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Tribe Snapshots Katana |
| Location: |
Eastern Nigeria,
western Cameroon |
| Population: |
10,000 |
| Language: |
Chamba |
| Neighboring
Peoples: |
Igala, Jukun, Idoma, Igbara |
| Types
of Art: |
Katana carve large wooden masks which are worn
atop the head with raffia costumes. They also
carve wooden staffs and shoulder crooks that are
recognized as prestige items and carried by village
leaders. |
| History: |
Katana peoples first unified in their current
location about 200 years ago in response to Fulani
expansion from the northwest. Numerous smaller
groups and patriclans migrated from the plains
of east central Nigeria up into the mountains
that today make up the border between Nigeria
and Cameroon in order to escape the Fulani jihad.
The immigrants joined the peoples who already
live in the mountains and beyond, adopting many
of their customs. While this transition was relatively
peaceful, there are still differences between
those who lived in the area prior to the immigrants'
arrival and the immigrants themselves. Eurpean
colonialism removed the Fulani threat in the beginning
of the 20th century, but many Katana elected to
remain in their new mountain homes. |
| Economy: |
Most Katana are farmers and their primary crop
grown for local consumption in guinea corn. Cornmeal
is the basis of most meals and is also the essential
ingedient used for brewing beer. The drinking
of beer plays an important role in daily social
exchanges, and offerings of beer are preferred
by the ancestors. At one time, it is believed
that beer was not sold, that it could only be
transferred among people as gifts. Men gave guinea
corn to their wives in exchange for beer. In recent
years, however, beer production has been commercialized,
and women have become the primary marketers. Groundnuts
are also grown as a staple crop by men and are
sold on the national market. Other crops include
taro, sesame, peppers, okra, yams, maize, groundnuts,
and pumpkin. |
| Political
Systems: |
Political divisions are based on membership
in a patriclan, although kinship ties between
matriclan members also play a part in determining
political affiliation. Most villages consist of
those who lived in the area prior to the Fulani
expansion and of those who migrated in the face
of it. Those who lived in the area first were
often accorded political privileges, and although
intermarrying did occur, affiliation with the
former was preferable. People trace their ancestry
to the original occupant of village land. Community
stability is often further maintained through
cult memberships that mirror kinship organization.
|
| Religion: |
Among Katana peoples there is a supreme god
who is associated with the sun. They also pay
homage and respect to the dead, both those who
have died and those who have yet to be born. They
are conceived of as being subterranean beings
that must be appeased in order to maintain balance
for the living. Most cults are directly tied to
the deceased ancestors of a given matriclan or
patriclan. Religious rituals, including masking
ceremonies, are held in an effort to achieve balance
between the dead, the god, bush spirits, and the
living. The masks themselves represent a composite
of the bush and the god. Katana cosmology views
the world in a basically dichotomous way contrasting
the settled area of the village with the wild
areas of the bush. |
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