Bapunu
The Punu (own name Bapunu , plural of Mupunu ) are a people of southern Gabun who also live in Congo-Brazzaville in the Niari region .
The Punu migrated from the north-west to the Ngounié basin in southern Gabon in the 18th century . They lived in independent village communities that were only divided into clans and families. The Mukiji Society, whose task it was to keep the evil spirits of the forest under its spell, played an important role in social cohesion .
The language of the Bapunu is the Yipunu . Yipunu speakers are mainly found in the provinces of Ngounié and Nyanga . The major settlement centers are the cities of Mouila , Ndendé (Ngounié), Tchibanga and Moabi (Nyanga). Nowadays, Punu also live in cities like Lambaréné ( Moyen-Ogooué ) and in the country's capital, Libreville . In terms of the number of speakers, Yipunu ranks second in the list of the most widely spoken languages in Gabon, just behind Fang (Pangwe).
literature
- Louis Perrois and Charlotte Grand-Dufay, Punu , 5 continents, Milan, 2008, page 157, ISBN 978-88-7439-400-5
- Hugues Mouckaga, Les Bapunu du Gabon, communauté culturelle d'Afrique centrale: sexualité, veuvage, alcoolisme, esclavage, maraboutage, anthropophagie: pour en finir avec les idées reçues , L'Harmattan, Paris, 2010, page 250, ISBN 978-2 -296-12565-0
Web links
- Punu Information (Arts & Life in Africa, The University of Iowa)