bakwerirama

The Eyu and Motio Rites of the Bakweri

Culled from: Edwin Ardener. Coastal Bantu of the Cameroons. (The Kpe-Mboko, Duala-Limba and Tanga-Yasa groups of the british and french trusteeships territories of the Cameroons). London, 1956. 116 pp.

Formerly it was the custom to hold a large supplementary rite (Eyu) for an important man [upon his death]. This would be performed as soon as possible after the normal rites, but might be delayed up to six months or perhaps a year.

When the decision to perform the ceremony was made, his heir would send word for all the dead man's relatives to meet together and fix their contributions of livestock (chiefly goats) to the celebration. Large numbers of these were necessary to make the eyu a big occasion.

Notes on Bakweri Funeral Customs

By M. D. W. JEFFREYS [Originally published in African Studies, Vol. 20, no. 1 (1961): 61-65.

Sometime before 1920, Bakweri historian ESASEA WOLATAE made very detailed notes about Bakweri funeral customs. Around 1946 he handed over these notes to M. D. W. Jeffreys (pictured). Spurred by the realization that "old customs and manners are disappearing [along] with the generation that still remembers how the old customs were performed", Jeffreys submitted these notes to the African Studies Journal for publication in 1961. Today, some 45 years after its first publication, and close to a century after Mola Wolatae jotted down his notes, Bakwerirama offers its readers this unique "refresher course" on Bakweri funeral customs from the perspective of a master of pre-colonial Bakweri culture.

Performer, Audience, and Performance Context of Bakweri Pregnancy Rituals and Incantations

By Babila Mutia (Cahiers d'études africaines, no. 177, 2005)

Abstract:
This article presents a comprehensive description of the four kinds of rituals that are performed on pregnant women among the Bakweri of South-western Cameroon. These pregnancy rituals are performed to avert abortions, premature deliveries, still births, and to ensure safe delivery. They are also intended to keep the pregnant woman healthy during her gestation period. The four rituals are performed by four separate nganga (traditional doctors). The implication here is that the pregnant woman moves from one herbalist to the other as her pregnancy progresses and need for each ritual arises. Of equal significance in this article is the consideration of the incantations that are chanted by each nganga and which complement each of the rituals as verbal art.