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48-785: The Nso’ people migrated from Tikari in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon when there was a bloody succession after the death of Chief Tinki in 1387. The enthronement of Mveing as successor of Tinki sent all rivals to the throne away from Kimi. Ngonnso’, the founder of the Nso’ dynasty, left Kimi with a few followers together with her brothers Nchare Yen and Mbombam and their respective followers. After parting company with her brothers, Ngonnso’ and her followers first settled in Mbo’nso’, then later to Ndzennso’, Kovifem, Taavisa (for security), back to Koovifem, then to Kimbo (Kumbo). The tribe got its name from Ngonnso’, and

96-456: A conservative outlook among the indigenous population and marginalised the young intelligentsia . Written laws, which replaced oral laws, were less flexible to the changing social nature, old customs of retribution and justice were removed or banned, as well as the removal of more violent punishments. Furthermore, leaders empowered by the governments of European powers were often not familiar with their new tasks, such as recruitment and tax. From

144-429: A governing power wins consent from those it subjugates; it is carried in cultural, political, and economic forms, in non-discursive as well as in theoretical utterances" (Goheen 1996:12). Hegemony is a discourse established in the favor of the government or any given society to control their population. Therefore, the government or the leaders establish laws to back up with this ideology. Hence, it generated inequality among

192-548: A new Fon. It is also responsible for replacing Fais and Shufais after the death of the incumbent. Members of the royal families (except the Fons) may not become members of the Nwerong. The "Ngiri" resembles the Nwerong, but is only for princes. New Fons are selected from a group of eligible princes by a system kept secret from those eligible, thus eliminating a possible source of corruption. The princes are called Wontho and regularly meet in

240-544: A new class of elites as it is only the better-educated women from families with wealth that can change power and labor dynamics in a household. In Men Own the Fields, Women Own the Crops, Miriam Goheen elaborated on the gender inequality in Nso community. This gender inequality is established by the ideology of hegemony among the Nso people. According to Gramsci, "hegemony is the ways in which

288-646: A retaliation by the Nso who attacked the expedition camp with about 1200 men. Having been warned of the planned attacked, they burnt down the palace and moved the camp. The early contact between Nso and the Europeans was marked by a succession of revolt and resistance that were ultimately all defeated by the Europeans. Once the defeated Nso surrendered to the Germans, part of the terms were to supply indigenous labor for coastal work and to build roads for their new government elites. A new system of taxation, administration, and labor

336-529: A very practical problem (referred to as 'The Native Question' by Mahmood Mamdani in his work Citizen and Subject ) of control by a tiny group of foreigners of huge populations is laid out in Lugard's influential work, The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa . Lugard copied the numerous empires before his time who had created and developed the indirect rule system. According to Lugard, Indirect Rule

384-419: Is not a farmer is marginalized by the society especially, by the women. Moreover, regardless of the women's power as farmers and the "backbone of the country", they are not allowed into the council of the men. This distinction is made because the Nso men considered their women as inadequate to reason. "Women, say the men, should always listen only to the man. They cannot reason correctly because their hearts get in

432-448: Is one of the largest tribes of Cameroon. The Fon is the traditional ruler. He is both the head of the traditional government and the chief religious authority in charge of keeping the ancestors happy. The Fon is supported in his duties by the seven notables called Vibais . These Vibais are Shufais , whose positions are determined by rather intricate history. These include Shufai Ndzendzev, Tahnkum, Doh, Ruun, Tsenlah, Lun and Yuwar. Over

480-470: Is something that would change with the end of the precolonial era. Goheen clearly states that gender is at stake in the complex historical process especially in the tenure systems of land, external, internal politics, and marriage systems. While taking a look at the resistance of women to traditional patterns of marriage Goheen tosses a question on whether this changes the equilibrium of power between two sexes. It also questions whether this resistance may lead to

528-695: The Colonial Office in London , while others were ruled indirectly through local rulers who are supervised behind the scenes by British advisors. In 1890 Zanzibar became a protectorate (not a colony) of Britain. British Prime Minister Salisbury explained his position: The Princely states of India were also ruled indirectly, with the Indian territories ruled indirectly experiencing similar effects to those in Africa that experienced indirect rule. The same went for many of

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576-631: The Songhai and Ashanti Empires. In the lands of the Sokoto Caliphate , conquered by the British at the turn of the century, Lugard instituted a system whereby external, military, and tax control was operated by the British. While every other aspect of life was left to local pre-conquest indigenous aristocracies who may have sided with the British during or after their conquest. The theory behind this solution to

624-539: The 20th century for a distinct French style of rule that was centralized, uniform, and aimed at assimilating colonial subjects into the French polity. French rule, sometimes labeled Jacobin , was said in these writings to be based on the twin ideologies of the centralized unitary French government of the Metropole , with the French colonial ideology of Assimilation . Colonial Assimilation argued that French law and citizenship

672-512: The British could control the emirs and the emirs in turn could control their people. In the mid-1920s, the British implemented the system of indirect rule in Tanzania. Indirect rule was cheaper and easier for the European powers and, in particular, it required fewer administrators, but had a number of problems. In many cases, European authorities empowered local traditional leaders, as in the case of

720-560: The British have enough resources to finance it. This economic question coupled with the shortage of or lack of European personnel in Africa at the time, convinced the British that it would be cheaper to use the traditional institutions to achieve the same objective. The nature and operation of indirect rule in Northern Nigeria, amply confirm these contentions. When Lugard and his men conquered the Sokoto Caliphate of Northern Nigeria, in

768-531: The Crops: Gender and Power in the Cameroon Grasslands . The book discusses the struggle over power that existed in the Nso chiefdom and the colonial / post-colonial state amongst the sexes through a socio-historic lens for deeper analysis. In pre-colonial Nso culture the division of labor broke down along gender and community lines, whereby, like Goheen's title states, men owned the fields while women owned

816-650: The Fons of British Cameroon came under British rule, and the Fons of French Cameroon came under French rule. Since Cameroon's independence in 1961, the Fons are under the jurisdiction of the Government of Cameroon . However, they maintain semi-autonomous union councils and jurisdiction over their hereditary land. Some of the historically significant Fons of the Northwest are: In the Southwest region, only Lebialem division has Fons,

864-726: The German explorer Dr Eugen Zintgraff made the first direct European contact with the Bafut in April 1889. Account of the first contact between the Nso and the German is distilled from oral retellings of the Nso elders and German reports, which are currently housed at the National Archives in Yaounde. The first contact involved eight to ten Europeans of the expeditionary force of Lt Col Von Pavel from January 1901 to 1902. They marched from Babungo and on January 12

912-417: The Germans were invited in the Nso manjong , warrior lodge, they saw many skulls hanging on rails and assumed that the Nso people were cannibals. Hostilities began between October and March with the arrival of a new expedition that was well armed. It was reported that this new group severely beat a man and left him for dead, and also hit a lineage elderly with the butt of a gun. These aggressive actions prompted

960-507: The Nso Palace. These, inexhaustively, include the Fons of Oku, Mbiami, Nseh, Nkar, Gwan, Kiluun, Ngashong, Nshokov, Gwarkang, Taabah, etc. The Fons of Oku and Mbiami were once princes of Nso. All the Fons of Nso and Shufai Ndzendzev are members of both the Nwerong and the Ngiri. The Nso society is divided into groups according to lineage. Each lineage group is led by a "Fai". Tradition dictates that

1008-438: The Nso men and Nso women. This gender inequality is defined by the subjectivity of the women to their men regardless that the women are considered the "backbone of the country" (Goheen 1996: 63). The Nso have an agricultural society and most of their food subsistence comes from farming. Nso women are called the "backbone of the country" because they are the farmers. However, these women do not have any power over what they produce on

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1056-717: The West African holdings of the British and French empires. The ideological underpinnings, as well as the practical application, of 'indirect rule' in Uganda and Nigeria is traced back to the work of Frederick Lugard , the High Commissioner of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1899 to 1906. Indirect rule was by no means a new idea at the time, since it had been in use in ruling empires throughout history. For instance, in addition to India and Uganda, it had been practiced in

1104-463: The camped at Sov where they received a gift of a ram from the Fon. It was noted by Lt Von Pavel that the first contact with the Nso people of Bansso was friendly. According to oral tradition it was suspected that the reason for later hostilities against the Nso by German forces is based on a long-standing practice by the Nso warriors that involved keeping the skulls of their defeated war enemies as trophies. When

1152-457: The changing of legislation, any fon can be held in contempt or detained for failure to comply. The present Fon is Sehm Mbinglo I. Women's tasks in the precolonial period included producing both crops and children. This has been a linchpin of the male power and status in the whole of Africa. This phenomenon is deeply analyzed in Miriam Goheen's 1997 ethnography, Men Own the Fields, Women Own

1200-552: The colonial administration. The Fon would also retain a commission, thus turning a former kingship headed by the Fon and a council into a figurehead that answered to the Crown. These policies, outlined by European imperialists, were enforced by regional fons . Oftentimes a fon lost the high approval of his people, but maintained a favorable standing with the Europeans—provided he maintain their mandates. Following liberation in 1960,

1248-408: The crops. The men of each village were given the rights to use the lands upon which their families (primarily the wives) farmed, either by the fon or inheritance. The crops harvested from them were sold by the women in the marketplaces and the spoils of their work were given to the husbands. Despite the fact that the Nso men obviously had taken the lead in the domination of the society that includes at

1296-451: The early 20th century, French and British writers helped establish a dichotomy between British indirect rule, exemplified by the Indian princely states and by Lugard's writings on the administration of northern Nigeria, and French colonial direct rule . As with British theorists, French colonial officials like Félix Eboué or Robert Delavignette wrote and argued throughout the first half of

1344-467: The early 20th century, his limited resources in terms of men and money, made rule of the vast territory highly impracticable. Fortunately for him, however, the Sokoto Caliphate already possessed a highly developed and efficient system of administration headed by emirs, with the Sultan of Sokoto as the supreme head. The hierarchical nature of the political structure was ideal for the system of indirect rule because

1392-419: The farms except to feed their husbands and children with the food crops. In addition, these farmer women do not have any power over their farms because these farms could only be allocated to them by their men. Besides, the Nso women think it is their responsibility to take care of the food supplies of their households and they find great pride and strength in doing it. Therefore, in the Nso community, any woman who

1440-417: The francophone Cameroon joined with anglophone Cameroon to form their current republic. Seeing the fallacies and difficulties of the colonial state, the fledgling post-colonial government aimed to forge a new, self-reliant state centered around using the state itself as the main source of production. On the surface it may appear that the hybrid of parliamentary-style government and the traditional fon structure

1488-412: The group with palm wine. When a member has done an adequate job of "celebrating" Mfu, the drums will come out for dancing. Nso shares a vast culture. This is usually exhibited during the cultural week festival "Ngam Ngonso". This festival brings together all the various aspects of tradition and culture shared not only the Nso people but amongst the other tribes around Nso. "Jujus" are seen on display from

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1536-658: The hand of a Fai is not to be shaken. Fais can be recognized by their glass bead necklaces and fancy walking sticks. A Fai is instituted by a Fon. Other leaders are called Sheys, and are a level below the Fais. As a result of the Berlin Conference Cameroon became part of the German Empire in 1884 Indirect contact took place in the fifteenth century when the Portuguese arrived at the northern coast of present-day Cameroon, but

1584-595: The monarchy of Uganda , but if no suitable leader could be found (in the traditional Western sense of the term), the Europeans would simply choose local rulers to suit them. This was the case in Kenya and Southern Nigeria , and the new leaders, often called "warrant chiefs", were not always supported by the local population. The European ruling classes also often chose local leaders with similar traits to their own, despite these traits not being suited to native leadership. Many were conservative elders, and thus indirect rule fostered

1632-601: The most notable of them being The Fon of Fontem. This table provides a list of current Fons in Cameroon . Indirect rule Indirect rule was a system of governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires . This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire to control their possessions in Africa and Asia , which was done through pre-existing indigenous power structures. Indirect rule

1680-451: The national level and at the local level, women have been seen to have some things which belong to them solely by the virtue that they are women. This is clearly indicated by the fact that the parcels of land may belong to the men but the women are the ones who control the crop yielding through the input of their labor. They traditionally decided what would happen with the crops after they were harvested and would typically subsistence farm. This

1728-721: The palace to other quarters of Kimbo town. It is a good view for visitors and indigenes of Nso. Fon (Cameroon) A Fon is a chieftain or king of a region of Cameroon , especially among the Ngie , Widikum , Tikar , and Bamiléké peoples of the Bamenda grass fields (the Northwest , West Region) and the Lebialem of the South West Region. Following the defeat of Germany in World War I ,

1776-492: The presence of the Fon to discuss family matters. There are other Fons that generally act as advisers to the Fon of Nso. The existence of these Fons today signifies an evolution in the history of the Nso people. Most of them were once leaders of independent tribes that through warfare or peaceful negotiations, or through share events of history, came to subordinate the Fon of Nso. They are the only ones (along with foreign Fons) that are allowed to bring in their own seats ( Kavahs ) to

1824-408: The society members. The passing by of a juju being led by its handlers and followed by children is quite the street performance. Other jujus include groups that dance to drums and xylophones. Another traditional organization is "Mfu", a warrior society. Each village has its own chapter with its own meeting house where the group gathers every eighth day (the traditional week). It is a place where men in

1872-503: The stability and protection afforded by the Pax Britannica (in the case of British territories). Consequentially done at the cost of losing control of their external affairs, and often of taxation, communications, and other matters. It was usually carried out with a small number of European "advisors" effectively overseeing the government of large numbers of people spread over extensive areas. Some British colonies were ruled directly by

1920-460: The village can come to hear the latest news and where the village leaders can disseminate information or organize village work. Most Mfu houses are richly decorated with carved posts, both inside and outside. To enter the Mfu house, one must wear a hat and a cutlass , and one must bring a drinking cup to partake in the drinking of "Melu" ( raffia palm wine). Each member of Mfu must take their turn supplying

1968-423: The way" (Goheen 1996:71). Only men are required to discuss public matters with the chief or other leaders at the council of men. Jujus, masked spirits, are an important part of Nso culture. (The word " Juju " can also refer to some type of magic.) Jujus come out on important occasions. Ngwerong and Ngiri (the prince's society) each have seven jujus, often seen passing by on the way to the death celebration of one of

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2016-429: The years other Shufais have been appointed by the Fon of Nso without any major political influence, but for the fact that they get a seat at the lower ends of the seating ranks in the palace. His power is kept in check by regulatory groups such as the "Ngwerong" (also "Nwerong") which is in effect the security arm of the government and enforces decisions taken by the Fon. The Nwerong is solely responsible for enthronement of

2064-475: Was a political doctrine which held that the Europeans and Africans were culturally different to this extent. Which he interpreted it to mean that Africans had to be ruled through the Africans own institution. Whereby, to achieve this objective: It has been pointed out that the British were not prepared to pay for colonial administration, though interested in economically benefiting from their new colonies; neither did

2112-592: Was based on universal values that came from the French Revolution . Mirroring French domestic citizenship law, French colonial law allowed for anyone who could prove themselves culturally French (the " Évolués ") to become equal French citizens. In French West Africa , only parts of the Senegalese " Four Communes " ever extended French citizenship outside a few educated African elite. While making more subtle distinctions, this model of direct versus indirect rule

2160-576: Was dominant in academia from the 1930s until the 1970s. Academics since the 1970s have problematised the Direct versus Indirect Rule dichotomy, arguing the systems were in practice intermingled in both British and French colonial governance, and that the perception of indirect rule was sometimes promoted to justify quite direct rule structures. Mahmood Mamdani and other academics have discussed extensively how both direct and indirect rule were attempts to implement identical goals of foreign rule, but how

2208-433: Was done to pay homage to the foundation upon which the current republic is forged, but it was done to implement a new type of indirect rule. While there are three classifications of chiefs, each class serves as a function of the larger state and turning fons into clients. This keeps the local people happy by maintaining their traditional systems while at the same time undermining the fon by not giving him true autonomy. With

2256-404: Was imposed upon the Nso people by the imperialists, first the Germans and then the British. The colonial tax system undermined the Fon in his sub-chiefdoms by the institution of indirect rule . Traditionally, the sub-chiefdoms paid tribute directly to the fon, but with the new system they would collect taxes and keep a portion of the tax commission then turn it over to the Fon who collected it for

2304-743: Was used by various colonial rulers such as: the French in Algeria and Tunisia , the Dutch in the East Indies , the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique and the Belgians in Rwanda and Burundi . These dependencies were often called " protectorates " or "trucial states". Through this system, the day-to-day government and administration of both small and large areas were left in the hands of traditional rulers, who gained prestige and

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