The Wimbum People of Donga Mantung Before the Coming of Europeans. A Junior History 9783447831

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UNG e

lhe Coming

urGpean

1sto

THE WIMBUM PEOPLE OF DONGA MANTUNG

Before the Coming of Europeans

A JUNIOR HISTORY

TALLA NGARKA

B.A. (Hons), M.A, Ph.D.

History Master, Saker Baptist College, Limbe

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.I I

Copyright (c) Talla Ngarka. 1998_

All right.'i re.'ierved No part ,f tlri.'ipuhlication may he reproduced, .'itoredin a retriel'al .'i)'.'itemor tram,mitted in any form or hy any mean.'i, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or othenvi.'ie without the prior permi.~sion of the author who is the copyright owner.

• First published in 1998 by

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STAR-LINKCOMMUNICATIONS

NIGERIA Plot IO139 Zaria Road, JOS - Plateau State.

CAMEROON P.O. Box 546 Buea South West Province

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ISBN: 978 - 34478 - 3 - t

2

DEDICATION TO Faith Namondo (my wife), .Joy l\larhiye-Gije (our daughter) ,. And to

,Johnl\lhako Talia (my brother) .

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3

. PREFACE There is now the urgent need to study and teach the history or the Wimbum people. This need falls within the general interest in the study or the history of African societies and peoples. African societies and peoples need to be studied so that they can be properly fixed in the general context of world history. The saying is true that there can be no co111plctc history or Africa when all African societies have not been studied. The study of ethnic nationalities in Cameroon has not hcen taken seriously. There are over two hundred and ftfty of such nationalitics and only a very small number has been studied. It must be pointed out that there can be no complete history of Cameroon when all the ethnic groups have not been studied. This study of the Wimbum people of Donga Mantung is ai1nedat focusing the attention of scholars to an important yet neglected area or Cameroon pre-colonial history. In addition to drawing attention to Wimbum history, this publication is also aimed at stimulating discussion on the subject. The author's hope is that discussions on the subject would encourage further research which would go a long way to increasing thr scope of,Wimbum history. The Wimbum people of Donga Mantung, Before !he Con1ing q( Europeans - A Junior History, is an abridged version of a n1ajor work bv • -. the same author under the titie, The Wimbum People of 1he Norlh ~Vest Grasslands of Cameroon, 1400 - /900: The Origin and Del'elop111enlof , Ethnicity. This abridged version has been designed for study in the senior

classes of primary school. Junior secondary school students as well as • general readers who desire to acquire some knowledge of the main themes and outlines of Wimbum pre-colonial history will also find this version very useful. • r ..

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The success of this effort owes much to the contributions of a long list of interviewees, friends and relatives. Work on this study began in 1988. The main contributions to this eflort have been dully recognised in the main edition. Nevertheless, although this is an abridged version, it equally benefited from contributions from friends and relatives who should 4

he mentioned here. Special ,,·ords or thanks go to Motutu Eric. Ngang Paul. Fon~u~ Joseph. Aghor Rohcrtson. Nl;I I;Il\ ..' ~ 11;ti d'

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

AGRICULTURE IN WIMBUM

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Far111ing

r

the oil

pal111and fruit trees. The \\. i 111hu111 J~1nni11~ '-

lhL "Pi I~ on lhL N ka111 he Plateau \\ere\ er~ lcrtik. l 'rops did \Cr\ \\Lil. \\.i1nhu111 l~trn1crs pracl i ~Ld lhl' l rad it ion al 111clhod l)r "hilting ..... culli\alion. In this 111Lthnd"hLn a plot or land had hht th l~rtilit\ hecause or cnntinunus culli\ at ion the l~1n11erllHl\ ed to a ne\,. plot. I le kit thL old plot I~1ll0\, so that it can regain Its lcrtilit,. \\. in1hun1 farn1ers did not practice ridging. Tilling and planting \\ ithout ridges encouraged erosion and loss or soi I lcrt i Ii t, . The \\. i111 hun1 did not gnl\, I11any kinds or food crops. rv1ost ne\\ crops \,ere only introduced in f\1hu111 in the nineteenth ccntur~. These ne\, crops can1e fron1 the coast to the interior or Africa. Son1e of the nc\\ crops \\·h ich reached ~ 1hun1 \\ ere n1aize. coco,·an1s. heans. plantains. ~ mns. S\\ eel potatoes. groundnuts and hmnhara-groundnuts. Tohacco. .... kolanut and raffia paltn \\'ere also culti,atcd. The cli1nate in 111ostparts or the plateau di~ not

( a kn dar "as hascd o_n the cli111atc. The hca, ~ rain~ anJ lo\\ te111peratures on the plateau allo\\l'd onl~ llH" one planting period e, er~ year. I:arn1ing hcgar1 in I )cccn1hcr \\ ith the .... clearing.... of hushes ,,hich ,,as I( l II o \\ ed h \ • t i II in .... g. PIanti n .... ~ \\ as carried out \\ hen the rains carne in the 111onth of T\1an:h. ~ 1ost or the i..:rops "ere read~ for har, est het \\ ecn Ju nc and August. V egctahlcs and hcans .... .... \\ ere aI11011g lirst to he .... the harvested.

Livestock Rearing

The \\' i1nhu1n \\\~re involved in the do111estication or ani1nals. They kept goats sheep and poultr~. These an i n1als \\·ere used l'or rood and also l(n sacri lices to the '-2-ods. Sonic or the ani1nals \\Cr~ used in exchange for goods and other needs. An in1als \\ ere also used lo pay dowries and lines. 48

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Brr Far1ning

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Palm-,, ine Tapping

The collection or honey was an itnportant occupation an1on~ .... the \\'i1nhun1. It \\·as a n1ak occupation. l\·1ost of the hone\- that \Vas collected \Vas consun1ed locallY. Sonic of it ., was sold to places outside Mbun1. I1oncy \\'as an itnportant •

The \\"i111bu111 rlantcd till.' raIria-paln1 in the ,,ann ,alk'~" The tapping or \\ inc lro,n thL'Sl' pahns ,,as a co,11111011 act i, ll ~ Il \\"as a ,nan's job. Palin-\\ llll' \\a"

an

i,nportant 11cn1 at al I ccrc,nonics such as 111arnagcs. ,vorsh ip sacri licl''.-1. death ccrcmon ics and at 11,rur11g. 11, pc-., (Ir llh )Ile> \\ ere

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II11port;1111 part in L'\-.1i,111·~L' and trade a111nIn! the: \\·i111h11111\Lulch \\en:

-..lo\\ I~ hc111~11111od11ccd llll the lo11gdi.... taI1ce trade route~. I he \\' i111bu111 took part in local. regional and ln11gd1~tarn.:c trade. ·1hi~ helped to make thclll pa,1 or l he \\ orld-\\ ide S\ ~kill or product inn and c,changc.

--...:tup in almn-..t all cl11..:ldu111~.Some of thl· prominent markeh 111!\1b11111 b>· the end or the nineteenth ccntur~ arc liskd in the ·1able on page 5-l. !'he \ i I lagc markets ,vere fi,cd according to the \\"imbuin ,,eek of cieht daY~. Lach or the .... . markets \\ as Oil Oil\..' or these da\'S as

LOC'.\L Tl{:\l>E Trade amo11g I he d ilh:rcnt Wimb11111 \ illal.!t:S and chiddu111~ .... was \ er~ com 111011. The~ produced matl\ di ffercnt Ill:ms. /\µriculture \\as inllucnccd bv the climate. The

sill)\\

n

on the Table

on

page 5-l.

Barter Trade

Exchange and trade among the Wimbum started with barter because there was no currency. Barter was not an easy system of exchange because goods had to be exchanged for goods. It was always very difficult to find someone who had the item you needed and also needed your own item. There was also the problem of measurement of goods.

warm \alleys and slopes produced diffcrcnt crops from those of the cold hills. In industry. raw materials were not found all over-the plateau. For example. some areas had no forests while others had no bamboos. Exchange was needed because of the differences in products from one part of Mbum tu the other. It 53

' WIMBU~IEIGHT-DAY\VEEK SHO\VING

Local and Regional l\1arketDays WEEK DAYS

LOCAL MARKET

REGIONALMARKET

I. SING

Ntasing (Wiya)

Ntasing (Ndu)

2. LI

Binka (Tang)

I I I

'.

Ntumbaw (Warr)

Ntumhav.

Nkambe (Warr)

Nkarnhe

-----,

3. NKAPYf;

Ngarum (Tang) ----

4. YE

I

I

-

------

--

I

Tabenken (Tang)

-

-

--

- -

I

I

-

5. MRUH

-

I

II

Wat (Warr)

I

Ntamruh (Wiya) 6. N/JFl!N