Makaa

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A Makaa woman with a banner on her way to her fields

The Maka or Makaa are a people who live in the rainforest zone in southern Cameroon .

They live mainly in the north of the Upper Nyong Division of the Cameroon Eastern Province . The main Maka settlements are Abong-Mbang , Dume and Nguélémendouka. Some Maka places are also located across the border in the Cameroon Central Province .

Most Maka still speak their Makaa or South Maka language, which in 1987 still had 80,000 speakers. In the north of the Maka Territory, speakers use a related language called Byep or North Maka. Byep had only an estimated 9,500 speakers in 1988. The official language French or English are mostly used as the second language. Although they consider themselves to be a people of their own, the Maka dialects also serve as a form of identity: The main Maka dialects are Bebent (Quaking, Biken, Bewil, Bemina), Mbwaanz, and Seconda. Byep has two dialects, Byep and Besep (Besha, Bindafum). Both languages ​​are Makaa-Njem languages .

They have their own traditional Central African religion, however, through persistent missionary work among the Makaa, there are more and more Christians and Muslims .

When the German colonial rulers entered the Eastern Maka Zone after taking control of Cameroon in 1884, the locals were recruited to build roads and work on German plantations. When France forcibly took control of French Cameroon in 1914 , the Makaa were now used for forced labor on the plantations of large French companies.

literature

  • Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005): " Byep ". Ethnologue: Languages ​​of the World , 15th ed.Dallas: SIL International. Accessed June 7, 2006.
  • Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005): " Makaa ". Ethnologue: Languages ​​of the World , 15th ed.Dallas: SIL International. Accessed June 7, 2006.
  • Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005): " Makaa-Njem (A80) ". Ethnologue: Languages ​​of the World , 15th ed.Dallas: SIL International. Accessed June 7, 2006.
  • Neba, Aaron, Ph.D. (1999) Modern Geography of the Republic of Cameroon, 3rd ed. Bamenda: Neba Publishers.
  • Ngima Mawoung, Godefroy (2001) "The Relationship Between the Bakola and the Bantu Peoples of the Coastal Regions of Cameroon and their Perception of Commercial Forest Exploitation". African Study Monographs , Suppl. 26: 209-235.
  • Ngoh, Victor Julius (1996) History of Cameroon Since 1800. Limbé: Presbook.