Chieftainship and Social Change

All forms of customary Grassfields power relations and social control begin and end with the Fon and all that is associated with royalty. Phyllis Kaberry's (1962) three political models - represented by Nso', Bamunka and Bafut - emphasises the centrality of this institution for an understanding of the indigenous knowledge system. As she observes:

At the centre of each system stood a sacred king who through ritual installation took on certain attributes of immortality: he was, on occasion, addressed as God; he was never ill - it was the country that swayed, the palace that was hot; he never died - he was lost or the sun was extinguished. His ritual powers were associated with the fertility of the land and its people; he was the chief priest of the cults of the royal ancestors and God - sometimes identified with the earth. But if the earth refused, if the country did not prosper, then he had been rejected by his ancestors and God, and those who were responsible for the enforcement of order and the maintenance of the palace might also refuse their services: it was the regulatory society that took action (1962: 286-287).

The Fon and the nobility still wield much political, symbolic and spiritual power. At base, these persons represent society's model of material ritualized ('gift') exchanges and social stratification. I hope to show that other sources of social differentiation are emerging and that they are being integrated and articulated with the local traditional structures. However, it is still possible that royals and members of thenggwase can use either new or old sources of power to improve their social standing. The point can be illustrated by the case of the present Fon Yuenyi II. He is widely recognized as a prominent rice producer in the Ndop area (UNVDA 1984: 7). In 1989-1990 he was the biggest cattle owner in Bamunka. He can be described as one of the most wealthiest residents of Bamunka. He once snappishly remarked to me that 'If I were not a Fon, I would consider myself a rich man. But the responsibilities I have towards my family and society are increasing'. It is certainly the case both in the past and the present that the Fon, in particular, and male seniors in general, dominate the politico-economic, symbolic and ritual spheres. The Fon remains the main source of power and authority and the symbol of the collective spirit, unity and the focal point of all public affairs in his community.

Fons throughout the Western Grassfields still enjoy extensive rights over marriageable girls. There were forty royal wives in Bamunka at the time of my research. They enjoy a high status that is not reflected in their low economic position in all the thirteen chiefdoms in the Ndop Plain. It results from '...the social control mechanisms variously imposed by the indigenous laws in every chiefdom on royal wives [that] are major obstacles to their direct involvement in the rapidly monetized economy' (Mope Simo 1991b: 418). The poverty of these women in the face of accelerating economic changes calls to mind two important questions. First, what are the symbolic and material support systems for the Fon's polygyny? Second, on what terms do his wives and their children live with the incongruities of it? Despite the high status of chiefly women, in terms of ongoing processes of social change, it is my contention that they are a 'deprived group'. In relation to other women, their marginalization is clearly linked to restrictions still imposed on their person and mobility. The three cases that follow are meant to highlight the similarities in the experiences and difficulties which this category of married women encounter in the rapidly changing world around them, rather than the social and economic differences identified between individuals. I shall use fictitious names to protect the identity of the informants.

Angela attended school but failed to obtain the primary level certificate. She was emphatic that she enjoyed her marriage when her husband was still an ordinary civil servant. This was partly because they moved from place to place and so she made many friends, socialized and acquired a rich experience of life outside the royal household. It was also because she had ample opportunities to earn as much money as she liked through the production and processing of food crops. Angela expressed much frustration that since her husband became the traditional ruler, her life has changed for the worse. She was still producing a lot of foodstuffs, including rice, with assistance from the royal wives' work group and her servant, a retainer assigned by the Fon. At the same time she got help from her unmarried sons and daughters who were living in urban Bamunka as well as from some of her grandchildren. She summarized her feelings as follows:

When I see other women taking their fresh crops and vegetables to the market, I am very annoyed because the customary laws do not allow us to do the same. This situation brings a lot of pain in my heart. Since my husband became Fon, the hitherto mobile and enriching life style I enjoyed has been transformed more or less into that of a prisoner.

Pascaline was in her late twenties and had four children. She had successfully completed the primary level of education. The stock of corn in her granary showed that she was a hard-working cultivator. Her overriding preoccupation was to be able to sell her produce so as to provide certain basic needs for herself and her children. She was unhappy about the type of marriage chosen for her by her father. She remarked on one occasion that 'If I had been given the chance to choose my husband, I would have preferred a young and even poor man to the Fon. This is because both of us could have struggled to achieve something that was really ours'. Pascaline also observed that as a result of the harsh living conditions of the palace, she was obliged to do virtually everything on her own. More fundamentally she noted that the problem lay with the social controls that were customarily imposed on her economic activities and social mobility. She pointed out that:

I can do sewing and knitting very well. But we (royal wives) are not allowed to own stalls in town nor in the marketplace. So, it will be unrealistic for me to count on my mates alone, the vast majority of whom do not often have money to buy the dresses, pullovers, shawls, etc.., that I can produce.

Her social development is constrained since she can hardly participate in the monetized economy nor make choices about the manufactured and/or imported goods that she may need. Pascaline insisted on the fact that the prerogatives and privileges of the royals in the old days which included human and material resources from every category of commoner households, led many people to conclude, quite erroneously, that there was 'no reason for this high status group to toil in order to earn a livelihood and also to raise their children decently'.

Rebecca had been married for nearly ten years and had four children. Prior to her marriage she used to work with her mother on her farms and accompany her to market. Since her marriage she had never been to market. Moreover, as she dejectedly pointed out, it was impossible to consume all the foodstuffs and vegetables she harvested every season. Unlike the other royal wives presented above, Rebecca categorically declared that 'I shall never forgive my father for the “evil” he inflicted on my life'.

These examples show that the experiences of royal wives was a great disappointment for those who had lived in a peri-urban area or in modern towns. Apart from the habitual domestic chores commonly assigned to women, some of them declared that they had previously been skilful seamstresses or had produced a variety of snacks to sell in the market. Others said that they were involved in petty trade, notably of some imported basic commodities (salt, kerosene, palm oil, provisions, etc....). Thus they had had many options that allowed them to achieve some degree of economic autonomy.

Once a new wife enters the palace, she has limited opportunities to socialize and so to share the experiences, new ideas or the choices open to other women. Those who had been used to a wide range of friends and associates now realise that henceforth they are forced to interact only with similarly restricted persons. Sometimes these women are even forbidden visits to relatives and friends.

It seems likely that for an indefinite period local indigenous structures, such as the chieftaincy, may be expected to play a significant part in blending certain adaptable traditional indigenous values with other modern cultural components. To survive the forces of change, present and future Fons in the Cameroon Grassfields will need to be intellectually, socially and psychologically capable of understanding and applying the rules of the game in modern politics (Nkwi 1979: 99-115).

It seems, then, that the embeddedness of the traditional structures in the modern administrative, ideological and political apparatuses leaves local authorities with some rights to use the labour power and services of all social categories within the chiefdom and gives them room to manipulate national laws. This situation applies also to the migrant populations in Bamunka. Thus the Fon can appropriate part of their surpluses (in labour and products) without appearing to interfer directly with their production, consumption and accumulation choices.