Vaiko is the main annual harvest/heritage festival. It features choreographed dances and a wrestling tournament for young men. During Vaiko and other ceremonies, women dress in indigo tie-dye (adorned with palm leaves or beads), while men wear animal-skin waist wraps over similar fabrics. The community serves ngup (a porridge) with kunu (millet drink) to guests. Another important occasion is Bhit Mhiship Day, a newer cultural day (often diaspora fundraising) celebrating unity. Weddings are elaborate: bride price negotiations occur via a male kin “guardian” who liaises with the groom’s family.
Once bridewealth is paid, the family hosts “bhisih”, a public marriage ceremony. Childbirth is equally celebrated: Mhiship women sing continuous folk songs of praise when a baby is born, welcoming the child as a sacred symbol of continuity. (For a male child, tools like bow-and-arrow or a farming hoe may be displayed to symbolize future provision.)
The community is known for its tie-dye textiles and beadwork (women’s outfits) as well as wood carving and basketry. Men customarily farm with simple implements; while the Mhiship grow crops like rice, sorghum (guinea corn), beans and yams, they also hunt and forge iron locally. Traditional music uses drums (ganga) and clapping at dances and childbirth songs. Oral history is preserved by elders who retell clan legends and genealogies (often in the native tongue). A major cultural heritage project is language documentation (MCCDA and scholars have noted Mhiship’s endangered status).
Sources: The Efficacy of Women’s Musical Performance at Childbirth Events Among the Mhiship of Plateau State, Nigeria, published in Abraka Humanities Review, Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022), available on African Journals Online (AJOL).
