Introduction and History
The Gwandara is one of the Plateau Chadic-speaking peoples of Nigeria, living mainly in the Akwaja, Lafia, Keffi, and Nassarawa divisions of what was Plateau Province. In 1996, Nasawara state was created and it includes those divisions where the Gwandara live. Traditionally, they were grouped with the Hausa people as inhabitants of the city of Kano.
Gwandara history relates that Islam was introduced into Kano in the fourteenth century. However, Gwandara, the younger brother of the ruling chief refused to convert to Islam. After a warning by the chief to convert or be enslaved, Gwandara took his followers and travelled southward to Gwagwa. Subsequent Muslim attacks led to yet another dispersion farther south.
Read more about Ethnic Groups in Nigeria
The Gwandara finally settled in the Jukun territory during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Jukun had become a type of refugee zone for diverse peoples also fleeing their communities for various reasons, with the Gwandara dominating politically in the region for many years.
The Lifestyle Patterns of the Gwandara People
The Gwandara have lived in close contact with diverse ethnic groups in the Benue basin region and culturally resemble both the Gwari and Yeskwa peoples. They often inter-marry with the Yeskwa, however, their dances and religion are similar to those of the Arago.
Most Gwandara are subsistence farmers with their farms located in the bush outside of their villages. Huts are built in a circle to form the compound that houses an extended family. There is only one entrance into each compound because each hut is connected to the next by a corn bin or granary. Each village has a chief who is responsible for handling village affairs and settling disputes.
Gwandara men usually wear Hausa-style gowns. Most women wear clothes, although some wear loose strings around their hips with bundles of leaves hanging in front and in back.
Palm oil is important to the Gwandara because of its many uses. Therefore, a fair amount of it is obtained and kept in each village or sold in markets. Another major product sold in the market is mats (each mat takes four days to make). Beer and tobacco are both important in Gwandara life, however, most Gwandara neither smoke pipes nor drink in excess, like some other groups in this part of Africa.
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Young Gwandara men work on their fathers’ farms until they marry, which is usually around age seventeen or older. Girls are betrothed as young children, but before reaching marriageable age, they have the right to break off the engagement, in which case the bride price is returned to the suitor.
Ritual dances are an important aspect of the Gwandara society. One dance is the “good and evil” dance. Old men sit in a circle and the personification of the spirits of good and evil – concealed under a long sack and wearing a high conical hat – whirl around them. Stepping to the beat of a drum, he tells the elders to get up and follow him. When the personified spirit dances, they all dance, and if anyone is struck by the knob that hangs from the spirit’s hat, evil is believed to surely befall him or his family. Another similar circular step-dance called “joy” is also practised. The rhythm for this dance is made by the ornaments worn on the arms and legs of the dancers.
The Belief System of the Gwandara People
Among the Gwandara, one supreme god is worshipped and goats and sheep are sacrificed to it. Other lesser gods for each village are also worshipped, usually in open circular spaces inside groves approached through avenues of palms. Each village has two temples, which are essentially mud huts containing the village god.
Many Gwandara believes that they possess the power to turn themselves into hyenas, which supposedly respects the Gwandara.
Sources:
Joshuaproject
Ethnologue
Wikipedia
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