Farm Preparation

Every year the Tiv prepared new farmland, known as ihande huran, usually in October or November during the rainy season. Village elders went out early to select sites, marking boundaries by pulling up handfuls of grass. In the past they kept farms close together for safety against enemies.

Boys used long poles to tread down the grass in lanes, then pulled out the weeds. After a day’s work the farm owner placed an akombo emblem on the land to protect it from witches who might impoverish the soil. 

Women once helped with clearing but later left the heavy work to men; some would claim illness to avoid it.

Making yam mounds was the most important farming task. The household head inaugurated the farm in silence by building the first mound with a special ritual object (igbende yiase) linked to the twer akombo. Speaking to anyone on the way would transfer the farm’s good fortune. The next day the boys continued energetically.

In the Kparev clan, mounds followed a special pattern: a central line of large mounds called deche, with smaller lines on either side. Kparev farmers also formed mounds with clods of soil, which they considered superior. Helping someone make yam mounds was such a valued act that the Tiv said one could even share “human meat” (a serious debt among the mbatsav) with that person without creating obligation.

Women brought food at midday, and the sight of many heads turned toward the path was a familiar one. These careful, ritual-filled practices ensured fertile land and strong community bonds around the vital yam crop.