In the traditional Bakweri society, women are chosen as future spouses when they are still children, and in some cases, even before they were born. As concerns whirlwinds and hurricanes, the following event that occurred more than seventy years ago and which has now become legendary is fascinating. [6] In addition, a few isolated villages, such as Maumu and Bojongo, claim some alternate descent and may represent earlier groups whom the expanding Bakweri absorbed.[5]. As one historian puts it: The German Pygmy had become a Giant. Outmanned and outgunned, Chief Kuva retreated to the village of Ewonda, and sent agents to Momongo to buy arms. If the Bakweri were united, then their final defeat by the Germans during the Bakweri resistance under the leadership of KuvaLikenya could have failed and even if not the alienation policy might have adopted a different shape, thus the loose political and social ties amongst the Bakweri worked in favor of the Germans. As a resistance movement, it was before its time. Contrary to widely-held beliefs that the Bakweri made no effort whatsoever to resist the spoliation of their lands by the Germans, they did in fact mount a fierce anti-German campaign, particularly around the slopes of Mount Fako, and successfully inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Germans at Buea in 1891; the first ever German military loss on the African continent, which led to a complete reappraisal of German colonial/military policy on the continent, and, unfortunately, laid the basis for the brutal campaign to annihilate the Bakweri. Passive resistance, by refusing to do manual labor on their captured lands even when forced. Usually, the village that tunes the song first is sending a warning signal to its opponents saying their wrestler is ready. BAKWERI TRADITIONAL MEAL- "KWACOCO BIBLE" - camercultures The Bakweri belong to the most north-western branch of the Bantu speaking people inhabiting central and southern Africa. Portuguese traders reached the Cameroonian coast in 1472. Awa Odori is a traditional Japanese dance with a history of 450 years.We, "TAKARABUNE", are an entertainment group of Awa Odori, which challenges the limits . There is a belief that for more that three hundred years now the Bakweri have been in possession of scientific knowledge that they use They are grouped in societies of villages where each family maintains its independence. As the njoku dance they stamp their feet, and `lisonjo nut shells round their ankles make a rhythmic rattling. In this society, the gods and demi-gods played vital role according to the African traditional beliefs. After fulfilling the requirement it is the man who decides on when to take the wife. The Zingraff and Granvenreuth expeditions were singled out as failures in this respect. The story of Bakweri military resistance against the Germans is also the story of Chief KUVA LIKENYE of Buea, whose epic clashes with German troops remain one of the most glorious (but largely unknown) chapters in Cameroonian history. Also, sacred incantations are made usually by the elders, to consult the dead. There is an ongoing dispute between the Bakweri Land Claims Committee (BLCC) and the government of Cameroon regarding the disposition of Bakweri Lands formerly used by the Germans as plantations and now managed by the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC).[9]. During this event, he told the elders that he was tired and decided to rest before returning home and it was during that interval that ancestral spirit visited him. The men stopped school after 7 years. It was generally regarded as inborn, although it could sometimes be passed on to a person who was without it. Cameroon:Security forces open fire killing one "Nganya" Dancer Buea In spite of a heroic resistance, the Bakweri were no match to this superior German force. BAKWERI PEOPLE: ANCIENT FIERCE FIGHTERS, TRADITIONALLY - Blogger For the next three years, the Bakweri would hold the Germans at bay, preventing any serious implantation in the Bakweri heartland. Myths affirms that Ifasmoto owned a large sugar cane plantation in the mountain, where people who visited the mountain ate as much as possible but could not carry any back home. The Mpoo brings together the Bakoko, Bakweri, and Limba at Eda. traditional leadership systems, rent-seeking, the patriarchal nature of the Bakweri customary law and the impact of heterogeneity on Bakweri culture. Thes totems further give them strenght when wrestling during the Palapala fight. In any tragedy like earthquake, volcanic eruption or any other natural disaster, sacrifices are offered to the deity. More narrowly, they fall into the Sawa, or the coastal peoples of Cameroon. They settled on Bakweri soil as a result of the fact that they were either bought from neighboring tribes or caught as war captives. Behind him is Nerius N Mbile (left), The Nakuve: Chief SML Endeley-Paramount Chief of Buea, His Royal Highness Chief Humphrey Tande Mosenge of Small Soppo Wonganga, Buea, Chief Tande Mosenge receiving gift from his wife, Chief Mosenge receiving the attributes of office from the Nakuve. The presence of plantations brought in a change in economy and commerce as the traditional commerce which was characterized by trade by batter came to an end. One of the top Cameroonian dishes is Ndol which is somewhat considered "the unofficial dish" of Cameroon. In some villages, men and women eat slightly different foods, and in some other, men and women routinely share the same food. After these declarations, the elders consulted the ancestral spirit and his declarations were confirmed. The father was the head and has as obligations to preside over family affairs. The setting is magnificent; the villages are surrounded by dense and lush vegetation with Mount Cameroon towering in the background over the wrestling field and glimpses of the ocean can be seen on the horizon. The father or relative of the woman have been paid a dowry, thus the woman is considered as a property to the husband and his family. This revolt was squelched with the razing of Buea in December 1894 and the death of Chief Kuv'a Likenye. The Bakweri (or Kwe) are a Bantu ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. The Bakweri language and Cultural Center (BLACC) Was created to become the revival of Bakweri cultural values especially the Mokpe Language. The language is developed in the reading, writing and speaking. The Bakweri tribal group which was believed to have diverse origin like many other ethnic groups was attached to the Bantu family and had a decentralized society. They take pride in celebrating their cultural heritage during events such as Pala Pala, the Race of Hope (one which involves performing secret rituals to bless the mountain), the Malle dance and canoe race which is mostly conducted in the coastal areas of the region. They reared animals like pigs and bush cows, but they do not rear nor eat sheep. Education is not taken very serious, especially for the women because of early marriages. This second German expedition marked the beginning of the systematic German campaign to dehumanize and wipe out the Bakweri, seize their lands for plantation agriculture, and lock them up in the so-called Native Reserves. Routed and in total disarray, the force fled across the Mountain to the Mboko coast and back to Victoria, with the Bakweri in hot pursuit. Many died of diseases and cruelties in the concentration camps into which they had been driven. For example, they can eat raw cocoyams. PDF Bakweri Traditional Medicine Awesome Traditional Cultural Display of Bakweri Dance 2022Bakweri people are a particularly settled in Fako division of the #southwest #region of #cameroon When a woman is pregnant you dont access any dowry because she doesnt belong to you until she delivers, When a native doctor dies the people dont cry until you do certain rites. Among these gods Mbabalova was believed to be the grandmother of the sky god mostly attributed to the moon. Since the climate can sometimes be very harch, the Bakweri people wear long sleeve shirts, and thick pullovers and sweaters during almost the entire period of the year. Senior members of the society pretend to hunt the elephants, and the elephants in their turn charge at the hunters and strike their tusks furiously into the ground. Although these groups lived closer to each other, and practiced the same culture, they were independent from each other. One person has been killed while others seriously injured after Cameroon's defence and security forces opened fire on them as they were performing the "Nganya" dance, a traditional dance of the Bakweri people. For males, a good number of Bakweri traditional wrestlers have triggered the crowd and created much impact in their milieu, some of which have traveled to the land of no return. Marriage patterns The Bakweri have traditionally practised polygamy, although with Christianisation, this custom has become extremely rare. Inside the clouded summit is an active volcano from which new craters burst out every few decades. This led to ethnic tensions with the indigenes. MCNP is the home or 'chariot of gods' of the gods of Bakweri clan 'Ihvarza Mote' the practice of traditional beliefs has declined and so have the natural resources. The bakweri politcal organisations was divided into different classes. [5] They have further villages along the Mungo River and the creeks that feed into it. The Bakweri have traditionally practised polygamy, although with Christianisation, this custom has become extremely rare. Wikipedia. These decisions were not autocratic especially due to the fact that he had to consult some elderly people in the family lineage before taking decisions on matters of paramount importance. They also construct armoires, chairs, and tables. Over the next few decades, more adventurers came to explore the estuary and the rivers that feed it, and to establish trading posts. Due to theequatorial maritime climate, and the high fertility of the soil, the Bakweri people are good agriculturalists, and their main source of income is from agriculture. The bakweri are not normally supposed to have sex before marriage. During its existence, it revealed serious weaknesses in German Colonial administrative and military practice the resistance of the mountain people provided one of the important shocks of the early colonial system in Kamerun. Investigations in this garden included the control of cocoa diseases? I Really Appreciate and I am Glad You Love The Content. The Paramount Chief Of Buea Robert Esuka Endeley, we should note, is the son of Dr. Emmanuel Mbella Lifafa Endeley. Ballet Folk was founded in 2019 by Deborah Norris, a dance teacher and academic who wants to bring ballet to folk dance (including Morris), and folk back to ballet. In the next couple of years, they would implement policies aimed at isolating Kuva Likenye, and cutting off his sources of arms. The Understanding And Worship Of Lohw' (God) In The Bakweri Cosmology A child who lives in a Bakweri village soon becomes acquainted with medicinal plants for the treatment of illness that can be cured without consulting a Doctor. Secret societies such as the maale, Molova which was a female group known as wild pigs, Nganya, Liengu and host of others played the role of regulatory societies and custodians of the Bakweri community. Nevertheless, remnants of a pre-Christian ancestor worship persist. The Bakweri are primarily concentrated in Cameroons Southwest Region. (LogOut/ Not many non Bakweri have the opportunity of witnessing their ceremonies, and it is rarely indeed that the participants will allow photographs to be taken.This is the season when the annual dances of the society (Njoku Male) are held. The home negotiators had, as a result, no serious territorial claims in north and east to offer. See the Cameroonian Tribe That Successfully Launched An Attack Against German Colonial Masters. The Bakweri Elephants dance (Malee Dance) He was believed to be half human and half rock. Germany signed a protectorate agreement with the douala in today Cameroons in 1884. The Bakweri people are not usually allow to date. Every village had a witch-hanging tree (Ardener, 1956, p. 105). It is one of the most sought after dishes in . In the world of the living, family head presided over rituals and sacrifices on behalf of the family or the village clan. Assemblies, secret societies, and other groups play an important role in keeping the Bakweri unified, helping them set goals, and giving them a venue to find solutions to common problems. The festival commemorates the ancestors and allows the participants to consider the problems facing the groups and humanity as a whole. Required fields are marked *. His presence in a wrestling pitch brought complete panic to his opponent who would fall prey to his waiting muscles. The Bakweri are found on the eastern and south eastern slopes of the mountain, coastal Bomboko on the south-east coast, the inland Bomboko on the North-west of the Bakweri and Isuwu and Wovea are on the southern coast of the Fako Division. The arms never came. This dance is known as Veamb e and the participants, some of whom are quite young children, wind in and out of the village to the rhythm of the drums. As might be expected for coastal peoples, the sea also plays an important role in this faith. A growing number of the Bakweri today grow up with Pidgin as a more widely spoken language. According to records, Chief Luma Francis Mokoli was gazetted in 1939 as chief of Likombe Chiefdom. Till date, its uniting power cannot be underestimated. The colonial Bakweri society had its own vision of the cosmic world. In the Bakweri soceity, many families are monogamous, and therefore there is no conjugal household from within the family. Sometimes, the two families may come come to a compromise and ask the groom to give what he has. Meanwhile, various cultural and sports events are performed on the beach while waiting for the first canoes. The Bakweri are known to be skilled weavers of hats and shirts, for example. Many sicknesses where attributed to witchcraft; but the essential diagnosis was always made by a diviner. Led by the Bakweri Land Claims Committee (BLCC), the people of Fako division are taking their case for land compensation and restitution to the Cameroonian people and the international community. Buea and Wokpae were his grave remains hidden and unmarked to this day. In 1918, Germany lost World War I, and her colonies became mandates of the League of Nations. The Isuwu are also believed to have originated from Bomboko. The Bakweri are primarily concentrated in Cameroons Southwest Province. Also, the Bakweri have restricted their dressing to rapa(loins), and shirts for the men, and also a loin or rapa for the women. Historically, Bakweri traditional wrestling popularly known as Pala-Pala started long ago as a result of an argument that erupted between two friends who wanted to know who is braver than the other. Bakweri Traditional Wrestling One special sporting event, the Bakweri Traditional Wrestling, encompasses all the qualities the Bakweri have inherited. Before formal agriculture, the early people practiced fishing, hunting and food gatherings. Till date, many other Bakweri cultural activities which started informally are now crowd pulling events among the Bakweri people. Learn Traditional Middle Eastern Dance in Brooklyn, New York When Chief Kuva Likenye of Buea learned of the imminent attack by the German force, he was unimpressed by it all. The day of that occasion you bring the big and the girls family will acess you on what to pay. The town of Limbe is another major Bakweri City that harbors other ethnic groups like the Duala, Bassa and others. While the paddles glitter in the seawaves, some old wise men could even be seen on the beach apparently invoking victory gods for their villages. Bakweri were divided into the urban and rural areas. The British thus renewed encouragement for people from the interior to move to the coast and work the plantations. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. In March 1894, Germany signed an agreement with France that fixed the eastern boundary of Kamerun far more narrowly than once had been hoped for. The rural Bakweri, in contrast, work as farmers, making use of Mount Cameroon's fertile volcanic soils to cultivate cocoyams, maize, manioc, oil palms, and plantains. They believed in life after death and attached themselves to traditional religious groups. Mamfe and Bakweri are all coastal communities in Cameroon with similar cultural institutions but with different patterns of traditional justice. Like the Zulus after the defeat of Chaka, like Native Americans after the failure of their resistance against European settlers, the Bakweri had, by the end of the 1890s, been completely subjugated and their once vibrant culture in complete disarray. Thanks to their defeat of the German-led forces, the Bakweri had slowed down the advance of the Germans into the Cameroonian interior, The Germans never forgot this defeat in the hands of what they wrongly considered an ill-trained ragtag army. BAKWERI TRADITIONAL MEAL- "KWACOCO BIBLE" RECIPE: Cocoyam-10 sizable coco yam Smoked Plantain leaf Smoked fish Cray fish Maggi- 4 cubes kwacoco bible, Bakweri dish Pepper Salt-2table spoon Palm oil-1litre Garlic Ginger PREPARATION PROCEDURE Clean cocoyam using a knife, wash cocoyam and grate using a grate machine. Organizers of the event have however taken some measures to mitigate health complications like broken body parts that come as a result of wrestling on these hard surfaces. These were fierce mountain warriors who were not afraid against invaders, as the Germans would learn the hard way in Buea in 1890s as they tried to penetrate into the Bakweri heartland. Best Bakweri Most Spiritual Traditional Dance - YouTube In all, every war or wrestling song has a meaning. Ndol. This is particularly true among the Isubu, many of whom are bilingual in Duala or Mokpwe. The wives tended his pigs, goats, cattle, arable land, so no one could trespass or exceed them, etc.[15]. From the time they landed on the Fako coast, and especially after they came in contact with the Bakweri of the interior, the Germans had nothing but grudging respect for the Bakweri, particularly the fierce and fearless warriors of the villages around Buea, whom the future German Governor of Kamerun, Von Puttkamer, praised in 1886 for their powerful well-built bodies, their courage and their skill in hunting Another German, Dr. Preuss, who would later become infamous for his appalling brutality towards the Bakweri, described them in yet another report as being rough (rauhen) and bold (dreisten Benehmen) in their dealings with the White man. Nevertheless, remnants of a pre-Christian ancestor worship persist. They were stratified under three distinct groups notably strangers, natives and slaves. They have further villages along the Mungo River and the creeks that feed into it. They live in over 100 villages east and southeast of Mount Cameroon with Buea their main population centre. After SML Endeley quitted the scene, the children of EML Endeley took it upon themselves to revert the throne to their family. If no albino was found, a yellow Endeley was offered to him, or someone who is very fair in complexion. Finally, were the slaves called Wokomi which was the last group and was situated at the bottom of the social table.They consisted of people who co-habited with Bakweri people but had lesser privileges. "Colonial litism in Cameroon: the case of the Duala in the 1930s". Lagos; Salvation Army, 1939. Bakweri Traditional Medicine By Mola Mbua Ndoko There are hundred and hundreds of medicinal plants in the lands of the Bakweri. When they brought in their wives, other friends and relatives from Womboko joined them and they opened gardens. The Bakweri are known to be skilled weavers of hats and shirts, for example. This called for the attention of the village elders who convoked him an explanation. A husbands prosperity was also intricately linked to the influence of his wife or wives. The latter has taken the flag of the Southwest Region and Cameroon to distant places representing it in many competitions. Marriage and family life - The Bakweri Cultural & Sports Events We can arrange tours to experience the following Bakweri traditional events and customs: Palapala - Bakweri traditional wrestling Mount Cameroon International Race Of Hope - Held annually in February The Ngondo cultural festival of the Douala people. They imported other Africans to do the work, hence the age old contempt by the Bakweri for immigrant Africans who were hated for cooperating with the enemy. Your email address will not be published. According to records presented during the installation of Chief Luma, Chief Njonje Ekema Teke, the grandson of Ngoni Maliva of the Small Soppo Woteke family was the first chief of Likombe. Before the introduction of plantation agriculture, the natives were involved in subsistence agriculture in which food crops such as cocoyam, plantains, beans, maize and yams were grown. For the next three years, the Bakweri would hold the Germans at bay, preventing any serious implantation in the Bakweri heartland. Mr. learn to belly dance with dinara at bbt/school of russian american ballet at kingsborough.anybody who is passionate about belly dancing,who understands and a. Also een the next of king doesnt necessarily means that all the property belongs to you, you are the one to control the property. They are closely related to Cameroon's coastal peoples (the Sawa), particularly the Duala and Isubu. The climate of this region is strongly affected by its altitude. Interestingly, we found out that Traditional Wrestling differs from the modern-day wrestling. Generally, tools use include digging sticks, hoes, and matches. Far from it! We surveyed 228 households and randomly selected 14 from the 41 villages in MCNP. A huge fine was imposed upon them, and Bakweri slave labor was later used to build the German Government station, established on their original site that became Buea, the capital of German kamerun in 1902. These were fierce mountain warriors who were not afraid against invaders, as the Germans would learn the hard way in Buea in 1890s as they tried to penetrate into the Bakweri heartland.
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