The Okandé are a people of north-eastern
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
who belong to the Mèmbè language group (Okandè, Apindzi, Simba, Vové, Tsogho, Evia and Kotakota). Their language overlaps that of the Apindzi and the Simba about 80/86% according to professor Van Der Veen. Their estimated population of 2,000 persons (in 2003) live in the
Lopé region in
Ogooué-Ivindo. The Mwiri, a male initiation institution, still plays an important role in the traditional social and religious life of the Okandé.
While their history is little known today, the archives do speak of them. The Okandè, fierce conservators of their environment, through their initiation rites, (Douwa, Diyandzi, Ghétolè, Bwété, Mwiri) were formerly dubbed the "kings of the Ogooué, the vainquishers of the rapids", better known than the
Adouma
The Adouma (or Duma) are an ethnic group of Gabon, in central Africa. They primarily live on the South bank of the upper Ogooué River, in the vicinity of Lastoursville (originally an Adouma village), and are known as expert canoeists or the boat ...
and the
Sisiwu, have taught their traditions, such as navigation of the Ogooué,
okouyi dancing, Mvudi, Bodi, Mboudi, Mouiri, Ndjèmbè and others) to the Galois, Enènga, Aduma, Mbangwè and Sisiwu. Seasoned canoers, the Okandè helped the explorer
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà , later known as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza; 26 January 1852 – 14 September 1905), was an Italian-born, naturalized French explorer. With his family's financial help, he explored the Ogoouà ...
and his successors up the Ogooué to its source towards the end of the 18th century. They were longtime slave traders; the Adouma came down the Ogooué to the Lopé to sell them slaves, and in turn the Okandé brought them in
pirogues
A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and native canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish , which comes from the Carib '. Description
The term 'pirogue' does n ...
specially adapted to the rocks and rivers of the Ogooué to sell them to the Enènga of
Lambaréné
Lambaréné is a town and the capital of Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. It has a population of 38,775 as of 2013, and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator.
Lambaréné is based in the Central African Rainforest at the river Ogooué. This rive ...
.
Only the Okandè and the Kotakota (derived from the Apinzi of the Ogooué) of
Ndjolé
Ndjolé is the capital town in the Abanga-Bigne Department in Gabon, lying northeast of Lambaréné on the Ogooué River, the N2 road (Gabon), N2 road and the Trans-Gabon Railway. It is known as a base for logging and as a transport hub. Ndjolé ...
, or, rarely, the Enènga, attempted the Ogooué in its most complex stretch, from
Lambaréné
Lambaréné is a town and the capital of Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. It has a population of 38,775 as of 2013, and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator.
Lambaréné is based in the Central African Rainforest at the river Ogooué. This rive ...
to
Booué
Booué is a small town in central Gabon. It is situated in Lopé Department, southwest side of the Ogooué-Ivindo Province. The town lies just 6.6 miles to the south of the Equator and is the province's only Department capital in the Souther ...
, which the Galois and Enènga called "Orèmbo Okandè", or the river of the Okandè. The Okandè named the river the Ogooué, and also, between Lambaréné and Booué, many watercourses, islets, rapids and so on bear names given to them by the piroguiers of the Okandè, such as Talaghougha, Abanga, Offoué, Okano, Lélédi, Ivindo, Booué, Ngomo, and Ashouka.
The banks of the Okandé are covered in virgin forests interrupted at lengthy intervals by clearings where the Akellas have established small villages, very useful to travelers for the purchase of provisions.Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
es abound in the Okandé. Beyond Samiketa the riverbanks get much higher.
Language
In the classification of
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantÊŠÌ€) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
The t ...
established by
Malcolm Guthrie
Malcolm Guthrie (10 February 1903 – 22 November 1972) was an English linguist who specialized in Bantu languages.
Guthrie was a foremost professor of Bantu languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. He is know ...
, Mokande-Kande belongs to the Tsogo (B30) language group and is coded B32.
Notes and references
Bibliography
* (English) David E. Gardinier and Douglas A. Yates, ''Historical dictionary of Gabon'', Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md., Plymouth, 2006 (3rd ed.)
* (English) James Stuart Olson, "Okandé", in ''The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, p. 464
Related articles
*
Demographics of Gabon
The Demographics of Gabon is the makeup of the population of Gabon. As of 2020, Gabon has a population of 2,225,287. Gabon's population is relatively young with 35.5% of its population under 15 years of age and only 4.3% of its population over 65 ...
*
List of ethnic groups of Africa
The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each population generally having its own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Saharan ...
References
External links
* Hubert Deschamps
« Okandé » in ''Traditions orales et archives au Gabon. Contribution à l'ethnohistoire'', Berger-Levrault, Paris, 1962, p. 43-45
* Rébecca Grollemund
''Les Okandé du Gabon, locuteurs d’une langue en danger (langue bantoue du groupe B 30) - Langue et culture'' université Lumière Lyon-2, 2006, 226 p. (mémoire de master 2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okandé
Ethnic groups in Gabon