Tikar people

The Tikar (also Tikari, Tika, Tikali, Tige, Tigare and Tigre) are a Central African people who inhabit the Adamawa Region and Northwest Region of Cameroon. They are known as great artists, artisans and storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some oral traditions trace the origin of the Tikar people to Northern Nigeria, the Sudanian savanna, or the Sudan. Such ethnic groups were referred to in the 1969 official statistics as "Semi-Bantus" and "Sudanese Negroes." They speak a Northern Bantoid language called Tikar. One of the few African ethnic groups to practice a monotheistic traditional religion, the Tikar refer to God the Creator by the name Nyuy.They also have an extensive spiritual system of ancestral reverence.

The current population of the Tikar in Cameroon is approximately 170,000. This is a vast difference from other enslaved and trafficked ethnic groups such as the Kirdi, who still number around 15 million people. This could be due to the high number of Tikar people who were kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Americas. The Bamum people and other ethnic groups have also asserted their link to the Tikar people through Tikar rulers in the Kingdom of Bamum. However, the Kom, Nso, Bamum, Ndop-Bamunka and Bafut peoples are the only ethnic groups who anthropologists and historians believe have a legitimate claim to Tikar lineage.  

There are currently six adjoining Tikar kingdoms: Bankim (Kimi), Ngambé-Tikar, Kong (Nkong/Boikouong), Nditam (Bandam), Ngoumé, and Gâ (Ntchi). The boundaries of these kingdoms have remained since German colonizers arrived in Cameroon.

Etymology 
During the reign of Sultan Njoya, ruler of the Kingdom of Bamum, French missionary and translator Henri Martin documented that the Bamum people translated the word Tikar as "those who wander."

History

Tikar is an ethnonym used for a variety of different groups in Cameroon. They all descend from the Tikar who live in on the Tikar Plain in the Adamawa Region. The main Tikar towns are Bankim, Ngambe Tikar, and Magba. In the Bamenda Grassfields, those who claim Tikar origin include Nso, Kom, Bum,Bafut, Oku, Mbiame, Wiya, Tang, War, Mbot, Mbem, Fungom, Weh, Mmen, Bamunka, Babungo, Bamessi, Bamessing, Bambalang, Bamali, Bafanji, Baba (Papiakum), Bangola, Big Babanki, Babanki Tungo, Nkwen, Bambili and Bambui.

The Bamum people and other ethnic groups have also asserted their link to the Tikar people through Tikar rulers in the Kingdom of Bamum. According to Molefi Kente Asante, the "Bamun and the Tikar are known as great artists creating enormous sculptures of bronze and beads. In many ways, the flow of the culture between the Tikar and the Bamun is one that has enriched both groups. The Bamun essentially adopted many words from the Tikar language. They also adopted words from other people, including the Bafanji, Bamali, and Bambalang."Anthropologists have identified similar cultural elements among the Tikar and Bamum E. M. Chilver and Phyllis Mary Kaberry concluded that some smaller groups in the Grassfields claims of Tikar ancestry as a political tribute. Small communities of Hausa peoples in Cameroon also identify as Tikar.

The majority of oral traditions trace the origin of the Tikar people to the Nile River Valley in present-day Sudan.Some sources further state that the ancestors of the Tikar migrated from Kingdom of Kush. 

According to Mbum oral tradition, after entering and settling the Far North Region of Cameroon, the Mbum ancestors of the Tikar people were ruled by Belaka Nya Sana'a who rose from a royal lineage that begot Took Gokor. The ancestors of Nya Sana'a migrated into the Lake Tchad Basin region of Cameroon from the Nile Basin in Sudan. 

Another Mbum Fon (or king) and Yesum/Yelaa (or queen consort) are said to have founded the Kingdom of Nganha. Their daughter, Princess Wou-Ten (also called Betaka or Belaka), left her parents' kingdom and traveled to the Adamawa Region, where she founded the Kingdom of Tinkala, the first official Tikar fondom, or dynasty. She is believed to have ruled the Tikar people as Fon from 1201-1246. 

In the late 14th century, two Tikar brothers, Tinki and Guié, established two autonomous Tikar kingdoms: the Kingdom of Bankim (also called Kimi) at Rifum and the Kingdom of Ngambé-Tikar, respectively. From their lineage, Tikar princes and a princess are believed to have journeyed out of Bankim to create legacies of their own in two great migrations. In the first wave: Prince Ncharé (also called Njáré) founded the Kingdom of Bamum; Prince Doundje founded the Kingdom of Nditam (also called Bandam) and ruled with Queen Mother Nduingnyi; Prince Kpo left Nditam and founded the Kingdom of Ngoumé; Prince G'Batteu founded the Kingdom of Gâ; and Princess N'Gouen (also called Nguonso) founded the Kingdom of Nso (also called Banso). In the second wave, Prince Mbli left Bankim and founded the Kingdom of Kong. Prince Indie and Prince Ouhin also ventured out of Bankim, and settled to the south at We and Ina, respectively. However, their villages never fully developed into kingdoms.

The majority of the Tikar people would later be kidnapped by Chamba and Fulani traffickers in the 18th and 19th centuries, who were envious of the Tikar's thriving trade deals through iron-working and mask-making. While many enslaved Cameroonians and Nigerians were shipped from the Bight of Biafra, many Tikar and Duala were sold up the river to Sierra Leona and down to Angola, where they were then sold into slavery and forcibly transported to the Americas in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Records show that the Tikar accounted for most of the stolen Cameroonians disembarking on ships for the Americas, leading to the drastic decline of the Tikar ethnic group on the African continent. The remaining Tikar kept an oral account of the history and did what they could to keep Tikar traditions alive.

Geography 
There are currently six adjoining Tikar kingdoms: Bankim (Kimi), Ngambé-Tikar, Kong, Nditam (Bandam), Ngoumé, and Gâ. The boundaries of these kingdoms have remained since German colonizers arrived in Cameroon. Today, the Tikar people inhabit the Adamawa Region and certain regions of Bamenda Province. The Northwest is composed of the Fungum, Bum, and Kom. The Northeast is composed of Mbem, Mbaw, Wiya, War and Tang. The Southeast is composed of Banso (Nsaw), Ndop and Bafut.

Language 
The Tikar people speak a Northern Bantoid, semi-Bantu language called Tikar, which is hypothesized to be a divergent language in the Niger-Congo language family. The Tikar language (also called Tigé, Tigré or Tikari) has four regional dialects, including Túmú, which spoken in Bankim and Nditam. Linguist Roger Blench stated that the Tikar language and other Bantuoid languages belong to a branch of the Niger-Congo family related to but distinct from Bantu, and do not have a classical Bantu noun-class system.

Genetics 

Genetic testing found that many Tikar belong to Haplogroup L3e, which is prevalent in Central and North Africa. Haplogroup L2a1* was also found amongst Central African people, including the Tikar people of Cameroon and the Bubi people of Bioko Island. 

A 2010 study showed that the Tikar are a genetic outlier to peoples of Nigeria's Cross River region, Igboland and Ghana, showing significant differences. Similarly, a 2023 study found that self-identified Tikar who live in the Adamawa region and speak the Tikar language belong to a different genetic cluster than the self-identified Tikar who live amongst other Grassfields ethnic groups and don't speak the Tikar language. It concluded that persons from Cameroon and Sudan "showed the greatest reduction in genetic similarity with distance, which remained even after only comparing people belonging to the same ethnic group." It also lists ancestral components from Northeast, Western and Central Africa that contributed to the ancestry of Grassfields populations in Cameroon. 

The same study found Tikar-related genetic variations amongst the Bakongo people of Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kikuyu people of Kenya, and the Himba people and Damara people of Namibia. 

Through DNA testing with African Ancestry, Inc., founded by geneticist Dr. Rick Kittles and entrepreneur Dr. Gina Paige, people of African descent across the United States, South America and the Caribbean have been able to trace their lineages to the Tikar people of Cameroon. Genetic testing showed that the descendants of these stolen people of the Tikar-Bamileke-Pygmy cluster translocated the mtdna Haplogroup L3 to the Americas when they were forcibly taken. As a result, L3 is fairly common in the region today.

Culture 

The Tikar are an artistically and culturally significant people. The design of Toghu and Ndop cloth print became a cultural marker of the Tikar and Grassfields peoples, creating a unique style that made them easily distinguishable from other peoples outside of the region. This intricate design is still used today for clothing, architecture, art and to demarcate royal ritual spaces.

Artistry 
The Tikar are renowned for their highly detailed masks. Their artistry put the Tikar people at the center of trade and politics in Cameroon and made them a force to reckoned with in the eyes of neighboring ethnic groups, especially considering they are thought to be the only people in the region who were skilled in iron-working. Their masks are often characterized by their strongly-defined noses and large eyes. They are also known for their beautifully decorated brass pipes. Along with the Bamileke people, the Tikar are also known for their intricate elephant masks, which became renowned in the town Bali. 

Tikar horns and trumpets play a significant role in spiritual and cultural ceremonies with each design being purposefully sculpted for a specific event. The same can be said for elaborate grassland palaces, which feature hand-carved pillars supporting the roof overhangs, an ensemble of door posts, lintels and sills framing the entrance, as well as the interior doorways facing the open courtyards.

Cultural beliefs 
Surrounded by great grasslands, the Tikar people developed a unique understanding of nature and performed planting rituals to bless seeds and work implements. Other ethnic groups in the region were known to offer animal sacrifices when it was time to plant.

The Tikar also had their own cultural beliefs regarding birthing. It was once believed that during pregnancy, the blood that the woman would normally release during menstruation forms parts of the fetus. This blood was said to form the skin, blood, flesh and most of the organs. The bones, brain, heart and teeth were believed to be formed from the father's sperm. In the case of a son, the masculinity also came from this.

Spirituality 
The Tikar people predominantly practice Christianity today. However, there are a small number who practice traditional religions and Islam. Despite the differences between the spiritual practices, the Tikar are known to refer to God the Creator as Nyuy, and the Bamileke people refer to Nyuy as Si. Both groups, along with the other peoples of the Grasslands, believe God requires them to reverence their lineage ancestors. This is pivotal to their spirituality; as they traditionally believed their ancestral spirits were embodied in the skulls of the deceased ancestors and still present. "The skulls are in the possession of the eldest living male in each lineage, and all members of an extended family recognize the same skulls as belonging to their group. When a family decides to relocate, a dwelling, which must be first purified by a diviner, is built to house the skulls in the new location. Although not all of the ancestral skulls are in the possession of a family, they are not forgotten. These spirits have nowhere to reside, though, and may as a result cause trouble for the family. To compensate when a man's skull is not preserved, a family member must undergo a ceremony involving pouring libations into the ground. Earth gathered from the site of that offering then comes to represent the skull of the deceased. Respect is also paid to female skulls, although detail about such practices is largely unrecorded." -Molefi Kete AsanteMuch of Tikar oral tradition speaks of their journey to flee the spread of Islam. After they settled in Cameroon, the Tikar people soon found themselves fleeing northern Cameroon for Adamawa to avoid forced-conversion to by Muslim Fulani invaders, who moved southward into Cameroon to take advantage of the lucrative, west-central trade route. The Tikar then migrated southward to what would become known as the city of Foumban in Northwest Cameroon. Once the Fulani followed to the south, war began, forcing some ethnic groups to flee yet again. Others, like the Bamun, remained, hoping to resist Islam. The Fulani conquest was brief and did not result in Islamization, although this faith was accepted by a later Bamum ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Mbouombouo Njoya, in the early 20th century. This created the division between the Bamum and Bafia people.

Notable people of direct Tikar descent
 Chinyelu Asher, Cameroon-Jamaican-American footballer
 Gaetan Bong, Cameroonian footballer
 Pierre Boya, Cameroonian footballer
 Justin Che, Cameroonian-American footballer
 Joel Embiid, Cameroonian basketball player
 Wilfrid Kaptoum, Cameroonian footballer
 Bryang Kayo, Cameroonian-American footballer
 Daniel N'Gom Kome, Cameroonian footballer
 Yaphet Kotto, Cameroonian-American actor
 Privat Mbarga, Cameroonian footballer
 Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
 Thomas N'Kono, Cameroonian footballer
 Louis Ngwat-Mahop, Cameroonian footballer
 Joakim Noah, American basketball player
 Zacharie Noah, Cameroonian footballer
 Dimitri Oberlin, Cameroonian-Swiss footballer
 André Onana, Cameroonian footballer
Jordan Siebatcheu, Cameroonian-American footballer
 Stéphane Zobo, Cameroonian footballer.
 Tony Tchani
 Ndamukong Suh

Notable people of Tikar descent in the Americas
Anthony Anderson, American actor, comedian, writer, and game show host
Jasmyne Cannick, American journalist
Don Cheadle, American actor, author, director, producer and writer
Ebro Darden, American media executive and radio personality
Quincy Jones, American music producer
Spike Lee, American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and professor
Flying Lotus, American hip hop producer
Ivano Newbill, American NBA and European Basketball Player
Papoose, American rapper
Sheryl Lee Ralph, American actress, singer, author, and activist
Condoleezza Rice, American diplomat, political scientist, civil servant, and professor who served as the 66th United States Secretary of State
Sinbad, American stand-up comedian and actor
Tasha Smith, American actress, director and producer
Wanda Sykes, American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer
Blair Underwood, American actor
Vanessa A Williams, American actress and producer

References

External links 
Tikar entry at Ethnologue site
Article about Bamenda and Tikar

 
Ethnic groups in Cameroon
Semi-Bantu
History of Central Africa