Building A Home: The Tamberma People

    The home within African culture is much more than a mere physical structure that houses the nuclear family; the home itself is deemed to be human and is regarded as a crucial facet of not only the physical but, also, mental wellbeing of the members it houses. This ascribed anthrophormism and its corresponding role in familial health will be investigated using a Tamberma house as a case study. The adobe houses within Tamberma culture are referred to in wholly human terms, hence the entrance of the house is compared to a mouth with the overhanging lintel as the lips. These references extend beyond the physical structures, whereby acts such as filling the granaries are viewed as feeding the home. Spiritually, the home serves as the resting place of the inhabitants’ souls, ancestral sponsors, and corresponding game sponsors and deities, all of which are crucial parts of a Tamberma resident’s psychological identity. These spiritual components are housed within their respective mounds and are placed at or around the entrance of the home. 

Soul Mounds

    Tamberma residencies are circular in nature, with its circumference being interspersed with various rooms and structures crucial to carrying out daily living. One of these structures is the aforementioned granary. At the center of this home is the woman’s bedroom, which is referred to as the womb as this is the site of reproduction and infantile gestation for Tamberma children, especially during their early years. 

Floor plan of Tamberma house