Tarok people
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Tarok is an
agrarian society An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture ...
in the hills and on the plains southeast of
Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
,
Middle Belt The Middle Belt (also spelt Middle-Belt or Central Nigeria) is a term used in human geography to designate a belt region stretching across central Nigeria longitudinally and forming a transition zone between Northern and Southern Nigeria. It is ...
,
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 ...
.


The Tarok People

The Tarok people call themselves oTárók, their language iTárók and their land ìTàrók . They are found principally in Langtang-North, Langtang-South, Wase, Mikang and Kanke Local Government Areas (LGAs) of
Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
in Central
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 ...
. Their main town of
Langtang Langtang valley is a Himalayan valley in the mountains of north-central Nepal, known for its trekking routes and natural environment. Administrative The Langtang valley lies in the Rasuwa district of the Bagmati Province in Nepal. Situ ...
is located about 186 kilometres south-east of Jos, the state capital . They are also found in large numbers in
Shendam Shendam is a Local Government Area in Plateau State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Shendam. It is bordered by Ibi Taraba State to the south, Qua'an Pan to the east, Pankshin to the north, and Mikang to the west. Shendam town is ...
, Qua'an-Pan, Kanam, Pankshin LGAs and some part of Tafawa Balewa LGA of Bauchi state the Sur (Tapshin) . Scattered in
Nasarawa Nasarawa is a Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Nasarawa, located at 8°32'N 7°42'E, with a population of 30,949 (as of 2016). The local government area has an area of 5,704 km and a populat ...
and
Taraba Taraba can refer to: * Taraba State * Taraba River The Taraba River is a river in Taraba State, Nigeria, a tributary of the Benue River. It joins the Benue on a floodplain 10 km wide and 50 km across. The major towns along the River Tar ...
states are Tarok farming communities . The people have been described to some extent in anthropological and ethnographical works by Fitzpatrick (1910),
Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and works ...
, Lamle (1995), Famwang and Longtau (1997) . The oTárók is an amalgamation of various peoples who now form a more or less ‘homogeneous’ group . The constituents were of Pe, Ngas, Jukun, Boghom, Tel ( Montol ) and probably Tal origins, while others still remain obscure or unknown . The culture at a micro level portrays this admixture of peoples of the Tarok nation. The focus here is a description of their language .


Name of the Language

In the literature, other names have been used for Tarok as Appa, Yergam and its variants of Yergum and Yergem . The name Tarok itself has been wrongly spelt by some as Taroh. The name Appa on the other hand is used by the Jukun to refer to oTarok as a friendship term . These fresh insights are pointing to a conclusion that Tarok was a nickname given to the Tal/Ngas immigrants. The name of the original group is lost and has been replaced by the nickname . The term Pe-Tarok refers to the people who first spoke the original form of the language called Tarok today the mismatch notwithstanding . The origins of the peoples may be a knotty topic, but it is clear that Proto-Tarok is the parent of the language which is known as Tarok today (whatever might have been their original name).


Tarok in a sea of Chadic languages

Longtau described Tarok as one of the
Benue–Congo languages Benue–Congo (sometimes called East Benue–Congo) is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Subdivisions Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains the Plateau, Jukunoid and Kainji families, and Banto ...
which is almost completely submerged in a sea of Chadic languages . These languages include Ngas, Tel, Boghom,
Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...
/
Fulfulde Fula ,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani or Fulah (, , ; Adlam: , , ), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 30 million people as a set of various dialects in a continuum that st ...
and Yiwom . Its non-Chadic neighbours are Pe, Jukun-Wase and Yangkam. Tarok has spread considerably in the twentieth century and it now borders Wapan in the South-East . The Chadic languages belong to a different language family called
Afroasiatic The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
. Longtau explained that Tarok had settled in their present abode long before the Eastern and Southward movements of Boghom and Ngas respectively.


Tarok History

Nankap Elias Lamle (2001) an anthropologist lecturing at the University of Jos in Nigeria stated that in the early twentieth century people from other ethnic groups such as Tal, Ngas, Jukun, Tel (Montol/Dwal) and Yiwom (Gerkawa) migrated and settled together with the initial Timwat and Funyallang clans. People from these ethnic groups came as migrants labour workers. The Timwat and Funyallang people gave them land to settle in Tarokland after they have served the former. Colonialism and Christianity came into Tarokland by 1904 (Lamle 1995). The initial inhabitants could not trust the missionaries and colonialists as such did not encourage their people to join them. with the introduction of modernism the later migrants to Tarokland used their connections to the missionaries and colonialists to acquire western education and join the army. Today these latter migrants are at the helm of affairs in Nigeria as such tries to use their influence to change history ( cf. Lamle 2005). Furthermore, Lamle asserted that the framework of Tarok migration supports the assertion above and is based on the fact that the Tarok language is part of the Benue–Congo language family. However, other peoples of the Chadic language family, such as the Ngas, Boghom, Tel (Montol) and Yiwom, shifted to the Benue–Congo family and are given full status as Tarok (Lamle 1998). Also the Jukun, who speak languages of the Benue–Congo family, joined the Tarok. What is called the Tarok people are actually a mixture of many ethno-linguistic groups (Lamle 2008).


Culture

The Tarok people have an
ancestral 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 wh ...
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
which retains considerable prestige and importance, despite major inroads of Christianity into the area. The ancestors, orìm, are represented by initiated males and post-
menopausal Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often ...
women.
Cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
activities take place in sacred groves outside almost all Tarok settlements. Orìm are mostly heard, but emerge as masked figures under some circumstances, especially for the disciplining of ‘stubborn’ women and for making prophecies. Orìm figures speak through voice disguisers in a language dotted with code words although framed in normal Tarok syntax and their utterances are interpreted by unmasked figures. Each Tarok settlement of any size has a sacred grove outside it, which is conserved as the place of the orim or ancestors. The singular form, ùrìm, is applied to a dead person or an ancestor, while orìm refers to the collective ancestors and the cult itself. Men above a certain age are allowed to enter the grove and engage with the ancestors. These inhabit the land of the dead and are thus in contact with all those who have died, including young people and children who were not admitted to the orìm. On certain nights when the ‘orìm are out’, women and children must stay in their houses. Orim can also be seen ‘dressed’, i.e. appearing as masquerades, when they engage with women through an interpreter. Surprisingly, most Tarok are
Christian 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 ...
and Langtang hosts some large churches, but the association of the orìm with power ensures that these two systems continue to coexist. Indeed, it is said that the orìm take care to visit the houses of the retired generals and other influential figures at night to cement the bonds between two very different types of power. Orìm society is graded, in the sense that there are members who are not fully initiated and so cannot be let into the inner secrets of the society. Some of the orìm vocabulary is therefore for internal concealment, that is, there are code-words among the elder members to conceal the meaning of what is being said from junior members. The main function of the orim from the external point of view is to maintain order, both spiritual and actual, within the society but also to prepare for warfare and other collective action. In practice, maintaining order seems to be about disciplining women, who are forced to cook food as a punishment for being lazy or ‘stubborn’. This category of orìm is called orìm aga., literally ‘masquerade that gives trouble’ and its speciality is to fine women. There is a special season, aga. ‘time of trouble’, for meting out fines to offenders. The orìm are also in contact with the dead and it is believed that the spirits of dead children require to be fed; hence they will request special meals from the mother of such children. Orìm also have a marriage-broking function; for example, young women tell the orìm the name of the young man they would like to marry, and they find ways of passing on the message.


The Tarok Website

The official website of the Tarok People was recently created and launched in December, 27th 2013. It was created for the purpose of promoting their culture and tradition, which will serve as a rich resource for the up-coming generation. It also serves as a means for interaction between its members and as a voice to air out their ideas. It is aimed at promoting unity through various ways among the Taroks. It was discontinued late 2014.


Prominent Tarok People

*
Domkat Bali Domkat Yah Bali (27 February 1940 – 4 December 2020) was a Nigerian army four-star general, who was Minister of Defence and Chief of Defence Staff from 1984 to 1990, and a member of the Supreme Military Council of 1984–1985, and the Armed ...
, military *
Joseph Nanven Garba Joseph Nanven Garba (17 July 1943 – 1 June 2002) was a Nigerian general, diplomat, and politician who served as president of the United Nations General Assembly from 1989 to 1990. Early life and military career Born in Langtang, Nigeria, Garba ...
, military * Dindam D. Killi, Esq,http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/the-gambia-government-loss-against-the-killing-of-deyda-hydara lawyer and activist *
Beni Lar Beni Lar born (August 12, 1967) is a politician of the People's Democratic Party from Plateau State, Nigeria. She's a member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives from Langtang North, Langtang South federal Constituency of Plateau St ...
, politician (House of Representatives) * Solomon D. Lar, chief * Daniel Lamda Bongtur, (HRH Madakin Langtang), Monarch * Victor Lar, politician (Senate) *
John Nanzip Shagaya John Nanzip Shagaya (Danburam Langtang II) (2 September 1942 – 11 February 2018) was a Nigerian senator and former military officer who was elected in April 2007 to represent the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State as member of t ...
, military *
Jeremiah Useni Jeremiah Timbut Useni (born 16 February 1943) is a retired Nigerian army lieutenant general, who served as minister responsible for the administration of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja under the Sani Abacha military junta. He served Nigeria ...
, military * Jonah Domfa Wuyep, military * Esther Bali, writer *
Sim Shagaya Sim Shagaya is a Nigerian media and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of uLesson Education Limited - an app built to make education available to learners across Africa. He is the founder and former C.E.O of one of West Africa's ...
, Businessman * Sticky Ya Bongtur, chief influencer, We Speak Tarok Campaign * Solomon Dalung, Politician (minister) * Manyil Dashe, Researcher * Reverend Canon Selchang Miner, Clergy (RTD) * Apostle Joshua Selman, Preacher.


See also

*
Langtang, Nigeria Langtang is a town and LGA in Plateau State, Nigeria. The town is located in the southern part of Plateau state and connected to Tunkus, Shendam, Kanam and Wase through paved roads. It has the local government secretariat and the Ponzhi Tarok ...
* Langtang Mafia


References

*Adive, J.R., 1989. The Verbal Piece in
Ebira The Ebira also known as Egbira people are an ethno-linguistic group of central Nigeria. Most Ebira people are from Kogi State, Nasarawa State. Until the separation of Kogi State from Kwara State, Okene was seen as the administrative centre of the ...
. Publication in Linguistics No. 85. Summer Institute of Linguistics and
University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...
. * Blench, Roger. 2021.
The language of the orim, the ancestral spirits of the Tarok of Central Nigeria
'. Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation. * Blench, Roger and Longtau, Selbut R., (in prep.). Tarok Farming in its Cultural Setting. * Blench, Roger and Longtau, Selbut R., 1995. Tarok Ophresiology: An Investigation into the Tarok Terminology of Odour. In Issues in African Languages and Linguistics. Essays in Honour of
Kay Williamson Kay Williamson (January 26, 1935, Hereford, United Kingdom – January 3, 2005, Brazil), born Ruth Margaret Williamson, was a linguist who specialised in the study of African languages, particularly those of the Niger Delta in Nigeria, where ...
, ed. by E. Nolue Emenanjo and Ozo-Mekuri Ndimele, pp. 340–344. Aba. *Lamle, E. N. Corporeality and Dwelling Spaces in Tarokland. Journal of Tarok studies: Nigerian Bible Translation Trust. Jos (Vol. 1 No 1 2005) pp 23 *Lamle, E. N. (1995). Cultural Revival and Church Planting: A Nigerian Case study. Jos: CAPRO Media *Lamle, E. N. (2000). The Light Shines in Their hearts: COCIN and the Gospel in Tarokland. Jos: Crossroads Communication. *Lamle, E. N., (1998). The Essentials of Traditional Education in Nigeria: A Case Study of the Tarok people. Jos: Crossroads Communications *Lamle. E. N. Origin, Origin, Migration and Clan Structure of the Tarok People: Tree in the Forest Mandyeng: Journal of Central Nigeria Studies (pp 25–56 forthcoming) *Roger Blench (1995c) with S. Longtau, Tarok Ophresiology. pp. 340–344 in Issues in African Languages and Linguistics: Essays in Honour of Kay Williamson. Emenanjọ, E.N. and Ndimele, O-M. eds. Aba, National Institute for Nigerian Languages. *Kyanship and Kinship among the Tarok, by M. G. Smith and Mary F. Smith © 1990
Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...
. *Tarok Language Committee, 1980. Re i nyi iTarok. et’s Learn Tarok, An Alphabet BookletTarok Language Committee, Langtang. *Prof. Mary Lar, 1983. Nkuń ki iTarok 3. (Tarok Reader 3), Tarok Language Committee,
Langtang Langtang valley is a Himalayan valley in the mountains of north-central Nepal, known for its trekking routes and natural environment. Administrative The Langtang valley lies in the Rasuwa district of the Bagmati Province in Nepal. Situ ...
. *Prof. Mary Lar, and Longtau, S.R., 1985. Tarok Teachers' Notes for Reader 1, 2, and 3. Tarok Language Committee, Langtang. *Prof. Mary Lar, et al. 1994. A Trilingual Tarok Dictionary. Nigeria Bible Translation Trust, Jos. *
Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and works ...
and Longtau, S.R. (in prep). Tarok Adjectives 1: Morphology. *Cooper, R.H., 1933. Wasika A Yohanna Ga Ngisi. The Langtang Church, S.U.M. *Crozier, D.H. and
Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and works ...
1992. An Index of Nigerian Languages. Summer Institute of Linguistics Dallas. Tarok Related Publications by Selbut Longtau, and together with others, October 2013 http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/the-gambia-government-loss-against-the-killing-of-deyda-hydara


External links


Tarok Website
{{authority control Ethnic groups in Nigeria