Game of Stools

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We’ve spent the last couple of episodes talking about the women who play important roles in the foundation legends of some African people. More recently, we’ve explored stories of sibling rivalries and birthright theft that occur among some African people. In today’s episode, we’ll braid those two storylines together with an account of a case of birthright theft, a founding mother, a sibling rivalry, and the resulting war which defined the Tikar people of Bamun and Nso, two of the African country of Cameroon’s most historically significant and culturally rich Fondoms.

Correction : In Anglophone Cameroon, we say “Open Eye” to refer to greed.

Tikar Royal Stool (Image Credit: Bruno Kemayou, Released by David W. Reed, PhD)

Can’t Get Enough?

References

• African-Americans Seeking Tikar Origin in Cameroon: Notes on Multiple Dimensions of Belonging by Francis B. Nyamnjoh

• Ngonnso, the Covenant Box of the Nso Fondom by Nyuydini Lyne Wongebee

• Genes tell a tale as big as Africa by Alan Boyle

• Oral Popular Cultural Performance: Retracing the Nso’ Genealogy and Hegemony in Yungsi Christopher and The Unbeatable Voices of Meluf Musical Lyrics by Tume Fondzeyuf K.

• Rock of God (Kilan ke Nyuy) by JV Bannavti

• The Origins of the Last Nso'-Mum War of the 1880s: The Other Side of the Coin by B. Chem-Langhëë, B and J. N. Lemven.