Mumuye - The name.

THE NAME:- MUMUYE
For most ethnic groups in this area and northern Nigeria, debate rages around their names. Professor Isichei in the book” studies in the history of Plateau state of Nigeria” observed that “most of the people … and many of the places, have two names: A Hausa and an indigenous, one”1
Thus the people named Yergam by the Hausa are indigenously know as Tarok, while Angas should be Ngas. Closer here, Jenjo is a Fulani name for the Dza. People of Jen.
This phenomenon is reflected in the case of the name ‘Mumuye’. While there appears to be difficulty in the trace of its clear origin, the people themselves do confirm that the name is alien to them. No word of such nature occurs in any of their oral traditions.
The problem begins apparently as a in the case of their Jukun neighbors to the south. Initially as Victor N. Low states the Jukun “ Themselves appear to have no general designation for all the people contained within this omnium Gatherum.”2
The Jukun according to Low, are known as’ Kwana’ or ‘Gwana, by the Kanuri’s. While the Hausa and Nupe called them ‘Kwararafa’. The term Jukun is said to be specifically a Hausa reference for the sub-group Kona, which the Kanuri’s in turn call ‘Kona’ or ‘ Kwona’.
Low observed that an “impediment to our knowledge of the Kwararafa place in north-east Nigerian history is that of deciding Upon a consistent and accurate nomenclature”3.
Mumuye people initially also had no common term of reference as such. Instead when dealing with outsiders, they give their specific clan names such as Kwajji, Zing, Pugong and Yaa etc. If a need arose for a general reference to be made, for instance when convening for religious rites at Yorro or rallying against outside invasion, they loosely used such collective terms as “Shong Yorro” (Yorro people), “shong Kopo” (hill people), “ja Yorro” (Yorro children), “wo-Nyako”(Fellow tribesmen) etc.

THE MYSTERY:
The name Mumuye presently is facing continuous internal criticism, isolation  with others preferring its consignment to a fate of being phased out completely. It is nevertheless an interesting mystery worth analyzing here especially being that speculations abound as to the origin and meaning of this name.

 
One of these says that the name is of the same origin with ‘Mome’, said to be a related tribe in Cameroon.4  This is probably the ‘Mome’ people (see language classification) a Verre related people that have clan names with somewhat Mumuye-familiar terms like “Verre”(man, male),  “were” (Home), Kopo(Hill) etc.
There might probably be some relationship there, when it is considered that both the Verre and Mome belong to the same Adamawa sub-family as the Mumuye language and they live within close proximity.
Others believe the name Mumuye means “Mumuni” a Hausa word for a humble person, a description that is said to befit the Mumuye Man.5
The searchlights for the names origin does not sweep on our regional and Nigeria background alone. It has gone as far out as can be imagined. One such theory holds that the Mumuye people may indeed be a long lost Arabian tribe. That a tribe of that similar name existed on the Arabian peninsula in the beginning of the first millennium in the era of the prophet Mohammed (S.A.W) and they presumable it is said migrated from there through Egypt and came this way.6
The basic fact then is that if as it is the name does not arise from the people themselves, then the most reasonable explanation here would be those that center around the idea that the people they interacted with must have branded them with it.
The Kwararafa example can be a good comparison so are others around both locally and internationally. The Mumuye themselves refer to the Hausas as “Mankpa” and call the Fulani’s “Kota” or “Kata”. The Yoruba call the Hausas “Gambari” etc.
On the other side of the globe, the British named these people “Japan”. But to themselves they are “Nippon”. The Eskimos know themselves as “Inuit” instead of Eskimo which is actually “Raw meat eaters” in some neighboring Red Indian language.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONNECTION:
           Another theory this time coming from C K Meek a British colonial anthropologist says that ‘Mum’ the  root word for the name Mumuye is probably derived from the Tikare language in which it means-Man. The close proximity of the Tikare people to this land may give a boost to this line.
However the same author7 also speculates that it could be connected with ‘Nyasaland’ (Malawi); for in one of the languages of that country, “muume” means Man. The word “mum” he asserts is common in many African dialects and therefore suggesting tacitly that the Mumuye could have brought it along after a long migration or some other links out there.
Lest we miss the thread after all, it appears the same with ‘Mum’ or ‘Mu’ as root or connective word is ubiquitous in this region especially with tribes of the Adamawa language group that occupy hill sites all around from central Africa to central Nigeria.
For instance there are the Mome and Mon Jango, some Verre related peoples. Then there are the Munga and the Gomu, (the Gomu are said to be indigenously known as Moo”). The Mumbake people are also found close by; a Chamba related tribe that call themselves Nyong. Further east are the widely spread Mbum or Mum in the central Cameroon highlands also related linguistically to Yorro people.
It might as well be that the names have a more significant anthropological development than is perceived presently; which could be a suggestion of larger group of people or a more complex entity, society or community in the past that may have in one way or the other disintegrated.
Probably we might have here another evidence confirming that these people considered as the aborigines of this region may have more historical relationships that goes beyond their language similarities. The other theory which appears to be the widely favored one is that the name has evolved from the word “Moo” (Mu) which means “you” in the Mumuye language. The word is frequently used in interrogative sentences and has a ring that could be the most easily heard word by a stranger if the language is being spoken. It was then coined by the Fulani’s presumably and then adopted and used by the British at the onset of colonial and indirect rule by the beginning of the 20th century.8
There may be reason to give credence to this theory more so that the name ‘Mumuye’ did not exist before the start of the colonial administration in this area, around 1900. This is because there is no available record to oral tradition dating from before that time which indicates it was in use either by the people, their neighbors and even the Fulani’s or Europeans.
THE BARTH CONNECTION:
When Henriech Barth, the earliest European to have eye witness record of the Benue region came here in 1851,  the name Mumuye was apparently not in evident use. In his writings he noted the tribes he came across in these lands, and made mention of “Dingding” and [Zing]. He did not actually ride through the Mumuye land; however he stopped at Yola where he was only allowed little time by the Lamido Lawal who become hostile to him erroneously suspecting him to be a spy for the Bornu Empire because he came from there and was going around town interviewing People. 9

Barth an explorer, widely acclaimed as intelligent and meticulous collected much information which included his recording that  [Zing] were the people living in the mountains region after the Bachama People; and from where one would go on to the “Hamaruwa” kingdom and then Kwararafa. He also recorded other tribes like Marghi, Kilba, Higgi, Fali, Batta, Chamba, Dingding, NyamNyam, Jukun, Tikare and Mbafu. This list a fairly detailed and intimate coverage of this region with at least any one worth mentioning in it.
If the name Mumuye had existed then at the time, it is highly unlikely that he could have missed it and at the same time come so close to it as to recognize and note down two of its sub-groups. Barth is said to have drawn his sources from Yola, through Chambaland to Banyo and he reported getting the names DingDing and Zing from apparently slaves or local travelers in Yola. Those were people either themselves Mumuye or of neighboring tribes that knew the area well. It is improbable then that they knew and did not give the name Mumuye if it ever existed at the time.
THE BAIKIE CONNECTION:
A similar situation occurred again three years later on the western flank of the Mumuye enclave. In 1854, Dr. William B. Baikie commanded a ship the “PLEIAD” which became the first European ship to sail up the Benue to this region as far up as
Jen. 10 

The Britons visited the court of the 3rd Emir Hamman at Muri which they noted as “Hamaruwa” Kingdom. In the course of being acquainted with the dominion and possessions of the Emirate, and also neighboring Peoples so as to advise them on their journey on to Yola, Baikie's group was told that the people to the east of the Benue and in the hill country were called (Zing).
They were informed as recorded by the ship’s chaplain the Rev. (later Bishop) Samuel Crowther, that the (Zing) people were aggressive and very hostile to the Fulani’s. This is clearly indicative that the name Mumuye again was not apparently in existence and was not know then. Instead the Fulani’s used the name of a specific clan they had been in contact with.
Rev. Crowther, the narrator had cause to make repeated mention of the people, which he kept referring to as the “zena” never once did he use the name Mumuye. Again if it had existed at the time, it is most unlikely that one could be in Lau and Jen among both natives and Fulani’s, some of whom conceded that they came in to trade with the hill people, and not even once get the mention of the name. The fact then is that it was not known at that time because it did not exist.
NEIGHBORS LORE:
One area where a trace of the name Mumuye would naturally occur if it were original is with the neighbors. This is because they, for their close existence alongside for a long time would be the best witnesses to be aware of and testify to such indentity. For this reason it is logical to sample their mode of addressing the Mumuye here.
First the Yandang-Waka refer to their giant cousin neighbor- group as “VA zina”; stemming from the simple fact that they are neighbors and interacted more with the zing people whom they lump as one with all the others speaking the same language. Even today they do not have anything like “VA Mumuye” when they refer to the Mumuye in their dialect. this shows that the term is alien to them and has not found its way into their dialect and mother tongue because it is recent in nature.
The same goes for the Jenjo people who are the Mumuye neighbors to the north-west. They too when getting down to communicate in reference to the Mumuye people the term as it is does not exist. Their term which by tradition is used is a word to the tune of “Egho”. This they say so means – Hill People.
The Bwatiye people refer to their southern neighbors as “Jemoi” or “Jeme” which in their language means– the hills people too. “Moi” Particularly meaning- hills. Their tradition basically has no mention of any other name for the Mumuye people except that which they use. Their tradition is said to have strong regard for these hill people. This is because as it is said, “for a long time they had lived together”11  Initially they had clashes which is explained were not wars waged to conquer and rule; rather they were actually marauding ventures aimed at collecting booties in times of hardship and famine, the clashes resulted in their establishing mutual respect and friendship status. So it is that the Mumuye are among the prominent “Gboune (joking relationship)” in the Bwatiye culture. They have several poetry and songs it is said which relates to their experience with the “Jemoi”.
The Kona too have a long friendly history with these hill people that get their supply salt in trade from them. They have traditional oral lore indicating their relations with the Mumuye people, but all bear the name Pugong or Golong or Zing which is familiar to them and not otherwise.
The Chamba call their neighbors of various tribes “Doo-bu”. A blanket word for all non-Chamba people and to specify the Mumuye they use the term “Doo-bu  Zinna” or any specific clan like Lama, etc. The name means hill people also. Mumuye as a name being alien too to their tradition and language.

It should be realized that no one in this region had cause apparently to deal in generality or en-bloc with a people widely spread like the Mumuye to warrant a generic name except when the British arrived. And so no one presumably before them had any need or cared for such block name. There appeared to be no free inter–regional movements of peaceful nature in an area  in early times. The region had numerous, highly sensitive tribes that were parmanently under arms. Trade and other exchanges were limited to people in immediate neighborhoods.
For instance the Chamba might not have known the Zagong people as they knew the Lamma, DingDing and Zing clans. The Fulani in Muri and Fombina apparently had no coordination and chance to ally against the whole groups as they were far apart and separated by the Bachama and Yandang areas. So a need for such a broad name probably did not exist while they each dealt with the peripherals of Mumuye land. 

THE COLONIAL CONNECTION:
The use of the name Mumuye as a general term started showing up in British records at the beginning of their colonial rule here. A situation now occurred in which the people had to be identified in block and policy required that they be represented in one way or the other collectively in Government administration.
   At the time British arrived in this area, the nearest local people to them that could give them intimate information on the land were the Fulani rulers. This is why the most reliable theory about the name is as Temple gave at the beginning of the century that: “the name Mumuye, by which the people are commonly known, was given to them by the Fulani, the native name  being “Fungum” [Pugong] or  “Zagum” [Zagong].12
Let us then assess the strength of this authority.
First of all, there is no mincing of words by the author as to the statement. The statement is direct and authoritative and does not show doubt or probability.
Then let the author’s accessibility to the truth be considered. The book quoted was as the title shows  “compiled from official records by Olive Temple; edited by C.L temple” in 1919.Olive’s maiden name is Mac-leod and she was a writer that had already published a book “chiefs and cities of central Africa” in 1912. Later as stated by Kirk-Greene she married C.L temple. And  Mr. temple himself  was none other than the British administrator(Resident) in  Bauchi  province in  the immediate years after the start of British rule and whom Rev.fr. Hickey reveals was a “distinguished anthropogist”13
Mr. Temple later rose to the rank of a Lieutenant-governor for Northern Nigeria, and with his wife wrote a lot more about northern tribes.
The Temples in turn wrote the book with the assistance of the following people: Covering Muri province were:

(i) Mr. T.H.Brice-Smith
Assistant Resident for Bauchi province around 1912, and
who helped delineate the Muri-Bauchi provincial boundary, he also had contacts and duty tours in Muri.
(ii) Mr. T.H Haughton
Assistant Resident Muri province  and political officer in charge of Lau (later Muri) Division from its inception up to over a decades later. Haughton was  responsible  for many patrols into Mumuye land. He worked in Muri  for a long  time and was among the first British officers to had a longer contact with the Mumuye people. All indications are that he may well have been the name’s author or initiator at the suggestion of the Fulani’s.
The other authorities assisting the Temples with their writing as they indicated were also British colonial staff for Yola province such as:

Capt. Brackenbury
A D.O and political officer in the province during that period of world war l, later worked in the province.
Mr. S.H.P Vereker
The British intelligence officer for the Yola column during the world  war I, later became Resident for Adamawa Division when it was formed in 1926, under Adamawa province.
Mr. G.W. Webster
Resident for Yola Province at the time of Temple’s writing. Later provincial Secretary and Resident for Adamawa province.
The authority of the Temples therefore from all indications are, strong, genuine and comprises the actual players themselves.
The conclusion here then is as stated that the name ‘Mumuye’ was given to the people by the Fulanis.
What could have transpired at that period of time when the British seized power and were setting up the Muri and Yola provincial administrations might have been in this semblance.
The colonial administrator enquires of the Fulani Emirate official whom the British were now using to govern in the indirect rule system; the name of these “pagans “in the hills. The Fulani official most likely gives him several names he knows like Zavo, Zagong, and Zing etc. The Briton is not satisfied as he needs a single name for the whole group. As one did not exist to his knowledge, the official retorts with the idea that they all speak with “Mu,Mu” intonations therefore he can just call them ‘Mu,mu’en” meaning – the Mu-mu people. The whole exercise might well have been that simple. The Briton accepts but has difficulty in flexing his tongue to pronounce it, so he simply panel beats the word a bit to “Mumuye” to suit his tongue. Even today, a Fulani man’s way of pronouncing the name is still “Mumu’en”.
Further clues about the name are that the term appears to have started coming into use around the Jalingo side or on those Mumuye in the vicinity of Jalingo. Past records such as those in Temple’s work on Muri province and Meek’s as well; speak of Mumuye as having their indigenous names as “Zagong or Pugong”. These are the western clans closer to the Jalingo side in area like Lankaviri, Pantisawa, Gongong, Bashin etc.
Though recognition of the Mumuye name was extended to other areas like Zing and Yakoko at that time there are strong indications that the later were treated as distant relatives. In fact the later were referred to in Temple’s work as “Off-shoots” 14 of Mumuye, together with the Yandang and Waka. It is not a coincidence then that the area closer to Jalingo, administratively was and remains Mumuye District’.
THE NAME YORRO:
Let attention now be turned on Yorro as a name. From the maps it can be seen that it is a settlement area high up in the Mumuye hills to the southeast. It is not actually situated on the highest peak, the highest elevations being around the Donkin areas. The elevation of the Yorro settlement area is about 2,000ft a.s.l; though the Dome-like Yorro hills itself is up to 4,000ft a.s.l. The Mumuye people’s oral traditions are unanimous and clear about its history and significance to the whole Yorro sub-region. All Mumuye including according to meek in the early days “Yandang and Waka accept the description of ‘Mumuye’ and claim Yorro as their original home.”15

The most respected figure and keeper of the supreme shrines of ‘VA’ the Rain maker lives there. Clan cult leaders and priests regularly converge there from all over the region including outside people like the “Kona” 16,  in order to pay homage and make sacrifices as a last resort in times of crises like drought, famine and warfare.
It is the spiritual center of the traditional Mumuye religion. Their Mecca and Jerusalem to which they set forth, at intervals for their own pilgrimage.
Yorro was actually fully recognized so by the British colonial administration of Adamawa province as stated in 1929 by the Provincial secretary saying that the “Rain Maker” of Yorro Derived his power from the guardianship of the shrine which was doubtless in the hills” and so was “the natural leader of the tribe.”17
All people within the tribal group who respect and keep tradition have always sustained alive the spirit of Yorro. Their fore fathers did their part and passed it on to the following generations which are ably represented by the traditionalists in towns and Villages all over the land today.  Even the educated elites look back to their villages and shrines with nostalgia of Yorro. Their songs and poetry says it all. That their Children may not get lost or go astray.
It is therefore in keeping with this spirit that many feel that efforts should be marshalled now to eradicate the specter of the name “Mumuye” in order to rally all peoples under the name YORRO.
Yorro is the origin’s name and may be designated the new name of  the Yorro People. The People came from Yorro and live on the Land of Yorro; because Yorro now also signifies all Traditional areas settled by the people. A distinction should however be drawn between the nomenclature of Yorro L.G.A which has its headquarters at Pantisawa; because this L.G.A is the former pre-1930 Mumuye district and only a part of Yorro Land which in effect covers also Zing L.G.A and part of Mayobelwa, Lau, Jalingo and Ardo Kola etc.












1. Isichei Elizabeth (1982) Pp.1
2 Low V.N. (1972) pp. 81-82
3. Low (1972) pp.81-82
4 Marubitoba et al (1992) Pp.4
5. T R S Arts Council
6 TRS Arts Council
7 Meek (1931) Pp. 446
8 Marubitoba et al (1992) Pp4
9 Kirk-Greene (1952) Barth's travels Pp188
10 Crothers s. (1970) Pp119-120, 230-231.
11Kirian Tati, Jalingo 1997
12Temple & Temple (1965) pp.287
13Fr.Hirckey R. (1990) Pp.17
14 Temple &Temple (1965) Pp.287
15 meek (1931) Pp.447
16 Meek (1931) Pp.468
17 seanley (1933 Pp.3 Yola prof. Vol.1,F4