The Zuru People

LOCATION Zuruland is located in the southern part of kebbi state in Nigeria. It was created out of the former sokoto state together with sokoto and zamfara state. Zuru is borded from the north by kebbi, gummi and bukkuyum and yauri and kontagora share borders with it in the south and south west. Zuru is bounded in the west by gwandu while in the east its boarded is shared with kuyambana district. THE MAIN TRIBES The main indigenous languages in zuru land are clela, banganci, dukkanci and fakkanci as the major languages. These languages have several dialectical differences as well. There are more than twenty dialects contained in these major languages. IDENTITY OF ZURU PEOPLE Zuru people call themselves lelna while the hausa refer to them as dakarkari, a name that is shrouded in controversy as to its meaning and application. These controversies have been explained by different scholars. Dettweiler{2005} attempted to explain the origin of the name Dakarkari by suggesting these possibilities. First, that it is derived from the Arabic word dakakir meaning idolaters. Secondly, that it is derived from the hausa word daakaaree meaning infantry man in reference to the peoples history as foot soldiers during the empire wars. Thirdly, dakarkari is a corruption of dar kkari meaning mam of the kari tribe. This third version is supported by bawa[2014] a renowned historian of zuru extraction, in his book he stated that the name was derived from Ibrahim Badankari; a k’lela man who ruled katsina in the sixteen century and later migrated to zuru land. To the zuru people the dakarkari is an imposed description, and it is only tolerated from outsiders because a blench rightly observed. The correct names of the people and language; K’lela(one person),lelna(the people) and c’lela as the language. All the indigenous tribes in zuru land live in complete harmony with each other evidenced by the absence of communal or tribal friction as they recognize that they belong to the same ancestral tree. Chapter two LOCAL POLITICAL STRUCTURE IN ZURU LAND CHIEFDOMS AND DISTRICT IN ZURU DABAI CHIEFDOM Dabai district Manga district Rafin zuru district Rikoto district Senchi district Ushe district DANKO CHIEFDOM Danko district Kyabu district Wari district SAKABA CHIEFDOM Sakaba district Dirin-daji district FAKAI CHIEFDOM Fakai district Bajida district Birnin tudu district Marafa district WASAGU CHIEFDOM Bena district Kanya district Ribah district Waje district Wasagu district CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE Culture defines the way of life of a particular people that makes them different from others. It includes how the people interact with their environment to derive means of livelihood and how they relate with themselves individually and communally as well as the social and religious norms that govern their behavior. Some of which are as follows; COSTUME AND ORNAMENTATION The dressing manner of the zuru people is seen as primitive. The lelna have not advanced from the Garden of Eden state since the fall. The children of both sexes go about naked, youths who have attained the age of puberty and are busy wrestling wear a leather lion wrap, while girls who have attained the age of puberty either wear two small bunches of leaves at the waist or a small bunch of leaves in front and a tuntu or a decorated tail at the back. Married women simply wear two large bunches of leaves in front and behind while men retain the leather lion wrap all through their life. The zuru people are known for using facial and body marks for fancy or as clan identity because people could be identified from the pattern and style of the marks. FARMING This is the foremost occupation of zuru people, because without education and exposure to enable them get government employment and other means of livelihood and financial muscle for market trading, farm produce was their centre of being. Guinea corn was and still is the most respected crop and it was the aspiration of each man to be anointed as the king of farmers (gova nu govo) by surpassing others to stock the highest number of barns with threshold corn. All other crops like maize, groundnuts, beans, fruits and vegetables are considered as lesser crops meant for the market. A good number of people rear cattle, sheep, and goats and keep domestic animals like donkey, dogs, chickens, fowls and rarely camels and horses. HUNTING This is a skill that one learns from childhood from hunting small animals like rat, snakes, grasshoppers, and birds with stones, bow and arrows and later catapults. That time there were thick bushes, which hunters burn to trap animals always with the assistance of hunting dogs. The more advanced hunting was carried out by professionals who travel long distances and spent days or months inside uninhibited forest to hunt big animals. It was said that only real men would dare go for such hunting sprees because of the dangers and hardships involved. Any young man that survived such ordeals was considered above his peers, especially if he was able to kill a prized animal. CRAFTING Craft is the industry that produced the tools used by the people to create products for consumption. The blacksmith produced farming implements like hoes, axes and ploughs as well as hunting tools like arrows; the carves were responsible for making useful objects bout of wood including handles for tools and seats, bows, pounders and calabashes. Potters produced items out of clay. Mat making was also popular in zuru land. GOLMO INSTITUTION This is a manner where agricultural labor of the society was harnessed and distributed to the various farming units. Golmo ensures that labor force was optimally employed by making sure that any man with marriageable daughters is assured of many years of free labor in old age. Though the golmo could be a cultural or matrimonial affair, but in its real sense, it was fundamentally an economic phenomenon. As a labor mobilizing and labor utilizing affair, one could conclude that commercialization of agriculture help in the development of wage labor in agriculture and the economy and society during colonial period. The cultural background of zuru people cannot be complete without the political economy of golmo and some festivals. The various cultural and religious institutions developed by the people of zuru have some inkling and are closely tied to agriculture and economy. Golmo is considered a vital and important amongst these people. It is also an institution through which patience, perseverance and manliness of young men are not only tested but exhausted in the attempt to test their readiness to stand the test of life independently. It is expected that after golmo that the man could be included in to the council of decision makers at any level. RELIGION Belief in God Belief in God is the central to the religious life of zuru people. He is the creator and ultimate controller of everything. The name (asiloh) refers to his highness and immensity as the same term used for the skies or heavens. He is unseen so cannot be worshiped directly but through intermediaries represented by shrines of various kinds depending on the clan one belongs to. The two festivals of the people; uhola and d’biti are the major communal festivals dedicated to the Supreme Being. The custodian or chief priest in such religious activities is called Gomo vu d’kahah. Belief in divinities In zuru land traditional religion, each clan has its divinity through which they worship the Supreme Being indirectly. The divinities are believed to reside in trees, rivers, animals and rocks. The oono clan is the custodian of the rain making divinities and the rain priest is called Gomo vun menke. Belief in ancestors Ancestors are members of the family who have died a natural death at a ripe age. However before one can qualify to be an ancestor, he or she must receive a proper burial through ceremonies and sacrifices. This includes a memorial ceremony (swaa) a year after burial. Religious institution The traditional worship in zuru is associated with a secret cult/society called M’gilo in which every male is initiated from the age of about eleven (11) years. The society is the spiritual frame work for all religions observance festivals and societal control. Leaving the cult group can cost someone’s his life.