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Land Tenure among the Nsaw of the British Cameroons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2012

Phyllis M. Kaberry
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Extract

The Nsaw are a section of the Tikar people who are believed to have come originally from the region of Bornu and to have established themselves near Tibati in what is now the French Cameroons. About 300 years ago small bands, some under the leadership of sons of the King, broke away and eventually reached Bamenda. The sequence of the various migrations is confused, but among the last was probably that of the Nsaw under their Paramount Chief, the Fɔn. They are a negroid people who speak a semi-Bantu language, and they now number approximately 32,000. Their territory, some 700 square miles in area, is bounded on the east by the frontier of the French Cameroons, on the south by the Ndop Plain, on the west by Oku (an independent sub-tribe of Nsaw), and on the north-west and north by Bum and Nsungli. Most of it is high rolling grassland at an average height of 5,000 feet above sea-level, but the landscape, nevertheless, presents an appearance of alternating woodland and meadow, for in the villages, which are anything from one to five miles apart, compounds are overshadowed by tall dark groves of kola trees, while along the numerous streams are plantations of raffia palm.

Résumé

LE SYSTÈME FONCIER PARMI LES NSAW DU CAMEROUN BRITANNIQUE

Après une brève description de la situation géographique du peuple Nsaw et de l'histoire de leur établissement dans le pays, l'auteur donne un aperçu de leur structure politique et sociale et procède à un examen quelque peu détaillé de certains aspects de leur système foncier. A son avis, une compréhension des principes fondamentaux de la tenure des terres est une condition préalable essentielle à tout projet de developpement agricole et économique.

Le Fɔn, ou Chef Souverain, est le suzerain titulaire de toutes les terres, et, juridiquement, possède le droit de les allouer, prêter ou affermer; dans la pratique, en dehors des parcelles retenues par le Fɔn pour son usage personnel, le contrôle des terres est assigné aux chefs des lignées paternelles (afai) qui allouent des parcelles pour l'agriculture, des emplacements de maisons, des plantations de palmiers à raphia et de cola, aux membres de leurs lignées et peuvent, après consultation avec leurs dépendants males, prêter des parcelles à des parents éloignés, des amis ou des étrangers. Néanmoins, des dispositions sont normalement prises pour empechêr une aliénation définitive des terres des lignées. Le chef de la lignée (fai) est obligé de pourvoir aux besoins de ses dépendants et de faire les sacrifices exigés aux dieux de la terre (nyɔɔic). Il n'a pas le droit, sauf dans des circonstances exceptionnelles, d'expulser un parent de ses terres. Les occupants de terrains ont, par conséquent, une garantie de tenure et des droits permanents d'usufruit qu'ils peuvent transmettre à leurs enfants. Lors de son mariage, une femme recevra des parcelles agricoles parmi les terres de la lignée de son mari, mais elle pourra, si elle le désire, continuer à cultiver les parcelles qui lui ont été données avant le mariage par le chef des lignées de son père ou de sa mère.

Les transformations actuelles des conditions économiques, et le développement de l'exploitation agricole pour la vente, influent de maintes façons sur les droits des afai et leurs rapports avec leurs dépendants, en ce qui concerne les droits de propriété des terres et des récoltes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , October 1950 , pp. 307 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1950

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References

page 307 note 1 There are roughly some 175,000 Tikar in Bamenda Province, and some 10,500 in the French Cameroons. In culture they closely resemble the Bamum.

page 308 note 1 Upon the succession of a Fɔn the title of Queen Mother (Ya) is conferred upon his mother or, if she is dead, upon a ‘sister’ or ‘daughter’ of the Fɔn. In addition, there are other women of the Fɔn's lineage who bear the title of Ya in commemoration of the mothers of previous Afɔn. With the Yewoŋ and Tawɔŋ they rank next to the Fɔn, but they do not play such an active part in the government of the country as the Vibai.

page 309 note 1 In 1946 I attempted to make a census of the Fɔn's wives and counted 84. To this should be added at least another 10 who carried water for his house hold and whom I did not see. Among the 84 there were 15 who had not reached puberty and who were referred to as wɔnwiintɔ (children of a woman of palace). They were being trained to become wives of the Fɔn. Among the adults whom I personally questioned, 23 were daughters of nfilafsi, 2 were daughters of`atanto, and 10 were grand-daughters of duic. The remainder had been given either by sub-chiefs or voluntarily by men of m'tar status. Incidentally, only those wɔntɔ (sons of the Fɔn) whose mothers are m'tar are eligible for the office of Fɔn. The same qualification is also necessary for other dignitaries of royal status.

page 309 note 2 The figures are based on those for adult males who in 1947-8 paid either head-tax or income-tax, They include Hausa, Bamum and other strangers, but not Fulani.

page 309 note 3 In the old days, each village had to provide military contingent for the Fɔn's army and each had a club-house where adult males met. The army was divided into two sections, yam and baa; one group villages belonged to one section, another group to the other. In Kimbaw, both sections are represented, the town being divided into two, each with its own manjoŋ house. Manjoŋ has been shorn of its military functions, but it still exists for purposes of recreation, hunting, and tax collection!

page 310 note 1 Character and not seniority in age is the main criterion for eligibility to any position of authority in Nsaw, though usually a married man has a better claim than one who is single. In the choice of a lineage head, the opinion of members of the lineage is given particular weight, but lineage heads who live close by may be consulted and, in any case, the final decision must be ratified by the Fɔn through his delegates.

page 311 note 1 The title fe is sometimes used, as a matter of courtesy, in addressing men who have established their own compounds and have one or two married sons living with them. But it is not associated with any rights over kola and raffia plantations, nor with the giving of female dependents in marriage. It may also be applied to married sons of the Fɔn, and to ex-officials of the ŋwiroŋ Society. The son of a High Priest may also be given the title of fai by the Fɔn.

page 311 note 1 A man or a woman may plant one or two kola trees and clumps of raffia in the name of a son, who is then assured of rights of usufruct. But when the son himself dies, the trees are inherited by the fai. If raffia is planted on land belonging to another lineage, permission must be obtained from the landholder who, however, will have no rights of inheritance in the trees.

page 313 note 1 The term kfөө has a number of meanings and, unless it is qualified, one must depend on the context for elucidation. Sometimes it is used for the domestic family, sometimes for kindred, but often for the clan or lineage. It is used in the last sense in the statement quoted above.

page 314 note 1 In the case of a lineage having no adult or adolescent males to succeed to the position of fai or fe, a woman is sometimes appointed by the head of the clan to act as trustee until one of the boys comes of age and can assume responsibility. For example, in a sub-lineage of Yuwar in Mbam, a woman has been chosen for this role by Fai-o-Yuwar, the clan head resident in Kimbaw. She is titular fe, performs the sacrifices, and administers the family property, including land, kolas, and raffia. She cannot transmit the office to her son.

page 317 note 1 On an average a woman's total farm area comprises about eight scattered plots. Yams and rizga are grown in separate beds; finger millet and guinea-corn are never sown together, though each may be interplanted with maize. In my forthcoming book, The Role of Women in the Economy of Bamenda, agriculture is discussed in detail.

page 319 note 1 Dwemfe's brother also quarrelled with the fai because he did not want to continue looking after a stand of raffia, with which he had been entrusted and which most men would have regarded as a valuable privilege. The fai threatened to deprive him of land, but relented when the man's wife begged for pity.