Gbedegi

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The Gbedegi, also known as Gbede, are a Nupe sub-tribe living in North Central Nigeria. They originally started as a Yoruba group who lived along the upper and middle Niger River, but over time they adopted the Nupe language, a shift that began when Tsoede united the Nupe Kingdom in the 16th century.

Their own Gbedegi language was spoken until around the turn of the 20th century, but it is now extinct and has been replaced by Nupe. Early travelers and scholars noted the language; for example, in 1857 Crowther described Yoruba-style references to a local river deity, and in the 1930s an old man on Jebba Island could still speak a few Gbedegi words.

Today, the Gbedegi are Nupe in culture, though some Yoruba traditions remain. The Gbedegi dialects spoken in their towns, together with Bida, form the basis of what is now considered Standard Nupe.

The Gbedegi homeland includes Rabba on the Niger River, and towns such as Mokwa, Gbajibo, Bele, Shonga, Ogudu, and Tada, including Jebba Island. Bronze figures found at Jebba Gungu and nearby Tada are said by locals to have been brought from Yorubaland in ancient times.

The Ebe (who call themselves Asu) are another subgroup in the Yelwa area and also claim Yoruba origins.

The name “Gbedegi” comes from the Yoruba phrase “Gbọ Ede,” meaning “to understand a language.” The Nupe suffix “-gi” means “little,” describing people who understood only a little Nupe.

The Gbedegi are distinctive among Nupe for Yoruba-style Elo and Mamma masks and for the Gungun masquerades. These masks feature Yoruba-like facial marks, which the Nupe later adopted, and they resemble the Yoruba Egungun and Gelede traditions.