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Historical background of MuMbonge Cultural Association North America

1) List of Mbonge villages and respective chieves

  • Mbonge clan is made up of 5 regions housing 47 villages. 
    • ENGBANDINGBANDI made up of 
      • Marumba Mbonge,
      • Nganjo Titi,
      • Big Nganjo,
      • Dienyi,
      • Bangele, 
      • Small Ngbandi,
      • Big Ngbandi and Mafanja.         
    • IFENJAFENJA made up of Kumukumu,
      • Bombele,
      • Bombanda,
      • Big Massaka,
      • Metoko Bekondo,
      • Big Bekondo,
      • 3 Corners Bekondo,
      • Mofako Bekondo,
      • Bekondo ba Matta,
      • Big Butu,
      • Matoh Butu,
      • Mofako Butu,
      • Lifenja and 
      • Njombeh. 
  • EMBONGEMBONGE composed of 
    • Mbonge Meteke,
    • Makobe,
    • Ifanga Nalende, 
    • Ifanga ya oma,
    • Mofako Meteke,
    • Matoh Mbonge,
    • Lobange,
    • ILLeh, 
    • Dikolo and 
    • Lonongi.           
  • EKOLIKOLI made up of 
    • Lokando 1,
    • Lokando 2 and 
    • Ediki Bekoli.                 
  • EBOLOBOLO made up of 
    • Matondo 1,
    • Matondo 2,
    • Bolo Moboka and 
    • Ngolo Bolo.                          
  • EKUMBAKUMBA made up of 
    • Disoni,
    • Disoso,
    • Bikoki, 
    • Bakumba,and 
    • Small Massaka (~ma Esomba).

2) The Mbonge culture

    • Traditional dances
        • Amekoko
        • Maleh
        • Morimi
        • Dioh
        • Dinyangi
        • Merengue
    • Traditional dishes
        • Berembi
        • Makata
    • Traditional marriage
      • A knock door must be conducted – This is an initial visit where the groom’s family goes and makes his intention of marrying the bride known
        • The list is provided at this meeting.
          • The groom’s family requests A list of items as a traditional right. Items include but are not limited to:
            • Mother’s dressing:
              • Loin cloth
              • Headdress (head tie
              • Blouse
              • Shoes
            • Father’s dressing
              • White shirt
              • Loin cloth
              • Ikpoto (traditional hat)
              • Walking stick (ngyere)
            • Pig
            • Hot drink 
              • Whiskey
              • fofo
            • Jugs of palm wine
            • Litres of palm wine – “erangi”
            • Bag(s) of rice
            • Bag(s) of salt
            • Head of tobacco (2)
          • These items are distributed to the bride’s family members.
      • Bride price is not levied – A token of appreciation is given by the groom’s family.
        • This is shared among the family members present, excluding the mother and father of the bride.
      • At the traditional marriage event,
        • The bride is presented to other elderly women in the family who are married to provide advice to her.
        • Upon the arrival of the groom’s family, the bride’s family performs “esua mariba” (Libation), then they are ushered into the house.
        • The groom’s family then introduced themselves.
        • The bride’s family does as well.
        • Proceeding this, the breaking of the cola nut
          • Pending research – How it broken
          • An elder of the family has to confirm that the cola nut is broken correctly, and a celebration follows.
          • This celebration indicates that the ancestors are in acceptance of the marriage.
  • A list of ladies is presented under a veil.
        • The groom must choose his bride – he must know his wife well to avoid selecting the wrong lady.
        • This is done to spice the event – the groom will not be left to take the wrong bride.
        • Presentation of items on the list provided at knock door
        • The bride price is also presented for the mother’s side and the father’s side of the bride.
        • A cup of palm wine is presented to the bride to give to her husband-to-be.
        • Once the groom accepts is, a celebration follows (ringyangi dance)
        • The floor opens for celebration and advises
        • At the end of the celebration day, the bride does not go with the in-laws
          • The bride’s family groom her to be a wife for an agreed period of time.
          • Then on set day, the bride is then taken to the groom.
          • A procession is done along with that
  • Celebration of life (bornhouse)
      • The wife of the deceased receives enormous support from the villagers for a period of time.
  • Chiefdom
      • Unlike other clan in Cameroon, chiefdom in the Oroko clan is not hereditary
      • In the event of the passing of the chief, the chief makers and the entire community decides who to be their next chief.
  • Mourning the dead (rituals for different categories of people)
    • In the event of the death of an Oroko indegene, a 3 or 8 days mourning is expected to be respected
      • The 3-days
      • The 8-days
        • On the 8th day, spouse and key family members may be expected to cut their hair
  • Passage of right
    • In the event of the death of a Mbonge child, there are certain customs that must be adhered to regarding who inherits the property of the deceased. These include the following:
      • Next of kin 
      • The property of the deceased man is distributed based on his will
      • The family property he inherited is given to a daughter in the family who is unmarried.
  • Economy (main cash crop-cocoa)
  • The economy of the Mbonge land is heavily dependent upon 2 main cash crops:
    • Cocoa
      • Cocoa being the main cash crop cultivated by lots of villages
      • The villages primarily sponsor their children from this cash crop
      • Institutional investors mainly come in buy from farmer
    • Palms
      • With palms we have both institutional investors like Pamol and individual villages cultivating these cash.
      • This however, less popular among individuals relative to cocoa

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