User:Emagani/Yungur

YUNGUR (BENA) Yungur is a tribe of about 95,000 people living in Song, fombi and Guyuk Local Government Areas of Adamawa state between Shelleng and Song. They are closely related to the Lala. Besides their own Yungur language they speak fulfulde, Kanakuru and Hausa. Y ungur and Hausa are their trade languages. Yungur is a name given to them by the Fulani. They call themselves Bena (sometimes spelled Binna). The white people called them Dumne. -

Both men and women have tribal marks on the forehead. Women also have body decorations and men have holes in the ears. Filing the front teeth to a point has also been traditional for both sexes. "

The Y ungur say they came from the East, through Mandara together with other tribes. The first Yungur villages in the area were on hilltops. The houses were built of stones with cactus fences. Laro seems to have been the capital and Prambe the centre of ancestor worship. The original villages numbered 52 and all had secret caves nearby in case of attack. A number of yungur have been to school. They are friendly to outsiders. They are mainly farmers, and spend most of their money on marriages and drinking. The common diseases in the area are measles, diarrhoea, tuberculosis and cerebrospinal meningitis. Most of them receive treatment from dispensaries and health centres nearby, and the hospital in Dumne. Some still use traditional medicine. Culture Highlights The father gives a name to a child without any ceremony.. if a child is like some dead ancestor, he may be gi ven that name later. The mother may give a name reflecting the circumstances of her life. The Yungur had a ritual called Hono to which the youths had to submit before they were considered men. It took Ilace every twenty-four years. The last one was in 1960. Girls are required to go through body decoration of designs If small cuts leaving scars starting when they are about 12 years .old. The first year the neck is done, the second year, the thighs, hen the stomach. They also have their teeth filed at this time. Before a girl can be married, she and her fiance with their elatives go up to the old village in the hills from which their ancestors came. The girls are cut on the arms, calves of the legs and each hip, then washed with water and rubbed with oil. often the girls faint. Each girl is in great pain and weak from loss of blood, but her fiance and their relatives surround her and lance. They lead her to a grass hut erected at the entrance of her ancestor's home. She lies there till dawn, listening to her fiance md his friends singing praises of her character and fortitude. After a week, the girls go home. They are considered married, but do not move to their husbands' houses yet. The husbands come and stay with them. In October or November at the Mamasara feast each husband takes his bride to a hut in his father's compound. Some Christian girls have tried to escape this ritual but it has been difficult. Polygamy is very common because it is a display of wealth and provides labourers for the farm. Divorce is not common. Old age is seen as a reward for good character, so it is believed that when an old person dies, he or she will go to Liura (God). But a person who dies in childhood or youth is seen as an evil person who must have been a wizard. He is wrapped only in an old mat and dragged to the grave. They believe he will not go to Liura. When an old person dies, the body is placed in the grave lying on the side with the right hand (if a man) or the left hand (woman) supporting the head. The grave is up in the ancestral village. After burial, the Hona or Honwora festival marks the last mourning. Seven years after a death, there is another feast. Clay pots are made for the spirits of the dead to dwell in. Each family has its shrine where these pots are placed. When some family member is sick, the blood of a goat or fowl is sprinkled on the pots, and whenever beer is prepared, a small amount is place in each pot. The kingmakers (Pagubsa) are responsible for choosing a chief. The person chosen must be able to prove his magical ability before he is installed. The chief makes decisions with the advice of the Pagubsa who make up his council, and they pass on decision to the ward heads for implementation. Religion The supreme God is called Liura. But sacred objects called sanho are kept for various functions. Toro is a small god kept on top of a hill near the village, where they contact their ancestors. There is a priest who contacts and appeases it, usually with sacrifices of groundnuts and a cock during the Mama festival or when they are in trouble. Wisa is a shrine where old broken ancestral pots are kept. A fetish called Gbinra, represented by a pot, is also kept there. Sacrifice of a cock is offered in November. Each year, the people clear the path and surroundings of the shrine so that it will not be affected by grass fires. There are other Gbinra pots kept in family homes. They guard and protect the houses from evil. The householder offers beer to it. Wishe is a pot kept by a family or clan. It provides health and gives children to barren women. The oldest person in the clan or family is in charge of it and offers cocks and beer. Torsa is a clay image of a man kept at Prambe. They contact it before planting and harvesting the guinea com. Its festival is in March or April. Goats are offered to appease it. - Mantawota represents the ancestors. The cult is similar to Toro, except that Mantawota cannot be seen but Toro comes at night as a cat. If goats and cocks are not sacrificed to Mantawota, there may be an outbreak of disease in the family. Hombusa is a calabash of seeds kept by a woman under her bed. A woman consults it for needs relating to barrenness, childbearing or other trouble. Benni seed is offered to it. The Hono festival takes place every 14 years. It is celebrated by one clan at a time, with a two year interval between clans. Wanna is celebrated in July for the young ladies about to go Jor the Kpersa feast and marry. Kpersa includes Kaza (the designing of the girls' bodies). After this, young girls gather and dance before the Mama festival which is also in July. The Mama festival is the most important. Husbands give their wives 7 days off to go and participate. There is a lot of feasting and dancing. , .. Kasektisa is a festival in September. During this time, people move about together in their age-mate groups. Walta is celebrated before Hono. It is a time for wrestling among the youths. The hunters who have killed a large wild beast, or warriors who have killed an enemy bring out the skulls of what they have killed. The hunters and warriors arm themselves with bows, auows and knives and do the Walta dance. . People claim their traditional beliefs help them. Christianity is viewed as being difficult because' it is too strict,but the practise of traditional religion is decreasing as modernization encroaches. Christian Witness A missionary of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) named Nelso came to this area in 1932. He came first to Gbenre, but the people were hostile and there was no good water supply, so he left after two years. In 1934, Mr. Bongo, also of the LCCN, came to Dumne. Though the people did not respond initially, he built a church, school and dispensary. Later he started getting converts.