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Tribe Snapshots Mambila |
| Location: |
Northwestern Cameroon,
eastern Nigeria |
| Population: |
25,000 |
| Language: |
Mambila (Macro-Bantu) |
| Neighboring Peoples: |
Kaka, Tikong, Bafum |
| Types of Art: |
Wooden statues are carved to represent the ancestors,
and masks that are worn on the top of the head
are carved for use in initiation. Most of these
are characterized by red ocher paint that is applied
with white chalk on a soot blackened background. |
| History: |
Linguistic evidence indicates that Mambila ancestors
were members of the original Bantu linguistic
split that occurred approximately 2,000 years
ago. It is also probable, given the close similarities
between languages spoken in the immediate area
of northern Cameroon and adjacent Nigeria, that
the split occurred in this very region. Descendants
of the Bantu have expanded across Africa to the
eastern coast and south to the Cape in the years
since that split occurred. The Mambila themselves
moved slightly southwards as a result of Fulani
pressure from the North in the 17th and 18th centuries. |
| Economy: |
The central location of the Mambila has allowed
them to incorporate food stuffs from all over
the world into their agricultural products. The
primary cereal crops include sorghum, rice, and
millet. They also grow bananas, yams, maize, manioc,
peppers, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and tobacco.
They acquired the practice of milking cattle from
the Fulani and also use manure from the cattle
as fertilizer. Goats, chickens, dogs, and sheep
are raised for meat. Some hunting and fishing
is done, but neither contribute significantly
to the daily economy. Both men and women are involved
in farming. |
| Political Systems: |
Political authority within individual communities
is invested in a hereditary headman, who is assisted
in his duties by a council of elders. The Bamilike
are matrilineal to a higher degree than most of
their neighbors. Children become the property
of the woman's family and are often cared for
and adopted by the mother's brother. There are
also secret masking societies, which contribute
to community social order through initiation and
public education. |
| Religion: |
Most of the people in this region have been
influenced to some degree by the Moslem Fulani,
and the Mambila are no exception. They have not
forgotten their practice of commemorating and
remembering the ancestors through sculpture and
prayer. Both Moslem and Mambila religions exist
side by side, each one serving its own purpose.
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