Bamileke - Chiefdoms
More than 100 Bamileke chiefdoms dot the western highlands. Their main features are a powerful ruling chief and associations that play an important political and social role. These two institutions counterbalance a kinship system characterized by small fragmented units. The social system pivots around a, fon (chief), whose sacred character derives from the fact that, as a descendant, he is the living link with the chiefdom's founder. In his possession are the founder's skull as well as those of the intervening chiefs. The fon makes the necessary sacrifices to the spirits of those dead ancestors, who are revered as the guardians of the chiefdom and to whom is attributed the power to bring drought and famine. The fon distributes the land, which is considered the collective property of all, and he disposes of empty land for the use of new generations. He regulates the agricultural activities and receives the first fruits of every harvest. In the past, when a Bamileke chief was defeated in battle by another, he had to give the victor the ancestral skulls as a sign of submission and thus lost some of his magical attributes, such as the power to make rain.
Most Bamileke chiefdoms were established 200 or 300 years ago by persons who left the place of their birth together with some friends and a few slaves taken in war and settled in uninhabited territory. The resulting new chiefdom was founded on the model of the one left behind. In modern times, the following groups live within a chiefdom: the direct descendants of the founder; an approximately equal number of descendants of those who served the founder in a variety of ways; and ordinary citizens, who in some chiefdoms constitute less than 25 percent of the population. The social status of a person derives from the role played by his ancestors in the establishment of the chiefdom.
For administrative purposes a chiefdom is divided into districts called quarters, their number depending on the size of the territory or density of population in different areas. Their population ranges from 800 to 1,500 people. Each quarter is headed by a chief who is the representative of the fon and whose main function is to collect taxes and to summon men as well as women of every social stratum for public works ordered by the fon, such as roadbuilding. On his own initiative he may call people only for small-scale works of strictly local interest for the improvement of the immediate neighborhood. This limitation of his powers as well as the existence of other quarter chiefs assures that none will become too powerful and a threat to the fon. The quarter chiefs are hereditary notables, often descendants of the founder's deputy (kwipeu). But when the family dies out or becomes poor, the fon may choose a quarter chief among members of another lineage. A quarter usually is divided into three to five subquarters, which are the basic territorial units of Bamileke organization. Subquarters are also headed by hereditary notables, who are responsible to the quarter chief and who assist in the collection of taxes.
The fon rules with the assistance of the kamveu (advisory council), which comprises nine or ten hereditary notables, descendants of the companions of the founder, including the tsofo and the wala (descendants of groups of servants). The tsofo and wala have important administrative functions. In former times they were recruited among slaves. After serving for a number of years they were given land and wives by the fon so they could found their own lineages. Occasionally, the fon appoints someone without notable antecedents to the council because of special services rendered by him. The council discusses important legal matters and is consulted on the vital matter of land distribution.
Taking part in these discussions is the mother of the fon (mafo) or, if she is dead, his oldest daughter or sister. This woman commands as much respect as the fon, who listens to her advice. Her house is considered a place of refuge where no one, including the fon, may seize a fugitive. She is the head of the various women's societies and the only woman member in certain men's societies.
The successor to the fon was formerly chosen by the kamveu, but under the various colonial regimes the personal power of the fon increased and that of the kamveu diminished. Since then the fon has chosen his successor from among his sons—not necessarily the eldest. He announces his choice to the kamveu, to his tsofo, and to the local officials of the central government. After the death of the fon the heir is solemnly installed by the kamveu.
The headquarters of a fon consists of a great number of houses — often several hundred — one for each wife, official, and servant. Usually the houses of wives, of whom there may be as many as a hundred, flank a large central avenue. At the end of the avenue are the main buildings, some of ample proportions and richly ornamented with pillars and lintels carved from wood. In one of these houses are kept the ancestral skulls and other sacred objects. Other dwellings are used by visiting dignitaries or for political and religious gatherings, including meetings of various associations.
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