Bakossi
The Bakossi are a West African ethnic group within the Bantu peoples who are resident in southwest Cameroon .
Bakossiland
The settlement area of the Bakossi includes the Bakossi Mountains , the western slopes of the Manengouba , the Kupe and extends in the south to the Mungo River . According to various sources, the settlement area called Bakossiland occupies between 2000 and 3000 km² in the provinces of Littoral and Sud-Ouest . To the west of the Bakossi are the Oroko , to the east the Manehas and Bamuns .
language
The Bakossi speak the Akoose language , with around 134,000 speakers. In the own name in the name of the Akoose Bakossi is Bekoosé , in the singular Nkoosé and Bakossiland is Ekoosé called. The sacred places of the Bakossi are called Mwaam and are mainly located in the summit regions of the Manengouba and the Kupe. In the mythology of the Bakossi, these mountains are assigned a supernatural aura.
origin
The ethnological origin of the Bakossi is not completely clear, on the one hand the Bakossi language Akoose is related to the language Duala , which is spoken about 100 km to the southeast , and on the other hand the round huts of the Bakossi villages, which are unusual for the region, have similarities with the Bantu peoples in the savannah areas of the Sahel and Sudan . However, it is undisputed that coming from the north they subjugated the area forcibly and mixed with the original population from a group of hunters and gatherers and so today's Bakossi emerged.
Oral transmission
According to the oral tradition of the Bakossi, its origin goes back to the ancestor Ngoe . He settled on the western slopes of Manengouba near today's settlement of Mwekan. Ngoe met the woman Sumediang on a hunting excursion on the Manengouba , both quickly fell in love with each other and Ngoe and Sumediang married. One day an old sick woman named Ngotenkang was wandering the village in search of support and care. However, she was turned away everywhere, only Ngoe and Sumediang took her in, and the two of them took care of old women. Out of gratitude, Ngotenkang warned the couple of an impending catastrophe which would strike the hard-hearted people of the village and which would emanate from the lakes at the summit of Manengouba. She led them to a safe place and Ngoe and Sumediang survived the flood. Her sons Anngoe (Nninong) and Ngemengoe (Bangem) moved out and settled in the north of Bakossiland, while Aso Mengo moved out after a dispute with his father to settle in the southeast on the Kupe. The last brother Mbwogmund settled in the west with his family. All Bakossi clans refer to these sons of Ngo as their founding fathers.
literature
- Armin Zimmermann: The sowing and harvesting should not stop . Studies on Traditional and Christian Harvest Festivals in Cameroon: The Example of the Bakossi and the Presbyterian Church Tectum Verlag (2000) ISBN 978-3828881068
Individual evidence
- ↑ Geography of Bakossiland ( Memento of the original from August 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on BACDA-USA (English)
- ↑ Background of Bakossi ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on BACDA-UK (English)
- ↑ Bakossi People ( Memento of the original from May 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Bakossi.org (English)
- ↑ Welcome to "Bakossi United Online"… voices from the “Bakossi People” !!!… ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Deborah Hatfield, Janneke VanderKooy, Marcia Bleeker: A Sociolinguistic Survey Among the Bakossi ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF document; 319 kB) (English)
