The Ham people are an ethnic group found in the southern part of Kaduna State in the northwestern region of Nigeria, predominantly in Jaba, Kachia and Kagarko Local Government Areas of southern Kaduna State, Nigeria. They speak the Hyam language and refer to themselves as Ham. They are known as the 'Jaba' in Hausa, but a recent study by a linguist who is a native of the area (John 2017) has definitely proven that the label 'Jaba' was derogatory and should be rejected.
Some estimates place the Ham as numbering 388,000. (Peoplegroups.org, 2025)
There is a common misconception that the Ham people created the Nok culture after archaeological discoveries in the Ham village of Nok. The Nok culture flourished between c. 1500 BC — c. 1 BC while the Ham people only migrated to the area from Kano in the 17-18th century. The culture was so named because the terracotas that characterised the Nok Culture were first discovered in the Ham village called Nok. Later other archeological sites elsewhere were discovered as well.
In times past, the Ham tribe was a people popularly referred to as the Jaba people, until more recently that the nomenclature ‘Jaba’, began to be looked down upon, especially by the natives. This displeasure at the word ‘Jaba’ was because of the roots of the word being in the Hausa language, as against the indigenous lingua, ‘hyam’. An extensive research was undertaken by a native of the area and a linguist, with respect to the language and came about the conclusion of the derogatory nature of the word ‘Jaba’ and therefore, the emphasis for its discarding and adoption of the unadulterated term, ‘Hyam.
The Ham natives are predominantly found in Jaba, Kachia, Kagarko and also in Jema’a Local Government Areas of Kaduna state and in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa state of Nigeria. Under this huge Umbrella however, are so many clusters and classifications. For example, the dialects are clustered as: Ham Kpop ( also called Jaban Kwoi), Ham Ngat Ham (Jaban Katari), Ham Shambang (Samban), Ham Duhyah [or Idun ] (Jaban Lungu), Ham Kworri (Chori), Ham Det (Faik/Kenyi), Ham Netkun/Netwho (Gbaham), Ham Nyakpah [or Nyankpa ] (Yeskwa), Ham Kong/Rhuini (Kamantan).
Given that the Gurara River and other several seasonal streams thread through their dwelling place, their agricultural lifestyle is significantly enhanced. For example, since the introduction of ginger by the colonialist during the colonial days, the Ham tribe have consequently raised it as a cash crop till date. They are arguably one of the largest sources of exported ginger for Nigeria. In addition to this, they cultivate rice, guinea corn, millet, cocoyam, Hungary rice etc. in subsistence levels.
The majority of the Ham people are Christian, estimated at about 85%. About 75% of the population is defined by some sources as "Evangelical Christians", with 10% fitting other definitions of Christians.
The Ham Tribe speak a language called the Hyam language. A language spoken in more than 100 villages and 27 districts in Nigeria.
Hyam is a regionally important linguistic cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria. Hyam of Nok is the prestige dialect (Blench 2008). Writing the sociolinguistics of Hyam, Blench treats Sait, and Dzar as distinct varieties, and notes that Yat and Ankung may be viewed as separate languages, however, Hayab (2016) presents a differing opinion arguing that it is Ankung, a language called Iduya, that is not mutually intelligible to Hyam. Meanwhile, Hyam, which is spoken by the Ham people of Nigeria, popularly known as 'Jaba' in a recent study by Philip Hayab, a native of the area and a linguist who carried out in-depth research into the language, reveals that 'Jaba' has a Hausa etymology and is derogatory and should be discarded (John 2017).
Ham rulers are called Kpop Ham.
The Ham tribe celebrate a major annual festival called the ‘Tuk-Ham’ annual festival. This festival actually serves as a Planting festival for the Ham tribe who claim direct descent from the Nok culture. The festival is a fusion of both the ‘Ku’ and ‘Fain’ festivals which were known to be celebrated by the forebears of the Ham people. The festival usually features a lot of traditional and cultural displays; these occurs within a two-day period, during the Easter period. The event is preceded by a symposium and a ‘Tir-Ham’ (or Miss Jaba) beauty contest, and eventually rounded up with cultural displays and a gala night.
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