The Kurtey people (var. Kourtey) are a small ethnic group found along the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...

valley in parts of the

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

nations of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. They are also found in considerable numbers in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Assimilation into Songhai

The Kurtey were formed from the movement of

Fula people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

into the Niger River valley of modern Tillaberi Region, Niger in the 18th century, and their intermarriage with local Songhai, Zarma, Sorko and others. While retaining many aspects of Fula traditional culture, the Kurtey have assimilated into Songhai-Zarma ways of life and speak a Southern Songhay dialect.Harrison, Byron, Annette Harrison, and Michael J. Rueck, with Mahaman Soumana as Interpreter
"Southern Songhay Speech Varieties in Niger: A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Zarma, Songhay, Kurtey, Wogo, and Dendi Peoples of Niger."
(1997). Some outside observers consider them a subsection of the Songhai people, while others describe them as communities with distinct histories, cultures, and ethnic self-identification within the larger Songhai speaking social space, of which the

Songhai people The Songhai people ( autonym: Ayneha) are an ethnolinguistic group in West Africa who speak the various Songhai languages. Their history and ''lingua franca'' is linked to the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16 ...

are only one part.

Customs and demography

They are less than 50,000 in numbers as of today, concentrated on islands and along the Niger river banks near Sansani,

Dessa Margret Wander (born May 23, 1981), better known by her stage name Dessa, is an American singer, rapper, musician, writer, and former record executive. She is a member of the indie hip hop collective Doomtree. Early life Dessa was born to Rob ...

and Ayorou; in

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

(especially in Koutoukalé quarter); and in villages along the lower middle Niger from Gao to northern Nigeria. Some Kurtey continue to mark themselves with their traditional facial scarification: a small cross at the top of each cheekbone. The Kurtey are also one of six Nigerien ethnic groups who have historically carried out ritual

Female circumcision Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. FGM prevalence varies ...

. Kurtey traditionally engage in sedentary cattle raising—a legacy of their Fula ancestry—as well as fishing (like Sorko people),

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

farming, and riverine flood irrigated

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

and

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

farming.

Relations with others

In the 19th century, many Muslim Kurtey engaged in slave raiding amongst pagan Zarma along the Niger,Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan
Remarques sur la notion de «captif» (à propos des Wogo et Kurtey du Niger)
Journal de la Société des Africanistes. (1970) Volume 40, Issue 40-2, pp. 171-174 earning them the Zarma nickname "Thieves of Men"Jean Pierre Olivier de Sardan. Les voleurs d’hommes (notes sur l’histoire des Kurtey). Etudes Nigériennes no. 25. IFAN-CNRSH: Paris-Niamey (1969) While they are, historically, bitter rivals of the Wogo people who settled in the same area from the middle Niger beginning around 1800, the two ethnic groups have become closely related, settled in the same areas, speaking similar dialects, and sharing similar ways of life. Both were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

before migrating to the area, enjoying close relations with the Fula Emirate of Say.

References

*Paul Stoller. The Negotiation of Songhay Space: Phenomenology in the Heart of Darkness. American Ethnologist, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Aug., 1980), pp. 419–431 *Jibrin Ibrahim. Political Exclusion, Democratization and Dynamics of Ethnicity in Niger. Africa Today, Vol. 41, No. 3, Electoral Successes: Harbingers of Hope? (3rd Qtr., 1994), pp. 15–39

Assimilation into Songhai

Customs and demography

Relations with others

References

Further reading