Indigenous Languages and Oral Traditions’ Preservation.

Greetings to all my @steemforbetterlife friends and beyond. @goodybest has brought us another opportunity to relate and to know more about our origin. Of course, we all came from somewhere and as such, I'm free to say we all have origins. Indeed I'm glad to be one of the participants in this contest. Remain Blessed as you read between the lines.

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What is your indigenous language, is it your country's official language and can your kids speak the language?

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Before I enlighten you about my indigenous language, it will interest you to know that I came from a giant of Africa. I believe you already have the idea that when we talk of the giant of Africa, we are talking about Nigeria. We are a great nation, the most populated and resourceful in the whole of Africa.

Here in Nigeria, apart from English which happens to be the general language, we have three (3) major languages, and there are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. most of the people from the southern and western parts of the country believe that all the people in the North are Hause and that has been a challenge to us that are in the North. The reasons is, the number of ethnic groups that speak different languages in the Northern part of Nigeria can not be mentioned.

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Talking about my origin, I'm from one of the states in the North, Adamawa state to be precise. I came from a local government called Michika. The people of Michika local government are called Kamwe. We have a motor that says "Dabihi ghije dlama" which means unity is strength.

Talking about whether I can speak the language or not, I do love to appreciate my Mum and Dad for not failing to teach me the language. Although I left the village when I was 4 years of age, I'm proud to say I speak the language fluently. Talking about my kids, well I'm not married yet but trust me, I will try as much as possible to teach them. Currently, we speak only the Michika language at home while we learn English in school and other languages outside. That's the principle I will apply in my house when blessed with kids.

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What are some of your country's traditions and how do you preserve them orally?

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This question reminds me of the day my uncle went to ask for the hand of his fiance in marriage. I followed them together with some elders of the community. We went with cola nut, salt, wine, and some fabric. On reaching the house, we were welcomed by the eldest man in the house and he offered us a sit.

After sitting, he asked "To what do we owe this visit? And one of the elders stood up and said" Our son here saw a beautiful flower 🌹 in your house and he is so much interested in it. As such, we are here to help him get the flower" and the man asked, what is the name of the flower in question? And my uncle stood up and mentioned the name of his fiance.

Immediately, the fiance was called out from her room. She came and was told the reason for our visit. After that, she and her Dad had a few minutes of a closed-door meeting. It's usually done to ask for her consent about the marriage. A few minutes later, the Dad came back and ordered the sharing of wine and cola nuts among the elders. It's a sign that the girl has accepted the marriage arrangement to continue. 3 months later they got married.

Indeed culture is beautiful and unique. It helps keep us together, unite us, and help us identify ourselves. It's beautiful how the whole scenario happens. To round it up, marriage is one of the activities that help preserve our culture. It has been in existence even before the emergence of church and court weddings. Even though we do church and court weddings, traditional marriage comes first before any other wedding follows.

I want to invite #patjewell, @sahmie, and @bossje23 to participate.