Tammari people

A Tammari house. The thatched structure in the middle of the roof (left) covers sleeping quarters, whereas the one on the right is a granary. The cylindrical structures in the walls are used for storage or for keeping small livestock.

Tammari
Person	Otammari
People	Betammaribe
Language	Ditammari

The Tammari people, or Batammariba, also known as Somba, are an Oti–Volta-speaking people of the Atakora Department of Benin and neighboring areas of Togo, where they go by the name of Taberma. They are famous for their two-story fortified houses, known as Tata Somba ("Somba house"), in which the ground floor is used for housing livestock at night, internal alcoves are used for cooking, and the upper floor contains a rooftop courtyard and is used for drying grain, sleeping quarters, and granaries. These evolved by adding an enclosing roof to the clusters of huts joined by a connecting wall that are typical of Gur-speaking areas of West Africa. The Tammari are mostly animist by religion. Their language is in the Gur family.

Gallery

The entrance of a Tammari house, with twin altars
A Tammari house with granaries. The forked poles at the left granary are ladders, with steps cut along their lengths
Neighboring Tammari houses, with multiple altars

External links

Pendjari Park site with drawings of Tata Somba
French site on Tata Somba

Ethnic groups in Benin

Aja Akan Ana Anlo Ewe Bariba Dendi Ewe Fon Fula Gurma Hausa Kurtey Lamba Kabye (Lokpa) Mahi Somba Tammari Tém Yoruba Zarma

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