Africa 75 (3), 2005
CHRISTIANITY AND THE PROLIFERATION OE
ANCESTORS: CHANGES IN HIERARCHY AND
MORTUARY RITUAL IN THE CAMEROON
GRASSFIELDS
Michael Jindra
Dry season in the Cameroon Grassfields resounds with the sights,
smells and sounds of numerous 'death celebrations' held to commemorate family members who have died, often years before. Death
celebrations are huge events that often extend over several days, depending on the status of the deceased and the size and wealth of the family.
All of the connections and relationships of the deceased's family are
exhibited in the ritual exchanges, feasting, displays and performances
that take up the event.
What is this event all about and has it always been like this? My
first impressions, in 1984, as a young outsider quite unfamiliar with
the culture, were of a quintessential traditional event that went back
centuries. 'This is our tradition' is how one elder summed it up.
Others mentioned that death celebrations had something to do with
the ancestors. In 1993, I returned to Cameroon to fmd out what
death celebrations were all about, which also led me to investigate
their history. I eventually discovered that the death celebration has only
recently become the huge and vital event it now is and that much of the
growth of this 'traditional' event was ironically due to Christianity.
Crucial to this discovery was understanding the effect of religious
change on the mortuary cycle. Religious change is one of the most
difficult social processes to gauge, especially when attempting to understand changes in the beliefs of individuals and local groups, as opposed
to institutional change. In the thoughts and practices of converts, new
religious concepts are normally incorporated into pre-existing cultural
structures and practices, and it can be difficult to determine how and
to what extent new notions have replaced or transformed old ones.
Certainly this is the case in many areas of Africa, where the widespread
introduction and adaptation of Christianity has provoked much academic discussion and contrasting theories over why it has occurred (see
Gabbert 2001, for a good recent overview; Rambo 1993: 87-101, for
additional sources; and Peel 2000). It also brought issues of syncretism,
transformation, adaptation and appropriation of religious beliefs and
MICHAEL JINDRA is Associate Professor at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, USA, and has
published in the areas of social theory, sociology of religion and cultural change. His recent
article - 'Natural/supernatural in Western cultural contexts' - was published in Anthropological
Forum 13: 2 (November 2003). He was a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon from 1984
to 1986.
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
357
practices to the forefront (Blakely et al. 1994; Greenfield and Droogers
2001; Meyer 1999; Spear and Kimambo 1999).
What exactly has this momentous shift in religious identification
entailed and why has it occurred? What beliefs have changed and what
areas of culture have they affected? Given continued strong adherence
to 'traditional' religious notions alongside Christian ones in Cameroon
(Pool 1994), the specific content of religious change has remained
vague. In order to understand the extent of religious or worldview
change, it makes sense to focus on specific, key practices (OhnukiTierney 1990) where religious belief is expressed. In many areas, the
most important life-cycle rituals take place at and after death. Thus, the
mortuary cycle is one ofthe best places to look to understand the abstract
area of religious belief, to look for evidence of religious change and as a
window into broader sociocultural phenomena (Boon 1987: 315; Metcalf and Huntington 1991; Kan 1992: 299). Anthropological writings
have long pointed to the key role death rites play in ordering society, in
contributing to its rebirth and its continuity (Bloch and Parry 1982).
Notions of the afterlife and who goes there are often crucial in
hierarchical structures that incorporate ancestors. What was the impact
of Christianity, with its contrasting notions of equality before God?
In the Grassfields, not what we might think. An examination of
changes in mortuary rites in the Grassfields, and the connected notions
of death, personhood and ancestors, demonstrates how Christianity
stimulated profound changes in these notions and practices, and also
why Christianity was attractive to early converts. In short, Christianity
(along with other influences such as education and enterprise [Rowlands
1993: 92-3]) initially had an egalitarian effect on a strongly hierarchical
society and actually allowed the creation of more ancestors, a status
attained previously mainly by titled men. These changes contributed to
the rise of death celebrations as major cultural events in the Grassfields.
Before detailing these changes, however, I will first introduce the
Grassfields and describe the major precolonial notions of hierarchy,
personhood and death.
DEATH AND THE HIERARCHY OF PERSONS IN THE PRECOLONIAL
GRASSFIELDS
The Western Grassfields of Cameroon is a highland region of over one
million people, with over thirty ethnic groups and languages covering
most of the Northwest Province, which was administered by Britain
from the end of the First World War until Independence. There are
many shared practices and beliefs across this area, which makes it
appropriate and often necessary to study it as a region, and not just
as distinct ethnic groups (Koloss 2000: 18; Kopytoff 1981: 374, 381;
Nkwi and Warnier 1982: 70; Rowlands 1993; Warnier 1993b).>
' Monuary ritual similarities and differences within the Grassfields, including comparative
comments on the Eastern Grassfields ofthe Bamileke and Bamum (Pradelles de Latour 1991;
358
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
Hierarchy is an essential part of Grassfields ideology and based upon
such things as age, gender and titles (Diduk 1987; Rowlands 1985: 212;
Warnier 1993a: 317). In addition, notions of personhood are shared
throughout much of the Grassfields. A central conception has been
described as 'transmissible life essence', 'innate power' or 'life-breath'
that can be contained in saliva, semen or blood (Rowlands 1995: 33;
Wamier 1993a: 306). In the Nso' area, it is called sam (Chilver 1990:
235-6), while it goes by different names in other parts of the province
Qindra 1997: 52). In the traditional framework of Grassfields society,
titled individuals (such as lineage heads and chiefs) were attributed high
levels of innate power, were believed to be in touch with the ancestors
through various divination or cleansing rituals (such as mangle [Koloss
2000: 402]), and were believed to live on after death and become
ancestors themselves. Many others, especially untitled women, children
and those without children, did not become ancestors since no one
performed ritual acts for them and they were not believed to possess
innate power. Among the Kedjom, for instance, it was said that a
'woman continues nothing' after she dies (Diduk 1987: 122). Exactly
who lived on and who did not was not foreordained, since it was
posthumous ritual acts that established this. Notions also varied among
different Grassfields groups. Women were titled and thus received
special burials, in some areas, but not in others.
This hierarchy was expressed in burial rituals. Individuals who
became ancestors were buried in family compounds. Fons (chiefs) and
other titled people were given marked graves, buried with important
belongings and regalia, had libations of palm wine poured for them
after death and were given large post-burial death celebrations where
chiefdom masquerades and secret societies would dance (events which
still occur today). These actions ensured that ancestors would bless the
family and community in the future.
Common people were frequently disposed of in the 'bush', streams,
or hurriedly given unmarked, naked burials (Carpenter 1933; Emonts
1927; Hawkesworth 1922; Schneider n.d.; Ateh 1992; Chilver and
Kaberry 1968: 115) that indicated their end of existence (Chilver 1990:
240). In Kom and Ide, corpses were also buried by banks of streams
during the dry season when water was low, or thrown into deep chasms
off cliffs (Ateh 1992: 6; Carpenter 1933; Masquelier 1993: 451). In
the Kom area, it is still said that someone who died has 'gone to the
river'. In other areas (e.g. Ambelle, Babungo), 'important men' were
buried in their house, while others were carried to the bush and buried
quickly or simply left there (Sharwood-Smith 1923, 1925). Graves were
obliterated (Baumann and Vajda 1959: 272), as death created pollution,
which must be eliminated.
Tardits 1980), with groups on the edges of the Grassfields such as the Yamba, Mambila,
and Wuli (Gufler 2000; Zeitlyn 1994; Baeke 1987, 1995), and with the Bali Chamba groups
related to the Bali chiefdoms in the Grassfields (Fardon 1990), are summarized in Jindra
(1997: 362 f), which also has details on how the field research (1993-1994) was conducted.
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
359
The spirit of the deceased was also said to persist for a time after the
death. People, burial tools and the compound were polluted by death.
The days after burial consisted of a series of purifications and blessings
aimed at reducing the bad influence caused by death, 'sending' the
deceased away (to become either an ancestor or to be forgotten), and
guarding the health and fertility of those still living. At junctions and
streams in Kom, rituals were performed to 'block the dead from coming
back to cause any harm to the living' (Ateh 1992: 5).
The most common post-burial rituals, some of which continue today
in some areas, involve the washing of mourners and the driving and
sweeping of death from the compound. Mourners' heads are shaved,
mats or leaves on which the mourners sat are disposed of, and the
compound is swept in a ritual cleansing of death. 'If soil is carried
away from the burial, you carry death away,' as a Wimbum man put
it. For most of the Grassfields groups, 'death is put in the house' and
widows are 'shown the hoe' so they can farm again. In some areas,
there are rituals designed to 'drive death away', literally the spirit of
the deceased, which is believed to stay around for a period of time.
Mourning, especially for widows, also v>^as severe and lengthy, lest the
spirit of the dead person be upset and harm the health and fertility of
the living and their crops. During the days after death, widows had to
sit and sleep on the ground, and could not wash. The main goal of these
rituals is to eliminate the pollution caused by the death, and to 'forget'
the deceased. Forgetting is part of the grieving process worldwide, but
in the Grassfields it also means that ancestors should not 'bother' you,
and the rituals aimed at driving away death were meant to keep the
deceased from coming back in spirit or animal form.
Grassfields ethnic groups also share common beliefs about 'good'
and 'bad' deaths. Bad deaths include those caused by leprosy, 'swollen
belly', suicide or lightning. Accidents and the deaths of pregnant women
or during childbirth can also fall into this category. Bad deaths are
normally buried outside the family compound, in the bush or near the
site of the death, and without ceremony. There is no death celebration
or mourning to follow. Bad deaths usually required special rites to rid
the deceased's family of the extra pollution resulting from this kind of
death (Dillon 1990: 232 ff).
CHRISTIANITY AND THE DECUNE OF HIERARCHY
The Protestant Basel Mission introduced Christianity to the Cameroon
Grassfields in 1903. After an early period of slow growth, Christian
churches (notably the Catholic, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches,
and more recently many smaller ones) are now among the strongest
and most important institutions in the Grassfields. What at first was
a minority religion at odds with many fons (De Vries 1998) has now
become one of the central features of Grassfields life and even many
chiefs now identify with Christianity (and some with Islam).
How did Christianity affect notions of hierarchy and deatii? Normally
in situations of culture contact, new ideas are largely understood through
360
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
pre-existing cultural categories. In the Grassfields, notions of powerful
individuals who were connected to the ancestors and had innate power
were combined with a belief that Christianity had its own unique
powers behind it. A quality akin to the 'innate power' described above
was attributed to Christians, a power that was sometimes directly
compared to witchcraft (Chilver 1990; Shanklin 1994). The growth of
Christianity thus had the potential to create new categories of people
(e.g. clergy, catechists) who were believed to have this power, drawn
from the new religion and expressed in various ways, such as literacy
and the ability to obtain wealth.
Christianity also encouraged egalitarian and individualizing tendencies that come from the Christian stress on every individual's
relationship with God (which is stronger in the Protestant version
but present in all). Christianity, with its baptismal and dedication ceremonies for every birth, combined with the state bureaucracy which
records births and issues birth certificates, has an individualizing effect
throughout society, much as it did in Europe beginning in the fifteenth
century (Quale 1988). In Cameroon, the individual's say in the marriage decision was gained at the expense of the family, and is sometimes
expressed in the outright refusal of women to marry at all (Goheen
1996). Literacy, brought by mission schools, also had an equalizing
effect. Christianity also encouraged an 'entrepreneurial ethos' in the
Grassfields (Rowlands 1993: 92-3). With this new egalitarianism, however, also came a 'reinvention' of hierarchy in the later half of the
twentieth century, which became dominated by new elites connected
to the modem state and economy. No longer did the traditional titleholders have the balance of power, for the new religion had its own
powerful medical treatments and ability to create wealth and influence
political authorities.
The growth of Christianity (along with political and economic changes
involving the creation of new elites) thus created more people to whom
special powers were attributed and honour owed. Many Grassfields
residents were now literate and had the ability to earn incomes and live
outside of the kin and chiefdom structure that formerly monopolized
social relations. Many of these mission-trained 'free boys' (Rowlands
1995: 25 ff) distressed the traditional authorities. While most people
maintained strong family relations, they could also make marriages and
economic decisions more independently, and could become wealthy
and powerful without the approval of chiefdom or family authorities,
often through church and colonial connections. This egalitarianism,
individualism and new hierarchy is expressed in many areas of society
such as the economic and political. It is also particularly visible in how
the Grassfields mortuary cycle has been modified, especially in the large
size and frequency of delayed death celebrations.
CONTEMPORARY DEATH CELEBRATIONS
Death celebrations are an entire 'social jamboree', as one Cameroonian
called them: people meet potential mates, discuss village affairs, get
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
361
news, exchange gossip, renew friendships and meet distant relatives.
The first ones I attended, in the Meta' area, immediately thrust me into
a wondrously dizzying and entertaining sequence of events. Besides the
gunfire, music and dancing, there are obligatory exchanges of fowls,
goats and meat, reinforcing (or sometimes straining, when arguments
break out) relationships within the family, between agnates and inlaws, and between the family and any society to which the deceased
belonged. Behind the scenes, a vast number of exchanges take place,
as other relatives and friends come to support the family with their
contributions. The necessity of these preparations ensures that the
event is often delayed for years, though there are a number of other
reasons for the delay Qindra 1997: 196). There is no close association,
however, between the decomposition of the corpse and the journey of'
the dead, as in the Indonesian case of delayed rites made famous by
Robert Hertz ([1907] 1960).
Death celebrations often begin with a memorial church service at a
local church but most activities are then conducted in one or several
family compounds. Mourning songs may be sung towards the beginning
but the event soon takes on a festive tone. The children of the deceased
hire dance groups to perform, and friends and relatives are called on
to help purchase food and drink. Food and drink are ever present,
and big pots of plantains, pounded cocoyams or rice can be found
cooking in the backs of houses. Small markets spring up at the edge of
the compound where vendors show up to sell snacks. If the member
belonged to any societies or church groups, they will come and perform,
with the leader holding up a painting or photo of the deceased as
they wind their way to the dance ground or around the compound.
Men offer up a fusillade of their aged, flintlock Dane guns (some
use pistols or modern shotguns), or they may clash their cutlasses.
Drums, wooden xylophones or other instruments provide rhythm for
the dancing, which can alternate between general public dancing and
the organized performances of dance groups wearing uniforms or carved
masks. It is the exuberant atmosphere of colour, sound and smell that
gives the event its name of 'death celebration'.
There is, however, a serious purpose underlying all these activities.
The future prosperity of the family depends on blessings from the
ancestors and, to please them, the living descendants must perform
a death celebration in their honour, one that follows all the cultural
prescriptions of gifts to relatives, involvement of societies and general
hospitality. The death celebration brings the mortuary cycle to its
culmination, whether it is held days or years after the death. Ultimately,
the death celebration 'remembers' the ancestor by inviting them to
come and witness how the family has 'come together'. In some cases,
families pick a colourful cloth pattern that is made into shirts and
dresses and worn as a 'uniform' in a visible demonstration of family
unity.
The visible demonstration to all, including the dead, of family
togetherness is crucial for a successful death celebration. It is generally
understood that the ancestors can see what is going on or are at least
362
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
aware of 'how they [the living] are doing it', in the words of one
informant. One Kom man, at a death celebration for his father-in-law,
told me that a seer came up to him and said that his father-in-law was
present at the occasion. The seer even pointed to a bird singing on
a branch and told the man that it was his father-in-law enioying the
event. Ancestors witness the death celebration and have the power to
assist the living if they are happy that the death celebration was done
right. The same applies to the pouring of libations, or for any sacrifice
or putting of food or feathers on the grave or stone of an ancestor.
In Kom, the ancestors' names are mentioned as goats are presented
to chong and it is believed that the ancestors can see all contributions
made. In fact, if a person makes a contribution to someone who had
failed to contribute to the giver's own death celebration in the past, the
ancestors are said to 'query' the person for making the contribution.
In Oku, those who come to a death celebration present a fowl to
the hosts, pull out a feather and call out the ancestor's names. It is
said that the ancestors can see what the people bring and those who
bring nothing risk misfortune (Argenti 1996: 204). In Oshie, I was
told that the dead are at the final death celebration and receive food
and drink put on the ground. The death celebration sends the spirit
away 'in a blessed way'. It is no longer around in a 'bad faith, but
it can come in a good faith' and can be asked 'why things are going
wrong'.
After most of the people have gone, closer family members often have
a meeting to close the death celebration. In a sense, this is the most
serious pan of the entire death celebration. The family meeting is the
summation of the event, the final event that confirms the unification of
the family. The closing 'family meeting' is not as visible to outsiders,
who usually regard the most public part of the death celebration as the
most important phase. Friends, business and political associates, and
neighbours attend the dancing, eating and gunfire, but only close family
members attend the closing meeting.
Just as the dancing of societies is the public expression ofthe family's
relationship with institutions outside the family, the family meeting
that ends the event is the summation of internal family relationships.
And it is relations within the extended family that are crucial for the
well-being ofthe family itself. In Oshie, family members do a 'sacrifice'
(slaughter a pig and pour blood on the grave) on the first day of the
death celebration to 'tell the deceased we are together'. Ancestors bless
families that are unified and harmonious, and they curse those that are
divided, where 'bad feelings' reign.
The emphasis on the unity of the family is so powerful that family
meetings are held even amongst those who doubt the power of the
ancestors. Interdependence and cooperation of the family is crucial.
Family heads are expected to sit with family members, organize family
events, assist members with problems and oversee the activities of
younger men, women and children. But for most Grassfields residents,
the ancestors are in the background of all family activities, and dissension
and lack of cooperation among the family will likely upset them. If any
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
363
misfortune befalls the family, a family meeting will most likely be called
and diviners may be involved.
Some CameroonianSj using Christian or legal terminology, call the
family meeting a 'communion' or a 'contract' (Fomuso n.d: 34). In
Bafut, the family meeting is called mfee nu ('untie the thing') or mbiinsa
nda ('to cool the house'). The first term refers to bringing out into the
open any potential source of conflict, a loosening (Engard 1986: 205),
and the second to the resolving of those conflicts and the blessing that
'cools' the house, which 'ties' it back into unity. Attendance at this
event is required. Absence at this event, unless excused, could cause a
major rift with the family and perhaps be used as evidence of 'ill will' or
witchcraft toward family members.
Eating and drinking together are both important as a sign of unity,
but before the ritual act of commensality, any grievances of family
members must be aired. The unity of the group may have been tested
by the activities leading up to the death celebration. Perhaps there were
fights over the sharing of responsibilities or provisions for the death
celebration, or other longstanding arguments may exist. In any case,
conflicts must be cleared, for this is what potentially causes 'ill luck'.
Likewise, a successful family meeting can bring peace and prosperity to
the family. In many areas of the Grassfields, the family meeting is called
'finishing the pot' or 'cleaning the dregs'. The purpose is to finish the
food and drink and bring the occasion to a close, while establishing the
unity of the kin group. If everything has gone smoothly, all conflicts
have been settled and everyone is 'in agreement', a family blessing will
be performed either by the family head or a respected elder. If there is a
new successor, he will be blessed and he will bless the family members.
This could involve the rubbing of camwood, saliva or palm wine on
family members.
It is easy to think that the form of the contemporary death celebration
largely predates colonial and Christian infiuences in the Grassfields,
but this would be mistaken. To understand the role that Christianity
has played in helping to stimulate the large death celebrations now
common in the Grassfields, one must examine the mortuary cycle
at the beginning of the twentieth century, before the introduction of
Christianity and colonialism.
EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANITY ON THE MORTUARY CYCLE
As Christianity began to take hold in the Grassfields in the first half of
the century, it had a significant impact on the mortuary cycle, initially
in moderating notions of pollution. As detailed above, the pollution of
death and the fear of the dead were major themes of the mortuary cycle.
Burials were hurried, graves were obliterated, and action was taken
to send the deceased away and purify the death pollution. Except for
some/ows and other people with high titles, burial in family compounds
appears to be a practice that only became common as the twentieth
century wore on. Burials became more individualized, personalized
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CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
and deliberate.^ Changes that began with Christianity and colonialism
included a shift from the rapid disposal of bodies in streams or the
burial of naked, bundled bodies in circular and communal or unmarked
graves, to burial in full dress in individual graves marked with crosses
and wreaths, sometimes cemented and whitewashed. Burials now occur
at least a day after death, often longer, and are marked in most cases
by Christian rites. In the Grassfields, family members take the lead in
preparing the body, while a Christian clergyman generally conducts the
funeral. If the deceased is a non-Christian and a member of a warrior
or regulatory society such as kwifon, society members take the lead. In
the cases where there are affiliations with both traditional institutions
and Christian ones, confiicts can arise, but in general Christians handle
the burial, while traditional societies appear later.
This pattern developed out of the ritual vacuum under which most
burials took place. In the traditional framework, the only individuals
to receive special rites at death were members of societies - mostly
older males (and some women) with children. For others, burials were
done with little ceremony. Into this situation the Christians stepped. In
1960, a Bali-Nyonga title holder had told Grassfields historian E. M.
Chilver: 'In the past only voma and ndansi people [cult members] lived
after death, but Christianity has made it possible for ordinary people to
live after death' (cited in Chilver 1992).^ This included women, most
of whom were denied an afterlife. Chilver noted their response to the
Christian message: they 'agreed vehemently, protesting that they did not
wish to die and become like animals' (as in the traditional eschatology).
The Cameroonians I interviewed report that fearful attitudes toward
death have been softened since earlier in the twentieth century, and
mourning practices, especially for women, are less harsh. In 1963,
Chilver reported that widows mourn for a year in Mankon,'* but this
period is now shorter. The shaving of hair for all relatives is no longer
required, and many merely clip a nominal amount from their head.
Restrictions on eating are no longer followed closely.
Christians discouraged the extensive mourning and destruction of
property, which often took place at traditional funerals. Christianity
also caused a decline in pollution beliefs surrounding the dead and
a universalizing of those who went to the afterlife. 'Bad deaths' were
^ There are also other reasons for changes in burial practices, such as the German ban
on the disposal of corpses in streams. Also, 'ordinary' burials appear to have taken place
in or near family compounds in a few areas, but it was not common in the early twentieth
century.
' Voma and ndansi were the major cults or lodges owned by the two main groups of
Bali Nyonga residents, whose members had special powers of transformation, protection
or healing (Chilver 1988: 5). Voma offered members the hope of an afterlife by magical
soul-strengthening and mortuary ritual (Chilver and Kaberry 1968:.69).
'' See 'Fieldwork notes, correspondence, papers and photographs of Phyllis Kaberry
(1910-1977), anthropologist, mainly relating to the Abelam of Papua New Guinea
(1939-1940) and, with additional material by E. M. Chilver, to the peoples of Bamenda,
Cameroon (1945-1963)', box 24, file 46, p. 74. London School of Economics Library,
Archives (Manuscript Collection).
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
365
increasingly buried in compounds, pointing to a decline in deaths given
this appellation and a lessening of beliefs about pollution from this
kind of death. Traditional interpretations of events such as accidental
death are increasingly disputed (Pool 1994: 80-2), which has also
increased the number of people given standard burials. Even suicides
are sometimes given normal burials.
In general, the 'bad' associated with death has declined. In the past,
women and children could not see the burial, or at least had to stay a
safe distance away to avoid pollution from the death or the possibility
of being affected by the spirit of the deceased. This is still the case
in some areas of the Grassfields, especially more isolated ones (Diduk
2000: 327; Geary 1986: 13), but for the most part women and children
are now allowed near burials.
In the traditional worldview, dreams in which the dead appeared
meant an ancestor was unhappy and signalled the need for a ritual to
prevent any misfortune (Ittmann 1931). A Meta' farmer told me that
in the past, an elder would warn his descendants that he would 'come
back' in a dream unless they 'remembered' him through libation rituals.
A Noni civil servant living in the provincial capital of Bamenda told me
that if a man dreamed of a dead relative, he would be 'bound to go
back to the village and do a sacrifice on the grave'. Also, gunfire was
an expression of anger against death and a means of 'keeping death
away'.
Now, however, dreams of the deceased are not necessarily regarded as
inauspicious and are often an avenue for ancestors to give information
to the living, such as advice on family matters or knowledge of the
cause of death. Gunfire is now regarded as a general honour for
the deceased. Christian clergy taught that life in the next world is
peaceful and that the living need not fear the dead (Rein-Wuhrmann
1925: 58), an emphasis certainly found in contemporary Christian
preaching (Bradshaw 2002: 42). Thus the Nso' 'land of the dead' has
become mbor la, the compound of 'peace' or reconciliation, a term
not found before 1963 (Chilver personal communication) and a place
where all people eventually go (Banadzem 1996a: 394). This seems
influenced by Christianity, for Chilver's earlier research indicated that
most simply 'gave up their life-breath to the air' (Chilver 1990: 240).
Prior distinctions between the ordinary dead and titled people have
broken down, a process that coincides with the declining power of the
traditional authorities.
Instead of obliterating graves to avoid the 'bad' pollution of
death, families now prefer to see and tend the graves. Everyone
is now believed to have an afterlife, and this is reflected in the
prevalence of burial, which was always intimately connected with
power and transformation in several different contexts, including
witchcraft (Engard 1986). Burial and burial rites are the prerequisite for
attaining an afterlife, which is traditionally equated with ancestorhood
(Fortes 1965: 16), since only those buried in compounds can
be treated to regular libations and called upon to protect the
family.
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CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
In sum, a comparison between the mortuary cycle in the early
twentieth century (Emonts 1927: 158-65; Ittmann 1931; Schmidt
1943; Schneider n.d.) and contemporary events allows us to see how
there has been a major change in emphasis over the past one hundred
years. The overriding issue was fear of the pollution of death and the
dead. Today, fear is no longer the prime emotion felt at death, as
pollution is not a major concern. A Meta' elder described the change to
me in this way: 'we used to "clean hands", but now after white men it
is "remove black cloth" ', in essence, a shift from an ethic of pollution
and purification to one that is more focused on freeing family members
from mourning restrictions, a period which may last up to a year.
And fmally, after the burial and any intermediary rites Qindra 1997:
166-94), the mortuary cycle now culminates years later when ancestors
are called on and asked to bless the family. This change can be described
as a shift from 'forgetting' the dead (the main focus of pre-Christian
rites), to the contemporary 'remembering' of ancestors, expressed most
vividly in the death celebration that is now extended to nearly everyone.
The shift in emphasis can be illustrated by the following diagram,
which summarizes the activities and connected notions prevalent at the
beginning and end of the mortuary cycle. Whereas the first part of the
cycle was given the most attention early in the twentieth century, now
the delayed activities are emphasized more:
At death
Months or years later
•
Burial, mourning
Death celebration
Pollution
Blessings
Forgetting, driving away death
Remembering, memorial services
Fear of 'bad' dead
Ancestors
t
Pre-Christian emphasis
t
Contemporary emphasis
Before the twentieth century, the entire cycle was completed and death
celebrations were performed only for the elite, chiefs and other titled
men, and in some places a few women, the 'important' people of society.
Only a few, those deemed necessary to keep life and society going, were
remembered. Now, the delayed death celebration is held for most adult
deaths, and many more people are remembered. These changes in the
mortuary cycle reveal effects of Christianity that include the decline of
a hierarchy based on titles and an increase in egalitarianism. Only titled
people were assured of a life after death. Now, however, everyone is
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
367
promised a life after death, expressed in the now-universal burial rites
and in the proliferation of death celebrations described above, which
are the closing events of the mortuary cycle.^
If a death celebration is not held, 'bad luck' may befall the children
until it is held. Ancestors are said by some to 'come back' and attend
death celebrations, witnessing them and in some ways participating
in the food, drink and entertainment Qindra 1997: 254 f). A death
celebration is an occasion to thank the ancestors and send them away
happy for putting on the occasion for them. Forgetting the deceased,
an important part of the cycle in the early part of the twentieth century,
becomes less important if the 'bad' caused by the death is regarded
as less of a threat, and if the duration and hardship of mourning has
declined, as is the case today. This is because the severity of mourning
rituals is connected to the 'bad' of the death. The less pollution there
is, the less need for severe mourning practices. 'Forgetting' is forgotten.
'Remembering', conversely, has become more common and is now
extended to significantly more people. When death celebrations are
delayed for several years, family members are more likely to be remembering ancestors than finally forgetting them. Earlier in the twentieth
century in Nso', it took at most a year to 'forget' someone, at which
time a final, smaller death celebration was completed. However, this
final death celebration is now being delayed and fashioned into a grand
event, which often includes a memorial service in a local church. This
is an occasion to remember the ancestors, after which you 'don't think
about the man again except in prayers or family gatherings', as an Nso'
faay (title holder) told me, or when family misfortune might prompt
diviners to call for additional rituals. This event demonstrates to the
ancestors (and of course to the living) that the family is a viable, strong,
unified group and that the ancestors should bless the family with more
children, health and prosperity. Now that most families hold death
celebrations, an argument can be made for a 'proliferation' of ancestors
in the Grassfields.
THE PROLIFERATION OF ANCESTORS
The practice of burial rites for everyone, instituted by Christian
missions, has paradoxically created more ancestors. The decline of
^ See McKenzie (1982) for similar effects of Christianity on the Yoruba mortuary cycle,
including the proliferation of burial to all members of society, not just the highly ranked. In the
Ewondo area in the south of Cameroon, similar changes have occurred to the mortuary cycle:
mourning for widows is easier and certain other mortuary rituals have been dropped because
of Christianity. Social organization was affected even more severely than in the Grassfields
(due to French colonial policy), and the priest now sometimes takes the role of the family
head in giving a family blessing (Mebenga 1990). Mourning rituals have also declined among
the Christian Asante, and Christian funeral celebrations, with their own instruments for
remembrance, have combined with traditional Asante notions to become a 'ticket' to heaven
(De Witte 2001; 157). Connection between less hierarchy and a proliferation of mortuary
events can also be noted both among the Chamba of northern Cameroon (Fardon 1990: 108)
and the Tlingit of North America (Kan 1989: 29).
368
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
traditional hierarchy, creation of new elites, rise of Christian belief in
a universal afterlife, and the proliferation of formal burial have created
a proliferation of people to whom mortuary rites are owed. In Nso'
and Oku, mangle and ketejf ceremonies (Koloss 1987j 2000: 402-3) to
appease the dead were done only for lineage heads and titled people,
the only ones who became ancestors. Later mortuary ceremonies such
as sov kidiv, involving iust the immediate family, were performed for
ordinary people only if the deceased 'caused trouble' (Banadzem 1996b:
130; Chilver personal communication). These ceremonies were meant
to reconcile the dead with living relatives who had committed a fault
such as missing a death ceremony or not following the instructions of
the dead. Traditionally, the ceremonies were only needed for 'big men'
who have the power to cause problems for the living. Now they must be
completed, often at the behest of diviners, for any number of different
relatives. In the 1990s, the anthropologist Susan Diduk (1993) reported
a sudden increase in the number of small death celebrations held to
placate deceased twins and distant relatives in Kedjom.
Likewise, delayed death celebrations are now held for almost every
death. Traditionally, dea± celebrations were performed for only the
highest-ranking people (chiefs, lineage heads and titled men), but
now they have become 'obligatory' for all. In the past, only those
deceased who were deemed important enough to have influence over
the living merited death celebrations in the future. In Bafut, delayed
death celebrations were held only for 'important people' in the 1920s
(Hawkesworth 1926). By 1959, anthropologist Robert Ritzenthaler
indicated that delayed death celebrations were more common, but held
at most a year after death (see R. and P. Ritzenthaler 1962: 64). By the
1980s, death celebrations were commonly delayed for several years.
Twentieth-century religious, political and economic changes broke
down the hierarchy of the traditional system and brought a certain
egalitarianism to the Grassfields, traditionally dominated by a hierarchy
based on titles. This is expressed in the mortuary cycle, where only
titled people were assured of a life after death. Now, however, death
celebrations have become common throughout the Grassfields for all
types of individuals. In Catholic parlance, all Christians become saints,
which some Cameroonian priests translate to ancestors who receive
libations (e.g. Mbuy 1994). Every individual becomes a potential
ancestor, with the right to a death celebration. In much of African
Christianity, the 'ancient pervasive attention to and concern for the
ancestors' quickly became 'channeled into the church's commemoration
of and prayers for the dead' (Gray 1990: 9; Walls 2002: 128). The
ancestors entered Catholic ritual formally in the late 1960s when they
began to be mentioned in Masses. The change had a tremendous impact
on notions of ancestors and made the Catholic Church significantly
more attractive to Africans. Before, ancestors were not among the
'saved'. Now, however, they were incorporated into the 'family of
God'. In the Grassfields, this also encouraged people to think of the
ancestors as beings that everyone has a connection with, not iust elite
members of society. The increased power attributed to the ancestors of
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
369
all individuals, as a result of Christianity, is indicated by Cameroonian
Catholic Priest Humphrey Mbuy: 'Since they [the ancestors] are now
with Nyuy Mbom [God], they are given more spiritual powers' (Mbuy
1994: 21). Except where articulated into a Catholic theology of saints,
ideas of ancestors are generally not overtly discussed among Christians
but hover in the background as a lingering yet powerful sense that
the dead have power over the living. The contemporary importance
of the ancestors can also be observed in the tie between agriculture
and traditional authority, expressed in seasonal rituals calling on the
ancestors to help in the successful harvest of food crops (Ngwainmbi
2000) and, as mentioned earlier, when new chiefs or family heads are
installed.
The egalitarian effect of Christianity has been countered by the
connected social changes that also brought new hierarchies to the
Grassfields, as mentioned above. Death celebrations can help create
and reflect these new hierarchies because of the prestige a successful
event can bring to the family. I was told that some families host especially
large death celebrations to increase or confirm their status but others
had differing reasons. Many felt forced to hold large death celebrations
simply because of social pressure. Likewise, a death celebration could
also be the fulfilment of one's village obligation in the cycle of reciprocal
exchanges involving birth, marriage and death or part of a strategy to
obtain a title. If the deceased was a family head, the death celebration
may also include a ritual to put in place a successor, or be used to
create new minor titles such as 'mother ofthe compound'. There are,
of course, other meanings of and reasons for the event Qindra 1997:
283 ff, 304). It can be a way to connect with the family past, a heartfelt
thank you to one's father or mother (articulated within the framework
of the Christian commandment to 'honour one's father and mother'),
an appeal to the ancestors for help or forgiveness, or a way to recognize
family and ancestors within a Christian framework, a process that is no
longer as restricted or centralized as it was in the past. In a different
vein, it can be an expression of a particular 'Grassfields' identity. These
motivations are all mixed and impossible to separate when examining
most death celebrations.
THE APPEAL OF CHRISTIANITY
In addition to the many social explanations given for large-scale
conversions (Hefner 1993), the eschatological appeal of Christianity
in Africa should be considered as an important motivation for African
conversions to Christianity (Gray 1990: 67 f; Hastings 1994: 331;
Mbiti 1971: 139, 155; Peel 2000: 176 ff). As indicated above,
Christianity appealed strongly to women and others such as youth
who were denied full personhood in the traditional ontology. Christian
notions of human equality in essence (Tinder 1995: 67) contrasted
with indigenous notions ofthe innate power of titled individuals. This
egalitarianism is demonstrated most visibly when Christian burial rites
370
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
are given to all Christians regardless of status. Everyone now had an
opportunity to have their own impressive-looking robed clergyman,
a representative of a higher otherworldly authority, send them off to
the next world. Elites had society officials, with powerful symbolic
regalia such as leopard skins, medicine bags, cloths and masks, to
preside over their transformation to the next world. Christian burial
rites now gave everyone, not only the titled few and family heads, a
similar ritual and a sense of eternal well-being. A senior Nso' man
commented on how Christianity has 'enriched their idea about death...
Our people now look forward to living to old age, dying and going
to this place of which they only had a vague notion' (cited in Doh
1990: 435).
In the contemporary mortuary cycle, Christians provide the symbolic
ritual previously missing from ordinary (as opposed to elite) burials.
Thus, Christians take the lead at most burials, filling the void of the
traditional burials, which were hurried and without ceremony. But there
is another reason for Christians to take the lead. As mentioned earlier,
Christianity has served to soften the pollution and fear of death that is
found in traditional notions of death. Traditionally, the passage from
death to the next world is fraught with danger for the living if the
deceased does not depart as he should, or if the deceased has special
powers or is displeased with his living descendants. Christianity, on
the other hand, conceives of it as a passage to heaven that is harmless
to the living. Eear is not a marked feature at Christian burials, where
stress is put on a future ideal life with God in heaven. Christianity (with
the exception of recent moves towards 'inculturation' incorporating
ancestors as mediators, as promoted by some clergy [see Mbuy 1994])
no longer keeps contact with the deceased after death because the
deceased are said to be powerless toward the living. The traditional
Grassfields view keeps the ancestors in reciprocal relations with the
living and gives the ancestors power over the living. Later actions
directed at the ancestors become efficacious, whereas for Christians
they are not. Thus, for Grassfields peoples, many of whom have some
allegiance to both worldviews, Christian activity is most appropriate and
useful around death, while performances are effective after the deceased
is safely gone and can assist the living, months or years after the death.
Christianity has ironically prompted the proliferation of ancestors, as
Christian egalitarianism has been incorporated into a world of ancestors.
Grassfields peoples thus adopted what they regarded as positive notions
of the new religion, but also strengthened an attractive notion of the
enduring worldview, the power of ancestors to bless the living.
Another irony of adaptation concerns burial locations. Christianity
prompted marked burials for all deaths, but these burials are most
often done in the compound, and not in church cemeteries as was
encouraged by the churches. Burial in cemeteries never became
popular and is now practised only by a minority of Catholics. Other
denominations gave up trying to promote burial in church cemeteries
but the Catholic archdiocese has continued to encourage it (Verdzekov
1992: 2). Compound burial is part of an effort to keep ancestors
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
371
'close' to living family members and, symbolically and literally, within
the family, where they can remain a part of family activities. Burial
at church goes against the grain of Grassfields practice, which views
any burial outside the compound as an offence, an exclusion of the
deceased from the ancestral unit. Because of these notions, marked
graves in compounds became the norm in the twentieth-century
Grassfields.
In sum, certain elements of Western Christian practice proved
attractive to Grassfields residents, while others did not. Christianity, in
its orthodox form, replaces concern for (and fear of) ancestors with a
focus on a personal and omnipotent God and it promises a pleasant
afterlife for all adherents. This message, along with associated practices
such as burial rites, has proved attractive. Christianity weakened
traditional ethnic and kin-based religious practices, and implanted a
universalism and individualism with respect to humanity. In African
church practice, however, certain principles of Christianity, such as
the biblical de-emphasis of kin connections in Matthew 8: 22 and
10: 37, have been less enthusiastically embraced (Partain 1986). The
ancestors have remained powerful forces, which is not surprising given
the influential role they have played in the past.
Death celebrations allow all classes of Grassfields peoples to 'think' of
the ancestors in the long run, without having to do overt 'sacrifices' and
libations on ancestral stones. Since burial rites and memorial services
are held for anyone, not iust 'big men' (that is, titled or wealthy men),
death celebrations also become the norm for all. Pradelles de Latour
(1991) describes an instance among the nearby Bamileke where an
older sister ofthe chief, who had previously been 'attached to tradition',
declared she wanted to be baptized. She did this because she wanted the
'grands honneurs' ofthe local Protestant church music band at her burial,
but at the same time she affirmed her attachment to the ancestors. This
was a declaration, according to Pradelles, that 'the only important thing
in life is to be, one day, given a fanfare and made an ancestor, the
accomplishment of all of life' (author's translation), which is only given
by funeral rites {op. dt.: 83). The performance ofthe church group at
the funeral confirms that status.
This example also indicates that the aesthetic, performative elements
of Christianity were also attractive to many Grassfields residents. At
death celebrations, church choirs and youth groups often play a central
role by singing and dancing. In the past, performative events were
limited to special occasions like maior death celebrations or chiefdom
events. The performances were strictly controlled by the authorities.
Only those with wealth and status could purchase the right to use these
instruments, dances and masks, and could perform at important ritual
festivals. Chiefdom authorities can no longer regulate most aesthetic
performances and, over the past several decades, Christian and secular
performance groups and 'entertainment' associations have proliferated.
The Christian churches, as important new institutions in the Grassfields,
helped make societies, music and dance available to all.
372
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
CONCLUSION
Through the mortuary cycle, Christianity has been incorporated into
the pre-existing cultural context. This is not surprising, since 'bringing
the outside in' is a quality of Grassfields peoples (Argenti 1996;
Engard 1986). Like people throughout the world affected by European
expansion, they have incorporated outside forces and interpreted diem
in an already existing cultural structure (Sahlins 1985). Grassfields
peoples found Christian ideas of death and personhood attractive, but
they also incorporated these notions and practices into already existing
notions of ancestors. This has become more visible now that Christianity
has become, at least nominally, the dominant ideology. Christianity is
no longer a rebellious minority world view, distinct from the dominant
ideology and causing problems for the traditional hierarchy (as it was
initially in the Grassfields), for it has become a dominant ideology,
while at the same time incorporating significant elements of Grassfields
traditions within it. This 'open, flexible nature of tradition' can be
especially seen in the mortuary cycle, not only in the Grassfields, but
elsewhere (De Witte 2003).
Christianity has had a profound impact on notions of the person and
the afterlife, as expressed in the mortuary cycle, in both expected and
unexpected ways. The granting of an afterlife to all members of society
helped attract converts to the new faith, which provided a ritual practice
that could be applied to virtually all people. This has been expressed
most vividly in the grandiose death celebrations held years after death,
where the ancestors are remembered and Christian churches and groups
play an important role. In the contemporary mortuary cycle, Grassfields
residents have found a way to practise both tradition and Christianity.
Death celebrations unify and universalize society. Nearly everyone is
granted a future life and made an ancestor. A death celebration is a
grand compromise, a way to make room for everybody, ancestors and
Christians,/ows and clergy, representatives ofthe dominant old and new
ideologies in the Grassfields.
Through the death celebration, usually the most important event
of a person's life (though coming after death), we can observe the
crucial linkages between eschatology and mortuary ritual while also
tying these changes into social structural and historical change. Given
the importance of death and the rituals surrounding it in many African
societies, it should not be surprising that changes in death rituals and
beliefs indicate significant wider cultural change in those areas of Africa
now largely Christian.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am indebted to the many Cameroonians who enthusiastically assisted this research,
too numerous to mention, but especially the late Patrick Mbunwe-Samba, Humphrey
Ndeh, Susan Njoma Jam and the members of the Northwest Association of National
Language Broadcasters. Special thanks go to Mrs E. M. (Sally) Chilver for her research
suggestions and to Roger Lohmann and the anonymous reviewers for article feedback.
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
373
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ABSTRACT
During the twentieth century, the 'death celebration' became arguably the
most important cultural event throughout much of the Western Grassfields
of Cameroon. The growth of this ritual festival occurred in the context of
major political, economic and religious changes in the Grassfields. This article
will focus on how religious changes, particularly the growth of Christianity,
contributed to the rise of this event and how it has prompted significant changes
in notions and practices concerning the pollution of death, personhood, burial
CHRISTIANITY AND ANCESTORS
377
rites and the ancestors. In the traditional hierarchical structure of Grassfields
society, only certain titled individuals and chiefs were believed to live on after
death and become ancestors. This was reflected in burial rituals. Individuals
who became ancestors were buried in family compounds while 'unimportant'
people were frequently disposed of in the 'bush', streams or hurriedly given
unmarked burials. Christianity, because of its stress on individual personhood
and its message of an afterlife for everyone, became an attractive alternative
to established beliefs and practices, especially for young adults, women and
those without titles, who were the most disenfranchised in the traditional
system. With Christianity, burial rites became standardized and were extended
to virtually everyone. Christianity also caused declines in notions of death
'pollution' and in beliefs about 'bad deaths'. Because of continued beliefs in
the power of ancestors, the egalitarian notions of personhood stimulated by
Christianity have ironically created a 'proliferation' of ancestors for whom
delayed mortuary rites such as 'death celebrations' are owed.
RESUME
Au cours du vingtieme siecle, la «celebration de la mort» est sans doute
devenue la manifestation culturelle la plus importante dans une grande partie
de la region des Western Grassfields du Cameroun. Ce festival rituel s'est
developpe dans un contexte de changements politiques, economiques et
religieux majeurs dans la region des Grassfields. Cet article s'interesse a la
fa(pon dont les changements religieux, notamment la montee de la chretiente,
ont contribue a l'essor de cette manifestation et la maniere dont celle-ci a
entraine des changements sensibles dans les notions et les pratiques concernant
la pollution de la mort, la personne, les rites funeraires et les ancetres. Dans la
structure hierarchique traditionnelle de la societe des Grassfields, seuls certains
chefs et personnes titrees etaient censes survivre apres la mort et devenir des
ancetres. Cette croyance se refietait dans les rituels funeraires. Tandis que ceux
qui devenaient des ancetres etaient inhumes dans des enclos familiaux, les
personnes « sans importance » etaient frequemment jetees dans la « brousse »
ou les cours d'eau, ou enterrees a la hate dans une tombe anonyme. La
chretiente, de par I'importance qu'elle accorde a l'individu et son message
d'une vie apres la mort pour tous, est devenue une alternative seduisante aux
croyances et pratiques etablies, notamment chez les jeunes adultes, les femmes
et les sans titres, ceux que le systeme traditionnel privait le plus de droits.
Avec la chretiente, les rites funeraires se sont normalises et etendus a tout le
monde ou presque. La chretiente a egalement entraine le declin des notions de
« pollution » de la mort et des croyances concernant les « mauvaises morts».
Avec la subsistance des croyances dans le pouvoir des ancetres, les notions
egalitaires de la personne stimulees par la chretiente ont paradoxalement cree
une « proliferation » d'ancetres auxquels sont dus des rituels funeraires etendus
sur la duree, tels que « celebrations de la mort».