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644 RESHAWA
There are many interethnic ties between the Reshawa and Yauri's other ethnic
groups. They hunt with the Kamberi, fish with the Serkawa, market with the
Hausa, joke with the the Shangawa and in general maintain connections with
all groups. Members of all ethnic groups in Yauri except the Dukawa, intermarry.
But Reshawa are the most active in incorporating people of other ethnic groups
into their own, making themselves stronger. The prevalence of polygyny increases
the frequency of interethnic marriage. The traditionally high incidence
of Hausa divorce works to the benefit of the Reshawa, who then acquire Hausa
wives. The bridewealth for a Hausa divorcee is much less than for a Hausa
virgin. Reshawa intermarriage with Hausa eases their political life as Hausa
people have a high regard for Reshawa. Hausa women are considered more
reliable than Reshawa women, who cannot take secondary husbands since polyandry
is prohibited among Muslims.
Male-female hostility and distrust is common among Reshawa, who traditionally
have both high divorce and secondary marriage rates. Men are free to
marry as many women as they can afford unless they are Muslim. Sexual hostility
permeates most relationships, except between mother and son. Men state that
mothers and grandmothers are the only women they really trust. Close male
friends find themselves competing for the same women and becoming suspicious
of their designs on their wives.
The traditional economic pattern fosters such problems as there is little need
for genuine economic cooperation between men and women. Resettlement has
exacerbated this problem since men must leave the villages for extended periods
and often must go miles to work on farmland instead of on nearby fields.
The strong male-female antipathy among Reshawa is emphasized in the organization
of the primary work team, a male kin-based group. Marriage does
not provide a mechanism for crosscutting kin ties. The young non-Muslim Reshawa
males form intervillage wrestling teams, however, that do crosscut lineal
ties. Wrestling emphasizes all the essential Reshawa values while tying nonkinsmen
together. Islamic teachers have forbidden Reshawa converts to engage
in wrestling because of the drinking and the performance of religious rituals
taking place.
One major deviation from the Hausa model of Islam among converted Reshawa
concerns the child-avoidance (danfari) practice in which Hausa avoid their firstborn
son or daughter. Among the Hausa, child avoidance pushes the children
into ties outside the nuclear family, emphasizing the separation of generations
and stressing the importance of marriage and childrearing as status markers. The
Reshawa do not ignore their children in such manner and maintain close parentchild
relationships.
There are two Sufi brotherhoods in Yauri, the Tijani and the Qadiri. Unlike
other cases in Nigeria, the two have not established different mosques; they pray
together even at Friday service. At other times they pray separately. The imam