The Bedzan people, singular Medzan, also known as the Tikar, are a Pygmy

Pygmy

Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...

 (or at perhaps pygmoid) people of Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

. The Bedzan community, in Yoko Commune on the Tikar Plain, is estimated at between 250 and 1200. They live at the interface of the forest and the savannah, and their language is a dialect of Tikar

Tikar language

Tikar is a Bantoid language of uncertain classification spoken in Cameroon by the Bankim, Ngambe, and related Tikar peoples, as well as by the Bedzan Pygmies...

, which is related to the Bantu languages

Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...

.

Although not particularly short in stature—at least any longer—the Bedzan are considered Pygmies because of their historical ties to the forest and cultural features such as their music.

External links

• Bedzan Pygmies at Pygmies.org: Photos and sound files.