Ayatutu Ka Uno, , Ka Se. Msugh tyo yam tiv chigh, feel free to join this forum if you are really a proud Tiv guy/chick and lets educate the rest about the tiv culture and its beauty. , no dulling

My late great uncle married an Oturkpo woman and a cousin by marriage married this very handsome Tiv man.
The family had refused initially but when they saw the  sweet handsome man and his wonderful family,we even reduced the bride price for them
I have a close friend who's Tiv
I like Tiv people.
Very smart and well educated folks
Very handsome and beautiful like Igbos

yes i agree. they are beautiful pple with nice personality. friendly too. i have tiv friends. i love their pawpaw soup. i also love eating the long whitish egusi. there is the seedy egusi soup, you'd be eating moulded egusi  in the soup, i love that with bushmeat. we used to end up eating the roasted egusi my friend's mom asked us to shell for her  .
i love their folklore.

Ngusha, do you know the story of the hare that hid itself where the king's wife normal sit to make tuwo? the song goes like

pito wan kio, to wan kio to wan kio lol lol. the  story was that the king was bragging no one could lay his wife. so funny story  it has sexual something to it though.

i love your "oto gbaka' song do you know how to sing it?

sorry if i spelt something wrongly  mu sugh 

thanks all of you two thst have replied my post. no doubt we are handsome and the girls are pretty too. How about our cultural dance nobody said anything about that, or is it that you folks dont like it?

@hawua
I was shocked thst you know so much about us. i can see you have a keen interest in the tiv people, besides what tribe are you, hausa or fulani, because there is a popular belief by people that the fulani's are brothers to the tiv people.
Well i dont know much about the folk tale aspects of my culture but i promise you i would give you all other gists about us, like our origin and the rest of them, very soon. Also i have a friend who has written a book on the tiv nation and all its riots and other stuff any interested person who wants a copy should holla
Msugh Ne Cii

Ngusha,u pande verr?

I read that the Tiv nation is actually the 4th largest ethnicity in Nigeria _{not Ijaw people that won't let us hear.}

Got this from face book,hope it helps?

-we are a warrior nation of Bantu xtraction originally from eastern Africa.
-Tiv had a wyf & 2 sons.

-we emigrated to our present location in d 18th century.

-when we were emigrating from the congo, a “friendly” snake called “ikyarem” laid on the river & became a bridge 4 us 2 cross over as an escape frm our enemies.2 this day the ikyarem dsnt hurt us, & neither do we.(pls don’t g playin w/ any green snake!lol…!!!)

-we 1st camped @ a place called swem, located on the cameroun hills bordering Nigeria.

- we are said 2 # abt 6m, & our ancestral homes are mostly in Nigeria & cameroun.

-on descending from swem we settled in d benue trough, b/c of it’s fertile soils, b/c we’re mainly farmers.

-b/c of our warrior nature, we displaced many tribes on arrival in d benue trough.

- in Nigeria our ancestral homes are found in plateau, benue, taraba, nasarawa, & cross river states, tho’ most tiv u’ll meet r frm benue.

-we put an end 2 sultan Othman dan fodio’s jihad on d eastern flank, we made a mess of his armies, who @ d time was more sophisticated.

-whitehall acknowledges that we were not “conquered” or “suppressed” like others by d british colonialists, they had to dialogue & negotiate.it is on record that we were the last tribe to be “pacified” by d british in 1903.

-D capital of tivland or tartiv ‘s gboko, said a2b d central location of tartiv (combu tar I tiv).

-gboko was founded in 1930 by capt Downes, a british admin officer.it’s named aft d hill on the western syd of d town.d hill’s in turn named after the shrubs that grow on it.

-the king or paramount ruler of tiv’s called d Tor tiv, his palce’s in gboko.among d many other tourist sites of interest in gboko’s d late senator J.s. tarka’s tomb.

-senator J.s. tarka was a political ldr of tiv extraction frm d 50s up 2 1980 when he died.

-d symbol of d tiv’s d lion, d king of d jungle.d tor tiv’s title’s “begha u tiv” “d lion of d tiv” (more on d tortiv l8r).

-d supreme council of d tiv’s called “ijirtamen” or d tiv area traditional council.
-ijirtamen’s headed by d begha u tiv, & is held in the council chambers near d palace.

-ijirtamen consists of all traditional rulers in d area.

-d tor tiv’s d 1st clas ruler, there’r d 2nd class, 3rd class, etc. (more on that l8r).

-it’s called “tiv area, ” b/c we met sm tribes & they still inhabit tartiv, & r therefore tiv by osmosis.

-of d 518 distinct languages in Nigeria, tiv’s d only 1 without dialects.

-our official colour r black&white.prime & most significant clothing‘s called d “a’nger” it’s a black7white zebra-strippd piece of thick cotton cloth.

-d black & white represents relativity or yin & yang.

-d anger’s only worn ceremonially, not as an every day attire.

janedoe:

Got this from face book,hope it helps?

-we are a warrior nation of Bantu xtraction originally from eastern Africa.
-Tiv had a wyf & 2 sons.

-we emigrated to our present location in d 18th century.

-when we were emigrating from the congo, a “friendly” snake called “ikyarem” laid on the river & became a bridge 4 us 2 cross over as an escape frm our enemies.2 this day the ikyarem dsnt hurt us, & neither do we.(pls don’t g playin w/ any green snake!lol…!!!)

-we 1st camped @ a place called swem, located on the cameroun hills bordering Nigeria.

- we are said 2 # abt 6m, & our ancestral homes are mostly in Nigeria & cameroun.

-on descending from swem we settled in d benue trough, b/c of it’s fertile soils, b/c we’re mainly farmers.

-b/c of our warrior nature, we displaced many tribes on arrival in d benue trough.

- in Nigeria our ancestral homes are found in plateau, benue, taraba, nasarawa, & cross river states, tho’ most tiv u’ll meet r frm benue.

-we put an end 2 sultan Othman dan fodio’s jihad on d eastern flank, we made a mess of his armies, who @ d time was more sophisticated.

-whitehall acknowledges that we were not “conquered” or “suppressed” like others by d british colonialists, they had to dialogue & negotiate.it is on record that we were the last tribe to be “pacified” by d british in 1903.

-D capital of tivland or tartiv ‘s gboko, said a2b d central location of tartiv (combu tar I tiv).

-gboko was founded in 1930 by capt Downes, a british admin officer.it’s named aft d hill on the western syd of d town.d hill’s in turn named after the shrubs that grow on it.

-the king or paramount ruler of tiv’s called d Tor tiv, his palce’s in gboko.among d many other tourist sites of interest in gboko’s d late senator J.s. tarka’s tomb.

-senator J.s. tarka was a political ldr of tiv extraction frm d 50s up 2 1980 when he died.

-d symbol of d tiv’s d lion, d king of d jungle.d tor tiv’s title’s “begha u tiv” “d lion of d tiv” (more on d tortiv l8r).

-d supreme council of d tiv’s called “ijirtamen” or d tiv area traditional council.
-ijirtamen’s headed by d begha u tiv, & is held in the council chambers near d palace.

-ijirtamen consists of all traditional rulers in d area.

-d tor tiv’s d 1st clas ruler, there’r d 2nd class, 3rd class, etc. (more on that l8r).

-it’s called “tiv area, ” b/c we met sm tribes & they still inhabit tartiv, & r therefore tiv by osmosis.

-of d 518 distinct languages in Nigeria, tiv’s d only 1 without dialects.

-our official colour r black&white.prime & most significant clothing‘s called d “a’nger” it’s a black7white zebra-strippd piece of thick cotton cloth.

-d black & white represents relativity or yin & yang.

-d anger’s only worn ceremonially, not as an every day attire.

Thank God you folks dealt with Othman dan fodio mercilessly or else I could have been Sikiratu the wife of a 70 year old man had he made it to Obollo afor (Nsukka /Benue state border)

-our official colour r black&white.prime & most significant clothing‘s called d “a’nger” it’s a black7white zebra-strippd piece of thick cotton cloth.

Oooh so it's you guys that dance the Benue dance where you twist and flex your bodies. That's an art on it's own. I really like it. I tried dancing it, but I looked like a puppet on strings.

@ Osisi,you crack me up!! [s]Don't worry,we've got your back,I humbly accept your thanks on behalf of the tiv warriors past![/s]

@ stillwater word!I tried to learn it as a kid but got the boot from my school's dance team,I guess wasn't doing too great either

stillwater:

Oooh so it's you guys that dance the Benue dance where you twist and flex your bodies. That's an art on it's own. I really like it. I tried dancing it, but I looked like a puppet on strings.

I thought that was the idoma people.

Pls i heard that TIV and Igbo culture are similar. How true is that.

.

afam4eva:

Pls i heard that TIV and Igbo culture are similar. How true is that.

as far from the truth as it can ever be! The Tiv people have nothing in common with the Ibos.

Uk Pande ver to all my Tiv people, msu pishi, msu gbin, for taking care of me during my short stay in Adkipo-London, even though the entire Kwande was at war fighting against PDP imposition and domination. I love you guys.

blinx4real:
[b][/b]as far from the truth as it can ever be! The Tiv people have nothing in common with the Ibos.

Uk Pande ver to all my Tiv people, msu pishi, msu gbin, for taking care of me during my short stay in Adkipo-London, even though the entire Kwande was at war fighting against PDP imposition and domination. I love you guys.

na fight?
do you people have nostrils that draw in air?
sheesh

Tiv
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the T.I.V. oyster, see Totten Inlet Virginica.
For the tornado chasing equipment, see Tornado Intercept Vehicle.
Tiv
Total population
Approx. 2 million[1]

Regions with significant populations
Nigeria, Cameroon
Languages
Tiv
Religion
Christianity, Islam, traditional
Tiv are an ethno-linguistic group or ethnic nation in West Africa. They constitute approximately 2.5% of Nigeria's total population, and number over 5.6 million individuals throughout Nigeria and Cameroon. The Tiv's traditional language is spoken by over 6 million people in Nigeria, with a few speakers in Cameroon. Most of the language's Nigerian speakers are found in Benue State of Nigeria. The language is also widely spoken in the Nigerian States of Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa as well as the FCT Abuja. It is part of the Southern Bantoid Tivoid family, a branch of Benue-Congo and ultimately of the Niger-Congo phylum. The Tiv are also known as the Mitshi, Munchi, or Munshi. They depend on agricultural produce for commerce and life.

Contents [hide]
1 Social and Political Organization
2 Tiv Music and Communication
2.1 Kakaki
2.2 Ilyu
2.3 Indyer
2.4 Akya
2.5 Adiguve
2.6 Gbande
2.7 Ortindin (Ortyom)-Messenger
2.8 Korlu ku Bua-Cow Horn
3 Notes
4 References
4.1 Unpublished works
5 External links



[edit] Social and Political Organization
Most Tiv have a highly developed sense of genealogy, with descent being reckoned patrilineally. Ancestry is traced to an ancient individual named Tiv, who had two sons; all Tiv consider themselves a member either of MbaChongo (descendants of con Chongo) or of MbaPusu (descendants of son Ipusu). MbaChongo and MbaPusu are each divided into several major branches, which in turn are divided into smaller branches. The smallest branch, or minimal lineage, is the "ipaven". Members of an ipaven tend to live together, the local kin-based community being called the "tar". This form of social organization, called a segmentary lineage, is seen in various parts of the world, but it is particularly well known from African societies (Middleton and Tait 1958). The Tiv are the best known example from West Africa, as documented by Laura Bohannan (1952) and by Paul and Laura Bohannan (1953); in East Africa the best known example is the Nuer, documented by E.E. Evans-Pritchard (1940).

The Tiv had no administrative divisions and no chiefs or councils. Leadership was based on age, influence, and affluence. The leaders' functions were to furnish safe conduct, arbitrate disputes within their lineages, sit on moots, and lead their people in all external and internal affairs.

The Tiv race is the fourth largest Ethnic group in Nigeria after the three Major Ethnic groups.

These socio-political arrangements caused great frustration to British colonial attempts to subjugate the population and establish administration on the lower Benue. The strategy of Indirect Rule, which the British felt to be highly successful in controlling Hausa and Fulani populations in Northern Nigeria, was ineffective in a segmentary society like the Tiv (Dorward 1969). Colonial officers tried various approaches to administration, such as putting the Tiv under the control of the near by Jukun, and trying to exsert control through the councils of elders ("jir"; these met with little success. The British administration in 1934 divided the Tiv into Clans, Kindreds, and Family Groups. The British appointed native heads of these divisions as well. These administrative divisions are gradually assuming a reality which they never had aboriginally.

Members of the Tiv group are found in many areas across the globe, such as the United States and United Kingdom. In these countries they hold unions, known as MUTA, where members can assemble and discuss issues concerning their people across the world, but especially back in Nigeria.

Before the introduction of printed material, radio, film and television, mass communication in Nigeria was done through the indigenous people with the use of traditional political systems of communication. The rulers and the chiefs governed their ethnic communities and communicated with them through various channels.


[edit] Tiv Music and Communication
Locally made musical instruments were traditionally used for political and ceremonial communication. The key instruments follow/


[edit] Kakaki
This is an instrument used to convey specials messages to the people of the community, such messages as the new born child of the King, his naming ceremony, the crowning of a new king, to gather people together during the marriage ceremony of the king and the king’s son’s marriage ceremony. This instrument was used to convey all the messages to the people to assemble at the square for the ceremony, as well as when there is an enemy attack on the community, a warning sound of the Kakaki is blown to alert those whom can defend the society and every citizen to be alert.


[edit] Ilyu
A light wooden like instrument, it was used to pass messages to the people of the village, probably for the invitation of the people for a particular meeting of the elders at the king’s palace or for the people to gather at the market square for a message from or by the king.it is now used as an instrument to indicate the death of someone


[edit] Indyer
A heavy wooden instrument carved out of mahogany trunk. It is used especially during festivals of masquerades, yam festivals with music to pass messages for the ceremonies, celebration of good harvest for the year.


[edit] Akya
It is used together with Agbande (drums) combined with Ageda at festivals to pass a message across to the people for a call for the display of culture.


[edit] Adiguve
It’s an instrument like a violin, used for music and dances in conjunction with Agbande (Agbande) at festivals and dance occasions, sometimes to announce the death of a leader or an elder of the community, during this period it is played sorrowfully for the mourning of the dead, most time it is played funerals.


[edit] Gbande
Agbande (plural), a set of crafted wooden musical instrument used to compliment agbande at festivals, this is particularly large and it is played by the young men of the community, the special drum beats communicates special messages and music for the festivals to come and during the festivals, for instance, signifies a royal occasions such as the coronation and funeral.


[edit] Ortindin (Ortyom)-Messenger
Usually he is chosen by the elders of the community to do errands for the elders and the leader of the community. He is sent out to the heads of the neighbouring families for a crucial meeting at the head of all the leaders of the community.


[edit] Korlu ku Bua-Cow Horn
This an instrument made out of cow horns, like in my community, there are farmers associations that use this instrument when they have job to do, probably the were invite to ridge a land, the PRO of the association use this medium to wake the members for the work they have for that day.

Indigenous communication is not only vertical, from the rulers to the subjects, it is also horizontal. Individuals communicate with society through physical and metaphysical means. A farm owner, for example, may mount a charm conspicuously on his farm in order to stress private ownership and to scare off human intruders.

The fear of herbalists and witches influences social behaviour considerably.

Rainmakers communicate their power to disrupt events through various psychological means. Village sectors in Africa communicate mostly via the market-place of ideas contributed by traditional religion, observances, divination, mythology, age-grades, the chiefs courts, the elder's square, secret and title societies, the village market square, the village drum(gbande) men, indeed the total experiences of the villager in his environment.

Unlike the mass media, access to the native media is culturally determined and not economic. Only the selected group of young men or the elders can disseminate information generally. The young only disseminate general information about events and the social welfare of their communities using the media mentioned above.

The Tiv people of Benue state still practise some of this traditional system of communication, using the KAKAIS, AGBANDE, INDYER, ADIGUVE and ILYU etc, nevertheless the increase in the western world media is threatening the cultural communication system.

Many of the communities in Benue state still use these instruments to convey messages to the people of their community, and it is helping a great deal, since there is a language barrier to the people with the introduction of the western world means of communication, using the western language (English) to convey information.


[edit] Notes
^ "Ethnologue". http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=TIV.

too many aids(HIV) among your people.your women are, 

afam4eva:

Pls i heard that TIV and Igbo culture are similar. How true is that.

No it's Idoma
History has it that Igbos and Idomas (and I think Igalas) have the same origin theres a saying in Anambra state about that.
That's why  some Idomas have names like Okoh, Eke, Obi,Abbah,Okwute etc just like Igbos.
Those that border with Nsukka area have typical Igbo names.
Even in looks,we look very alike and intermarry a great deal too.
their traditional ruler is called Ochi Idoma

**osisi:

No it's Idoma
History has it that Igbos and Idomas (and I think Igalas) have the same origin theres a saying in Anambra state about that.
That's why some Idomas have names like Okoh, Eke, Obi,Abbah,Okwute etc just like Igbos.
Those that border with Nsukka area have typical Igbo names.
Even in looks,we look very alike and intermarry a great deal too.
their traditional ruler is called Ochi Idoma

What is it that man called history not have? He even has it that the Igbos and the Calabars came from same great great great great grandfather.

I threw him out of our gathering in annoyance. I also warned him that I don't want to see him again.

Osisi did he come round yours?

This history ehhnn, am not sure he has a permanent residence. Dats the only thing he has not got.

true, some of them got huge nose though their beauty is still there despite the nose

ude nuna

.

kwaghir- Masqurade festival

http://www.nacd.gov.ng/Benue%20web%20tv.htm

.

lol @ tpia,I think it's creepy because it was done at night.

@ comfort

nah wah for you oh so which tribe in nigeria is not infected with aids? its true that the level of aids among the tiv peolpe were high but not now again. anyhow tanks for the history literature.

@ janedoe
U pande nena, hope kwagh er ga?
thanks for actively posting in this thread pls kip it up

@ Ngusha,will do

I did my NYSC in Makurdi,i stayed wit a Tiv family (David Mark byepass opp GCM Highlevel). There, i had my best travelling xperience in Naija,Tivs r so warm in reception nd they can go any length 2 make sure u r comfortable.Infact i stayed one month after my service wit dem because i didnt want 2 leave dem,dc is d sixth year after my service we still communicate in fact i hosted one a tiv broda in lagos last december.Now am working in lagos am comfartable(by God's grace)but i can't 4get my tiv family even thou am Yoruba by tribe. Msugh pkishi

@ ajiro
thanks for your comment i am fuly impressed and proud to be a tiv boy. I hope you would come and visit us again very soon. So we would kill a correct bush meat for you with pounded yam and atuu(okra). Thanks a million hoping you visit soon. peace.

.

Red soil and all

Uhun. What about the red soil?