Society-TIV

The Tiv are also known as the Mitshi, Munchi, or Munshi. They are
located in the northern provinces of Nigeria, with the majority of
them living in the Tiv Division of Benue Province. The geographical
coordinates are from about lat. 6 degrees 30 minutes-8 degrees N and
long. 8 degrees-10 degrees E (Bohannan and Bohannan 1953: 9).

According to the 1963 census, there were 1.4 million Tiv (Nelson et
al. 1972: 113). Early estimates of population vary widely. Judd estimated
that there were 200,000 in 1917 (Judd 1916: 52). Temple in 1922 estimated
that there were 350,000 (Temple 1922: 295). In 1939, East estimated
that there was 530,000 Tiv (Akiga 1939: 13), while Downes estimated
that there were 600,000 in 1933 (Downes 1933: 1). According to the
Bohannans, there were at least 800,000 in 1952. The population increase
between 1941 and 1951 was about 1.4 percent per year. Density around
the time of the Bohannans' fieldwork (1949-53) varied widely. The
average density in the Tiv Division was 64 per square mile, but in
some areas it was as high as 550 per square mile, while in other areas
it was as low as 25 per square mile (Bohannan and Bohannan 1953: 9-10).

The Tiv language is classified within the Tiv-Batu sub-group of the
Bantoid branch of the Benue-Congo subdivision of Niger-Congo (Voegelin
and Voegelin 1977: 51-56).

The Tiv are primarily dependent on agriculture for subsistence. They
practice hoe cultivation, crop rotation, and fallowing. The major
crops are yams, sorghum, and bulrush millet. Subsidiary crops include
sweet potatoes, taro, manioc, peanuts, maize, and earth peas, along
with the garden crops of squash, beans, okra, peppers, onions, and
tomatoes. Recently introduced cash crops are sesame, rice, and soy
beans. Goats, sheep, and chickens are numerous, while cattle and horses
are more rare (Murdock 1958: 1).

The local community, called a tar, "is a patrilocal clan community,
typically a localized patrilineage, composed of closely related patrifamilies.
The community (tar) is typically equated with a minimal lineage (ipaven)"
(Murdock 1958: 8). Each community is a neighborhood of compounds,
and each compound contains an extended family. The compounds are scattered
rather unevenly over the countryside.

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. Earlier sources, however, reported administrative
divisions and hierarchies of chiefs and councils. Apparently on the
basis of these reports, the British administration in 1934 established
the following divisions among the Tiv: 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.

The system of exchange marriage, which the Bohannans found so fascinating,
was abolished in 1927 by British law. In this system, each man was
the guardian of his sister (his ward). He exchanged his ward for another
man's ward, who then became his wife. Although this was the preferred
form of marriage, it caused constant disputes, since the system rarely
worked this ideally. Other marriage forms included marriage by capture
or elopement, marriage for a substantial bride-price, and marriage
by cumulative gifts (kem). This latter mode has become the most common
form of marriage since 1927.

Many of the religious beliefs center around the concept of akombo,
defined as magical forces and their emblems. These emblems can be
almost anything, from plants to carvings. The Bohannans emphasize
that akombo are not shrines, since there are no spirits attached to
them. To manipulate these forces, the Tiv have the power of tsav.
The Bohannans translate tsav as witchcraft substance, power, talent,
and ability. Tsav is not necessarily evil, and it can be used for
the good of the community. The society of those people who have tsav
is the mbatsav.

Good cultural summaries of the Tiv may be found in Bohannan (1965)
and Murdock (1958).

Culture summary by Marlene M. Martin



Abraham, Roy Clive.
 The Tiv people.
 Lagos, Government Printer, 1933.
 2, 239, 15 p. illus., maps.
 Akiga.
 Akiga's story: the Tiv tribe as seen by one of its members.
 Translated and edited by Rupert East.
 London, International Institute of African Languages and Cultures, Oxford University Press, 1939.
 15, 436 p. illus.
 Bohannan, Laura.
 The Tiv of central Nigeria.
 By Laura and Paul Bohannan.
 London, International African Institute, 1953.
 100 p. map.
 Bohannan, Paul.
 The Tiv of Nigeria.
 In James L. Gibbs, Jr., ed.
 Peoples of Africa.
 New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965: 515-546.
 Downes, Roger Meaden.
 The Tiv tribe.
 Kaduna, Printed by the Government Printer, 1933.
 101 p. maps, tables.
 Judd, A. S. Notes on the Munshi tribe and language.
 African Society, Journal, 16 (1916/1917): 52-61, 143-148.
 Murdock, George Peter.
 Tiv.
 In his African Cultural Summaries.
 Unpublished manuscript--New Haven, Human Relations Area Files, 1958 Nelson, Harold D. Area handbook for Nigeria.
 By Harold D. Nelson et al.
 Washington, D. C., U. S. Government Printing Office, 1972.
 Temple, Charles Lindsay, ed.
 Notes on the tribes, provinces, emirates and states of the northern provinces of Nigeria.
 2d ed.
 Compiled from official reports by O. Temple.
 Edited by Charles Lindsay Temple.
 Lagos, C.M.S.
 Bookshop, 1922.
 577, 13 p. geneal.
 tables Voegelin, C. F. and F. M. Voegelin.
 Classification and index of the world's languages.
 New York, Elsevier, 1977.


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