African-Americans Seeking Tikar Origin in Cameroon: Notes on Multiple Dimensions of Belonging

By Francis B. Nyamnjoh

Recently I have been contacted by some African-Americans and agents of African-Americans who have traced their origin to the Tikar of Cameroon and would like to know more about this group of people. I have therefore written up these notes to assist them and interested others in their quest to capture their multiple dimensions of belonging.

If you are an African-American looking for Tikar communities in Cameroon, here are the four places to start, once you have landed at the Douala International Airport:

1. Bamenda  (Western Grassfields, North-West Province)
2. Fumban (Eastern Grassfields, Western Province)
3. Bankim (Tikar Plain, Upper Mbam, Mayo-Banyo Division, Adamawa Province)
4. Ngambe (Tikar Plain, Upper Mbam, Mbam Division, Central Province)

Tikar Migration
The Tikar have not attracted much direct scholarship as a group (David Price being one of the few exceptions – see 1979), but many studies of various other groups, of groups claiming Tikar origin, and of the Grassfields in general include accounts on the Tikar.

Click here to download or print the complete article in PDF format.

Comments

[Mike Joko]

Dear Prof,

One issue. In this excercise, under the subhead " the Tikar problem", I did not see in the exploration and establishment of identities the use of traditional songs in this case war songs or songs in time of conflict.

This seems to be one aspect or part of Tikar identity that has stayed intact; the manjong song or war song of the Nso, Oku and a host of other tribes in the region have stayed intact in the Foumban language. A "foreign language".

In a visit to Oku in 2001 an elder there pointed this out to me. He explained that this had arisen out of the military conflict between the Foumbans and the Nso and other tribes in the region. Proof of which was the war booty taken back to Foumban and impostion of some of Foumbanese customs on some neighbouring tribes.

I would think an account of what went on in terms of military conflict between tribes, war songs, booty taken during conflict and such will throw light on some of the issues being discussed. Except that for some reseachers, especially from this region, this is too sensitive an issue and most will not want to delve into it.

Should we be looking in this direction?

Regards,

Michael

[Arthuralex]

Thank you for your research! I'm curious as to why so many African-Americans and people from the Caribbean are turning up with Tikar ancestry yet relatively little has been written about the Tikar. Have you arrived at any sense of what portion of African-Americans have a high percentage of Tikar genetic ancestry? I'm also curious about whether the use of DNA tracing has been applied to the question of who is truly Tikar in Cameroon. However, as you suggest in your article, even if ancestral mapping was done it is unlikely anyone would change their current affiliations and self identification to align with DNA mapping.

[Arthuralex]

Thank you for your research! I'm curious as to why so many African-Americans and people from the Caribbean are turning up with Tikar ancestry yet relatively little has been written about the Tikar. Have you arrived at any sense of what portion of African-Americans have a high percentage of Tikar genetic ancestry? I'm also curious about whether the use of DNA tracing has been applied to the question of who is truly Tikar in Cameroon. However, as you suggest in your article, even if ancestral mapping was done it is unlikely anyone would change their current affiliations and self identification to align with DNA mapping.

[nyamnjoh]

Hi Michael and Arthur Alex,
Thanks for your comments.

Michael, there are many Tikar institutions, richly documented as well, included in some of the references in this article. The primary purpose of this piece was however to provide some historical background to Tikar groupings mainly, and to say that today many of their institutions are shared with the wider grassfields.

Arthur Alex
It is curious that little has been published on the Tikar as groups, but a lot exists on the Tikar as parts of the grassfields. It is quite understandable, given the flow of slaves from these areas, why there would be many Tikars among African-Americans. What I however highlight is the fact that identity is normally negotiated and hardly pure, and therefore the idea should not be to trace origin back to a pure Tikar community in Cameroon, but rather to embrace Tikar belonging as a dynamic reality that has been enriched by different encounters over time.

I hope this helps

[Shemuelah]

I have traced my DNA to the Tikar people in Cameroon.
I visited Nigeria in 1980. I felt like I was "home", when I got off the plane.
I met my in-laws and had a real "Roots" welcome.
I will visit Cameroon, this November. I don't expect to feel any differently.
I won't have the personal connection. My Ancestors will hopefully find peace at last kowing that I traveled back to their "homeland"
Nigeria and Cameroon change areas on their border. Maybe I was really "home", the first time I stepped off the plane in the Motherland.
( I will also visit my in-laws in Nigeria in November. They are planning a big "welcome Home" again!)

[K. J.]

Thank you for this information. I've been trying to find info on my people.