The religious beliefs of the Mambila also serve to integrate the hamlet and the village. No names of ancestors are called during the rites. It would be appear to the observer that residents whose ancestors were unknown would not believe that they were benefiting from the ritual, and this would tend to divide the community if some resident's ancestors names were called and others not. The Mambila look upon the ancestors of all the residents as being one collective group in the same way as they conceptualise the residents of the local unit, whether it be a hamlet or a village. The importance of ritual in the integration of the local community is due to the fact, as we have said earlier, that all local groups are comparatively fluid.
People come and go for both immigration and emigration are easy.
A fairly large proportion of the male inhabitants of the hamlet have spent the major part of their lives there, but a certain number may have come after reaching adulthood. Such men have not developed the habits of co-operation with other members of the local group which are of such major importance for the welfare of that group.