Back شعب تيكار ARZ Tikar German Tikaroj Esperanto Tikar (peuple) French A̱tyikat KCG Тикар Kazakh Ticares Portuguese Тикар Russian Tikar Serbo-Croatian 蒂卡尔人 Chinese
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (February 2024) |
 A Tikar man (wearing Toghu cloth) plays the end-blown horn, a traditional instrument from the Northwest Region of Cameroon | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3,065,644 (9.9%)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Northwest Region of Cameroon | |
| Languages | |
| |
| Religion | |
| |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bamileke • Bamum |
The Tikar (formally known as Tikari, Tigar, Tigari, and Tigre throughout their history)[2] are a Central African ethnic group in Cameroon. The World Factbook formally identifies them as Grassfields.[1] In Cameroon, they are informally and most commonly referred as Graffi [3] They are known to be great artists, artisans and storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some oral traditions trace the origin of the Tikar people to the Nile River Valley in present-day Sudan.[4] According to the Bamenda City Council the Tikari groups migrated from Northern Nigeria to settle in the highlands of western Cameroon.[5] Such ethnic groups were referred to in the 1969 official statistics as "Semi-Bantus" and "Sudanese Negroes."[6] They speak a Northern Bantoid language called Tikar. One of the few African ethnic groups to practice a monotheistic traditional religion, the Tikar refer to God the Creator by the name Nyuy. They also have an extensive spiritual system of ancestral reverence.
Grassfields ethnic groups make up approximately 9.9% of Cameroon's population.[1][7] This could be due to the high number of Tikar people who were kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Americas.[8] The Bamum people and other ethnic groups have also asserted their link to the Tikar people through Tikar rulers in the Kingdom of Bamum. However, the Kom, Nso, Bamum, Ndop-Bamunka, and Bafut peoples are the only ethnic groups that anthropologists and historians believe have a legitimate claim to Tikar lineage.[9][8]
There are currently six adjoining Tikar kingdoms: Bankim (Kimi), Ngambé-Tikar, Kong (Nkong/Boikouong), Nditam (Bandam), Ngoumé, and Gâ (Ntchi). The boundaries of these kingdoms have remained since German colonizers arrived in Cameroon.[8]
- ^ a b c "Africa: Cameroon – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ Zeitlyn, David (1995). "Eldridge Mohammadou on Tikar Origins". Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford. 26 (1): 100–102.
- ^ "Cameroon: Graffi Expressions". 22 March 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Delneuf, Michèle; Essom, Joseph-Marie; Froment, Alain (1998). Paléo-anthropologie en Afrique centrale: un bilan de l'archéologie au Cameroun (in French). Paris, France: L'Harmattan. pp. 214–215. ISBN 978-2-7384-7405-6.
- ^ "Bamenda III Council: The Council of the future". 8 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Fonlon, Bernard (1969). "The Language Problem in Cameroon (An Historical Perspective)". Abbia: Cameroon Cultural Review. 22 (1): 25–49. JSTOR 3098088.
- ^ McCulloch, Merran; Littlewood, Margaret (2017). Peoples of the Central Cameroons (Tikar. Bamum and Bamileke. Banen, Bafia and Balom): Western Africa Part IX (Ethnographic Survey of Africa) (1st ed.). Routledge. pp. 11–13, 36–40, 53. ISBN 978-1138239524.
- ^ a b c Price, David (1979). "Who Are the Tikar Now?". Paideuma. 25: 89–98. ISSN 0078-7809. JSTOR 23076439.
- ^ DeLancey, Mark Dike; Neh Mbuh, Rebecca; DeLancey, Mark W. (2010). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 402. ISBN 978-0810837751.