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The second category of forces which control the world are anthropomorphic spirits of which there are two classes; yal and shatar . These supernaturals are actively malevolent or mischievous; the good which they do is entirely by indirection; that is, they may not do ill and to that extent do good. Although these beings do not always have anthropomorphic appearances, their behavior is conspicuously like man's. They have appetites, reside at specific places, and, most importantly, they are amenable to human acts in that they must be pleased, angered, persuaded, or even tricked or fooled. Thus men are not entirely helpless with respect to these supernaturals unlike their relationship to iju. The majority of rituals are aimed at influencing them. Yal are the more dangerous of the two, being capable of causing serious illness and even death. One is very careful not to offend a yal; either by specific act or by inadvertence. Margi do not talk lightly about yal, and they treat their trad...

 

 

 

The Past (Labar Zizigu) 2 Marghi belief Finally, we must consider that portion of Margi belief which explains nature and the origin of natural phenomena, for these forces are as much a part of the world as its geographic features and its inhabitants. This must be done cautiously, however, in order to avoid the impression that these people are overly concerned with supernatural forces or even that religion constitutes a cultural focus as it is claimed for societies in other parts of Africa (Herskovits 1958:177). Gulagu market 1960 A "world view" entails the organization of both natural and supernatural phenomena into an integrated, meaningful belief system which underlies a society's conceptual system. It is meant to be literally a view of the world. It is the efficient integration of natural and supernatural forces into a single world view which causes the Margi, and doubtlessly many other societies, to appear religionless. For in fact "religion"--by which...

1857 Barth, Henrich.  Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa. Vol. 2. Harper Bros. 1911 Alexander, D.  "Notes on ornaments of the Womdeo Pagans, who are a section of the Marghi pagans (female only)," Man 11:1. 1922 Temple, O.  Notes on the Tribes, Provinces, Emirates and States of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria. (second edition reprinted in 1965) pp.271-274 1931 Meek, C.K.  Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria. pp. 213-251. 1959 Kirk-Greene, A.H.M.  “The mba ceremony of the Marghi,” The Nigerian Field, XXIV, No. 2 (reprinted as Appendix D  in  Adamawa Past and Present. 1958 by the same author.) 1961 Lembezat, B.  “Les montagnards du Mandara” (Section A), Les Populations Païennes du Nord-Cameroun et de l’Adamaoua. Presses Universitaires de France. 1961 Podlewski, A.M...

The first known written reference to the Margi appears in the chronicle of Henrich Barth (1857). His criteria of identification are unspecified, and they seem largely defined in terms of language. It is clear from his work that there was a "Marghi" language--he collected vocabulary (Benton 1912, cf. Hoffman 1963:8-9)--and that there were speakers of this language living along the border between Bornu and Adamawa. He first encountered Margi some twenty miles north of Mulgwe] where they were described as having "adopted Islam and become subjects of Bornu"(1857, II: Map facing 351), but by the time he reached Mulgwe, where he collected the vocabulary, he was among independent Margi, and his map of the area from Mulgwe southward to Uba is labeled, "Marghi, a pagan tribe." The fact that Barth found speakers of a language known as Margi does not, however, necessarily mean that the speakers had a strong self-recognized identity. There are four points of evidenc...