,” a man can command and get complete attention from his mother’s kinsmen, serving as an intermediary between their ityo and their mother’s kinsmen amid periods of stress and conflict. There are different types of marriage practices among the Tiv, which are:

• Exchange Marriage (Yamshe)

The Yamshe, or exchange marriage system, was a key part of Tiv marital systems prior to colonization. It was founded on the concept of trade by batter, in which a man exchanged a female family member for a wife from another family or community. This approach was viewed as a breach of individual choice rights, as current worldviews value individual consent in marriage. Younger generations saw this system as limiting personal autonomy and cultural diversity.

In Tiv tribe, the Yamshe marriage system, which colonial authorities abolished in 1927, was a contentious issue that led to conflict between young people and elders. The new system gave the new working class, primarily the young, financial power and exposure to other, more flexible marriage systems, which fueled their support for its repeal.

The Dutch Reformed Christian Mission also played an essential part in encouraging this transition, deeming the Yamshe system unchristian. The Yamshe system, an exchange marriage system, developed among the Tiv in pre-colonial periods to promote communal solidarity and marital security.

It prevented the mistreatment of women in their marital households and was simple to implement. A man would contact the parents of a young woman and express his desire to trade her for his female relative for marriage. The parents would then instruct the suitor to seek the approval of the family elders (Ityo), who would then submit the Ingyor (female ward) to the potential bride’s relatives.

The Ingyor must be suitable for marriage to a male Tien, the bride’s paternal guardian in the intended bride’s family, or the exchange process will be terminated. The ingyor must also be willing to accept the husband that is provided to her. If any of the four people involved found the circumstances undesirable, the transaction would not occur. However, if all parties consented, an elaborate marriage ceremony was held, and vows were enacted with a promise to care for each other.

Exchange marriages were an important component of family life since the women’s choices were respected and the marriages were stable enough to maintain the peace and coherence of both families involved. The new bride was viewed as a replacement for the daughter or sister provided in exchange for the same rights and advantages. This prevented the wife from beating and provided equality for the children born to the exchanged wife. Exchange marriages were viewed as connections among families, clans, and even exogamous societies.

However, once established, the bond between the two families was challenging to break, as a divorce triggered a broader family conflict that could not be controlled within the localised family unit. Elders in a family were in charge of allocating suitable females among men for trade, and shortages frequently resulted from the daughters of an exchanged wife.

• Kwase Dyako

This Tiv marriage system permitted a brother to inherit his deceased brother’s widow or a son to inherit his father’s widow, known as kwase Ikoson or kwase ichoghol. If the widow had children for the deceased, the additional children remained the deceased’s children because the widow’s relationship with the new husband was not considered marriage.

The goal was to prevent the separation of families and provide ongoing protection for the widow. To provide the utmost protection, the widow and her husband underwent the “megh” ceremony, which involved pairing their legs and passing a fowl to ensure the widow’s fertility.

• Kwase Ngohol

Kwase ngohol Sha-utaha arose from the problem of late marriages in Tiv society, in which anxious children invaded their neighbors or ambushed lone travelers to grab their wives and daughters. The Tiv learned this from Udam, who would often raid and attack them in search of women.

To prevent being targeted, the Tiv devised a system in which each person with a wife or daughter pounded Bridelia ferruinea (kpine) bark into a paste and applied it on their legs, which were held together by a net. This led the raiders to assume Tiv women were unclean and deformed, allowing them to safely travel through territory where they could have lost some of their wives or daughters.

In the middle Benue valley, people who were impatient for their turn of angor or didn’t have the money to marry began seizing wives from others. Travelers from different parts feared losing their wives or daughters, and sometimes a representative was sent to the aggressor’s elders with the ayande plant, which represents peace, to request the return of the “captured” woman.

This method provided wives while increasing hostility and tensions. To strengthen the group’s corporate life, elders developed the concept of iye, an initial peace and covenant agreement (ikur) between two communities. These agreements were occasionally established through human sacrifice, such as the Shitire (Kpav) and Kparev (Mbagen) pacts, or by the killing of a dog or the mixing of blood.

Blood pacts required volunteers from either side to collect their blood on a grinding stone combined with locust beans, (nune) salt, and palm oil, which was then consumed by elders. Overall, blood covenants (agreements) prohibited parties from fighting or injuring each other. In a traditional ikur, accidental injuries caused by one party to the other were deemed retaliatory.

After the ikur was sealed, young men from both communities went to each other’s areas in search of wives. The group would return until all of the members had wives. In most cases, the ikur resulted in an exchange with the tien, who claimed the sister or daughter of the person who married their ingyor as their wife once the latter gave birth to a child.

• Kem

The Yamshe system was replaced by the bride price (Kem) system, a cultural hybrid that is not Tiv-specific. After exchange marriage was abolished, Tiv society kept elements of the Yamshe system. Families continued to demand a female in return (Isheikyo) after giving their daughters away in bride price marriages, hoping to ensure their daughters’ safety and dignity.

The concept of Ishekyo, which means “eyes behind your head,” expressed the demand for security and protection, resulting in a distinct blend of Tiv marital traditions. During the courting stage in the new system, the bride and her parents received gifts such as beads, clothes yarns, farm products, and cattle.

The bride price, which comprised various presents and money, has changed over time. However, the ongoing and difficult payment of the bride price has been cited as a flaw in the Tiv bride price system. Colonial authorities placed the normal bride price at £4 or £5 beginning in 1927, but this was later reversed due to the Tiv people’s commitment to the girl child, which could not be equated with the new monetary standard established by colonial authority.

The Tiv perception of marriage was centered on value exchange, with the term yamshe originating from the expression “Yemen Ishe,” which means purchasing or trading value. The colonial imposition of the Kem, or bride price system, demolished the structure that anchored Tiv society and devalued the girl child.

However, Tiv stribe attempted to preserve certain remnants of the “value exchange” system (Ishe Yamen) by spreading the expense of the Kem. The worth of the girl child was based on her potential to reproduce, so the bride price included the cost of her children. Her value was exactly related to the number of children she would have.

After a couple marries, the bride’s father or paternal guardian is expected to return for an additional bride price once their children are born. To prevent the children and their mother from being transported back to their igba (maternal house),  a separate bride price must be paid for each child.

This concept evolved to include the idea of value exchanging “Ishe Yamen” into the new colonial construct of bride price. By 1949, some lineages charged £2 for a male child and £3 for a female child. If the marriage money is not received, the man may withdraw his daughter and her children. While there are numerous anecdotes of the system’s impact on Tiv tribe structures, few have been documented.

The Iho family lineage in Tiv land has a history of system-related damage to family structures. The patriarch, Iho, met a girl who had been married to a man from another clan, but her husband was unable to pay her wedding price and those of her two children. After years of waiting, she found Iho, who married her and claimed her two children according to tradition.

However, he was unable to pay the marriage price for the children she bore for him, so they had to be returned to their Igba. The children grew up, married, and resided in their maternal clan, but they were not granted certain benefits that their paternal kinsmen had.

These privileges, such as land rights and legibility for local royalty, have strained relations between the two clans. These occurrences have occurred across three generations, from pre-colonial to contemporary times. In recent years, this culture has been abused and exploited, leaving families at the mercy of in-laws who use their marriage rights for selfish gain. Bridal prices have risen, and presents have become more diverse.

Dance

Swange dance is a popular traditional Tiv dance. This dance incorporates the circle structure common in rural dances while adapting traditional musical themes to highlife rhythms played on a mix of Tiv and Hausa instruments. It involves the dancers dancing with their knees bent and hands swinging in a circular motion as their body.

Food

Popular Tiv dishes are ruam kumen (pounded yam) and pocho or genger.

Occupation

They are mainly farmers who produce crops such as yam, cassava, maize, melon etc.

Fact or Myth: Do Tiv Men Offer Their Wives to Visitors?

The Tiv tribe marriage structures have been examined, and some allegations suggest that the Tiv provided their wives to visitors as part of their hospitality package. However, the substantial literature on Tiv history and anthropology makes no mention of such a practice.

Early Tiv research, such as R.C Abraham’s 1933 book “The Tiv People,” indicated that their wives were a man’s personal property while he was alive, and no one had the right to promiscuous intercourse with each other’s wives. Elders dominated pre-colonial Tiv culture, preserving justice through Tsav and Akombo traditions. If a woman committed adultery, she risked idyugh deistic visitation, which would result in family infertility. Ancient Tiv customs forbade sleeping with a man’s wife and becoming a flesh debtor if done.

During pre-colonial times, foreign visitors were often brought to the compound of the Or-ya (Head of the compound), who would accommodate and entertain them. Elders typically possessed large compounds with numerous wives, and the youngest wife was always asked to care for their needs.

If the foreigner slept with the host’s wife and was caught, they faced death, unless an old directive was cited. This resulted in many years of flesh debt and servitude. Pre-colonial foreigners may have seen Tiv hospitality and assumed it was common to receive the host’s wife as part of the hospitality package, or stories perpetuated by guests who got away with adultery became a byword.

FAQs

Who Is the Traditional Ruler of Tiv in Nigeria?

The traditional ruler of Tiv tribe is Tor Tiv, also known as Begha U Tiv,