Yibir

For the racehorse, see Yibir (horse).
Yibir Yebir
Regions with significant populations
 Somalia  Somaliland
Languages
Somali, Arabic
Religion
Islam (Sunni) Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Somali people

The Yibir, also referred to as the Yibbir, the Yebir, or the Yibro, are a caste of Somali people.[1][2] They have traditionally been endogamous. Their hereditary occupations have been magic making, leather work, the dispensing of traditional medicine and the making of amulets.[3][4][5] They belong to the Sab clan and sometimes referred to as a minority clan, they perform menial tasks.[6][7]

The Somali tradition holds that the Yibir are descendants of Mohammad Hanif of Hargeysa. Mohammad Hanif acquired a reputation as a pagan magician, according to Somali folklore, he was defeated by Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn.[8] According to this myth, the rest of the Somali society has ever since paid a small gift to a Yibir after childbirth, as a form of blood compensation.[6]

The Yibir have a language (a dialect of Somali) they keep secret from the ruling Somali clans.[9][10] Although Muslims and ethnically similar to other Somalis,[11] the Yibir caste has been traditionally denigrated, demeaned and discriminated against by higher social strata of the Somali society.[7][12]

  1. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. James Currey Publishers. pp. 13–14. ISBN 0852552807. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  2. ^ Donald N. Levine (2014). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society. University of Chicago Press. pp. 62, 195. ISBN 978-0-226-22967-6.
  3. ^ Scott Steven Reese (2008). Renewers of the Age: Holy Men and Social Discourse in Colonial Benaadir. BRILL Academic. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-90-04-16729-2.
  4. ^ Heather Marie Akou (2011). The Politics of Dress in Somali Culture. Indiana University Press. pp. 20–23. ISBN 978-0253223135.
  5. ^ David F. Horrobin (2012). The Somali, in "A Guide to Kenya and Northern Tanzania". Springer. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-94-011-7129-8.; Е. de Larajasse (1972), Somali-English and Somali-English Dictionary, Trubner, page 145
  6. ^ a b Ahmed & Hart 1984, pp. 156–157.
  7. ^ a b Elaine Tarone; Martha Bigelow; Kit Hansen (2013). Oxford Applied Linguistics: Literacy and Second Language Oracy. Oxford University Press. pp. 55, 73–74 with footnote 5. ISBN 978-0-19-442313-7., Quote: "In addition to the Bantus, there are Somali clans considered to be of low caste and treated as outcasts. They are the Yibir, the Midgan and the Tumal. They face restrictions, prejudice, discrimination, harassment and attacks in East Africa as well as in the Diaspora."
  8. ^ Mire, Sada (22 March 2015). Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-God Belief and the Site of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, Somaliland.
  9. ^ Kirk 1905, pp. 184–85.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference akou22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Luling, Virginia. "The Social Structure of Southern Somali Tribes" (PDF). University of London. pp. 13–15.
  12. ^ Mohamed A. Eno and Abdi M. Kusow (2014), Racial and Caste Prejudice in Somalia, Journal of Somali Studies, Iowa State University Press, Volume 1, Issue 2, pages 91, 96, 107-108