Mumuye

The Mumuye live mainly in Taraba State, particularly in Zing, Jalingo, Yorro, Gassol and surrounding local government areas along the Benue valley. They are one of the larger ethnic groups in Taraba and are known internationally for a distinctive tradition of carved wooden figures, once used in divination and healing rites, which are now held in museum and private collections around the world. Traditional Mumuye society was organised in a highly decentralised way, without an overarching kingship, with authority instead distributed among lineage heads, ritual specialists and, in some areas, a figure known as the karagbe or similar titled elder associated with particular ritual functions. Farming, especially of guinea corn, millet and groundnuts, has long formed the economic base of Mumuye communities. Most Mumuye today are Christian, reflecting twentieth-century mission activity in the middle Benue region, alongside a Muslim minority and continuing traditional practice.

Mumuye oral traditions and available scholarship describe a long history of settlement in the middle Benue valley organised around numerous small, largely autonomous village communities rather than a unified state, a pattern that made the Mumuye less politically centralised than some neighbouring groups such as the Jukun. Published historical detail specific to Mumuye origins is limited, and this section is kept concise rather than speculative about matters not clearly documented.

Mumuye society was traditionally highly decentralised, with authority distributed among lineage and clan elders at village level rather than concentrated in an overarching king. Ritual specialists held important social roles, including in the carving and use of the wooden figures associated with divination and healing for which Mumuye art is known. Patrilineal descent and extended family compounds underpin household organisation.

Traditional Mumuye religion includes belief in a supreme being alongside ancestral and nature spirits, historically engaged through ritual specialists using carved wooden figures in divination and healing practices. These traditional practices continue among some Mumuye today, generally alongside the Christianity now professed by much of the community.

Mumuye carved wooden figures, used historically in healing and divination, are recognised internationally as a distinctive West African art tradition and are held in major museum collections. Farming cooperation among age-based groups remains part of rural community life, and traditional marriage involves negotiation between families and payment of bride wealth.