Kurtey people
The Kurtey people (var. Kourtey) are a small ethnic group found along the
West African nations of Niger, Benin, Mali, and Nigeria. They are also found in considerable numbers in Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso
.
Assimilation into Songhai
The Kurtey were formed from the movement of
Tillaberi Region, Niger in the 18th century, and their intermarriage with local Songhai, Zarma, Sorko and others.[1] While retaining many aspects of Fula traditional culture, the Kurtey have assimilated into Songhai-Zarma ways of life and speak a Southern Songhay dialect.[2] Some outside observers consider them a subsection of the Songhai people,[3] while others describe them as communities with distinct histories, cultures, and ethnic self-identification within the larger Songhai speaking social space, of which the Songhai people are only one part.[4]
Customs and demography
They are less than 50,000 in numbers as of today, concentrated on islands and along the Niger river banks near
Female circumcision.[6] Kurtey traditionally engage in sedentary cattle raising—a legacy of their Fula ancestry—as well as fishing (like Sorko people), tobacco farming, and riverine flood irrigated millet and rice farming.[1]
Relations with others
In the 19th century, many Muslim Kurtey engaged in slave raiding amongst pagan Zarma along the Niger,Muslim before migrating to the area, enjoying close relations with the Fula Emirate of Say.[2]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-8108-3136-8.: pp. 191–192
- ^ a b Harrison, Byron, Annette Harrison, and Michael J. Rueck, with Mahaman Soumana as Interpreter. "Southern Songhay Speech Varieties in Niger: A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Zarma, Songhay, Kurtey, Wogo, and Dendi Peoples of Niger." (1997).
- ^ Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Niger : Overview, July 2008. Online. UNHCR Refworld, [accessed 8 April 2009]
- ^ Paul Stoller. pp.94-5 in Eye, Mind and Word in Anthropology. L'Homme (1984) Volume 24 Issue 3-4 pp.91-114.
- ISBN 0-226-77542-9p.56
- Kurtey, Wogo people and Arabs.
- ^ Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan. Remarques sur la notion de «captif» (à propos des Wogo et Kurtey du Niger). Journal de la Société des Africanistes. (1970) Volume 40, Issue 40-2, pp. 171-174
- ^ Jean Pierre Olivier de Sardan. Les voleurs d’hommes (notes sur l’histoire des Kurtey). Etudes Nigériennes no. 25. IFAN-CNRSH: Paris-Niamey (1969)
- Paul Stoller. The Negotiation of Songhay Space: Phenomenology in the Heart of Darkness. American Ethnologist, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Aug., 1980), pp. 419–431
- Jibrin Ibrahim. Political Exclusion, Democratization and Dynamics of Ethnicity in Niger. Africa Today, Vol. 41, No. 3, Electoral Successes: Harbingers of Hope? (3rd Qtr., 1994), pp. 15–39
Further reading
- Jean-Pierre, Olivier de Sardan (1984). Les Societes Songhay-Zarma, Niger-Mali: Chefs, Guerriers, Esclaves, Paysans--. Paris: Editions Karthala. ISBN 978-2-86537-106-8.
