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Craft Work in Bida

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2012

Extract

According to the last census (1952) the population of Bida, capital of the Emirate of the same name in Niger Province, Nigeria, is about 26,000, of which some 2,000 are listed as craftsmen. But many Bida men described in the census as having other occupations, most women, and many children are to some extent craft-workers, either part-time or spasmodic, often skilled in several crafts.

Résumé

LES MÉTIERS MANUELS À BIDA

Quelques 2.000 habitants de Bida, dans la Nigéria Septentrionale, ont été classés comme travailleurs manuels et artisans par le recensement de 1952, sur une population totale de 26.000, mais un nombre important d'hommes non compris dans ce chiffre, la majorité des femmes et de nombreux enfants pratiquent un métier à mi-temps et sont souvent qualifiés pour plusieurs emplois.

Au milieu du dix-neuvième siècle, Bida est devenu le siège d'expéditions militaires et de racolages d'esdaves qui avaient besoin d'armes de guerre, Étant donné l'accroissement de la population, la demande considérable en logements et en outils agricoles et domestiques, des ouvriers de métier ont été encouragés à venir à Bida pour augmenter le nombre restreint de ceux qui y étaient déjà. Lors de l'occupation britannique, au début du siècle actuel, la demande pour des armes diminuait et le maintien d'un état de paix provoquait un changement dans les genres d'articles fabriqués. En outre, une importation considérable de marchandises en provenance d'autres régions du pays et de l'étranger eut lieu. Les dirigeants Fulani encourageaient les ouvriers qualifiés à s'organiser en corps de métier, afin de faciliter la production efficace. La plupart des corps de métier ont un chef, qui a un titre distinctif, et un conseil d'aînés. Les titres de chef de corps de métier sont souvent héréditaires au sein d'une famille donnée et normalement sont gardés à vie. Le choix du chef de corps de métier et du conseil est confirmé par l'Etsu Nupe (Emir de Bida). La fonction des corps de métier et de leurs chefs est de recevoir des commandes pour des produits, de répartir le travail et de prendre des dispositions pour l'approvisionnement. Les membres expérimentés instruisent les jeunes dans les techniques des métiers; au cas où aucun corps de métier n'existe, les fils prennent la suite de leur père. Certains corps de métier reçoivent des nouveaux membres ou des apprentis en dehors des families, mais normalement on devient membre par naissance.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1960

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References

page 51 note 1 This study amplifies and supplements the account of Bida crafts by the late Dr.Nadel, S. F. (A Black Byzantium, the Kingdom of Nupe in Nigeria, Oxford University Press, London, 1942)Google Scholar, who, in a letter to the author, described Bida as his ‘first love ’.

page 51 note 1 The new-comers were, in the main, Nupe, and in many cases had been previously established as craftworkers in and near Raba, the headquarters of the old Nupe royal family; but there were also Yoruba, Fulani, Hausa, and recently Ibo, more Hausa, and more Yoruba craftsmen who have come to Bida.

page 52 note 1 A new guild-head is ceremonially ‘turbaned ’ in the presence of the Etsu Nupe, after which there is a procession through the town and a night of feasting, drumming, singing, and dancing (among the members of that guild).

page 52 note 2 Parinari curatellaefolia is the local wood most commonly used.

page 52 note 3 Jipa and Petu.

page 52 note 4 Both groups of articles have been and continue to be made; it is the amount of the production of the two groups which has reversed itself.

page 53 note 1 Decoration is by twin-pointed iron nails, beaten by oblong pieces of metal against the outer surfaces, drawing traditional designs and Arabic writing.

page 54 note 1 The chief carpenter in the Bida Native Administration Works Department has a fairly recently created title (1955); he is rich compared with the Bagba, his own guild head, but at present does not rival him in prestige. Many of the younger men of the guild are more inclined to follow the example of this chief carpenter (whose work is of the European type) because of increasing demand and the likelihood of greater financial gain.

page 54 note 2 Canoes are all made from a single tree-trunk, usually Chlorophora excelsa.

page 55 note 1 Hand embroiderers usually work in the entrance houses of their compounds and display nothing publicly for sale, much of the work (with the exception of caps) being on special order.

page 56 note 1 Vigna sinensis.

page 56 note 2 Sorghum vulgare.

page 56 note 3 Hyophoene Thebaica.

page 56 note 4 Particularly popular with the nearby nomadic cattle-herding Fulani. The decorations are put on by the leatherworkers.

page 57 note 1 One of the better-known families in which basketmaking of this sort is done is that of the Maga Yaki, a warrior title, where this craft has been turned to in order to earn a living after the cessation of armed local combat.

page 57 note 2 When Bida became the headquarters of the Emirate, blind men, of any tribe, who came there were encouraged to settle and engage in rope-making to help support themselves (as an adjunct to begging), and their descendants have continued to make rope.

page 57 note 3 Hibiscus cannabinus.

page 57 note 4 Vigna sinensis.

page 57 note 5 Adansonia digitata.

page 58 note 1 In the Masaga quarter pottery-making wives of the glassworkers often employ a mould that is rotated on sand while the clay is spread and smoothed.

page 58 note 2 Parkia filicoidea.

page 58 note 3 In which a wick burns on shea-nut oil.