(Fr. République du Niger).
Country in West Africa. It has a total area of 1,186,408 km2, and a population of 10·8 million (2000 estimate). Like its neighbour Mali, Niger is situated between Arab cultures to the north and sub-Saharan African to the south. A sovereign state since 1960, Niger is historically, linguistically and culturally diverse and is far from possessing a unified national identity.
Four languages with subdialects are spoken, each belonging to one of the major African language families: Hausa, Songai-Dyerma (Songhai-Dyerma), Tamajeq (Tamachek) and Fulfulde. There are at least four major population groups – Hausa, Songai-Dyerma, Tuareg and Fula (Fulani or Fulbe) – and within each subgroups are recognized. Several minorities are also known, such as the Manga in the far south-east, who speak Hausa, but are culturally akin to the Kanuri. Also to the east of Zinder live a number of Kanuri-speaking peoples formerly known as ‘Beriberi’ (now considered a derogatory name), and small communities of Kanembu and Buduma on the shores of Lake Chad.
Despite this cultural and linguistic diversity, several factors account for a certain degree of homogeneity in the musical traditions of the country. Most of the area, from at least the 11th century, had slowly come under the homogenizing impact of Islam, even though important pockets of resistance to Islamicization continued to persist into the 19th century and even to the present. Several waves of powerful centralized states (most notably the Songai empire in the 15th–16th centuries and, to a lesser extent, the empire of Ghana in the 9th–11th centuries, the Hausa states from 1400 to 1800 and the Sokoto caliphate in the 19th century) have imposed a certain cultural uniformity and facilitated the spread of certain goods (including musical instruments) and practices associated with the ruling dynasties to the dominated groups, such as the display and glorification of chiefly power in musical performances. A third factor contributing to the cross-cultural mixing of performance styles and musical instruments is the high degree of nomadism in the area and the existence of old networks of long-distance trade linking the Guinea Coast and North Africa.
For further information on each of the four main ethnic groups see Hausa music, Songai music, Fulani music and Tuareg music.
The Hausa comprise a cluster of populations living in the southernmost strip of the country who speak Hausa and who mostly identify themselves as belonging to one of several historical centres of Hausaland, e.g. Katsinawa and Gobirawa from the kingdoms of Katsina and Gobir, respectively, Aderawa from the region of Ader etc. Others, such as the Anne of the region of Maradi, consider themselves to be in a different category because of their allegiance to cultural and religious practices predating the Fulani conquest and Islamic jihad (holy war) of 1804–11. Not strictly Hausa, but speaking the Hausa language, are a number of Arabic groups called Mauri, who live north of Dosso. Differences between these groups with regard to music are minimal and relate mostly to dance styles, lyrical content of songs and, less frequently, to musical instruments and musical structure.
An important feature of Hausa musical life is the existence of musical professionals, often incorrectly referred to as griots, who are allocated a particular position within society. Strictly speaking, even the use of the term ‘professional’ for these individuals can be misleading, since the degree of economic specialization does not always coincide with their assigned cultural role. Thus, many professional performers may actually derive most of their income from farming, while a farmer who depends on extra money earned through praise-singing will not usually be considered a professional praise-singer. Instead, Hausa think of certain forms of music-making as sana'a (a craft), a designation that refers more to certain normative social behaviour, such as particular marriage restrictions and hereditary rules, than any marked degree of economic specialization. Even the term ‘music’, in this context, can be misleading, since certain crafts may include performers of instrumental music and singers but also persons whose speciality would be more properly considered as speech-related.
Several categories of crafts involve various forms of instrumental and vocal performance corresponding more or less to Western notions of music. The most generic term for such a performer is maka'di, i.e. someone who does ki'di (drumming and, by extension, handling of any other musical instrument). Although maka'da (pl. of maka'di) occupy the lowest rank among all crafts groups, there are numerous recognizable subdivisions within the maka'da class that mirror the stratification of Hausa society. The highest-ranking maka'da are those associated with the kings and sarakuna (chiefs), followed by those performing for noma (farmers) and maka'da whose patrons are butchers, traders and yam mata (young girls). The least prestige is attached to maka'da performing for yam bori (adepts of the bori cult), prostitutes and other maka'da. All these performers seek permanent relationships with their patrons that often last for generations. Another category of performers are marok'a (sing.: marok'i). They are considered beggars who derive their income from eulogizing the rich and powerful in song and speech and who, unlike the maka'da, do not attach themselves to a particular patron.
Although the Songai language belongs to a completely different language family, Songai-Dyerma music shares many of the characteristics of Hausa music. No systematic study of it has yet been undertaken. By contrast, the holey possession cult of the hauka spirits has been the object of considerable scholarly inquiry, primarily by anthropologist Paul Stoller and film maker Jean Rouch, whose works also contain useful information on Songai-Dyerma musical performance (see §4 below).
The Fulani in Niger are part of a large group of mostly cattle-owning people distributed widely over West Africa. The origins of today's Fulani groups in Niger (e.g. Jelgoo'be) lie in Masina in contemporary Mali, from where they migrated east in the 15th century. Hence, it is with the musical traditions of the Fulani of Mali that there exist numerous similarities. Monophonic, pentatonic call-and-response singing dominates, and instrumental accompaniment frequently involves the use of a sereendu (flute), teekuluwal (reed-pipe), hand-clapping and calabash tummude (drums) or gourd rattles.
A number of nomadic groups (Wodaabe and Weweebe) collectively known as Bororro form an important subgroup of the Fulani. Although they speak Fulfulde, their social organization and culture differ substantially from those of their Fulani neighbours. Most prominent among their performance genres are dances such as ruume, yake, bamoul or lilore. Danced and sung by youths during major annual festivals such as the geerewol, these genres feature restrained leisurely movements and are characterized by call-and-response structures and the accompaniment of elaborate hand-clapping patterns.
The principal Tuareg group living in Niger is the Kal (Kel) Gress, and it has been claimed that subtle differences exist between their music and that of other Tuareg groups in neighbouring Algeria. As with the Tuareg of Algeria, poetry is the basis of all musical performance in Niger, and the various poetic metres (ilaner jalla, seienin, heinena etc.) determine numerous aspects of Tuareg song. Each song is said to be based on a tuit, a model of melodic and rhythmic patterns that combines the essential features of a poetic metre with certain melodic formulae used within and at the end of each verse.
The principal performance genres are tindé nomnas, female praise-songs, and tindé n'gouma, songs for spirit possession. These genres derive their names from the drum tindé that consists of a mortar covered with a goatskin that the performers pull tight at both ends. The corresponding male genre is an unaccompanied solo song called tichioue.
Features common to the musical traditions of all peoples in this zone are: a monophonic structure with the occasional element of harsh-sounding heterophony, a strong admixture of Arab-influenced melisma and traces of chromaticism, and a rudimentary polyrhythmic structure. Equally prominent in all groups is a high degree of specialization. Among the Tuareg there is a small number of skilled and renowned female players of the imzad (bowed lute), while the Songai-Dyerma and especially the Hausa have adopted a complex system of craft groups that comprises a variety of musical specializations, such as praise-singing, drumming for public dances, begging etc.
Throughout the area, with the exception of the Fulani-Bororro, who do not seem to use any musical instruments other than the bomboro (jew's harp), there is a great variety of musical instruments, including the following major categories: mono- and polychord lutes (Hausa: garaya, molo; Fulfulde: molooru; Songai-Dyerma: kuntiji); single-string bowed lutes (Hausa: Goge; Tuareg: imzad; Songai-Dyerma: goje; Fulfulde: gegeeru); calabash drums (Hausa: kwarya; Fulfulde: tummude; Songai-Dyerma: gasi); single-head gourd drums (Hausa: duma), single- and double-head hourglass drums (Hausa: kotso, kalangu, kazagi; Songai-Dyerma: doodo); end-blown flutes (Tuareg: sarewa; Fulfulde: sereendu). Most of these instruments can be considered indigenous to West Africa; the alleged Arab origin of the bowed lute may be disputed.
Other instruments of North African origin that came with Islam and are found wherever there is a chiefly court include large double-headed cylindrical drums (Hausa and Songai-Dyerma: Ganga); long metal trumpets (Hausa: Kakaki), the oboe Algaita and a variety of kettledrums of different sizes.
Music is an integral part of social life, and in each ethnic group it facilitates the celebration of major social and political events affecting the community (public holidays, ceremonies concerning the traditional chiefs and authorities, and the Islamic festivals of ‘Īd-al-Fitr and ‘Īd-al-Adhā). Music also marks the various stages of the life-cycle (most significantly at weddings) and accompanies key economic activities such as farming, harvesting, hunting and fishing. Smaller occupational groups such as blacksmiths, tanners and prostitutes are also frequently associated with specific performance genres. Two aspects of music's social uses are detailed below.
Practically all performance genres in Niger involve some form of eulogizing of individuals (and frequently of cattle and camels). Praising is an essential means of establishing and validating power relationships, and genres in which praise is expressed are important markers of social position. Praise-singing is not the exclusive domain of professional performers but is also widely used as a form of respectful address among ordinary performers, forming a part of many social events such as evening dances, wedding ceremonies etc.
Since Islamic liturgical practice, strictly speaking, excludes any kind of music (chanting of Qur'anic verses and religious hymns are excluded from the definition of music), Hausa, Songai-Dyerma, Tuareg and, to a lesser degree, Fulani use music primarily in connection with spirit-possession rituals. The Hausa bori and the Songai-Dyerma hauka cults are among the most widespread of these rituals (figs.1 and 2). Numerous varieties of these cults are found that depend on the nature of the spirits invoked, and the types of songs and musical instruments used vary accordingly. The predominant instruments, however, for both bori and hauka ceremonies are the bowed lute goge or goje and the calabash drums kwarya or gasi. The latter are beaten with wooden sticks among the Hausa and with a brush among the Songai-Dyerma. Also, among the latter the calabash drums are suspended over a large hole in the ground to increase resonance.
The influence of Western popular music on Niger has been limited. Malian pop singers are popular in cities such as Niamey, and some modern pop bands from Benin play in a small number of clubs in Niamey. Groups performing in Songai-Dyerma or Hausa are extremely rare. In recent years, the Centre El Hadj Taya under its director Alhaji Mahaman Garba, a well-known Maradi-born singer, has begun training students in Western music and jazz performance.
Collections of musical instruments are found at the Musée d'Ethnologie in Niamey and at the Musée d'Ethnographie of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Historically important recordings of Hausa, Fulani, Songai-Dyerma and Tuareg music were made in the 1950s and 60s by the French Office de Coopération Radiophonique (OCORA) and in part released on its label, a tradition that has since been discontinued. Major holdings of unpublished sound and video recordings are found at the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin, and at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Cologne. French cinematographer and ethnographer Jean Rouch made numerous films of the Songai holey (most notably Yenaandi de Ganghel, Dongo horendi and Les tambours d'avant: Turu et bitti) that include important material on music.
Z. Estreicher: ‘Chants et rythmes de la danse d'hommes Bororo’, Bulletin de la Société neuchâteloise de géographie, ii (1954–5), 57–93
J. Rouch: La religion et la magie Songhay (Paris, 1960, 2/1989)
T. Nikiprowetzky: Trois aspects de la musique africaine: Mauritanie, Sénégal, Niger (Paris, 1967)
D.W. Ames and A.V.King: Glossary of Hausa Music and its Social Contexts (Evanston, IL, 1971)
B. Surugue: Contribution à l'étude de la musique sacrée Zarma Songhay-Djerma (République de Niger) (Niamey, 1972)
V. Erlmann: ‘Data on the Sociology of Hausa Musicians in the Valley of Maradi (Niger)’, Paideuma, xxvii (1981), 63–110
P. Stoller: ‘Sound in Songhay Cultural Experience’, American Ethnologist, xi (1984), 559–70
F. Borel: ‘Rythmes de passage chez les touaregs de l'Azawagh (Niger)’, Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles, i (1988), 28–38
F. Borel: ‘Une viel éphémère: l'anzad touareg du Niger’, Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles, ii (1989), 101–24
V. Erlmann and H.Magagi: Girkaa: une cérémonie d'initiation au culte de possession boorii des Hausa de la région de Maradi (Niger) (Berlin, 1989)
G. Kubik: Westafrika (Leipzig, 1989)
P. Stoller: Fusion of the Worlds: an Ethnography of Possession among the Songhay of Niger (Chicago, 1989)
The Music of the Peuls, EMI Odeon 3 C 064-18121 (1975) [incl. notes by S. Arom]
Nomades du Niger: musique des Touareg, musique des Bororo, rec. Feb–March 1963, Ocora OCR 29 (197[?]) [incl. notes by T. Nikiprowetzky]
VEIT ERLMANN