The Mumuye Experience

INTRODUCING THE LANTANG CLOTHING OF THE MUMUYE PEOPLE By Haruna Yakubu Tolenyashong Joel Gilenya pictured here in the Mumuye attire he modernized.  This particular form of clothing being launched  Saturday 14th April, 2012 at the palace of the chief of Zing is modern fabric, designed and developed artistically from an original type of textile “Latang” that is unique to the Mumuye people and dates back over a couple centuries. The original fabric of “Latang” is made of wool from a specific perennial cotton shrub (Gossipium Spp) specie, that is planted around the house. The wool's extraction, ginning, yarn spinning, dieing and weaving as a process is entirely done by Mumuye individuals that learned the trade either from their forbearers or neighbors within the tribe. The art of “Latang” weaving was mostly found among Mumuye clans of the present day Zing Local Government Area who traded it to others within the tribe as well as neighboring tribes within the region. ...

THE MUMUYE The Mumuye is an ethnic group of people presently found and concentrated in local Government Areas of Northern Taraba and Southern Adamawa States of Nigeria. Official figures put their population at about a million people and are among the 25 largest ethnic groups in the country. It was indeed the most populated ethnic group in the defunct Gongola state and also the largest in the present Taraba State. Historically, Mumuye falklare place their ancestral place of origin as  “YORRO” which is in the high hills of Yorro local government south west of Zing. African historians, language experts and anthropologists specifically so far tend to agree with that regional generality. Those related academic endeavours generally agree that the “Mumuye” are among the prototype bedrock of West African “negros” that have been in this region since 10,000BC or even pre-historic times. That they moved into the hill areas in recent historical times due to inter- tribal warfar...