What is Ateiwya

The Tiv people right from the time of old possessed a handsome knowledge about their origin, way of life or traditions, science and technology including means of cultivating crops and ways of trapping or killing animals for food, medicinal uses of different plants, methods of making shelters to lay their heads and tactics of making cloths to cover their nakedness among others in a well-defined manner. Essentially, the knowledge the people possessed, which culminated into the Tiv Indigenous Knowledge (TIK) was orally transferred from one descent to another for documentation and continuity. However, the interplay of colonialism, Christian religion and intellectual property laws, constituted factors militating against the development of this crucial indigenous knowledge. This chapter therefore, describes the Tiv indigenous knowledge and the factors militating against it as well as attempt to figure out strategies that could be useful in curtailing these problems.