bakwerirama

Man, Mouse, Ape and Water Spirit

Culled from “Belief and the Problem of Women” by Edwin Ardener (1975)

According to the Bakweri of Cameroon (in a male rescension): “MOTO, EWAKI and MOJILI were always quarrelling and agreed to decide by a test which of them was to remain in the town and which should go to the bush. All were to light fires in their houses in the morning and the person whose fire was still burning on their return from the farms in the evening was to be the favored one.

Moto, being more cunning than the others built a fire with big sticks properly arranged, whereas they only built with small dry sticks, and so his was the only fire that was still alight on their return in the evening. Thus Moto remained in the town and became Man. Ewaki and Eto went into the bush and became Ape and Mouse. Mojili was driven into the water and became a water spirit (This version was given in 1929 by Charles Steane, a Bakweri scholar to B. G. Stone).

Titi Ikoli: Sexual Insult and Female Militancy among the Bakweri

By Shirley Ardener

An excerpt from “Sexual Insult and Female Militancy.” In Shirley Ardener (ed.), 1975. Perceiving Women. London; Malaby Press, pp. 29-53

This article attempts to examine certain manifestations of female militancy in Africa, not only for their own interest, but also to see whether they can throw any light upon the completely independent modern women’s liberation movements with which we are now familiar in the West. The African ethnographical material, which is set out first, refers mainly to the Bakweri, the Balong and the Kom of West Cameroon. Besides oral reports collected from Cameroonians about traditional behaviour and on particular occurrences, for the Bakweri there is additional relevant documentation from Court records.

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.

Panel Discussion on Bakweri Pregnancy Rituals to take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Professor Babila Mutia, of the University of Yaounde I and presently a Visiting Professor at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, will on Friday April 16, 2004 chair a panel discussion on Bakweri pregnancy rituals at the 30th Anniversary Conference of the African Literature Association, currently taking place at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The discussion, which is part of the session on "Poetry, Poetics, and the Power of the Word”, is titled "Performer, Audience, and Performance Context of Bakweri Pregnancy Rituals and Incantations".

For more details visit the conference website at: http://africa.wisc.edu/ala2004/program/16-friday.htm

It should be noted that Prof. Mutia is the author of the groundbreaking article on Bakweri funeral songs, “Stylistic Patterns in Oral Literature: The Form and Structure of Bakweri Dirges”, which will appear on this site in the near future.

The Mokpe (Bakweri) Woman and her Role in the Mokpe Traditional Society

By Catherine L. L. Musoko

In spite of being relegated to the background, the traditional Bakweri woman nonetheless wielded lots of power behind the scenes, and greatly influenced decisions related to the running of the clan.

Traditional Bakweri society was matrilineal in structure. This was seen in the Ewong’a Yowo and Ewong’a Mokossa (“medicine bench”) which was shared exclusively by the sons and daughters of the same mothers, and never of the same fathers. The patrilineal relationship was, however, strongly upheld as far as settlement of property, the burial of the deceased, the selection of a permanent abode for the family, or the taking of a wife were concerned.

Christine Njeuma: Cameroon's Pioneer Female Pilot

In January 2002, 29-year old Christine Bonbankal Njeuma made history by becoming the first ever Bakweri and Cameroonian female pilot, when she got recruited by Cameroon's national carrier, Cameroon Airlines (CAMAIR). This was a groundbreaking achievement that challenged deeply ingrained beliefs about gender roles for Cameroonian and African women.

By venturing into a career totally dominated by males, Christine was sending a message that the Cameroonian woman of the 21st century refused to be held back by outdated sexist standards.