Tenda is a group of kindred peoples living in the northwest of Guinea in the Yukunkun region, bordering Senegal and Guinea-Bissau . The people of the Tenda group include the Tenda and Tenda-Boeni , Tanda , Badyaranka , Cognac , Bassari , Bapen , Bedik , Boin , Banun . According to estimates for the 90s, the number of this ethnic group was about 70 thousand people. The peoples speak the languages of the tenta of the West Atlantic group of a Nigero-Kordofan family.
| Tenda | |
|---|---|
| Abundance and area | |
 Guinea | |
| Tongue | Tenda |
| Religion | Islam , traditional beliefs |
Content
Origin
The origin of the peoples of the Tenda group was the result of mixed marriages taking place in the XIV century between the Mandingo and Fula groups on the one hand and the Bassari , Cognagi and Bajaran groups on the other. [1] .
Religion
Part of the Tenda are Sunni Islam. However, traditional animistic beliefs persist, such as ancestral cults, the spirits of rain, water, and earth.
Language
The nations speak the language of tenta. Tenda belongs to the Bantu Bangal group.
Traditional Business Activities
Agriculture
Tenda are mainly engaged in manual shifting. Such crops as sudohol rice, corn, peanuts, millet, yams, fonio, manioc , sweet potatoes are grown. Part of the tende is engaged in animal husbandry, breeds small, less often - cattle. In the past, hunting has been developed, in the Badiaranka - beekeeping.
Handicrafts
Tenda also do crafts. The most developed pottery craft, wood carving, making woven masks.
Traditional Life
Traditional Housing
Tenda live in compact settlements in cylindrical dwellings with a conical roof.
Traditional food
Porridge and broths, seasoned with vegetable oil, spices, and vegetables prevail in the diet.
Marriage
Tenda live in large families with tribal divisions. Patrilineal genera and lineages are common. Marriage is virilokalny.
Tenda in Senegal
At the time of the colonial dependence of Senegal, the Tenda and the Bassari, together with the Fulbe and the Mandinkas, were united into one district around Kedoga. [2] .
Scientists on Tenda
In 1978, an international colloquium on Traditions and Changes in the Tendan peoples was held, in which more than 40 specialists took part, including from France, Canada and the USA. The researchers discussed the result of fundamental sociocultural changes, the causes of which were migration to cities, Islamization, and others. It was noted that there is a constantly growing danger to the traditional way of life due to various types of environmental degradation, as well as due to the introduction of a modern monetary economy and some other technical innovations. A number of medical issues were discussed. Scientists were interested in how changes in peoples can affect the structure of the incidence. Of particular interest were dietary changes, changes in social behavior and migration. [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Walter Rodney. Upper Guinea and The Signs of the Origins of Africans in the New World // The Journal of Negro History. Vol. 54. No. 4 (Oct., 1969). P 334
- ↑ Riall W. Nolan. Tradition and Change Among the Tenda Peoples // Current Anthropology. Vol. 20. No. 2 (Jun., 1979). P 449.
- ↑ David Robinson. Ethnography and the Law in Senegal (Ethnographie et droit coutumier au Senegal) // Cahiers d'Études Africaines. Vol. 32. No. 126 (1992). P 230
Literature
- Andrianov B.V. Tenda // Peoples and Religions of the World / Chapters. ed. V.A. Tishkov . M .: The Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1999. p. 525
- David Robinson. Ethnography and the Law in Senegal (Ethnographie et droit coutumier au Senegal // Cahiers d'Études Africaines. Vol. 32. No. 126 (1992). P 230.
- Riall W. Nolan. Tradition and Change Among the Tenda Peoples // Current Anthropology. Vol. 20. No. 2 (Jun., 1979). P 449.
- Walter Rodney. Upper Guinea and The Signs of the Origins of Africans in the New World // The Journal of Negro History. Vol. 54. No. 4 (Oct., 1969). P 334