Leopard Watch

Notes

90 NOTES 1 Remain Ngarum: He is known for being bitterly truthful. 2 Rock: Short, for Rock of God, the sacred shrine of the kingdom of Bamkov, believed to be the abode of their creator and most powerful God called God-the-Builder (Nyuymbom) 3 Kiyung-Ndzen: Also known as Kitupirr or Kutupit. This is the first village in Bamoun Kingdom after the Nso village of Ber. It was used as exile territory for Nso people who committed abominations in the Kingdom. However, it no more serves that purpose today. It is mostly populated by Nso people. 4 Akuman: Member of a nomadic tribe who profess to cure every illness and have access to spiritual and physical layers of truth. Many of them were believed in Nso to be simply quacks. 5 Leopard skin: Literally, on the royal bed. Legend holds that the rug surrounding the royal bed is the ‘hide’ of a leopard. 6 Mairin and Mbim: Two renowned rivers in ancient Nso 7 Disappears: Nso culture refers to their King as the Sun And to the death of a Fon as a disappearance When a Fon dies, he is said to have disappeared or that the ‘sun has set’ 91 8 Refused to talk: Refused to summon all its forces to address the matter. Nwerong talking refers to sudden playing of Nwerong music at the instance of a crucial problem that needs to be addressed urgently. 9 Ngong dog: Timid thieving dog 10 Ngwa’: A hunting team for young boys. It served as a training ground for a military life in Manjong. It is used in this context to hunt down the leopard that has taken the land hostage by mauling down cattle and children. It is serving a larger vigilante role. 11 Nyuymbom: Means ‘God the Creator’ in Lamnso 12 Shinkan: Sacred wood which is generally scrubbed by chief priests and lineage heads during ritual incantations to request protection from spiritual forces. 13 Taah: Honorific expression meaning, respectful one, elderly one, senior one, grandfather etc. 14 Eh monja eh! May mean something like “On the spikes`of my spear” Part of a formulaic pattern within the Ngwa’ ranks that leads to the song such as the one that Tangwa intones. The song is heavily marked by 92 the ho-ho syllables which are possibly designed to raise emotions only. The rest of the song is repetitive and goes like this: Introduction: Che wu lélé, wu lélé Oh ma Bah’ah, ma Gham ahTati Njong eh dzem ah Chorus: Ho-oh ho-oh! Intonation: Oh suyoh vén koy yov oh Chorus: Ho-oh ho –oh Intonation: Suyoh Chorus: Ho-oh ho-oh Intonation: Oh suyoh ven koy yov oh Chorus: Ho-oh ho-oh Intonation: Suyoh Chorus: Ho-oh ho-ho 15 Kpéh: A hunting expression which spontaneously announces a shot with a spear. When used, it means the individual making the sound has, at the instance of the sound, released the spear towards the animal target. 16 TAV-NGWA: Literally, ‘Head (Master) of Ngwa’ the hunting team; therefore he should know the difference. 17 Baah Honorific expression meaning, father. 18 Mfuh’ bag These are bags containing ‘first aid’ medication during war or similar exercise 93 19 Ntangrin Last day on the Nso weekly calendar; also Kifeh Market day. 20 Open my market: Locals believe that the first person to buy your product in the market (open the market) determines how lucky or unlucky the seller might be on that day with customers who’ll make the purchases. So a market day could be “good” or “bad” depending on whether the first customer brought good luck or ill luck. 22 Nkáng: Corn beer. A local brew made out of fermented corn. One way of making it is that fermented corn is ground and mixed in water in a large container; the juice is squeezed out of the mixture and heated at very high temperatures. This boiled output is filtered and stored in calabash containers to gather more alcoholic strength for later consumption. It could be very sweet when drunk a few hours after processing or very alcoholic if it stays for days. 23 Palm wine... head: These are symbolic elements of a Nso traditional marriage bride price ceremony. Palm wine, salt, kola nuts, etc were/are required when the bride’s family accepts the groom’s hand. By local law and...