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MINANGKABAU 523
almost treeless. Seasonal shortages of water limit the number of animals of the
settled Mimi and force the pastoralists to migrate south and west.
The Chadian Mimi are bounded to the north by Mahamid Arabs, to the
northeast by the Durayn and Zaghawa, to the east by the Mararit, to the southeast
by the Tama, and to the south by various Maba-speaking groups (see Tamaspeaking
Peoples). To the west lies a waterless area which is exploited in the
winter by various livestock-owning groups. The sedentary Mimi marry mostly
among themselves and occasionally with Maba and Arabs. The pastoralist Mimi
marry the Zaghawa and Abu Sharib. Neither Mimi group marries the Tama.
Judging from the differences in means of subsistence, residence pattern and
marriage alliances, it is doubtful whether the Mimi can be considered a corporate
entity. Whereas the pastoralists live like pastoral Arabs, the Amdang farm. Their
culture and social organization show many traces of borrowing from neighboring
sedentary groups, for example, in cultivating techniques, cultural artifacts and
vocabulary.
The Sudanese Mima are engaged in a far wider variety of economic activities
than their Chadian counterparts with whom intermittent contacts exist. Whereas
in Chad, education, administration and trade have been disrupted by the civil
war, the Sudanese Mima have benefitted from the proliferation of trade and
government services as much as any group in the country. The Mima work as
teachers, officials, craftsmen and traders.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Gaudefroy-Denombynes, M. Documents sur les langues de i' Oubangui-Chari. Actes du
XlVe Congres des Orientalistes, Algiers, 1905, Paris, 1907.
MacMichael, H. A. A History of the Arabs of the Sudan. Vol. 1. 1922. Reprint ed.
London: Frank Cass, 1967.
Le Rouvreur, Albert. Sahelians et sahariens du Tchad. Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1962.
Articles
Greenberg, Joseph H. "On the Identity of Jungraithmayr's Mimi." African Marburgensia
2 (1972): 45-49.
Jungraithmayr, H. "How Many Mimi Languages Are There?" African Marburgensia
4:2 (1971): 62-69.
Lukas, J., and Volckers, O. "G. Nachtigal's Aufzeichnungen fiber die Sprache der Mimi
in Wadai." Zeitschrift fur Eingebohrenen-sprachen 29 (1938-39): 145-154.
Paul Doornbos
MINANGKABAU The Minangkabau (also "Menangkabau") are closely related
in culture and language to the Malays, from whom they differ in certain