About 50 years ago Kwatarkwashi rock in Zamfara state served as a sanctuary for eagles, and a huge festival around the birds regularly held there. Today, the birds have vanished, and the festival no longer holds. Have the eagles gone extinct?
Just like Lizards
In those days when the festival held, men would climb the intimidating Kwatarkwashi rock with the agility of a lizard. They moved like lizards as they made their ascent, many in the community still say, with amazement still radiating from their eyes. The use of powerful charms also explains the stunning agility of the lizard,
exhibited by the men as they moved upwards. Today, people speak of the festival creatively named ‘Kamun Maiki’ or ‘catch the eagle’ with wonder. The men would ascend the rock, reach any of the crevices where the eagles nest, catch the eagle there. and climb down with it to the admiration of all the people gathered. It was a special festival and the high point which always fascinated the crowd, was the exact time when the courageous man would reach the foot of the rock with an eagle, flapping its wings in his firm hand.Then the crowd will cheer heartily, and sing his praise. Sanusi Gusau, Director, Monuments in the History Bureau, Gusau, speaks on the festival. ‘It was an amazing sight. The men would quickly ascend the great rock like lizards. Soon, they would reach one of the crevices where the eagles nest. The townspeople would watch with excitement from the foot of the rock.’In those days when the festival held, men would climb the intimidating Kwatarkwashi rock with the agility of a lizard. They moved like lizards as they made their ascent, many in the community still say, with amazement still radiating from their eyes. The use of powerful charms also explains the stunning agility of the lizard,
‘They didn’t kill eagles’
An article on the Kwatarkwashi rocks, published in Bazamfara, and written by Hajara Abubakar Sadiq, formerly of the Zamfara State Ministry of Culture and Tourism states ‘Kwatarkwashi which derived its name from the first ruler of the ancient town i.e. Kwatashi, is a well known settlement that dates back… 600 years.’ On the climb for the eagle, she writes ‘The catching of the eagle was a very daring feat. The eagle apart from its predatory and prestigious nature, its widely believed that its potential power lies with its eyes. That is why people hunted it largely because of its sharp, penetrating and telescopic eyes. The power to see far into the distance has a far reaching relevance in preparation of magical concoctions to those who believed they would be able to foresee what would happen in the future’. The Zamfara State Tourism Guide 2008 comments on the rock in the following words ‘Kwatarkwashi rock was, during the pre-Islamic period, considered to be the site of Iskoki(spirit) worship. A powerful spirit was said to have resided on it. As a result, some hunters settled around the foot of the rock and founded town’. The work also adds that the culture of catching eagles has been banned in the community. Aminu Dan Kwangila, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Zamfara state also comments on the eagles of Kwatarkwashi. ‘Now, the eagles have left. Before, there was an eagle display in the area. People will climb to the top of the rock, and bring the eagles down. It was a competition. They don’t kill the eagles when they bring them down. Then they present the eagles to the guests who have gathered to witness the occasion. At this moment they release the eagles.’
Yusuf Bala Usman in The Transformation of Katsina 1400-1883 sheds light on Kwatarkwashi thus ‘A tradition of Kwatarkwashi states that it was founded by hunters in the time of Kumayau….Kwatarkwashi however seems to have emerged as the major centre for the worship of Magiro (Bagiro)… Magiro is one of the most ancient and powerful religious cults of the Kasar Hausa and is often termed the Kakan Tsafi’ grandfather of all fetish’. Professor Yusuf Adamu of the Department of Geography, Bayero University Kano,also provides insight on the history of Kwatarkwashi. His words ‘This is one of the important centres of pre-Islamic worship.In the pre-Islamic period inselbergs tended to attract spiritual activities among the people. Tsafe and Kwatarkwashi were said to be brothers. One settled in Tsafe and the other at Kwatarkwashi. Also eagles have been at Kwatarkwashi for a long time, and they are part of the spiritual landscape of the area.’ On the migration of the eagles, he adds ‘They are said to have suddenly left one day, and migrated towards the east.’
Alhaji Ahmad Umar Mai Kwatarkwashi, Sarkin Kwatarkwashi, has been on the throne since 1961. On Kamun Maiki the festival of eagles, he says ‘The festival of catching the eagle is a tradition of the olden days involving unIslamic practices. People climb up the rock to catch the eagle. In those days before they do this they bring a ram and give the District Head, and ask for his permission before ascending the rock.’
The eagles left
When he became Sarkin Kwatarkwashi, the contestants came to him just before one of the contests, and he then asked them why they were always offering gifts to him. They explained that the ruler is seen as a semi god. When he heard this he rejected the items they had brought.
Alhaji Ahmad Umar Mai Kwatarkwashi, Sarkin Kwatarkwashi, has been on the throne since 1961. On Kamun Maiki the festival of eagles, he says ‘The festival of catching the eagle is a tradition of the olden days involving unIslamic practices. People climb up the rock to catch the eagle. In those days before they do this they bring a ram and give the District Head, and ask for his permission before ascending the rock.’
The eagles left
When he became Sarkin Kwatarkwashi, the contestants came to him just before one of the contests, and he then asked them why they were always offering gifts to him. They explained that the ruler is seen as a semi god. When he heard this he rejected the items they had brought.
In his words ‘Despite my refusal they went up the hill, caught eagles and came down with them. One year one of the men came down quite dead, but he was carrying an eagle. That was a very strange event.’ He now speaks of a year when soldiers wrote a letter indicating that they were going to hold a military exercise in a nearby forested place called Dajin Korau,and that this would last from 6:00am to 6:00pm. Shortly after this event the eagles left in a body one night. They have not been seen again in Kwatarkwashi. Sarkin Kwatarkwashi adds ‘In the morning we suddenly saw that the eagles had left, and no eagle ever returned to the rock.’
Local extinction
Tanko Dauda, an Ornithologist with the Department of Biological Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, sheds light on the factors which can influence eagles to migrate from a community. His words ‘If disappearance is due to migration, it is mostly seasonal. If seasonal, they mostly disappear at a particular season of the year, and then return at the turn of the season. However, migration may lead to local extinction in the event where the new site is more suitable than the old site… If disappearance is due to extinction, then, one has to know if the bird/animal in question still has surviving partners elsewhere in the world or not. If it is established that they are still surviving but elsewhere, that is local extinction.’ Daily Trust was able to confirm that eagles can be found in other parts of Africa, which seems to make the Zamfara case one of local extinction. About two years ago, this reporter saw a dead eagle on sale at a market in Giwa, near Zaria.
Tanko Dauda adds that eagles belong to the same group of birds as Vultures, in the sense that they are both flesh eaters.’ They are also called birds of prey in the sense that they hunt and feed on smaller animals. Their habitat is mostly wooded savannah.’ He explains that without knowledge of the species of eagles that flourished at the Kwatarkwashi rock some 50 years ago, the disappearance of the eagles could then be put down to ‘habitat/destruction fragmentation, scarcity of prey(food), and other human pressures.’ He shows ‘Also, outbreak of a disease can wipe out a population.’ Yusuf Adamu adds ‘As a geographer, I can say that there was probably a change in habitat, the food chain might have been disturbed and they might have had to move to other locations.’
Though the eagles no longer fly around or nest within the Kwatarkwashi rock, the people still speak fondly of those great days of the Kamun Maiki.The eagles do fly today, but this seems to occur deep in the minds of citizens, who once watched young men swiftly ascending the Kwatarkwashi rock like lizards to catch the eagles.
Local extinction
Tanko Dauda, an Ornithologist with the Department of Biological Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, sheds light on the factors which can influence eagles to migrate from a community. His words ‘If disappearance is due to migration, it is mostly seasonal. If seasonal, they mostly disappear at a particular season of the year, and then return at the turn of the season. However, migration may lead to local extinction in the event where the new site is more suitable than the old site… If disappearance is due to extinction, then, one has to know if the bird/animal in question still has surviving partners elsewhere in the world or not. If it is established that they are still surviving but elsewhere, that is local extinction.’ Daily Trust was able to confirm that eagles can be found in other parts of Africa, which seems to make the Zamfara case one of local extinction. About two years ago, this reporter saw a dead eagle on sale at a market in Giwa, near Zaria.
Tanko Dauda adds that eagles belong to the same group of birds as Vultures, in the sense that they are both flesh eaters.’ They are also called birds of prey in the sense that they hunt and feed on smaller animals. Their habitat is mostly wooded savannah.’ He explains that without knowledge of the species of eagles that flourished at the Kwatarkwashi rock some 50 years ago, the disappearance of the eagles could then be put down to ‘habitat/destruction fragmentation, scarcity of prey(food), and other human pressures.’ He shows ‘Also, outbreak of a disease can wipe out a population.’ Yusuf Adamu adds ‘As a geographer, I can say that there was probably a change in habitat, the food chain might have been disturbed and they might have had to move to other locations.’
Though the eagles no longer fly around or nest within the Kwatarkwashi rock, the people still speak fondly of those great days of the Kamun Maiki.The eagles do fly today, but this seems to occur deep in the minds of citizens, who once watched young men swiftly ascending the Kwatarkwashi rock like lizards to catch the eagles.
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