BATAMMARIBA

Koutammakou, Batammariba country, is 500 square kms and comprises 4 cantons; Nadoba, ( Koutammakou ), Koutougou, Warengo and Agbonté. Nadoba is some 620 lms from Lomé in Northern Togo. The site was classed as an element of the World Patrimony of UNESCO in 2004. Benin is 4 kms from Nadoba. The Batammariba are farmers and hunters. They live in earth houses built in the form of a castle ( “ château “ ), Tata on the basis of a very special architecture. The language spoken by the Batammariba is calle Ditammari: by deformation it has become Tamberma. The principal belief of the Batammariba is animalisme. The fetiches, which they adore and are to be found at the entrance to the Tatas, take diverse forms. According to the form, they can represent simultaneously; their ancestors with whom they are in communication; major exploits of hunters, the members of the family still living; different ceremonies. In the case of the Batammariba, the living have a very deep link with the dead. In fact, they believe that every living being owes his life to breath of a dead person who wished for him to join him in the next Kingdom. It is possible to say a kind of reincarnation. The rites associated with mourning are linked to a return to life and the secret names of the dead hide a vital energy. Their traditioinal dances are often associated with these ceremonies.