Kanuri tradition and circles of women
The Kanuri people are an African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Kanem and Bornu Empires in Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Libya and Cameroon. Those generally termed Kanuri include several subgroups and dialect groups, some of whom are identified as distinct from the Kanuri.
In Kanuri tradition, a girl at birth is labelled ‘fatu’.
After her naming ceremony, she is addressed as ‘tiwal’ and as she circles around, she will be called ‘kurkumi’. At the age between 7 and 8, she is called ‘njoima’.
Between the ages of 10-12, she will be called ‘klyasku’ and her hair will be allowed to grow in full, maintaining the three divisions.
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After marriage, she becomes ‘ngimsuri’ which is someone who has been disvirgined by her husband, and develops into ‘amida’.
Thereon, she becomes ‘kalekale’, a coinage from a birth and she metamorphoses into a woman – ‘kamu’.
She becomes ‘dapchi’ – a woman that has mastered the art of communication and association between the male and female gender and graduates to ‘gudum’- a well-trained woman who knows all the arts of womanhood.
Thereon, she becomes ‘njita’, at the age of 45-50, and becomes a woman who now assumes authority.
Finally, she becomes ‘kumurso’ – an old woman and transcends to ‘awulumdu’, like a child, now retracing the stages of transformation in Kanuri women.
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