The Fali people (called the Bana in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

)"Fali," ''The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary'' (1996) (James Stuart Olson, editor). Greenwood : p. 174-175. are any of several small

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

s of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The Fali are concentrated in mountainous areas of northern

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, but some also live in northeastern

."Fali," ''Almanac of African Peoples and Nations'' (1999) (Muḥammad Zuhdī Yakan, editor). Transaction: p. 309."Fali," ''Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East, Volume 1'' (2009) (Jamie Stokes, editor). Infobase: p. 225. The Fali are composed of four major groups, each corresponding to a geographic region: The Bossoum Fali, the Kangou Fali, the Peske–Bori Fali, and the Tingelin Fali."Fali," ''Almanac of African Peoples and Nations'' (1999) (Muḥammad Zuhdī Yakan, editor). Transaction: p. 309. The Fali in Cameroon have been described as being centered on

Garoua Garoua or Garua (Fula: Garwa 𞤺𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. A thriving centre of the textiles and cotton industries, the city has approximately 1,285,000 inhabit ...

as well as the rocky plateaus and peaks of the Adamawa mountains in the country's north."Fali," ''Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East, Volume 1'' (2009) (Jamie Stokes, editor). Infobase: p. 225.Fali
" ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' (2011). The Fali are sometimes referred to as the Kirdi, meaning "

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

," a term given by the neighboring

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Fulani; after they fought against the jihadists and rejected Islam. Today the Fali in Mubi North Adamawa state are predominantly Christians.

Origins

The term ''Fali'' is from a Fula word meaning "perched," a reference to how Fali compounds appear on the sides of mountains.Fali
" ''

'' (2011). The Fali in Nigeria primarily live in the Mubi District, Mubi Division of the former Gongola State."Fali," ''The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary'' (1996) (James Stuart Olson, editor). Greenwood : p. 174-175. The Fali people trace their ancestry to the Ngomma, who founded the ancient capital of Timpil. Other accounts trace the Fali's origins to the Sao civilization on

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

, which flourished from the tenth to the 16th centuries."Fali," ''Almanac of African Peoples and Nations'' (1999) (Muḥammad Zuhdī Yakan, editor). Transaction: p. 309.

Culture

The Fali speak various unrelated languages. The Fali primarily engage in farming and hunting. Major crops include

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are high ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s (groundnuts), squash,

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, okra, and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

.Fali
" ''

'' (2011). The Fali are

exogamous Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups c ...

patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

, and hierarchical, with society being made up of clans with distinct territories and chiefs, and tracing their origin to a common ancestor. They observe virilocal residence. '' Cissus quadrangularis'' is significant to Fali in Cameroon, and the Fali are reported to wash their dead in a decoction of the plant.Hans Dieter Neuwinger, ''African Ethnobotany, Poisons and Drugs: Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology'' (1996). CRC Press: p. 33. The Fali believe that the development of the plants is important to fertility; a ''C. quadrangularis'' is planted on proposed construction sites, and if the plant does not flourish, a new site is chosen.

Religion

The original Fali religion is traditional African. It has been identified as

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...

, involving belief in a

creator god A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatris ...

, Muttaf, and a

mother goddess A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility goddess, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or th ...

, Ona, the Earth. Followers of the Fali religion make prayers and offerings to

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

to intercede with Faw on behalf of the living. The Fali "conceive of Muttaf not only as creator and organizer, but also as a just God who is undepictable by human intelligence." The religion also includes belief in

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

beings, including

genies Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

, sacred

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s, and the black

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

, the master of darkness. By 2009, increasing numbers of Fali were

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

although many converts maintain syncretic beliefs. The total population of Fali is over 250,000 people, with 99 percent being

(in Nigeria) and the remainder being Muslims and traditional believers. The dominant churches in Fali Land are Catholic, Baptist and EYN with few Pentecostal churches coming up in recent days.

References

{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Cameroon Ethnic groups in Nigeria