Mbongo (also called Mbengo, Nambongo, and Nembongo) is the common ancestor of the Sawa peoples of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

according to their

oral traditions Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...

. Sawa

genealogies Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...

usually place Mbongo at the head of the lineage. Mbongo's son, usually given as

Mbedi a Mbongo Mbedi a Mbongo is the common ancestor of many of the Sawa coastal ethnic groups of Cameroon according to their oral traditions. Stories say that he lived at a place called Piti, northeast of present-day Douala. From there, his sons migrated south to ...

, lived at Piti, Cameroon on the

Dibamba River The Dibamba River is in the Littoral Region of southern Cameroon, emptying into the Cameroon estuary near the city of Doula. Location The Dibamba river has a length of and a catchment area of . Average discharge at the river mouth is 480 cubic ...

. From there, Mbongo's grandsons migrated south toward the coast to found the various Sawa ethnic groups. Some stories make these migrants Mbongo's sons rather than grandsons.Ardener 16. Mbongo does not seem to be a historical figure. Rather, he is a

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

of the ancient past and an inhabitant of a

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

age.

Edwin Ardener Edwin Ardener (1927–1987) was a British social anthropologist and academic. He was also noted for his contributions to the study of history. Within anthropology, some of his most important contributions were to the study of gender, as in his 197 ...

calls him a "shadowy" figure and ascribes him to a "proto-tradition" of the coastal peoples. Edwin Ardener and Shirley Ardener place Mbongo in the "legendary or mythical stratum" of Sawa oral histories. The Sawa highly esteem descent from Mbongo as a marker of ethnic inclusion. A Bakweri

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

, ''mokpel'anembongo'', translates as "free-born and descended from Mbongo". Edwin Ardener proposes that the names of many of Cameroon's coastal ethnic groups historically derived from the name Mbongo. For example, in 1668, a Dutch writer named O. Dapper, drawing from the records of

Samuel Blommaert Samuel Blommaert (''Bloemaert'', ''Blommaerts'', ''Blommaart'', ''Blomert'', etc.) (11 or 21 August 1583, in Antwerp – 23 December 1651, in Amsterdam) was a Flemish/Dutch merchant and director of the Dutch West India Company from 1622 to 1629 ...

, described a people called the ''Kalbongos'' at the

Rio del Rey The Rio del Rey (also called Rio del Ray) is an estuary of a drainage basin in West Africa in Cameroon. It is located in the eastern area of the Niger River system.

: "The people who live higher up the river rom a coastal trading settlement by them called ''Kalbongos'', are bold men, but villainous rogues." Dapper also recorded names such as ''Kalbanges'', which may also derive from some form of Mbongo's name.Ardener 15–16. A later writer, John Barbot, wrote, The name of

Old Calabar Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

, known as ''Calborch'' to the Dutch, may also derive from ''Calbongo'', and ultimately ''Mbongo''.

Notes

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References

*Ardener, Edwin (1996). ''Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: Studies in the History of the Cameroon Coast, 1500–1970''. New York: Bergahn Books. *Ardener, Edwin, and Ardener, Shirley (1996). "Preliminary chronological notes for the Cameroon coast". ''Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: Studies in the History of the Cameroon Coast, 1500–1970''. New York: Bergahn Books. *Austen, Ralph A., and Derrick, Jonathan (1999): ''Middlemen of the Cameroons Rivers: The Duala and their Hinterland, c. 1600–c.1960''. Cambridge University Press. Bantu religion Cameroonian traditional rulers