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363 14 The Transfer Of Power And Authority In Nto’ngkar** BONGFEN CHEM-LANGHEE The Ngkar chiefdom is an integral part of a much larger polity, the Nso’ fondom or kingdom, which today claims to comprise the administrative Bui Division of Cameroon. The other chiefdoms include: the closely allied autonomous chiefdom of Oku with a different but allied language; the fraternal chiefdom of Mbiame; the “refugee” chiefdom of Nse’, which joined the fondom in exchange for protection against Bani, Wiya and Fulani raids; and the conquered chiefdoms of Ndzeen, Ndzerem, Kiluun, Jotin, Dom, Mbinon, Lasin, ngkor and Din. Unlike the conquered chiefdoms of Bamum which were enserfed, resettled and absorbed, the conquered chiefdoms of Nso’, “recognizing the paramountcy of the Fon of Nso’, remained in their original sites, retained their hereditary dynasties, and were allowed autonomy in the management of local affairs except in the matter of war and capital punishment”l. This treatment enabled them to conserve their languages and much of their cultures and traditions intact. The situation with Ngkar, which is also a conquered Chiefdom2 , is somewhat different. During the period of the Kovvifem centered fondom of Nso’, the Ngkar people, who were then not a part of Nso’, lived in the area that stretches from Shisong through Kimbo’ to Kiyan. But, in the late eighteenth century, when the Nso’ decided to make Kimbo’ rather than Kovvifem their capital, the Ngkar were conquered and expelled from their settlement site. They then resettled in their present site. with time, however, they were encircled by Nso’ villages. No doubt, the Ngkar retained their hereditary dynasty. Without question, they were allowed local autonomy except in the matter of war and capital punishment. But, as in the case of the other conquered chiefdoms of Ndzeen, Ndzerem and Kiluun, their small  **  This chapter was originally published in MUNTU: REVUE SCIENTIFIQUE ET CULTURELLE DU CICIBA 7(2/e semestre 1987):149-68 and is reproduced here with some modifications by kind permission of the author.  364 size, the close friendly relations which soon developed between them and the Nso’, the intense intermarriage between the two groups, and their complete encirclement by the Nso’, resulted in the disappearance of the Ngkar language. Together with other superficially observed elements, this situation gave the impression that the Ngkar had been completely assimilated by the Nso’, an impression that is widely believed in the Nso’ fondom. It is this widespread belief that inspired the research for this study, after V.G. Fanso and I produced the first draft of our now completed and published article, “The Transfer of Power and Authority in Nto’ Nso’.” The purpose was to find out, and then raise issues about culture contact, whether the process of transferring power and authority in the nto’ or palace of Ngkar has been affected by that of nto’ Nso’ or the Nso’ palace, as it is the case with language. This study should, therefore, be regarded as the precursor of many more future studies on the degree to which the Nso’ have assimilated the Ngkar, which might throw more light on what happens when two or more cultures come in contact and remain so. As soon as I began the research, it became clear to me that, culturally, the Ngkar might still be a very different people from the Nso’. The researcher has no problem collecting oral information from the Nso’ except, of course, for information dealing with sensitive issues of the secret societies, although he must be ready to contend with conflicting perceptions and information. This situation may help to explain why our article on nto’ Nso’ mentioned above is rich in conflicting perceptions and information. The situation with the Ngkar is dramatically different. I spent the last two weeks of December 1985 and the first week of January 1986 shuttling between Kimbo’, Ngkar and Jakiri in a vain attempt to collect oral information for the study. None of the rendezvous I made with potential Ngkar informants was ever honoured. Individual persons I confronted on the spot would not even answer my questions. In the course of these unremitting and unfruitful attempts, one lineage head, faay or shuufaay, who is also an important functionary of the palace, and whose name I am withholding on request, informed me that no individual Ngkar person, acting on his own, would volunteer any information. He advised me to approach the Fon or Chief of Ngkar with my problem. I then went to the Fon and pleaded with him for...

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