Mundang people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mundang people are an ethnic group in West Africa who live in parts of Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria.[1] They speak the Mundang language, a subset of Mbum languages.[2]
Historically, the Mundang were an agricultural people; in the beginning of the 20th century they grew and harvested peas, beans, potatoes, nuts and durra.[3] They also branched out into cotton production and raised cattle and goats.[3] They brewed beer as well, from millet.[3] Mundang people in Léré built mud houses with straight roofs and polished interior walls.[3] They also constructed circular corn silos or granaries, accessed through the roof.[3]
Sultan Lamido Ganthiome and his two wives in Léré, Chad in 1913.
Corn towers of the Sultan Lamido Ganthiome in Léré, Chad.
Mundang village of Léré, Chad in about 1913.
A woman carries water before the village of Léré, Chad. Illustration by Ernst M. Heims.
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Music
The Mundang people of Chad use the billim drum, a "double-headed cylindrical drum with laced membranes" to accompany dance rhythmically, alongside an end-blown trumpet and gourd-vessel wrattle.[4] The drum is struck on each side with a hand by the drummer, as the instrument sits on the ground.[4]
Beyond the Mundang's folk music, the communities also have families of musicians called griots by western writers.[5] One of these includes a modern performing act outside of Africa, Sona Jobarteh who acknowledges her Mundang heritage and sees its influence in the bluesy sound of her music.[6]