The Atsam people (Tyap: A̱tsamyia̱; Hausa: Cawai, Chawai[3]) are found mainly in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Middle Belt (central) Nigeria.
[7] The Atsam people practice Christianity, Islam, and the ethnic religion which appears to be dying out due to the dominance of the first two.
The colonial government placed the Atsam under one of the vassal states they created under the Zazzau Emirate, the Chawai district.
Today, the Atsam people are organized in a political unit called the Tsam (or Chawai) Chiefdom.
It is noteworthy that the Zambina clan was claimed to be the oldest and only ruling house before the British colonial regime.