The Bamiléké people are an ethnic group of Central Africa that inhabits the Western High Plateau colloquially known as the grassfields of Cameroon. According to Dr John Feyou de Hapy, Bamiléké means "people of faith".
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👉 Bamileke people in the context of Bamum people
The Bamum, sometimes called Bamoum, Bamun, Bamoun, or Mum, are a Grassfields ethnic group located in now Cameroon. In 2018, the Bamum and Bamileke peoples accounted for about 24% of the country's population. The Kingdom of Bamum covers approximately 7,300 km. The Kingdom of Bamum was surrounded to the north by the territory of Cameroon, from the west and south-west the kingdom's boundary touches the River Nun while the Rivers Mape and the Mbam surround it to the east.
Climate in the Kingdom consists of two seasons: a long rainy season, and a short dry season. This is mainly due to its location between a forest zone in the south and a tropical savannah grassland in the north. The length of the two seasons last for irregular time lengths.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Bamileke people
- 👉 Bamileke people in the context of Bamum people
- Bamileke people in the context of Nggàm
Bamileke people in the context of Nggàm
Nggam ([ŋgam]) is a type of divination found among many groups in western Cameroon. Among the best documented is its practice by the Mambila people of Cameroon and Nigeria, in which the actions of spiders or crabs are interpreted by the diviner. The form used by the neighbouring Yamba people was described by Gebauer, in 1964 based on experience in Mbem, going back to before 1939, and more recently by Hermann Gufler (1996 and 2003). Good documentation of Nggam has also been published for the Bekpak (Bafia) people by Dugast and Leiderer and for the Bamileke people by Pradeles de Latour. The crab form has been studied in north Cameroon by Walter van Beek (2013, 2015).
The comparative linguistics of spider divination in Cameroon was surveyed by Blench and Zeitlyn in 1989/1990.
View the full Wikipedia page for Nggàm