The Evolution of the Built Environment of the Margi Ethnic Group of Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

This dissertation is a story of the evolution of the domestic sphere of the Margi ethnic group of northeastern Nigeria. The evolution started with round huts and fences that were constructed mainly with pieces of stones while living in the Mandara Mountain enclaves and with mud huts surrounded with thatch mats while living on the plains and then evolved to a contemporary, but a hybrid structure, as a result of their contact with westerners. Based on fieldwork, interviews, and critical archival analysis of missionary and colonial papers, my narrative traces the historical, geographical, spatial, architectural, and developmental perspectives of the infrastructure changes in the Margi built environment in precisely 52 Margi towns, villages, and neighborhoods. This includes: roads, residential structures, and components of modernity such as schools, churches, mosques, hospitals, and stores (the term stores is used to account for markets, bars, convenient stores, and restaurants). I concentrate on the type of structure, the time it was built, the changes made to the structure, and the types of material used. I also examine individual group interests and activities by three separate groups who exchanged ideas with each other that helped start the change on which this dissertation is built. Along the way, and many times, these separate group interests clashed. The groups are: the colonial authorities, the missionaries, and the Margi.