Mambila

Cameroun, Nigeria 

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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

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.

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 al
so secret masking societies, which contribute to community social order through initiation and public education.

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.

By steve foreman ismael