Duala people
Encyclopedia
The Duala are an ethnic group
of Cameroon
. They primarily inhabit the littoral region to the coast and form a portion of the Sawa
, or Cameroonian coastal peoples. They have historically played a highly influential role in Cameroon due to their long contact with Europeans, high rate of education, and wealth gained over years as trader
s and land owner
s.
The Duala are related to several ethnic groups (or tribe
s) in the Cameroon littoral, with whom they share a common traditional origin, and similar histories and cultures. These include the Ewodi, the Bodiman, the Pongo, the Bakole
, the Bakweri
(or Kwe), the Bamboko
, the Isubu
(Isuwu or Bimbians), the Limba
(or Malimba), the Mungo
, and the Wovea
. The Batanga of the region of Kribi could be added to the preceding list as they claim they are descendants of Mbedi
and they report some degree of mutual comprehension between their own language and malimba. Moreover the language of the Bakundu (also called oroko), although usually not classified as a duala language, seems to be closely related to bakweri (or mokpwe), which is clearly a duala language. Thus the Bakundu may also be considered as a duala people. The Duala have dominated the others historically, and these other groups all profess some sort of kinship to that people. In addition, many other coastal ethnic groups such as Balong, Bakossi, Bankon... - who are culturally and historically more or less related to the Duala - are under Duala influence and most of these people speak Duala
to some extent. Duala is also spoken by a great part of the Bassa
and Bakoko people. The word "duala" may be used to refer to the Duala "proper" or to the whole set of duala-like tribes or even possibly to some "duala-ized" Bassa, Bakoko or Manenguba tribes.
. The Duala trace their ancestry back to a man named Mbedi
, who lived in an area called Bakota
in what is today Gabon
or the Republic of the Congo
. His sons, Ewale
and Dibombo, migrated north and reached a place called Pitti on the Dibamba River
. Here, the brothers parted ways after a row. Ewale moved to the mouth of the Dibamba with his followers and then northwest to the east bank of Wouri River
estuary
. Meanwhile, Dibongo and his companions migrated southeast to the Sanaga River
and then split up, some heading upstream with Dibongo and others moving downstream with a man named Elimbe. Ewale's people became the Duala, and Dibongo's the Limba.
According to Duala traditions, the Bakoko and Bassa
ethnic groups occupied the Wouri estuary when the Duala arrived. The Duala then drove them inland, a displacement that likely occurred in the late 17th or early 18th century.
Portuguese
traders reached the Wouri estuary in 1472. There they encountered a people they called the "Ambos" or "Ambozi". It is unclear whether these were the ancestral Duala, or perhaps the Bakoko or Bassa, whom the Duala later displaced. The Portuguese described the Ambos as a fishing
people who supplemented their diet with small-scale hunting
and farming.
Over the next few decades, more adventurers came to explore the estuary and the rivers that feed it, and to establish trading post
s. The Duala provided ivory
, kola nut
s, and peppers
, but slave
s proved one of the more lucrative commodities. Most of these ended up working the growing plantation
s on nearby islands such as Annobon
, Fernando Po
, Príncipe
, and São Tomé
. The Duala had long kept and traded slaves, who lived in separate settlements and performed menial tasks such as cultivation. Slave owners could only trade their slaves to other Duala, however, and owners were responsible for paying their slaves' debts and arranging their marriages. With the Europeans providing such a hungry market, however, these customs gave way.
The Duala emerged by the 16th century as the leading traders on the Cameroonian coast, though the Isubu and Limba did not trail far behind. The earliest Duala merchants were likely chief
s or headmen. The main Duala villages soon grew into a prospering township named Douala
for the people who lived there. The coastal Duala purchased goods and slaves from interior groups such as the Bakweri, Mungo, Bassa and Bakoko. In turn, they sold these items to the Europeans, typically aboard their ships (and later at mainland factories or stores). In exchange, the Europeans provided alcohol, gunpowder, guns, mirrors, shoes, textiles, and tools.
Europeans traders did their best to support friendly chiefs against their rivals, adulating them with titles such as King, Prince, or Chief. In exchange, these indigenes offered trade monopolies
to their patrons and sometimes ceded land. In this way, Ndumb'a Lobe of the Bell lineage propped himself up in the 19th century as King Bell. Heads of rival sub-lineages soon rivalled him, including the self-styled King Akwa (Ngando Mpondo) in 1814, King Deido (Jim Ekwalla) of the Deido (an Akwa splinter group), and Prince Lock Priso (Kum'a Mbape) of the Bonaberi.
By the mid-19th century, the British had taken the lead in trade with the Duala. This coincided with the abolition
movement, and the Crown employed the traders to end slavery in the Gulf of Guinea
. On 10 June 1840 and 7 May 1841, Akwa and Bell became the first to sign anti-slavery treaties. In exchange, the Europeans provided these rulers with annual gifts of alcohol, guns, textiles, and other goods. In addition, the rulers outlawed practices the British viewed as barbaric, such as sacrificing
a chief's wives upon his death.
The British also wanted to mould the Duala to their own concepts of civilization. This meant educating them in Western learning and converting them to Christianity. Alfred Saker
opened a mission in Douala in 1845. By 1875, numerous missions and schools sprung up in Douala and other settlements. The early missionaries learned the Duala language
and invented a written form for it, as Bible translation was one of their earliest priorities. Cameroonian Pidgin English
began to develop at this time.
Trade dramatically altered Duala society. European goods became status symbol
s, and some rulers appointed Western traders and missionaries as advisors. A high proportion of Duala grew wealthy through the new trade, and tensions arose between the haves and have-nots. Competition escalated between coastal groups and even between related settlements. Traders exploited this atmosphere, and beginning in 1860, German, French, and Spanish merchants had established contacts and weakened the British monopoly. The Duala had gained a virtual hegemony over trade through the Wouri estuary.
In response to the threat from foreign merchants, the British put pressure on the Duala kings to request British annexation. In 1879, King Akwa sent such a request; Bell followed suit in 1881 (some historians believe that these documents were faked, however). When King Pass All of the Limba ceded his territories to the French, British traders expressed the urgency of annexing the Duala territories to the Crown. In July 1884, however, German explorer Gustav Nachtigal
staged a coup by signing land-cessation treaties with Kings Akwa, Bell, and Deido. The British arrived too late and on 28 March 1885 ceded Victoria to Germany.
Opposition to German rule followed the annexation. Prince Lock Priso still favoured the British and staged a rebellion
in December 1884. Around this same time, King Bell faced off against his own people, who were largely opposed to the German rule. Bell then found himself up against the other Duala chiefs in the Duala War, which was fought over the killing of a Bonaberi Duala and Bell's alleged refusal to share his profits with the other sub-lineages. Germany stopped the conflict when one of its nationals was killed. Bell survived, but his power had diminished significantly. Realising that the Duala would never again follow the rule of a single king, the Germans instead played the competitors against one another. They supported the weaker King Bell to counter the powerful King Akwa.
Despite the unrest and small land area, Duala territory became the economic and political nexus of Kamerun. The Germans initially ruled from Douala, which they called Kamerunstadt, but they moved their capital to the Bakweri settlement of Buea in 1901. Constant shipping traffic along the coast allowed individuals to move from one plantation or town to another in search of work. The coastal groups intermingled like never before, particularly the Duala and Bakweri.
German arrival on the mainland meant that the coastal peoples' monopoly on trade had ended. Most Duala turned to subsistence farming or fishing to survive. Years of contact with Westerners and a high level of literacy had allowed a literate upper class of clerks, farmers, and traders to emerge. This class were familiar with European law and conventions, which allowed them to pressure the German colonial government with petitions, legal proceedings, and special interest group
s to oppose unpopular or unfair policies. A series of these began in 1910, when the German administration initiated a new poll tax
, attempted to seize lands in Douala township, and then tried to oust the native population from the town completely. King Bell's successor, King Rudolf Duala Manga Bell
tried to rally resistance by sending emissaries to visit the leaders of inland groups. Ibrahim Njoya
of the Bamum
tipped the Germans off, and Bell and his collaborators were executed in 1914 for high treason.
. France became the new steward of Duala territories.
The Duala continued to prosper. Though the French had largely stripped their kings of power, almost half of the ethnic group's 15-20,000 members were important traders, plantation managers or owners, chiefs, or clerks in the civil service by the 1930s. The rest of the people were fishermen and farmers. By the 1940s, many Duala had attained prominence as builders
, as well, servicing the growing cities of Douala and Victoria.
The new colonials maintained the German policies of ousting uncooperative rulers and of impressing workers for the plantations. Individuals could opt to pay a fine to avoid the labour, however, which led to a dearth of workers from the wealthier areas. The French thus encouraged people from the interior to move to the coast and work the plantations (settled well away from the influence of the Duala chiefs). These immigrants were primarily Bamileke
. The newcomers grew numerically and economically dominant over time, leading to ethnic tensions with the indigenes. By the early 1930s, the Duala were a minority in the town named for them.
By this time, the Duala had lost most of their reverence for Europeans. They did not hesitate to oppose new taxes and to demand their independence
. On 19 December 1929, for example, four paramount chiefs sent a petition to the League of Nations asking for independence for the Cameroons. Their largest concern, however, was the return of seized Duala lands. This Duala land problem reached a head in 1925 when the French sold lands on the Joss Plateau that the Germans had appropriated. In response to pressure from the Bell clan, the French offered other territory in compensation. The Bells initially refused, but the Great Depression
eventually prompted them to accept the French compromise. The Bells gained land in Bali
district, and the French promised not to take any of the Akwa or Deido clans' holdings.
In the late 1930s, Alexandre Duala Manga Bell had emerged as the unofficial leader of the Duala proper. The French grew more hostile toward these Duala elites, whom they considered "precociously developed". In 1937, they expelled the Duala from Akwa town (an area of Douala), although they allowed them to maintain ownership of the land. During World War II, the French and British showed favouritism toward white-owned plantations, and many Duala-owned farms became unprofitable. Meanwhile, other Cameroonian ethnic groups had caught up to the Duala's lead in education and Westernisation. Over the next two decades, peoples such as the Beti-Pahuin
and Bamileke came to rival the Duala's position.
At war's end, the United Nations
set in motion the decolonisation of Africa. The Duala remained important in this process. For example, many Duala supported the pro-independence Union des Populations du Cameroun party (UPC) when it first formed. Other parties that had either Duala founders or significant backing include the Bloc Démocratique Camerounais (BDC), and Action Nationale (AN).
The Duala are primarily concentrated in Cameroon's Littoral Province
in the Moungo, Nkam, and Wouri divisions. Their settlements lie largely along the coast or just inland. The Wouri estuary
, where the Wouri, Mungo
, and Dibamba Rivers empty, forms the centre of Duala country. Douala is their traditional capital, and many Duala live in and around the city, although today it has come to reflect the diversity of Cameroon as a whole.
Traditional Duala society was divided into three strata. At the top were the Wonja, native Duala, with full rights of land ownership. The next tier consisted of the Wajili, either non-Duala peoples or the descendants of slaves. Finally, the Wakomi, or slaves, made up the bottom rung. Chiefs and headmen sat at the pinnacle of this hierarchy in the past, though today such figures have very little power in their own right. Instead, such individuals are more likely to own property and to have inherited wealth. Councils of elders
and secret societies
allow communities to decide important issues.
. The tongue is closely related to other Duala languages, which may represent a dialect continuum
. For example, Malimba speakers have little difficulty understanding Duala. Duala is part of the Bantu
group of the Niger–Congo language family.
Duala is used as a trade languages, due largely to the spread of the tongue by early missionaries. This is particularly true among the neighbouring Wovea
, many of whom speak Duala in lieu of their native tongue, and the Isubu
, many of whom are bilingual in Duala.
In addition, individuals who have attended school or lived in an urban centre usually speak French, although English and German were more common in historical periods. The rate of literacy is relatively high among the Duala, though this is for reading and writing European languages.
At least until the German period, Duala men used a kind of "drum language", tapping out coded messages to communicate news over long distances.
is patrilineal; upon the father's death, his property is split among his male heirs. The Duala have traditionally practiced polygamy, although with the introduction of Christianity, this custom has become rarer. The Duala have never barred marriage between sub-lineages of the same group, nor have they ever put much restriction on inter-tribal marriage. In fact, today, such unions have grown increasingly common, particularly in urban centres like Douala. Children of such marriages become full members of their father's ethnic group.
denominations dominate, particularly the Baptist
church. Nevertheless, remnants of a pre-Christian ancestor worship persist. As might be expected for coastal peoples, the sea also plays an important role in this faith. For example, Duala belief holds that their ancestors live in the sea. In this worldview, demi-human water spirits known as Miengu (singular: Jengu
) live in the waters and mediate between worshippers and God. Other, evil sprits live in the forests and the sea, and many Duala believe that witchcraft
holds a malign influence on everyday life. Traditional festivals held each year serve as the most visible expression of these traditional beliefs in modern times.
Pirogue racing has traditionally been the most important sport among the Duala. The sport reached its peak during the German colonial period, when organisers held races annually on 27 January (the Kaiser's birthday). Under the French, they became semiannual, occurring on 14 July (Bastille Day
) and 11 November (Armistice Day
). A typical Duala racing pirogue is 20–28 metres long with no keel and a bow carved with intricate designs. A team of 40-50 canoeists, mostly men who make their livings as fishermen, mans each vessel. In the past, diviners
used the results of these races to predict the future, but today a Christian priest presides instead. Up to the late 1930s, a family on Jebale Island claimed to be able to summon the Miengu water spirits to help favoured participants.
Beginning in the 1930s, football has grown to eclipse other sports in popularity.
, an assembly of important chiefs. Another of these is the muemba (plural: miemba), a grouping of all Duala of a certain age range or tribal clan. The miemba serve to let their members network and socialise. Other secret societies include the Ekongolo, Jengu, Losango, and Munji.
s. Among the Duala proper, these are the Bonanjo (including the Bonapriso), the Bonaku, the Bonabela, and the Bonaberi. These names represent the principal families in each clan: Njo, Priso, Akwa, Ebele-Deido, and Bell, respectively. In addition, the Duala sometimes include the Bodiman, Pongo, and Wuri among their ranks, but not as sub-lineages.
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
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...
. They primarily inhabit the littoral region to the coast and form a portion of the Sawa
Sawa
Sawa may refer to:*The Sawa peoples of CameroonLocations*Sawa, Nepal*The Sawa Defence Training Centre of Eritrea*Sawa, Lesser Poland Voivodeship Arts*SAWA, Japanese techno-pop singer*Devon Sawa, Canadian actor...
, or Cameroonian coastal peoples. They have historically played a highly influential role in Cameroon due to their long contact with Europeans, high rate of education, and wealth gained over years as trader
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s and land owner
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
s.
The Duala are related to several ethnic groups (or tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
s) in the Cameroon littoral, with whom they share a common traditional origin, and similar histories and cultures. These include the Ewodi, the Bodiman, the Pongo, the Bakole
Bakole people
The Bakole are an ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. They belong to the Sawa, or Cameroonian coastal peoples. The Bakole speak a language of the same name....
, the Bakweri
Bakweri
The Bakweri are an ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. They are closely related to Cameroon's coastal peoples , particularly the Duala and Isubu.-Early population movements:...
(or Kwe), the Bamboko
Bamboko
The Bamboko are a Bantu ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. They are part of the Sawa ethnic groups, those who live on the coast.The Bamboko probably moved to Mboko, the area southwest of Mount Cameroon, in the early 17th century. Predominant Bakweri and Isubu traditions claim they originated...
, the Isubu
Isubu
The Isubu are an ethnic group who inhabit part of the coast of Cameroon. Along with other coastal peoples, they belong to Cameroon's Sawa ethnic groups. They were one of the earliest Cameroonian peoples to make contact with Europeans, and over two centuries, they became influential traders and...
(Isuwu or Bimbians), the Limba
Limba people (Cameroon)
The Limba are an ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. They belong to the Sawa peoples, those of the Cameroonian coast.-History and geography:...
(or Malimba), the Mungo
Mungo people
The Mungo is an ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. Along with the other coastal peoples, they belong to the Sawa ethnic groups. The Mungo have historically been dominated by the Duala people, and the two groups share similar cultures, histories, and claims of origin.-History and...
, and the Wovea
Wovea
The Wovea are an ethnic group from the Republic of Cameroon. The people inhabits the coastal areas of the Fako division of the Southwest Province. The Wovea are one of the ethnic groups that comprise the Sawa, or Cameroonian coastal peoples.-History:...
. The Batanga of the region of Kribi could be added to the preceding list as they claim they are descendants of Mbedi
Mbedi a Mbongo
Mbedi a Mbongo is the common ancestor of many of the Sawa coastal ethnic groups of Cameroon according to their oral traditions. Stories say that he lived at a place called Piti, northeast of present-day Douala. From there, his sons migrated south toward the coast in what are known as the Mbedine...
and they report some degree of mutual comprehension between their own language and malimba. Moreover the language of the Bakundu (also called oroko), although usually not classified as a duala language, seems to be closely related to bakweri (or mokpwe), which is clearly a duala language. Thus the Bakundu may also be considered as a duala people. The Duala have dominated the others historically, and these other groups all profess some sort of kinship to that people. In addition, many other coastal ethnic groups such as Balong, Bakossi, Bankon... - who are culturally and historically more or less related to the Duala - are under Duala influence and most of these people speak Duala
Duala language
Duala is the language spoken by the Duala people of Cameroon. The language belonges to the Bantu language family, and a subgroup of it called the Duala languages...
to some extent. Duala is also spoken by a great part of the Bassa
Bassa
-People:Three unrelated ethnic groups of West Africa:*Bassa ** Basaa language is a member of the Bantu languages family.*Bassa **Bassa language is a member of the Kru languages family.**Bassa script-Places:*Bassa, Kogi State, Nigeria...
and Bakoko people. The word "duala" may be used to refer to the Duala "proper" or to the whole set of duala-like tribes or even possibly to some "duala-ized" Bassa, Bakoko or Manenguba tribes.
Early population movements
Early Duala history may only be conjectured from oral traditionsOral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
. The Duala trace their ancestry back to a man named Mbedi
Mbedi a Mbongo
Mbedi a Mbongo is the common ancestor of many of the Sawa coastal ethnic groups of Cameroon according to their oral traditions. Stories say that he lived at a place called Piti, northeast of present-day Douala. From there, his sons migrated south toward the coast in what are known as the Mbedine...
, who lived in an area called Bakota
Bakota
The Bakota are a Bantu ethnic group from the northeastern region of Gabon. The language they speak is called iKota, but is sometimes referred to as Bakota, ikuta, Kota, and among the Fang, they are known as Mekora. The language has several dialects, which include: Ndambomo, Mahongwe,...
in what is today Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
or the Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
. His sons, Ewale
Ewale a Mbedi
Ewale a Mbedi was the eponymous ancestor of the Duala people of Cameroon . According to the oral histories of the Duala and related Sawa peoples of the Cameroon coast, Ewale hailed from a place called Piti. He and his followers migrated southwest to the coast and settled at the present-day location...
and Dibombo, migrated north and reached a place called Pitti on the Dibamba River
Dibamba River
The Dibamba River is in the Littoral Region of southern Cameroon, emptying into the Cameroon estuary near the city of Doula.-Location:The Dibamba river has a length of and a catchment area of...
. Here, the brothers parted ways after a row. Ewale moved to the mouth of the Dibamba with his followers and then northwest to the east bank of Wouri River
Wouri River
The Wouri is a river in Cameroon. The river is formed at the confluence of the rivers Nkam and Makombé, northeast of the city of Yabassi. The Wouri then flows about southeast to the Wouri estuary at Douala, the chief port and industrial city in the southwestern part of Cameroon on the Gulf of...
estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
. Meanwhile, Dibongo and his companions migrated southeast to the Sanaga River
Sanaga River
The Sanaga River is a river of South Province, Cameroon, Centre Province, Cameroon, and West Province, Cameroon. Its length is 890 kilometers.The Sanaga River forms a boundary between two tropical moist forest ecoregions...
and then split up, some heading upstream with Dibongo and others moving downstream with a man named Elimbe. Ewale's people became the Duala, and Dibongo's the Limba.
According to Duala traditions, the Bakoko and Bassa
Bassa (Cameroon)
The Bassa are an ethnic group in Cameroon. These people, numbering approximately 230,000, are Bantu. Their language is the Basaa language.-History:...
ethnic groups occupied the Wouri estuary when the Duala arrived. The Duala then drove them inland, a displacement that likely occurred in the late 17th or early 18th century.
European contacts
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
traders reached the Wouri estuary in 1472. There they encountered a people they called the "Ambos" or "Ambozi". It is unclear whether these were the ancestral Duala, or perhaps the Bakoko or Bassa, whom the Duala later displaced. The Portuguese described the Ambos as a fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
people who supplemented their diet with small-scale hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and farming.
Over the next few decades, more adventurers came to explore the estuary and the rivers that feed it, and to establish trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
s. The Duala provided ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
, kola nut
Kola nut
Kola Nut is the nut of the kola tree, a genus of trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa, classified in the family Malvaceae, subfamily Sterculioideae . It is related to the South American genus Theobroma, or cocoa...
s, and peppers
Capsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
, but slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
s proved one of the more lucrative commodities. Most of these ended up working the growing plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s on nearby islands such as Annobon
Annobón
Annobón may refer to:* Annobón Province* Annobonese language* Annobon people...
, Fernando Po
Bioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...
, Príncipe
Príncipe
Príncipe is the northern and smaller of the two major islands of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa. It has an area of 136 km² and a population of approximately 5,000. The island is a heavily eroded volcano over three million years old, surrounded by other...
, and São Tomé
São Tomé
-Transport:São Tomé is served by São Tomé International Airport with regular flights to Europe and other African Countries.-Climate:São Tomé features a tropical wet and dry climate with a relatively lengthy wet season and a short dry season. The wet season runs from October through May while the...
. The Duala had long kept and traded slaves, who lived in separate settlements and performed menial tasks such as cultivation. Slave owners could only trade their slaves to other Duala, however, and owners were responsible for paying their slaves' debts and arranging their marriages. With the Europeans providing such a hungry market, however, these customs gave way.
The Duala emerged by the 16th century as the leading traders on the Cameroonian coast, though the Isubu and Limba did not trail far behind. The earliest Duala merchants were likely chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
s or headmen. The main Duala villages soon grew into a prospering township named Douala
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...
for the people who lived there. The coastal Duala purchased goods and slaves from interior groups such as the Bakweri, Mungo, Bassa and Bakoko. In turn, they sold these items to the Europeans, typically aboard their ships (and later at mainland factories or stores). In exchange, the Europeans provided alcohol, gunpowder, guns, mirrors, shoes, textiles, and tools.
Europeans traders did their best to support friendly chiefs against their rivals, adulating them with titles such as King, Prince, or Chief. In exchange, these indigenes offered trade monopolies
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
to their patrons and sometimes ceded land. In this way, Ndumb'a Lobe of the Bell lineage propped himself up in the 19th century as King Bell. Heads of rival sub-lineages soon rivalled him, including the self-styled King Akwa (Ngando Mpondo) in 1814, King Deido (Jim Ekwalla) of the Deido (an Akwa splinter group), and Prince Lock Priso (Kum'a Mbape) of the Bonaberi.
By the mid-19th century, the British had taken the lead in trade with the Duala. This coincided with the abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
movement, and the Crown employed the traders to end slavery in the Gulf of Guinea
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf....
. On 10 June 1840 and 7 May 1841, Akwa and Bell became the first to sign anti-slavery treaties. In exchange, the Europeans provided these rulers with annual gifts of alcohol, guns, textiles, and other goods. In addition, the rulers outlawed practices the British viewed as barbaric, such as sacrificing
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
a chief's wives upon his death.
The British also wanted to mould the Duala to their own concepts of civilization. This meant educating them in Western learning and converting them to Christianity. Alfred Saker
Alfred Saker
Alfred Saker was a British missionary who founded the Cameroon city of Victoria, now Limbé , in 1858.He translated the Bible into Duala between 1862 and 1872....
opened a mission in Douala in 1845. By 1875, numerous missions and schools sprung up in Douala and other settlements. The early missionaries learned the Duala language
Duala language
Duala is the language spoken by the Duala people of Cameroon. The language belonges to the Bantu language family, and a subgroup of it called the Duala languages...
and invented a written form for it, as Bible translation was one of their earliest priorities. Cameroonian Pidgin English
Cameroonian Pidgin English
Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole, is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok . Five varieties are currently recognised:...
began to develop at this time.
Trade dramatically altered Duala society. European goods became status symbol
Status symbol
A status symbol is a perceived visible, external denotation of one's social position and perceived indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols...
s, and some rulers appointed Western traders and missionaries as advisors. A high proportion of Duala grew wealthy through the new trade, and tensions arose between the haves and have-nots. Competition escalated between coastal groups and even between related settlements. Traders exploited this atmosphere, and beginning in 1860, German, French, and Spanish merchants had established contacts and weakened the British monopoly. The Duala had gained a virtual hegemony over trade through the Wouri estuary.
In response to the threat from foreign merchants, the British put pressure on the Duala kings to request British annexation. In 1879, King Akwa sent such a request; Bell followed suit in 1881 (some historians believe that these documents were faked, however). When King Pass All of the Limba ceded his territories to the French, British traders expressed the urgency of annexing the Duala territories to the Crown. In July 1884, however, German explorer Gustav Nachtigal
Gustav Nachtigal
Gustav Nachtigal was a German explorer of Central and West Africa. He is further known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His mission as commissioner resulted in Togoland and Kamerun becoming the first colonies of a German colonial empire...
staged a coup by signing land-cessation treaties with Kings Akwa, Bell, and Deido. The British arrived too late and on 28 March 1885 ceded Victoria to Germany.
German administration
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
in December 1884. Around this same time, King Bell faced off against his own people, who were largely opposed to the German rule. Bell then found himself up against the other Duala chiefs in the Duala War, which was fought over the killing of a Bonaberi Duala and Bell's alleged refusal to share his profits with the other sub-lineages. Germany stopped the conflict when one of its nationals was killed. Bell survived, but his power had diminished significantly. Realising that the Duala would never again follow the rule of a single king, the Germans instead played the competitors against one another. They supported the weaker King Bell to counter the powerful King Akwa.
Despite the unrest and small land area, Duala territory became the economic and political nexus of Kamerun. The Germans initially ruled from Douala, which they called Kamerunstadt, but they moved their capital to the Bakweri settlement of Buea in 1901. Constant shipping traffic along the coast allowed individuals to move from one plantation or town to another in search of work. The coastal groups intermingled like never before, particularly the Duala and Bakweri.
German arrival on the mainland meant that the coastal peoples' monopoly on trade had ended. Most Duala turned to subsistence farming or fishing to survive. Years of contact with Westerners and a high level of literacy had allowed a literate upper class of clerks, farmers, and traders to emerge. This class were familiar with European law and conventions, which allowed them to pressure the German colonial government with petitions, legal proceedings, and special interest group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
s to oppose unpopular or unfair policies. A series of these began in 1910, when the German administration initiated a new poll tax
Poll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
, attempted to seize lands in Douala township, and then tried to oust the native population from the town completely. King Bell's successor, King Rudolf Duala Manga Bell
Rudolf Duala Manga Bell
Rudolf Duala Manga Bell was a Duala king and resistance leader in the German colony of Kamerun. After being educated in both Kamerun and Europe, he succeeded his father, Manga Ndumbe Bell, on 2 September 1908. Manga Bell styled himself after European rulers, and he generally supported the colonial...
tried to rally resistance by sending emissaries to visit the leaders of inland groups. Ibrahim Njoya
Ibrahim Njoya
King Ibrahim Njoya , distinguished ruler, intellectual, and inventor, was 17th in a long dynasty of kings that ruled over Bamum and its people in western Cameroon dating back to the 14th century. He succeeded his father Nsangu and ruled from 1886/7 until his death in 1933...
of the Bamum
Bamum people
The Bamum, sometimes called Bamoum, Bamun, Bamoun, or Mum, are an ethnic group of Cameroon with around 215,000 members.-Religion:...
tipped the Germans off, and Bell and his collaborators were executed in 1914 for high treason.
British and French administrations
In 1918, Germany lost World War I, and her colonies became mandates of the League of NationsLeague of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
. France became the new steward of Duala territories.
The Duala continued to prosper. Though the French had largely stripped their kings of power, almost half of the ethnic group's 15-20,000 members were important traders, plantation managers or owners, chiefs, or clerks in the civil service by the 1930s. The rest of the people were fishermen and farmers. By the 1940s, many Duala had attained prominence as builders
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, as well, servicing the growing cities of Douala and Victoria.
The new colonials maintained the German policies of ousting uncooperative rulers and of impressing workers for the plantations. Individuals could opt to pay a fine to avoid the labour, however, which led to a dearth of workers from the wealthier areas. The French thus encouraged people from the interior to move to the coast and work the plantations (settled well away from the influence of the Duala chiefs). These immigrants were primarily Bamileke
Bamileke
The Bamileke is a folk whose native ancestral area is in the western highlands of Cameroon's West Province, west of the Noun River and southeast of the Bamboutos Mountains and in the Moungo region of the Littoral, Southwest, and Centre Provinces. They are a part of the Semi-Bantu ethnic groups...
. The newcomers grew numerically and economically dominant over time, leading to ethnic tensions with the indigenes. By the early 1930s, the Duala were a minority in the town named for them.
By this time, the Duala had lost most of their reverence for Europeans. They did not hesitate to oppose new taxes and to demand their independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
. On 19 December 1929, for example, four paramount chiefs sent a petition to the League of Nations asking for independence for the Cameroons. Their largest concern, however, was the return of seized Duala lands. This Duala land problem reached a head in 1925 when the French sold lands on the Joss Plateau that the Germans had appropriated. In response to pressure from the Bell clan, the French offered other territory in compensation. The Bells initially refused, but the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
eventually prompted them to accept the French compromise. The Bells gained land in Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
district, and the French promised not to take any of the Akwa or Deido clans' holdings.
In the late 1930s, Alexandre Duala Manga Bell had emerged as the unofficial leader of the Duala proper. The French grew more hostile toward these Duala elites, whom they considered "precociously developed". In 1937, they expelled the Duala from Akwa town (an area of Douala), although they allowed them to maintain ownership of the land. During World War II, the French and British showed favouritism toward white-owned plantations, and many Duala-owned farms became unprofitable. Meanwhile, other Cameroonian ethnic groups had caught up to the Duala's lead in education and Westernisation. Over the next two decades, peoples such as the Beti-Pahuin
Beti-Pahuin
The Beti-Pahuin are a group of related peoples who inhabit the rain forest regions of Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Though they separate themselves into several individual ethnic groups, they all share a common history and culture. They were...
and Bamileke came to rival the Duala's position.
At war's end, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
set in motion the decolonisation of Africa. The Duala remained important in this process. For example, many Duala supported the pro-independence Union des Populations du Cameroun party (UPC) when it first formed. Other parties that had either Duala founders or significant backing include the Bloc Démocratique Camerounais (BDC), and Action Nationale (AN).
Geography
Littoral Province (Cameroon)
The Littoral Region is a region of Cameroon. Its capital is Douala. , its population was 2,202,340.-2008 Presidential Decree Abolishes Provinces:...
in the Moungo, Nkam, and Wouri divisions. Their settlements lie largely along the coast or just inland. The Wouri estuary
Wouri estuary
The Wouri estuary, or Cameroon estuary is a large tidal estuary in Cameroon where several rivers come together, emptying into the Bight of Biafra. Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, is at the mouth of the Wouri River where it enters the estuary...
, where the Wouri, Mungo
Mungo River, Cameroon
The Mungo River is a large river in Cameroon that drains the mountains in the southern portion of the Cameroon line of active and extinct volcanoes.-Course:The Mungo river has a catchment area of ....
, and Dibamba Rivers empty, forms the centre of Duala country. Douala is their traditional capital, and many Duala live in and around the city, although today it has come to reflect the diversity of Cameroon as a whole.
Culture
The Duala today are divided into the urban and rural. Those who live in the cities, particularly Douala itself, earn a living at a number of skilled and unskilled professions. Many Duala still own parts of the city, allowing them to live off rents and development. The rural Duala, in contrast, work as fishermen and farmers, mostly at the subsistence level. Fishing is the trade of choice.Traditional Duala society was divided into three strata. At the top were the Wonja, native Duala, with full rights of land ownership. The next tier consisted of the Wajili, either non-Duala peoples or the descendants of slaves. Finally, the Wakomi, or slaves, made up the bottom rung. Chiefs and headmen sat at the pinnacle of this hierarchy in the past, though today such figures have very little power in their own right. Instead, such individuals are more likely to own property and to have inherited wealth. Councils of elders
Council of Elders
Council of Elders may refer to:In politics:* Global Elders, a humanitarian group referred to in media as the Council of Elders.* Council of Elders of the Bundestag , a joint deliberative body...
and secret societies
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
allow communities to decide important issues.
Language
The Duala speak a language of the same nameDuala language
Duala is the language spoken by the Duala people of Cameroon. The language belonges to the Bantu language family, and a subgroup of it called the Duala languages...
. The tongue is closely related to other Duala languages, which may represent a dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
. For example, Malimba speakers have little difficulty understanding Duala. Duala is part of the Bantu
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...
group of the Niger–Congo language family.
Duala is used as a trade languages, due largely to the spread of the tongue by early missionaries. This is particularly true among the neighbouring Wovea
Wovea
The Wovea are an ethnic group from the Republic of Cameroon. The people inhabits the coastal areas of the Fako division of the Southwest Province. The Wovea are one of the ethnic groups that comprise the Sawa, or Cameroonian coastal peoples.-History:...
, many of whom speak Duala in lieu of their native tongue, and the Isubu
Isubu
The Isubu are an ethnic group who inhabit part of the coast of Cameroon. Along with other coastal peoples, they belong to Cameroon's Sawa ethnic groups. They were one of the earliest Cameroonian peoples to make contact with Europeans, and over two centuries, they became influential traders and...
, many of whom are bilingual in Duala.
In addition, individuals who have attended school or lived in an urban centre usually speak French, although English and German were more common in historical periods. The rate of literacy is relatively high among the Duala, though this is for reading and writing European languages.
At least until the German period, Duala men used a kind of "drum language", tapping out coded messages to communicate news over long distances.
Marriage and kinship patterns
Duala inheritanceInheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
is patrilineal; upon the father's death, his property is split among his male heirs. The Duala have traditionally practiced polygamy, although with the introduction of Christianity, this custom has become rarer. The Duala have never barred marriage between sub-lineages of the same group, nor have they ever put much restriction on inter-tribal marriage. In fact, today, such unions have grown increasingly common, particularly in urban centres like Douala. Children of such marriages become full members of their father's ethnic group.
Religion
The Duala have been mostly Christianized since the 1930s. EvangelicalEvangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
denominations dominate, particularly the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church. Nevertheless, remnants of a pre-Christian ancestor worship persist. As might be expected for coastal peoples, the sea also plays an important role in this faith. For example, Duala belief holds that their ancestors live in the sea. In this worldview, demi-human water spirits known as Miengu (singular: Jengu
Jengu
A jengu is a water spirit and deity in the traditional beliefs of the Sawa ethnic groups of Cameroon, particularly the Duala, Bakweri, and related Sawa peoples. Among the Bakweri, the name is liengu...
) live in the waters and mediate between worshippers and God. Other, evil sprits live in the forests and the sea, and many Duala believe that witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
holds a malign influence on everyday life. Traditional festivals held each year serve as the most visible expression of these traditional beliefs in modern times.
Sports
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
) and 11 November (Armistice Day
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
). A typical Duala racing pirogue is 20–28 metres long with no keel and a bow carved with intricate designs. A team of 40-50 canoeists, mostly men who make their livings as fishermen, mans each vessel. In the past, diviners
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
used the results of these races to predict the future, but today a Christian priest presides instead. Up to the late 1930s, a family on Jebale Island claimed to be able to summon the Miengu water spirits to help favoured participants.
Beginning in the 1930s, football has grown to eclipse other sports in popularity.
Institutions
Assemblies, secret societies, and other groups play an important role in keeping the Duala unified, helping them set goals, and giving them a venue to find solutions to common problems. Chief among these is the NgondoNgondo
The Ngondo is an annual water-centered festival held by the Sawa in Douala, Cameroon. The highlight of the festival is a ceremony of the jengu cult. The ceremony is held at a beach on Wouri Bay, during which a devotee enters the water to visit the underwater kingdom of the miengu...
, an assembly of important chiefs. Another of these is the muemba (plural: miemba), a grouping of all Duala of a certain age range or tribal clan. The miemba serve to let their members network and socialise. Other secret societies include the Ekongolo, Jengu, Losango, and Munji.
Classification
The Duala are Bantu in language and origin. More narrowly, they fall into the Sawa, or the coastal peoples of Cameroon.Subgroups
In addition to the tribal distinctions already noted, the Duala further sort themselves into a number of lineages or clanClan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
s. Among the Duala proper, these are the Bonanjo (including the Bonapriso), the Bonaku, the Bonabela, and the Bonaberi. These names represent the principal families in each clan: Njo, Priso, Akwa, Ebele-Deido, and Bell, respectively. In addition, the Duala sometimes include the Bodiman, Pongo, and Wuri among their ranks, but not as sub-lineages.
External links
- Peuple Sawa (in French)