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Concept
Tammari people
Summary
The Tammari people, or Batammariba, or Tamberma or Somba also known as Otamari or Ottamari, are an Oti–Volta-speaking people of the Atakora Department of Benin where they are also known as Somba and neighboring areas of Togo, where they are officially known as Ta(m)berma. They are famous for their two-story fortified houses, known as Tata Somba ("Somba house"), in which the ground floor houses livestock at night, internal alcoves are used for cooking, and the upper floor contains a rooftop courtyard that is used for drying grain, as well as containing sleeping quarters and granaries. These evolved by adding an enclosing roof to the clusters of huts, joined by a connecting wall that is typical of Gur-speaking areas of West Africa.
The Tammari are mostly animists. Tammari language is in the Gur family.
The Batammariba are agronomic herdsmen who inhabit the hills and valleys. Being clannish by nature, they oppose any form of domination and servitude.
Historical research has traced their migration from diverse regions, settling in small groups, while preserving their societal practices of origin. The Batammariba tribe doesn't form a homogeneous society, but Batammariba language is a strong common link and despite disparities in ceremonial practices, all Tammari affirm allegiance as "Serpent Children". They believe they are the offspring of a grand, invisible, underground "Serpent Mother" who bore the first eggs of their ancestors.
Today, Tammari are especially found in towns such as Nikki and Kandi that were once Bariba kingdoms and in Parakou in mid-eastern Benin. However, there is also a significant population of them in northwest Benin in the Atacora region in cities such as Natitingou and a number of villages. Many in the northwest have migrated to the east.
The name Batammariba (or Batammaliba) means "those who are the real architects of the earth".
After years (or maybe centuries) of wandering, the Batammariba settled in the valleys, a way of existence they preferred to their former history of conflict with law-imposing warlords and chieftains.
Official source
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