Drawing Strength from the Past

By Simon Mol

PART I

Is there really any future? The reoccurring presence of the Past points to the Powerlessness of the future, as it dies out to become meal for the Past. The fact is, man or tribe is nothing without its Past, which he yearns to return to, consciously or unconsciously, even after Death.

The Bakweri concept of immortally and reincarnation is Not a matter of belief but a one of Experience; a dynamic truth that challenges current dogmatic concepts.

The Mokpe (Bakweri) concept of immortally and reincarnation is not a matter of belief but a one of Experience; a dynamic truth that challenges current dogmatic concepts.

"After the birth of Mbua my mum visited Moon. Moon was a powerful Nganga [native doctor] who could communicate with children who were just a few weeks old . ‘This child doesn’t belong to this world. He will pass away soon.’ True to the words of Moon, Mbua died a few weeks later. After an interval my mum got pregnant again. After birth, (a girl), my mum visited Moon. ‘This child isn’t yours. She is passing away.’ She too did pass after a few months. Now, during the burial of Etonde, acting on the principles of tradition, a new razor was used to delicately slice her right cheek. After a couple of months my mum became pregnant again. Believe it or not when the child was born it was a girl. What was more, there was a scar on her right cheek, exactly where Etonde’s cheek has been scared before burial. My mum visited Moon. ‘She has come to stay this time. All you have to do is to rename her. The name you have given her isn’t hers. Call her Monye (earth)'."

Monye, a mother of four, is alive today, married, and is doing well.

Please wipe out any trace of doubt that this could be fiction. It is not.

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Comments

[Emil Mondoa]

There is a fairly comprehensive article written by the late Mola Peter Mokeba, that deals with this subject, giving the Bakweri terms for such subjects as the Godhead, spirits of nature, the human soul, reincarnation etcetera. It was published in ABBIA: Cameroon Cultural Review, an academic journal edited by Dr Bernard Fonlon during the late 60s-70s. We would like to cull that article for our readers.

Simon Mol, you once brought up the issue of a Bakweri religion/spirituality. Would be a nice to examine the issue.

Emil I Mondoa

[D. Mojoko Ewusi]

There is a bakweri festival called "Eyu-u". I have witnessed it twice in my life time. It is done to honour significant rulers of the past, I think, or simply relatives gone ahead. It is different from the typical memorial service. It is a very colourful ceremony in which different aspects of the tradition can be observed. Masqueraders come out, there is singing and dancing, and the most significant aspect of it all is the slaughtering of the animals which is done in a very "crude" way I should say, but that is the way it is meant to be. The animals are tied on to a post, and several persons are chosen to perform this rite. They are supposed to do it in such a way that the animal is decapitated with one strike of the machete. They must not "phonda" (to miss) which signifies an ill-omen.
Mola Ndoko should be able to tell us more about the "Eyu-u"

[Mojoko Ewusi]

Mbamba( my mother's mother)had lived with us for as long as I can remember. When she died in 1975, as is the tradition, my mother went into mourning. Typically the black cloth is worn for about nine months to a year after which there is a ceremony to (keh-maeweh)To take off the black cloth. However, my mother kept on mourning for several more years because she was very fond of mbamba. Relatives would say to her "Enjema O sza keh manga maeweh nange"?(aren't you going to take off those black clothes now?) my mother did not heed to what the relatives were saying. She kept on mourning. One of her cousins then said to her that your mother would be upset if you do not stop mourning soon, because it is as if you are not letting her go. She still did not heed to this.
One morning, as she was getting ready to go to work, she reached into her trunk for the dress she wanted to put on, only to realize that it had tiny holes all over it. She thought that maybe some insect had left those holes in it. She reached for another one, it too had holes in it. She realised that all the black dresses in her trunk, and wardrobe had these same tiny holes in them. None of her other dresses or wrappers had these holes. She was totally perplexed and did not know how to go to work that morning because she had nothing else to wear except her regular clothes. Because she had not performed the traditional ceremony of the sack cloth removal, she did not know what to do. So she satyed at home and sent for one of my uncles from Bova. When he came she told him what had happened. He reminded her that he had warned her that she needed to let go of mbamba.
Upon consulting a "nganga" in a farway village who did not even know my mother, it was confirmed that it was mbamba's way of telling my mother that she needed to let go. So even without a formal ceremony, she stopped mourning. This is a true story told to me by my mom several years after it happened.
Yes our ancestors do speak to us.