The Kapsiki of the mandara hills
Walter E.A. van Beek

The Kapsiki of Cameroon and the Higi of Nigeria are two tribes from the Mandara hills area of central and western Africa. Though they form one coherent group of villages, they are usually considered as two separate ethnic units. The author normally uses the term Kapsiki for both. Based on fieldwork in the village of Mogod‚ in 1972-1973 and follow-up visits in 1979 and 1984, he presents Kapsiki society, looking at territorial and kinship organization, religion, and marriage, and the way in which Kapsiki culture enhances the chances for survival of its members. The main theme – how marriage functions in a system with an exceptionally high divorce rate – serves to illustrate the fact that present-day Kapsiki life cannot be understood without reference to fighting and the Kapsiki warlike past.