The Nupe trace their origin to
Tsoede who fled the court of
Idah and established a loose confederation of towns along the
Niger in the 15th century.[6][7] The proximity of Nupe to the Yoruba
Igbomina people in the south and to the Yoruba
Oyo people in the southwest led to cross-fertilization of cultural influences through trade and conflicts over the centuries.[8] In his book The Negro, African-American scholar
W.E.B. Du Bois wrote that Nupe trade may have extended as far as
Sofala and the
Byzantine Empire, with the latter of which, according to what he termed "credible legend," there was even an exchange of embassies.[9]
Population and demography
There are probably about 4.5 million Nupes,[10] principally in
Niger State. The
Nupe language is also spoken in
Kwara,
Kogi and
Federal Capital Territory. They are primarily
Muslims, with some Christians and followers of
African Traditional Religion. The Nupe people have several local traditional rulers. The Etsu Nupe (
Bida) is not pure Nupe, his great-grandfather from his father side is
Fulani, while the family of his mother was complete Nupe. His great-grandfather from his father side came to rule
Bida in 1806 during the
Sokoto jihad. They have no present capital, although they were originally based at Raba and only moved to Bida in the 19th century.[11]
Traditions, art and culture
The Nupe people have various traditions. Many practices have changed as a result of the movements started by
Sokoto jihad of the 19th century, but they still hold on to some of their culture. Many Nupe people often have
tribal marks on their faces (similar to an old Igala tradition), some to identify their prestige and the family of which they belong as well as for protection, as well as
jewellery adornment. But these traditions are dying out in certain areas.
Their art is often abstract. They are well known for their
wooden stools with patterns carved onto the surface.[12][13]
The Nupe were described in detail by the ethnographer
Siegfried Nadel, whose book, Black Byzantium, remains an anthropological classic.
Examples of Nupe art
Burtu wooden mask, used during bird hunting;
Museum of Ethnology, Vienna. The hunter would tie the mask around his head and imitate the bird's movement.
Carved door; c. 1920 – 1940; wood with iron staples;
Hood Museum of Art.
Nupe traditional music is sung by the Ningba, or musician(s), while the Enyanicizhi beats the drum. Legendary Nupe singers of memory include
Hajiya Fatima Lolo[14] Alhaji Nda'asabe, Hajiya Nnadzwa, Hauwa Kulu, Baba-Mini, Ahmed Shata and Ndako Kutigi.
The prime-movers of the Nupe cinema started film-making since the late 1990s into the early 2000s. Great Nupe personalities that birthed the idea of producing, acting and directing Nupe dramas/comedies on-screen are late Sadisu Muhammad DGN,[15] Prince Ahmed Chado, late Prince Hussaini Kodo, M.B. Yahaya Babs and Jibril Bala Jibril. They are the people who made the move for Nupe dramas to be on-screen and are the founders of the modern-day Nupe film industry[16] known as
Nupewood.[17] Nupewood has since produced more than a thousand entertaining movies in Nupe space to the millions of Nupe audiences.
^Katcha, Abubakar. (1978). An exploratory demographic study of the Nupe of Niger State: the case of Sakpe village. Australian National University.
ISBN0-909150-60-5.
OCLC5021109.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nupe people.
Sources
Blench, R. M. (1984), "Islam among the Nupe." Muslim peoples. (edn 2), Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Forde, D. (1955), "The Nupe". pp. 17–52 in Peoples of the Niger-Benue Confluence. London: IAI.
Ibrahim, Saidu (1992), The Nupe and their neighbours from the 14th century. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books.
Madugu, George I. (1971), "The a construction in Nupe: Perfective, Stative, Causative or Instrumental". In Kim, C-W., & Stahlke, H., Papers in African Linguistics, I, pp. 81–100. Linguistic Research Institute, Champaign.
Perani, J. M. (1977), Nupe crafts; the dynamics of change in nineteenth and twentieth century weaving and brassworking. Ph.D. Fine Arts, Indiana University.
Stevens, P. (1966), Nupe woodcarving. Nigeria, 88:21–35.
Yahaya, Mohammed Kuta, The Nupe People of Nigeria. Nigeria, 95:1–2