History of the Tiv Akiga Sai Edited and translated from Tiv by Harold M. Bergsma and Martin L. Akiga Introduction Chapter One: Background History of Tiv Tiv and his children The genesis of circumcision among the Tiv The birth of the second child (Ichôngo) The origin of the name ‘Tiv’ Inter-marriage with other ethnic groups Tiv migration Parting with the Fulani The origin of bodily markings and teeth trimming among Tiv people Piercing ears The gap-tooth Circumcision The circumcision procedure Dressing the circumcision wound Relating with maternal relatives Facial marks Dressing facial marks and sores Tummy scarification for women The kusa facial marks The ukari facial marks Rivalry between men with abaji and kusa facial scarification Subsequent relationships with other ethnic groups The Muanawuha settlement The Muan settlement The Mkomon settlement The Ibenda settlement Descendants of Ipusu Descendants of Ichôngo Chapter Two: Customary Practices Habitations The construction of akwagi tents/huts The hut for sleeping The construction work The roofing Thatching the roof Making the floor The household items: the hearth stone The water-pot stand The utensil rack The platform The drying rack The door shutter The bed Sleeping positions Meeting places and food storage facilities The ate The smithy The tsum The bean granary The kwer granary The shelter for yam seeds The dwer Working implements The ikpe hoe Foodstuffs Ancient food crops Bean cultivation Sowing beans Bean germination The nature of beans Consumption of beans Types of beans Ahuma (red cowpeas) Consumption of red cowpeas The cocoyam Pearl millet Anumbe Soups Sorghum Bulrush millet Millet cultivation Germination of millet Vulnerability of millet Maize Yams The name iyough Planting yams Pounded yam food Species of yam Sequencing cultivation of crops Preparing a fresh farm site Making yam mounds Yam eating Yam display (iyouv mbi penden) Different crops Manioc or cassava Bambara nuts Groundnuts or peanuts Edible tubers The groundnut torfam Agbadu and furum Soups to be eaten with ruam Tree bark clothing: nyagba and avuraikon Cotton and cloth Growing cotton Spinning cotton into thread Cloth Cloth dyeing Names of cloth Information about camwood Maa trees Body marking with maa Henna Bush meat or wild game Netting animals Hunting weapons Net Sharpened and hardened shafts: gbough Clubs: ndaregh Hunting with nets The rules of hunting with nets The portion: mhambe Domestic animals Pigs The relationship between the Tiv and Ugenyi people Chapter Three: Akombo Practising akombo (birth or child-bearing akombo) The hunting akombo Protective emblems of akombo The lough pot Mser: fixing up Member: gladdening Agbar akombo: treatment Ihira gberen: for good luck Mkôr: hold or obtain Kwagh wuan sha akombo, man m-ur: shedding blood for propitiation Kuraiyol: body protectors Akombo a mar: birth akombo Ihambe i ichigh ki ityôugh: medicine for the head Mpev mi: to touch it Mkôr na: initiation Akuve a twer: items at the ‘shrine’ Er twer ka u kor or yô: when a person is affected by an akombo Msôr u tweregh: the treatment, or fixing it Twer kôron: to obtain the treatment Ilyum: akombo for the well being of the people Biamegh: a great akombo Mkum u biam: to drum the occasion Mser: the rite Mdze u shin hur: a visit to the wild plum tree Poor, poor biam: initiation into poor Poor kôron: the process of initiation into poor Ikav mbi koson sha poor: things kept at the poor shrine Or u nengen shin poor: looking into the poor Oruyantor,manshikôronpoor: a person made chief: also initiated into the poor Swende: related to viewing violent scenes Ahina: twins Swange: affecting the colour of the body and hair Igbe: akombo for fixing loose stools Ikungu: epilepsy Iwa: the blacksmith Dôôr: sexual impotence Wanaôndo: wind storms that destroy Atsewe: bad luck Lough: women’s infertility Ikôôr: cessation of menstruation Indieregh: miscarriage Atsenge: child’s growth Ikombo: lack of growth and well being in a child Agashi: syphilis Wayo: the skin abscess Megh: poison Imbuwa: strengthening of bones Ikôr: hunting akombo Fixing the akombo Aginagya Atogafu Gajir Aôndonan shrine Aôndonan ritual Aseta and gbatarabi shrines Aseta and gbatarabi rituals The shrine of mku Mku: death Ibu: hunting ritual Chapter Four: The Great Akombo, Swem Ikaragbe Beliefs about Swem The Swem Why it is called Swem Ikaragbe Making of swem Practising the art of witchcraft Feast of the wizards Exhumation of a dead man Mbur: body dismemberment What mbatsav fear The flesh debt Incurring the flesh debt The imborivungu Making of the imborivungu Metal imborivungu Dressing the imborivungu Sale of the imborivungu The imborivungu of the fathers Rites of the imborivungu How to store the imborivungu Poisoning: killing with ichi Anti-Tsav movements The budeli affair The ijôv (mbakuv) movement: ‘goblins’ or water spirits Offending the ijôv Bearing of / begetting the adzôv Initiation into adzôv Drinking the ijôv Obtaining the ijôv The ivase The ivase incantation Prohibitions of the ivase The end of the ivase The haakaa movement The end of the haakaa movement Chapter Five: About sickness Smallpox The Western vaccines The locust and worm pests The influenza epidemic Gonorrhea Yaws The idyo Initiation into the idyo Admitting people into the idyo ‘clinic’ European doctors The doctors of the Christian missionaries The doctors of the colonial government Chapter Six: Tiv Migration Tiv migration from Ibenda The ethnic war between the Tiv and Ugenyi The disintegration of the Tiv nation The Tiv in clans Secession among the clans In search of settlements The Shitire people in Adikpo The disputed lands The Ugondo clan The departure of the Ugondo from Mount Mdema The crossing About Katsina-Ala [Kachina] Origin of Abakwa [Mgbakpa] people About the Abakwa in Katsina-Ala The genealogy of the Katsina-Ala people (non-Tiv) The chiefs of Abakwa The Etulo [Utur] people The Leke settlement The Etulo genealogy The Etulo chiefs The Etulo marks The migration of the Shitire clan from Adikpo The Shitire of the southern region The Turan clan The Ugondo clan The feud between the Ugondo and Tômbo clans The feud between the Ugondo and Mbakor clans The genealogy of the Kparev, Iharev, and Masev lineages The war between the Mbainyam and Etulo people The Tômbo clan The disintegration of the Tômbo clan: Mbatie and Mbalagh districts The Nôngov clan The disintegration of the Nôngov clan The Mbakor and Mbatyerev sub-clans Mbaitiav sub-clan The descendants of Jechila The Ute district The Mbagbera district The Tsambe female child district The Utange ethnic group The Iharev clan The breakup of the Iharev clan The Utyusha community The genesis of payments of tribute and taxes Tax in the colonial era Chapter Seven: Marriage Marriage by exchange Tile shisha and ivende ruam betrothal tokens The marriage oath Feeding guests Nuptial gifts Modern marriage Akombo for exchange marriage The children from a wife of a marriage by exchange Adopting the daughter of a female relation Marriage by kem Cohabiting with a girl among the Tiv of Masev clan The offspring from marriage of cohabitation Marriage by capture Honourable marriage arrangements: wooing Courtship Courtship manners Capture The dew chicken Gifts The surreptitious period Escorting the bridegroom to his house Father of the bridegroom Bridal adornment Drumming (the marriage dance) Kwase ishin [wife exchange] Monetary compensation for captured wives Isheikô marriage practice A wife of sha uika Cultural reforms Abolition of marriage by exchange Polygamous life Inheriting a wife Chapter Eight: The Tor Agbande Chieftaincy Chieftaincy in the Kparev [Ukpar] clan Ascending to the chieftaincy The difference between chiefs and elders Cases of theft Chieftaincy investiture in Katsina-Ala The kur warlord The making of a warlord Greetings to chiefs Paying homage Whiteman’s chief Chiefs with staffs of office Ways the chief gets wives Financial extortion Native Authority policemen Enlisting the Native Authority policeman The heavy-handedness of the Hausa Case tally sticks Case settlements with money Scribes or secretaries The job of a secretary Disputes between a chief with a staff of office and his secretary A visit to Kaduna Return from Kaduna Tricks currently used by chiefs Creation of the chieftaincy The tenure of white people that administered the land Chapter Nine: The coming of the Whiteman White businessmen Whiteman’s battle with Kasar The death of Kasar The death of Dankol Fixing of telegraph lines The Utyôndo The battle between Iharev and Yaji [Whitemen] First tax collection in Iharev (Utyôndo) The Whiteman’s battle with the Kunav The Whiteman’s battle with the Gaav The Whiteman’s battle with the Ishangev Tiev The Shitire at Akpena The Whiteman’s battle with the Ikurav Ya The Whiteman in charge of the Tiv District: the battle of Abinsi [Abetse] Entry into Katsina-Ala Whitreman’s tax administration in the year 1911 Giving Tor Atôgh The Whiteman’s staff of office for Tiv chiefs Dantsofo The return of Jechila to Katsina Makondo Madubi Chafa Fishi Ijen The arrest of Abughur Wanimem, Chafa Don, and Chahul Chafa Don About Akômbo (Captain Bridel) Abinsi Makurdi The bridge opening The speech of the Governor (Sir Donald Cameron) Entering into dzwa [large cinema hall] Gboko The large barracks: ubarki Junior white colonial admnistrators The Tiv language Chapter Ten: Knowledge of Aôndo among the Tiv The voice of Akaakase, a brother to Gbayange Ato The entry of missionaries into Tivland The beginning of my time with the missionaries The Zaki Biam settlement, 1913 Separation of the