Baranzan's People : An Ethnohistory of the Bajju of the Middle Belt of Nigeria / Carol V. McKinney.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKinney, Carol V., author.

Series:

Publications in ethnology ; Volume 46.

Publications in Ethnography Series ; Volume 46

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jju (African people)--History.

Jju (African people).

Jju (African people)--Social life and customs.

Middle Belt (Nigeria)--History.

Middle Belt (Nigeria).

Middle Belt (Nigeria)--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (250 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Dallas, Texas : SIL International, [2019]

Summary:

Based on in-depth fieldwork, research, and personal interviews, this comprehensive ethnographic study of the Bajju people of southern Kaduna State in Nigeria covers their origins, history, culture, religious beliefs, and practices. Bajju precolonial political-religious organization, economy, legal system, social organization, and values are described. Also included are chapters on the Hausa-Fulani, the colonial context, the Christian era, and cultural change. Ethnologists, missiologists, development personnel, and the Bajju themselves will find this a rich resource. For me as a Bajju scholar, this study is as important as E. E. Evans-Pritchard's classic study, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande (1937). For that reason, all Bajju sons and daughters must read this important work (from the foreword by Dr. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop). Baranzan's People: An Ethnohistory of the Bajju of the Middle Belt of Nigeria is a companion volume to Bajju Christian Conversion in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, published by SIL International® 2019.

Contents:

Intro

Figures

Maps

Tables

Foreword

Preface

1 The Bajju

Bajju in the literature

Setting

Demographics

Seasons

Subsistence farming and farming rituals

Methodology

Kinship

Overview

2 Baranzan, the Bajju Founding Father

Introduction

Ruling elders

Functions of the Baranzan narrative

Summary

3 The Men's Secret Ancestral Organization and Small-Scale Warfare

Origins of a̱bvoi

Leadership

Initiation

Celebrations

Masquerades

Social control

Warfare

To do medicine

4 Bajju Legal System

Legal system

Repercussions

Charms

Oaths

Summary of the legal system

The churches' response

5 Hunting and Horns

Hunting

Horns and flutes

Horns (ba̱gba)

Flutes

Horn blowing and missionaries

6 Witchcraft-Nkut

Bajju concept of witchcraft

Protective nkut

Assumptions and functions of nkut

Nkut, magic, and sorcery

Nkut deaths

Nkut and meat

Identifying those who practice nkut

Actions to deal with nkut

Taboos related to nkut

Illness and nkut

Nkut and Christianity

Summary of nkut

7 Illness and Medicine

Illnesses of God

Accidents

Epilepsy

Leprosy

Severe diarrhea

Smallpox

Suicide

Discussion of unnatural deaths

Illnesses of man

Ascertaining the cause of misfortune, illness, and death

Ascertaining the cause of the sickness or death of a young child

Infanticide

Difficulty in childbirth

Euthanasia

Illnesses and remedies

Common medicines

8 God and the Spirit World

God

The mother of God

Small spirits

Water spirits

Tall spirits

Ancestral spirits, the living dead

Spirit possession cult

9 The Life Cycle: Birth, Marriage, and Death

Birth

Naming ceremony

Marriage

Exogamy

Clans and marriage.

Marital alliances

Spouse selection

First marriage

Marriage by capture

Elopement

Second and subsequent marriages

Polyandrous polygynous marriage

Relationships between spouses in marriage

Bachelors, spinsters, and widows

Barrenness

Divorce

The changing status of women

Women and the a̱bvoi

Marriage and Christianity

Death

Obligations of the living

Inheritance

10 Taboos

Taboos for children

Food of the small invisible spirits

Meat

Taboos for women

Food taboos

Menstrual cycle and childbirth

Greeting men

Granaries

Hitting

Women in mourning

Taboos for men

Shaved heads

Unclean food

Headload rings

Skins and a̱bvoi

General taboos

When not to greet

Spirit snakes

Whistling

Reverence and respect

Food

Heads and beds

Hunting taboos

Cocks

No beating of virgins

Widely shared taboos

Taboos in perspective

11 Values

Respect for the supernatural

Respect for one's husband

Respect for one's family

Respect for elders and others

Maintaining good relationships

Stinginess and sharing

Dreams

Education

Time

Teaching values through proverbs

Teaching values through oral stories

12 Indirect Rule in the Precolonial and Colonial Contexts

Islam in Northern Nigeria

Zazzau and Jema'a Emirates and Southern Zaria

Colonialism

Independence

Discussion

13 The Christian Era

The arrival of Christian missionaries

The development of Christian denominations

Language use in Christian churches

Christian churches

Christian teaching on local religious beliefs

14 Bajju Cultural Change

Settlement patterns

Social change

Political change

Economic change

Religious change

Bajju Development Association

Education and medical care.

Islam and southern Kaduna

Religious conflicts

Technological change

Appendix A: Hausa and Jju Terms for Other Ethnic Groups

Appendix B: Villages in Bajju Sections (Kwai)

Appendix C: Jju Numbers

Appendix D: Jju-English Glossary

References

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.