Grassfields History
A Great Beginning
The people of Cameroon’s Grassfields mainly inhabit the North-West and West regions of the country. While often considered the birthplace of Bantu languages and the source of one of the most ancient sedentary cultures in Africa, their origins are still up to debate. It is, however, agreed upon that intra-African migration led the people to Tikarland (in the Adamawa region) around the 12th century, where they founded a dynasty.
Around the 14th century, the Tikar dynasty collapsed after the death of Ndéh, its last monarch. This event created internal divisions given the desire for upward mobility among the nobility and royals, many of whom were eager to found their own kingdoms. The death of Ndéh marked the beginning of a series of migrations from Tikarland to the Grassfields region, primarily led by his children. According to the oral tradition, Yendé, the eldest prince, crossed the Noun River to found the Fodom[1] of Fʉ’sàp[2] (Bafoussam). Fʉ’sàp, throughout the subsequent centuries, gave birth to countless offspring nations and city states in what is now known as the Bamiléké region. Meanwhile, Ngonnso’, the princess, crossed the Noun to found the Fondom[3] of Nso and Ncharé, the youngest prince, went down to the Noun plain to found the Fondom of Pamom (Bamun). Pamom became an Islamic Sultanate upon the arrival of western colonizers.
Colonization and New Names
The multiple kingdoms created in the Grassfields remained deeply interconnected through trade, culture, alliance, and wars. Some states like the Fodom of Jo (Bandjoun), expanded by annexing its neighbours many years before and after the colonization began in Bamiléké region. Beginning in the 20th century, however, the Grassfields region was initially colonized by the German Empire, and then later divided and administered by the British Empire (North-West region) and the French Empire (West region) after WWI. Influenced by German, French, English and Portuguese, new names (like Banso instead of Nso, Bamun instead of Pamom, Bafoussam instead of Fʉ’sàp etc.) were created and given to people and their states. The colonial powers, through their stronghold on the administrative and educational system, normalised the use of these new terms and people started to identify with them.
The term “Grassfields” itself is a western construct. The term is, nonetheless, widely used by the people as a sign of shared territory, value, heritage, and culture. It has been so deeply assimilated that it can be found in early Cameroonian pidgin English (as Graffi) and in many Grassfields indigenous languages like in Ghɔmálá’ (as Glǎfi).
Grassfields Cosmology
All Praises to the Most High
All Grassfields peoples (and indeed most Cameroonian peoples) believe in the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent Supreme Being, whose name changes depending on the language spoken. For example, the Supreme Being is Sǐ to Ghɔmálá’ speaking people of the Bamileke region, Nyuy to Lamnsɔ’ speaking people of the Nso Fondom and Nwi to Shüpamom speaking people of the Pamom Fondom. Traditional spiritualities and religions are, however, also intertwined with land, its ownership and lineage. Thus, primordial principles such as deities, ancestors, and spirits are all bound to specific territories and remain vital to the resolution of people’s material and spiritual concerns, as they are the primary intercessors to the Supreme Being.
Regardless of the culture and language, Grassfields cosmology shares many similarities that can be materialized around the importance of one’s country and compound. For example, Ghɔmálá’ speakers who are found in 22 Fodoms in the West region of Cameroon. These Fodom are known in Ghɔmálá’ as Jo (Bandjoun), Hɔm (Baham), Wɛ (Bahouan), Fʉ’sàp (Bafoussam), Lə̂ŋsàp (Baleng), Sʉə̌ (Bansoua), Tyə̂’ (Batié), Yɔ̌gám (Bayangam), Mûjǔ (Bamendjou), Deŋkwop (Badenkop), Pǎ (Bapa), Gɛ̂ (Fòjì, Fòkɔ̀m) (Bangang), Thə̂fǎm (Batoufam), Gwə́ (Bangou), Ŋwə̀ (Bangoua), Ŋǎm (Bagam), Deŋfám (Badrefam), Deŋ (Baden). Ghɔmálá’ has four main dialects with tonal particularities (accents) that are easily intelligible for the average native speaker.
In Ghɔmálá’, four concepts highlight the importance of one’s country (Guŋ) and compound (Lá’dyə): Chuəpsǐ (sacred site), Bəmmò (one’s guardian spirit), Dyəthə́ (house of sacred deceased) and what could be called Nə́mò (one’s body).
Chuəpsǐ: Sacred Site of the Land
Historically, most Ghɔmálá’ speaking Fodoms were ruled by a monarch addressed as Fò (in some case a woman addressed as Mâfò). The Fò or Mâfò was supported by a council of notables known as the Mkamvʉ’ʉ, and the Fodom’s most preeminent secret societies. Administratively, Fodoms were divided into provinces called Mtâjyə̀, each ruled by Mngwalá’. As territorial administrators, Mngwalá’ had Mkamfò lá’ who administered Lá’, which were smaller districts or villages. These elites — the Mfò, Mngwalá’, Mkamfò lá’, — and their descendants distributed land within their own Fodoms, provinces, and villages. Often, the land was divided among lineage heads, meaning adult men capable of building their own family or providing for themselves. Later, these men would redistribute the land among their wives for cultivation or, when the time comes, to their own sons for them to establish their own compounds and to become heads of their own dynasties.
In Ghɔmálá’, land is frequently referred to as “Sǐ” which is also how the Supreme Being is addressed. This highlights the sacred, if not divine, status of land. In a philosophical way, land could neither be bought nor possessed as a good. However, the new occupant of a plot of land would always give a symbolic compensation and gifts to the previous occupant when making the initial request for a parcel of land with Dzə́ (a goat) and Mwaə̌ (palm oil), and after settling the deal, with Gwɛ̌ (salt).
After being granted the plot of land by the “owner”, the lineage head or founder of the compound, arranges a religious and spiritual ceremony to build a Chuəpsǐ, the family’s sacred site within the compound. The Chuəpsǐ is built in the presence of witnesses, from distant neighbours to family members. With the help of an initiated ritual specialist such as a Ghə̀kɛ̀ who makes Kɛ̀ (magic), the founder plants Tyəyam and Mpfʉəkəŋ known as trees of peace. Stones[4] are placed around the roots of the Tyəyam and Mpfʉəkəŋ. In a spiritual and material sense, the Tyəyam marks a family or lineage’s right to occupy and use a plot of land and deliberately destroying a Tyəyam is a crime against the occupant’s right and his lineage.
Traditionally, each compound has a designated “sacrificer”, often an initiated elder who assists or initiates the children or grandchildren of the compound to practices such as how to make sacrifices, offerings or greetings to deities, ancestors, and spirits of the compound. This “training” also includes instruction in basic herbal knowledge. Overall, sacrifices or offerings aim primarily to celebrate a family’s growth, health, and financial successes or to demand reinforcement and protection against hardship and tribulations.
There are different kinds of Chuəpsǐ which can be found throughout compounds, villages, and provinces within a Guŋ (country). Generally, it’s accepted that each village or province has a major Chuəpsǐ attributed to well-known deities. These sites can be rivers, forests, lakes, waterfalls, caves, and boulders. Each of these sacred sites is under the responsibility of priests or priestesses designated by a Fò, who is also a religious figure. In Hɔm (Baham) for example, there are eight major Mchuəpsǐ[5] which are the dwellings of well-known deities such as Sǐfovu (Fovu’), Sǐmlaŋbəm (Mlaŋbəm), Sǐva’va’ (Va’va’), Sǐkaŋmali (kaŋmali), Sǐtwo’msi (Two’msi), Sǐsekəm (Sekəm), Silyənyə̌ (Lyənyə̌) , Sǐmkamkhə (Mkamkhə)[6]. Culturally, it is forbidden to enter the territory of a deity unaccompanied and so priestesses (Mânyəsǐ) and priests (Mkamsǐ) must assist all visitors (initiated or not) in their visits, demands, greetings, prayers, or sacrifices.
Bəmmò: The Personification of One’s Fate
No one is born alone, and to be born in a specific family or compound is to inherit a Bəm within that lineage. A Bəm or Bəmmò is the personification of an individual’s fate and fortune (good or bad). Successes and misfortunes in a person’s life are assumed to be their Bəm’s doing. In Ghɔmálá’ people exclaim: “Ě ghə̀ Bəm!” (He/she has luck!) when a person achieves greatness and: “A Bəm mò!” (It is one’s fate!) when a person faces fortune or misfortune.
A Bəm is the very manifestation of all the courses and possibilities of a person’s destiny. One’s Bəm is often presented as one’s creator, perceived as a spiritual entity and a personal deity figure. Bəmmò is in charge of bringing upon someone, blessings or curses from the Supreme Being, deities, ancestors, spirits or even people. As a core part of an individual, a Bəm holds a certain level of control over someone’s mind, body, and actions.
Dyəthə́: The House of Sacred Deceased
In the cult of ancestors, the deaths are never truly dead[7], they are just the realm of the invisible. The veneration of their material belongings, tombs or skulls in some cases is very much ordinary. If the Chuəpsǐ in a compound houses a spiritual and mystical link with entire lineage, ancestry, deities, and spirits, a Dyəthə́ houses the head (thə́) one or many ancestors, often well known when alive for a particular skill or asset with which they served the community. The Dyəthə́ is something most families must possess. It is common to have a separate house or allocated room for the ancestral skull with an earthen floor to keep the bond with the land. A single (or multiple) ancestor’s half buried skull can lives in one house, they can also be put in a jar instead of being half-buried. These skulls can be individually or collectively be consulted for guidance, fed with food and drinks, or associated with familial matters such as a conflict resolution.
At birth a child umbilical cord is buried under a banana tree in the compound. Death (vʉ̂) is followed in some case by a process of “ancestralization” that revolves around very elaborate rites. First comes the burial ceremony (Nə tə́ŋ mò)[8], which includes festivities with a masquerade. Next comes a funeral (Nə lɔ wʉ̂)[9] period of varying duration that can take place in one to fifteen years after the burial. It is during the funeral that the deceased’s skull is exhumed and given a house and so becomes a venerable ancestor and saint figure. During the “ancestralization” the deceased’s social status and affiliation within a secret society plays a role in the nature of the masquerade and dance given.
Nə́mò: One’s Body
In the Grassfields, the demographic expansion, and the limited amount of land to share or inherit created different waves of migration, within and later outside of Cameroon. This phenomenon started in the beginning of the 20th century when primarily young men left their homes to meet the emerging workforce demands in urban centers like Yaoundé, Limbé (then Victoria), Buea and Douala. This influx drastically changed the population composition in these developing townships and cities. With each new wave of migrants, lack of government planning and the rise of political and rhetorical xenophobia over available jobs and land led to tensions with the indigenous people of these townships and cities.
Meanwhile, for Grassfields people, elitism achieved through personal success has always been encouraged and rewarded by titles of notability. Thus, migration came to represent a possibility of upward mobility. Migration was also a way to be “set free” from traditional structures while still climbing the social ladder. Like most migrants across the world, Grassfields migrants left hoping that one day, they would gain enough financial freedom and social independence to return and claim a respectable position in their ancestral land. However, moving to cities placed migrants in environments which were not only far from their homeland but more than once tinted with overt hate crimes such as arson attacks and looting of their houses, shops and other business establishments. Examples include the burning of Congo district in Douala on April 24th, 1960, the Tombel Massacres in the town of Tombel on December 31st,1966, and the post-electoral crisis of October 1992 in Ebolowa.
Alienated from their family and domestic network support, links to the ancestral land and compound became urgent to survive in these new territories, where relatable and traditional political structures such as sacred sites were nowhere to be found. To facilitate social gatherings and human interactions, many lived in the same districts and communities in these cities. Some created groups of common interest where people from the same states could network and help each other financially through traditional saving and investment schemes called Shwa’á in Ghɔmálá’, known as Tontine or Njangui. Others took part in associations that often aim to have a key role to the betterment of their native lands and culture.
On a spiritual level and despite the predominance of Abrahamic faiths (Roman Catholicism and Islam), many kept a link with their immovable and often capricious traditional deities, ancestors, and spirits. Due to the stronghold of centuries of cultural practices, syncretism appeared as natural for many, while they reinvested old and common practices to keep their body physically connected to their lineage, compound, and country. For natives from Ghɔmálá’ speaking Fodoms, a person who travels or moves out of the family household is given three things by their elders or parents: Mdidum (seeds of peace), Mpfʉəkəŋ (trees of peace), and cǎ’lá’[10] (soil from the family compound). Far from the homeland, the person can plant pfʉəkəŋ[11] or dry and preserve it. They can consume the Mcǎ’lá’, and also eat two or three Mdidum[12] whenever spiritual guidance or blessings are needed. The end goal of all these actions are to not be forgotten by the land and their protectors (deities, ancestors, and spirits).
The Rise of Syncretism
The syncretic, as an ideology, is at the core of Grassfields cosmology and philosophy. Thus, when Islam and Christianity arrived in the Grassfield regions over a century ago, they encountered and interacted with the diverse philosophies and pantheons of Grassfields people. Although adherence to these Abrahamic faiths has increased among the people over time, sacrifices, libations, and prayers to the traditional protectors of the land and to the Supreme Being are still frequent today, hence the significance of mdidum, mpfʉəkəŋ, cǎ’lá’ etc. Currently, Abrahamic, and indigenous Grassfields worldviews coexist, and this melting pot of realities plays a crucial role in the social, economic, and political life of the people. With talismans in their pockets and Bibles or Korans in their hands, many people attend church on Sunday or mosque on Friday while remaining faithful to, if not fearful of the Supreme Being, deities, spirits, and ancestors.
Notes
[1] In Ghɔmálá’ Fo means “King” so states or kingdoms are called Fodoms.
[2] Fʉ’sàp is joined as one word. The ‘after Fʉ is not an apostrophe but a “k” sound (as in the word “cut”). So, the pronunciation Fʉ’sàp would sound like Fouk-sap.
[3] In Shupanom or Lamnso, “Fon” means “King” so states or kingdoms are called Fondoms.
[4] A stone is called Gwɔ̀’. The plural form is Mgwɔ̀’.
[5] Chuəpsǐ (singular) is Mchuəpsǐ (plural).
[6] A deity’s domain forms part of the deity’s name. For example, in the Fodom of Hom, Fovu’ is the domain of Sǐfovu’. Fovu’, like most deities, is not gendered but some attributes are gendered by worshipers.
[7] The cult of ancestor is personalized in each family. In most cases, the ancestors are considered as people who can still have an impact in the realm of the visible as if they were alive, despite being in the invisible (land of the ancestors). Despite being personalized, the following rule is non-negotiable: Elders and ancestors must be respected, fed, greeted, consulted for guidance, and honoured. Their house, land, or tomb must be cared for by the living.
[8] Nə tə́ŋ mò : Nə (infinitif for action : “to”) tə́ŋ (burry) mò (someone). So, to bury would be “Nə tə́ŋ”.
[9] Nə lɔ wʉ̂ : Nə (infinitif for action : “to”) lɔ (cry) wʉ̂ (mourning). So, to cry will be “Nə lɔ”.
[10] Mcǎ’lá’ (plural), cǎ’lá’ (singular).
[11] Mpfʉəkəŋ (plural), pfʉəkəŋ (singular).
[12]Mdidum (plural), didum (singular). Didum is at the same time the fruit (dry) and the seeds.
About the Author:
Liko Imalet is a Cameroonian-born, Paris-based audiovisual artist whose work focuses on sociopolitical issues via cultures and traditions. He is a student at the Sorbonne School of Management, a member of Justice for Cameroon and of Amicale des Etudiants Caribeens, Africains et Sympathisants (AMECAS).
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