Ngondo of the Sawa: Protecting and Celebrating Ethnic Identity
Ngondo is an annual festival of the Sawa people who are mostly located in the Littoral and Southwest regions of Cameroon. It is an example of a large scale event which combines a religious ceremony with other activities. Ngondo is special among Cameroonian traditional practices because it does not have antecedents in an antiquity so far off it is mythical. While there are several accounts of its origins, documented sources and Sawa oral tradition almost universally place the origin of Ngondo activities in the 1800s. In one account, it came out of a meeting convened in 1830 by Ngando a Kwa, King of Akwa, a Duala clan, to address the problem of Malobè, a giant from the Pongo people. Malobè was a troublemaker and harasser of Duala people. King Ngando a Kwa invited three other Kings of Duala clans to this meeting and his goal was for them to find a solution to the Malobè problem and restore the honor of the Duala people. They made the decision to fight Malobè and to put an end to his reign of terror. According to this account, the sand bank on which this meeting was held was called Ngondo (which means “umbilical cord” in the Duala language) and the festival is supposed to symbolize the bond which unites any Duala person to a just cause in the same way the umbilical cord unites the fetus to its mother.
Another account of the origins of Ngondo describes it as an attempt by the Duala people to create the consensus needed to resist European domination (which makes me wonder if Malobè was a metaphor for colonialists). The 1800s was a time of European colonial expansion on the African continent. On the coast of what is now known as Cameroon, the Duala people gained prominence as middlemen between European traders, colonial agents and the different peoples in more interior parts of the country. As was the case for African communities which opened doors of trade and political interaction with European agents, this relationship eventually led to annexation attempts which exploited inter-tribal conflicts. Other accounts link the origins of Ngondo to the execution of Eyum Ebele (also known as Charley Deido) in December 1876, an event which took place on a sand bank and is also related to inter-tribal conflict and European involvement. One account deviates from this norm and links Ngondo to the migratory movements of the Bassa people. Whatever the case may be, the narrative of Ngondo as a general governing institution presided over by the different major Duala chiefs and tool of colonial resistance is buttressed by the fact that Ngondo played key roles in the resistance efforts of the Duala as the theater of colonization unfolded over the late 1800s and early 1900s. It continued to play this role as colonization gave way to decolonization in the mid-1900s, until it was banned by the Ahidjo regime for its uncompromising stance against colonialism and its alignment with the nationalist UPC party.
In present times, Ngondo mostly focuses on preserving and celebrating Sawa ethnic identity with emphasis on cultivating and furthering interest in oral traditions and cultural practices. The festival is held annually in the first week of December. The Jengu cult ceremony is the main event of the festival. The ceremony unfolds on the banks of the Wouri River, hearkening to the origins of Ngondo. The main goal of the ceremony, however, is for the Sawa people to commune with Miengu (singular: Jengu) the water gods and spirits which inhabit the Wouri river and the Atlantic Ocean into which the river flows. These spirits are the guardians of natural forces which ensure and protect the welfare of the Sawa people. They communicate with the people through their traditional rulers who act as intermediaries. The ceremony also presents an opportunity for these traditional leaders to renew their oaths to the Miengu. On the night before the start of public celebrations and the ceremony, a secret ritual is enacted at Jebale (an isolated Duala island on the Wouri river) and its surrounding waters. Animals are sacrificed to the Miengu and a container of gifts is prepared for the ceremony which will be held the next day. The ceremony itself starts with a procession of specially designated individuals (who usually come from Jebale) into the Wouri river on a ritual boat. One of these people dives into the river with a calabash containing the gift prepared the night before. The person, who is usually a man, stays underneath the water for three to ten minutes, during which time it is believed he visits the Miengu kingdom. When he returns to the surface, he bears news of who the spirits wish to be the successor of the Ngondo presidency and a coded message from the Miengu in the calabash which, somehow, has remained dry.
The diver and his retinue row back to shore and take the calabash to the current Ngondo president who takes it to the Ngondo shrine for examination and interpretation of the message from the Miengu. He is accompanied by a delegation of other chiefs. After the message is decoded, the Ngondo president emerges from the hut and publicly announces the message from the Miengu in an oration called the dikalo. This message provides guidance for the Sawa people and their relationships with others. The message almost always emphasizes peaceful coexistence and reflects the prevailing sociopolitical and economic climate of the country. After the dikalo, the ceremony officially closes. The crowds, however, continue with activities like traditional dances, choral music, a fashion parade featuring traditional regalia (Elang’a Kaba Na Sanja), traditional wrestling (Besua), a canoe race and parade, art exhibitions, round table discussions, and the election of the Ngondo pageant’s Miss Ngondo (Ngond’a Kiele).
References
1. Mokake, Flavius M. “Social peace and the Ngondo Traditional Festival of the Duala of Cameroon.” African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review 2.2 (2012): 88–103.
2. Austen, Ralph. “Tradition, Invention and History: The Case of the Ngondo,(Cameroon)(Tradition, invention et histoire: le cas du Ngondo (Cameroun)).” Cahiers d’Études africaines (1992): 285–309.
3. Ngametche, Robinson. “Le Festival Ngondo Afro-Monde De Montréal Comme Adaptation De L’Identité Culturelle Des Sawa Au Canada”. Universite Laval, 2013.
4. Austen, Ralph A., Ralph Derrick, and Jonathan Derrick. Middlemen of the Cameroons Rivers: the Duala and their hinterland, c. 1600-c. 1960. Vol. 96. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
