Kumani
Buduma · deity · Buduma traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Kumani is the supreme creator and world-founder of the Buduma of the Lake Chad archipelago, the god who set the lake, its islands and its grasses in order and who sends the rains on which the herds and fisheries depend. Beneath a folk-Islamic surface he remains the high god to whom the spirit-appeasing priests ultimately refer, and observers frequently equate him with the God of Islam. Little developed narrative survives: the record preserves his role as maker and provider rather than a cycle of deeds.
Domains
- creation
- sky weather
Powers
- founded the world and the lake
- grants rain and pasture to the herds
Relations
- ally: AllaWidely equated under folk Islam.Christian Bouquet, Insulaires et riverains du lac Tchad (L'Harmattan, 1990) — the inherited high god largely identified with the God of Islam (secondary)
- ally: KuriThe sacred herds and the lake's favour are held to be his provision.People of the Grasses: Studies on the Buduma — the cattle-and-water cult referred ultimately to the creator (secondary)
Sources
- Kumani is the world-founding creator and high god of the Buduma (Yedina) of Lake Chad: People of the Grasses: Studies on the Buduma (secondary); Christian Bouquet, Insulaires et riverains du lac Tchad (L'Harmattan, 1990) (secondary)