Cameroon Coastal Groups
The coastal peoples were the first Cameroonians to be influenced by aspects of Western cultures. The Douala (Duala), Wouri (Oli), Kpe (Bakweri), Pongo, Bodiman, Bamboko and others have had the longest contact with British merchants and with missionaries and foreign soldiers. They were the first to be converted to Christian beliefs and the first to send their children to school. Most of the intelligentsia during the period of German colonial rule were Douala speakers. Fishing is the most important single activity of the coastal peoples, although a few may also plant small commercial crops such as cocoa and bananas; a limited number of coastal inhabitants are traders. All are Bantu-speaking people, but only the Douala and Kpe have a numerical significance.
The Douala live concentrated on both sides of the Wouri River. Traditionally they were divided into a number of small chiefdoms that became wealthy and influential by dominating the trade on the estuary. King Bell was the most powerful among the different rulers who were competing with each other and trying to deal independently and directly with foreign traders. Monopoly over the coastal trade was one of the main conditions of the contract that the Douala signed with the Germans in 1884. Four of the chiefdoms — Bell, Akwa, Dido, and Bonaberi — are still in existence. In modern times the Douala are outnumbered in their home territory.
The most notable development in this general area was the establishment of large plantations by the Germans and the gathering of different people to work on them. Among others, it affected the Kpe, whose land was taken away. They and the neighboring Bamboko had fought so fiercely against the Germans that all effort to conquer them was put off until 1894. The Germans moved the Kpe to their present-day locations and used them as laborers in building the administrative center at Buea, which later became the capital of West Cameroon. From then on the Kpe lived in small enclaves within the large plantations, which accounts for the fact that no blood ties exist between neighboring villages.
A pidgin form of English, which had become established on the coast at the end of the eighteenth century, spread inland when modern de- velopments brought together people who spoke mutually unintelligible languages. German hopes of replacing this pidgin English with their own language came to nothing after the outbreak of the Great War. Since then, Wes Cos, a form of pidgin English, which has a vocabulary of about 2,500 words, has become a widespread and effective tool of communication.
The Baloundou-Mbo
Toward the Nigerian border, but farther inland in Neme Department, live the Baloundou-Mbo. Some of this group live by fishing and others by exploiting the products of the forest in areas where access is difficult. Very little is known about them, except that they are not homogeneous but consist of a number of small, disparate groups speaking related dialects.
The Pygmies
The Baka [Pygmies] are thought to be the first inhabitants of the forest region, according to the oral traditions of the Bantu-speaking peoples who later came to the area. Three different groups live in the southern forest zone: the Babinga in the partly swampy rain forests in the east; the Bibaya in the center; and the Beye'ele, or Bajieli, in the west in Kribi Department.
All Pygmies live either in small settlements or in small hunting bands far from villages and roads; they have rigidly structured symbiotic relationships with cultivators. In return for meat, skins, ivory, and medicinal plants, the Pygmies get salt, metal spear points, cloth, and such foods as bananas and peanuts. Traditionally these relationships have had almost feudal overtones; a Pygmy is obliged to deal only with his established exchange partner and may not leave the area, although this partner may turn over such rights of exchange to someone else. Lately, however, these feudal ties have loosened somewhat, and Pygmies who used to shy away from roads and villages appear occasionally at markets to sell their products directly. Occasionally they send their children to school.
Their height ranges from four feet three inches to four feet nine inches. They are somewhat taller than the Pygmies of the Ituri Forest in Zaire. They have adopted the language of peoples near whom they live, having only certain ritual and technical terms of their own. They use the same botanical designations used by the Pygmies of the Republic of Zaire (Zaire—formerly, Congo Kinshasa). Their life is extremely simple, and social structure is based on the monogamous family. No marriage payments are required, and husband and wife have equal rights.
An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Baka, including Bakola and Bagyeli, resided primarily in (and were the earliest known inhabitants of) the forested areas of the South and East regions. While no legal discrimination existed, other groups often treated the Baka as inferior and sometimes subjected them to unfair and exploitative labor practices. There were credible reports that the Mbororos, itinerant pastoralists mostly present in the North, East, Adamaoua, and Northwest regions, were subject to various forms of harassment, sometimes with the complicity of administrative or judicial authorities, and were involved in conflicts over ownership of land and access to water. On 01 September 2015, Mbororo pastoralists in the Momo division of the Northwest Region addressed a petition to the Procurator General of the Northwest Court of Appeal, complaining that Mbarga Awounou, a state counsel for Momo division, extorted money through illegal detentions from late July to early August.
While the government did not effectively protect the civil or political rights of either group, it implemented a number of initiatives to promote the rights of the Baka people under the National Plan for the Empowerment of the Baka. Programs during the year included training Baka and Mbororo in agricultural and animal husbandry techniques, including follow-on support for projects initiated after training, and recruiting Baka and Mbororo to attend teacher-training colleges. Baka and Mbororo communities complained about being marginalized, forcibly removed from their ancestral lands, and denied access to water. The Ministry of Social Affairs continued efforts begun in 2005 to provide birth certificates and national identity cards to Baka. Most Baka did not have these documents, and efforts to reach Baka were impeded by the difficulty in accessing their homes deep in the forest.
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