History of Birifor People of Ghana and Burkina Faso .

Birifor People also known as Malba People can be found in Ghana and Burkina Faso , they are Ghana’s northern minority ethnic group and they are related to the Mossi People , Safaliba , Gurma , Moba and Tallensi People . 

 They grow crops such as cassava , cocoyam , millet , sorghum , mushrooms and other crops, also they are considered to be part of the Gur speaking people , their dialects include the Northern and Southern Birifor , Northern Birifor is spoken in the malba region of Burkina Faso and Southern Birifor is spoken in the battie region of Burkina Faso .

Birifor can be found in the Upper West Region of Ghana , one of Ghana’s minority ethnic group , the other Ghanaian minority ethnic groups include Hanga , Lobi , Nateni , Adele , Yom , Jwira Pepesa , Safaliba and Kamara . It is believed Birifor people in Present day Burkina Faso migrated from Gold Coast Present day Ghana many years ago , In Birifor tradition , they live in extended families , In very large mud houses , at some point the sons with their wives and children move away from their father’s house and start living on their own , they live off the land and sometimes have small cattle and chickens .

.It is believed their economy is one of the exchange , on the market that takes place every 5th day , they sell their surplus goods and buy what they need their main products are local home made goods and livestock , some goods are still paid for with cowry shells and It is said the language is spoken in the north - west of the Upper West Region and It is a separate language from Wali , Dagaari and Sisaala .  

Birifo scripts such as faith comes by hearing in Birifor was published in 2008 and A naaɲmtn n3tur paala was published in 2006 and they carved sculptures also they make metal works , most of the their casting took place in the beginning of the 20th Century CE , they perform music such as traditional bori music , funeral music , they use blowing hunting horn , xylophone and drums . Birifor speakers are said to be minority people in the northern Ghana and South western part of Burkina Faso.

 They are 250,000 Birifor speakers in Burkina Faso just under half the region’s population , Including around 125, 000 in Ghana , their xylophone has 14 to 18 bars , pentatonic tuning but other exist , elements include rosewood bars known as nirra , gourd resonators , hardwood frame , goat or antelope hide ‘’ Spider webs”, also Kaliba is one of their ancient instrument. 

It is also known as mbira and It is one of the most advanced types of traditional lamellophone , It is played Inside a gourd to amplify the Instrument’s sound and to add a buzz the bamboo kaliba dates back to 1000 BC and the metal kaliba dates back to 700 AD . 

Musical genres among them include funeral music , harvest songs and they celebrate a puberty festival known as Boori also spelled as Bori , this festival include praises , jokes and music as well , In Burkina Faso there was a promotion of Birifor language and culture , that took place from 22nd July - 26th July every year.

It takes place in the village of Sidoumoukar not far from the city of Gaoua , this include promoting communications in Birifor , songs , dances and archery on the 1st day , on the 3rd day reading , competitions , playing of balafon , tam- tam Instruments and calabash and on the 5th day recording new music , drumming and singing songs both 2nd , 3rd and 4th day activities such as storytelling , playing balafon and dancing . Birifor language is also known as Malba language . 

In their Culture they traced to their patrilineal lineage , each family house has shrines including sculptures.

It is believed the houses of shrines Intended to strengthen the cohesion of the clans and In Birifor Concept , Naanwin is the Creator , Naawin is the Almighty , master of everything , Invisible , It is believed spirits are Intermediaries of Naawin and men that led to a path of access to Naawin , Naawin is Inacessible hence the Important of spirits who are Intermediaries are Invoked and It is believed the world is very rich in protective of cosmos and man .