Fula People - Related Groups

Related Groups

Fula society in some parts of West Africa features the "caste" divisions typical of the region. In Mali and Senegal for instance, those who are not ethnically Fula have been referred to as yimɓe pulaaku (people of the Fula culture). This caste system however, is not followed in places like northern Nigeria or Cameroon, where in many cases the Fulani and Hausa have intermixed and taken influences from each other's cultures. (See Hausa-Fulani.) This phenomenon is not seen outside the eastern subregion of West Africa, and in places like Mali or Guinea, cultures between the Fulani and different groups are kept distinct.

One closely related group is the Tukolor (Toucouleur) in the central Senegal River valley, who had a strong kingdom paying a negotiated tribute to the Fula. Large numbers of other Fula-speakers live scattered in the region and have a lower status. They are descendants of Fula-owned slaves. Now legally emancipated, in some regions they still pay tribute to Fula elites, and they are often denied chances for upward social mobility. In-between groups are the Fula-speaking fishermen and handcraftsmen. These groups are often collectively referred to (together with Fulɓe of the region) as Haalpulaar (Fula: Haalpulaar'en, literally "Pulaar-speakers").

The Wodaabe (Fula: Woɗaaɓe), are a subgroup of the Fula people.