The Tammari people, or Batammariba, or Tamberma or Somba, also known as Otamari or Ottamari, are an Oti–Volta-speaking people of the Atakora Department of Benin where they are also known as Somba and neighboring areas of Togo, where they are officially known as Ta(m)berma. They are famous for their two-story fortified houses, known as Tata Somba ("Somba house"), in which the ground floor houses livestock at night, internal alcoves are used for cooking, and the upper floor contains a rooftop courtyard that is used for drying grain, as well as containing sleeping quarters and granaries. These evolved by adding an enclosing roof to the clusters of huts, joined by a connecting wall that is typical of Gur-speaking areas of West Africa.
The Tammari are mostly animists. Tammari language is in the Gur family.
The Batammariba are agronomic herdsmen who inhabit the hills and valleys. Being clannish by nature, they oppose any form of domination and servitude.
Historical research has traced their migration from diverse regions, settling in small groups, while preserving their societal practices of origin. The Batammariba tribe doesn't form a homogeneous society, but Batammariba language is a strong common link and despite disparities in ceremonial practices, all Tammari affirm allegiance as "Serpent Children". They believe they are the offspring of a grand, invisible, underground "Serpent Mother" who bore the first eggs of their ancestors.
Today, Tammari are especially found in towns such as Nikki and Kandi that were once Bariba kingdoms and in Parakou in mid-eastern Benin. However, there is also a significant population of them in northwest Benin in the Atacora region in cities such as Natitingou and a number of villages. Many in the northwest have migrated to the east.
Ethnonym
The name Batammariba (or Batammaliba) means "those who are the real architects of the earth".
Link to the land
After years (or maybe centuries) of wandering, the Batammariba settled in the valleys, a way of existence they preferred to their former history of conflict with law-imposing warlords and chieftains. Their name implies a close connection to the land where rituals are practised.
The underground region is the domain of dead spirits to whom the Batammariba owe their very existence with nature and the ability to generate.
The Batammariba do not consider themselves landowners, but caretakers. Their settlement could not have happened without the intercession of the Babietiba, (first settlers), who belonged to a highly culturally evolved group of foragers, then introduced them to the “true owners of the region”: underground forces incarnated into a source such as a rock or a tree. These ancestors of the Batammaribas concluded an alliance with the forces, swearing to respect some agricultural rules and the pieces of land that belonged to the forces. In exchange, the forces allowed the ancestors to build houses and to harvest the soil. Initiations or rituals are meetings with underground forces. This link to the underground forces demanded bravery, self-mastery, and discretion, essential qualities by which the Batammaribas are formed from a young age.
The Takyenta
The Takyenta (also spelled Takienta) traditional dwelling, including the famous Tata Somba, is typically built of mud and surrounded by towers that support garrets, evoking medieval citadels. The dwellings each have a masculine (south) orientation and a feminine (north) orientation. Models of takyentas differ from village to village. The storied construction with its solid walls acts as a protective fortress to keep out invaders and repel fatal spear attacks on its inhabitants. It also serves as protection against leopards who, according to the village elders, roam freely in the overgrown bush. Building the fortress took several months and required much skilled labor. The upper floor was a living space and a safe haven.
Up until 2000, parents and their children slept in elevated box structures placed on the sides and center areas of the terrasse. These boxes were also designed to protect the inhabitants and their guests from the midday heat. Nowadays the fortresses are reserved for ancestral devotional ceremonies. The souls of the ancestors reside in the earthen cone-shaped altars. Strangers cannot enter the temple area without permission from the head of the home.