 Tupuri dance group | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Cameroon and Chad | |
 Chad | 215,466[1] |
 Cameroon | 125,000 |
| Languages | |
| Tupuri • Arabic • French | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity • Traditional | |
The Tupuri are an ethnic group in Cameroon and Chad. They speak a language called Tupuri, which had 125,000 speakers in Cameroon at an unspecified date and 90,785 speakers in Chad in 1993. There were 215,466 Tupuri in Chad in 2009.[1]
Population
[edit]Globally there are approximately 600,000 Tupuri, mostly split between Cameroon and Chad.[2]
Geographic range
[edit]In Cameroon, the Tupuri live east of Kaélé in the Kaele division and in the Kar-Hay subdivision of the Mayo-Danay division of the Far North Province.[2]
In Chad, Tupuri live near Fianga, Fianga Subprefecture, Mayo-Kebbi Prefecture in the southwest of the country.[3] They arrived in that area after fleeing from the lowlands to avoid Fulbe slave traders.[2]
Culture
[edit]Tulpuri culture is based around fishing, raising cattle, and millet and sorghum farming. The millet and sorghum crops are farmed in terraced fields cut into hillsides.[2]
The Tupuri are also known as poultry farmers, trading chicken with other tribes such as the Guidar.[4] They have a traditional dance called the gourna, "the dance of the cock", which involves the dancers forming a circle and holding long sticks,[5][6] and celebrate a chicken festival.[7]
The Tupuri political and religious life is headed by the Wang Doré, the traditional Kings of Doré, who are based in the village of Doré near Fianga, Chad.[8] A secondary political and religious pole is the chief of the villiage of Ganhou.[7]
In October, Tupuri lineages claiming descent from the mythical ancestor Dore, participate in the chicken festival officiated by the chief of Dore. Meanwhile, in March, Tupuri lineages claiming descent from the mythical ancestor Gouwa celebrate the festival of Méné. This March festival is officiated by the chief of Ganhou.[7]
The predominant religion of the Tupuri is animism.[2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b "Analyse Thematique des Resultats Definitifs Etat et Structures de la Population". Institut National de la Statistique, des Études Économiques et Démographiques du Tchad. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "AFRICA | 101 Last Tribes - Tupuri people". www.101lasttribes.com. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
- ^ Ethnologue.
- ^ Fomine, Forka Leypey Mathew (2009-07-01). "Food as a linking device among the Guidar of North Cameroon". Anthropology of food (in French). doi:10.4000/aof.6353. ISSN 1609-9168.
- ^ Chrispin 129.
- ^ West 18.
- ^ a b c Fiorio, Elisa. "Orality and cultural identity: the oral tradition in Tupuri (Chad)". unesdoc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
- ^ Tchago, Boumion D. (1994). "La fête religieuse de Kagi du royaume de Doré". In Tubiana, Joseph (ed.). L'identité tchadienne : l'héritage des peuples et les apports extérieurs : actes du colloque international célébrant le 30e anniversaire de la fondation de l'Institut national des sciences humaines de l'Université du Tchad, Ndjaména, 25-27 novembre 1991. Paris: Harmattan. pp. 139–157. ISBN 2-7384-2622-0.
References
[edit]- Chrispin, Pettang, directeur, Cameroun: Guide touristique. Paris: Les Éditions Wala.
- Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005): "Tupuri". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Accessed 7 June 2006.
- West, Ben (2004). Cameroon: The Bradt Travel Guide. Guilford, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press Inc.
