Peoples of the Southern Forests
Except for the inhabitants of the highlands and some small enclaves on the eastern border, the peoples below the sixth parallel live in the forest. This factor and a longstanding influence of the Christian churches give a certain unity to a great number of disparate ethnic groups. All speak Bantu languages. The literacy rate in the area is high by African standards, and a great percentage of the children go to school. The authority of traditional chiefs was never great nor widespread, as kinship was the basis of most sociopolitical relations.
The Pahouin
The Pahouin (or Pangwe) are numerically the most important group in the south. Their territory includes much of the area south of the Sanaga River and extends into Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The name Pahouin refers to a cluster of at least eleven groups. Outsiders also often call them Fang-Beti, but in the past the people disliked both terms. After World War II and the beginning of modern party politics and appeals to ethnic loyalties, they rejected the name Fang-Beti because it referred to only two of the component groups. Thus, delegates to a projected meeting in 1947 decided to call it the Pahouin Congress, and since then the name has been in general use.
According to genealogies reaching back fifteen to twenty generations, the Pahouin came in small groups from the savanna region to the northeast. These migrations — sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent — were caused directly by the Fulani, or possibly by pressure from other groups such as the Baboute and Mboum, who were fleeing from the Fulani. The newcomers were assimilated with the local inhabitants and with those who followed later. The process of integration as well as a general, slow movement toward the sea continues in modern times.
There are three great divisions within the Pahouin group — Beti, Boulou, and Fang — each consisting of a number of smaller subgroups. Slightly fewer than two-thirds of the Pahouin in Cameroon are Beti. This is not the designation for an ethnic group, but rather a Bantu word meaning "sir" or freemen. Beti generally refers to the Eton and Ewondo in the region of Yaounde and other small groups in the north- eastern part of the Pahouin area. According to their own history, the Eton came to their present-day area northwest of Yaounde looking for salt in the Sanaga River valley and were prevented from going farther south by the Bassa, a southern people who are not part of the Pahouin group. The Eton recognize three social strata within their society: the Eton-Beti, who are the families of chiefs; the Eton-Beloua, who are commoners; and the Beloua-Eton, who earlier were slaves. Although the spelling has been altered, the capital city of Yaounde is named after the Ewondo.
The Boulou (Bulu), who constitute slightly more than one-third of the Pahouin, live to the east and south of the Beti. They are expanding southward and absorbing the Fang in some places. They have almost completely populated the formerly empty land between their home region and the Ntem River. The Fang peoples, who numbered approximately 36,000 in 1964, include the Fang (Fan) proper and assimilated groups such as the Ntum (Ntoumou) and Mvae. The Fang are far more numerous across the border in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
A certain linguistic unity is characteristic of the Pahouin area. Marked differences in vocabulary and pronunciation among Ewondo, Boulou, and Fang do not prevent communication, and sentence structure is almost identical. The spread of Pahouin languages is an indica- tion of the cultural assimilation of adjoining areas. These languages were used by missionaries in their educational work and religious literature and thus were the first to be transcribed.
Ewondo is the language of the Roman Catholic missions. It is spreading as a vehicular language, especially northward; it also is making headway in the east in Boulou country, except where Presbyterians from the United States are active. Even there, Protestant Boulou often say their prayers and sing their church songs in Boulou but use Ewondo in daily life.
Boulou has become the traveler's language in Kribi Department and in Spanish Guinea. It is spreading south among the Fang and even competes with written Fang in northern Gabon. Boulou is also spreading eastward, and Fang is being spoken increasingly in the south and the east. Thus, there exists a Pahouin region proper, where Pahouin languages are spoken as main languages, surrounded by an assimilated zone, where they are increasingly used for administrative and trading purposes and by religious and political leaders. This occurs, for example, in the eastern, sparsely settled forest lands among the Maka, the Kaka, and other small groups.
In the not too distant past, Pahouin groups were hunters and gatherers of wild foods. Today they are cultivators, growing maize (corn) and cassava and, in some areas, cocoa as a cash crop. Cocoa was introduced in the Ewondo area and in northern Boulou country after the Great War. The planters of a tree crop ended the former practice of exhausting the soil and then moving on to new locations. In contrast to the Bamileke, Hausa, and coastal people, the Pahouin are not inclined toward commerce; the Boulou even despise it. Markets are few and not very well supplied; salesmen are often outsiders. Cocoa harvests, however, are bought by indigenous middlemen from individual growers along the major traffic arteries.
Most Pahouin live in very small agglomerations. They are usually not actual villages, but collections of outlying hamlets in which five to twenty houses are grouped around the dwelling of a family patriarch. Such agglomerations tend to be somewhat larger among the Boulou than among other groups,
Traditionally there was no division of labor except that between men and women. Only the smiths were specialized, but in contrast to many other African societies they did not constitute a special caste. They could intermarry with cultivators, and anyone could choose, if he wished, to learn the profession. In modern times, however, specialization has begun. For example, Beti artisans, such as sawers of wood, carpenters, and masons, are highly appreciated not only in their own region but in many parts of west and central Africa.
The Baboute
To the north of the Panhouin group live the Baboute, who are also known as Wute, Bafute, Bute, or Mfute. They were heavily decimated by the wars with the Fulani, by resistance to the Germans during their former control of the area, and by internal warfare. In modern times they live dispersed in small villages along the road from Yoko to Mankim.
The Bassa
Most of the Bassa live west of the Pahouin between the towns of Eseka and Edea, but they are also found dispersed elsewhere in the country. They are a homogeneous people who seem to have migrated to their present location from the northeast. They are closely related to some of the coastal people. They were the first among the southern peoples to take part in the political terror that started in the mid-1950s.
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