Traditions and Mysteries in Tabenken a Cameroonian village.

Tabenken, the largest Tang Clan Village, is situated in a deep basin about halfway between Ndu and Nkambe, right in the centre of Wimbum area in the Donga Mantung Division of North West Region of Cameroon.

Tabenken has about 10.000-20.000 inhabitants and is spread over a large area. It constitutes a single village made up of six wards. It has one chief or fon, as it is normally referred in the grass fields. It has one central market square and a smaller quarter market at Mbijah, a Government High School, more than ten government and mission primary schools, a government health centre in addition to the mission and a private health centre.

Map of Tabenken showing location of ndap ngong in Kieku

Tabenken can also be seen as a conglomerate of small villages. There are six main wards, each under the leadership of a hereditary sub-chief, or ‘kibai’. These are in turn divided into numerous quarters which are controlled by quarter heads or ‘fais’, again a hereditary position.

There is no published information on the history of Tabenken, and it is not easy to reconstruct the history of Tabenken generally because the main sources of historical data, oral tradition is often incompatible. Not only is the available historical data fragmentary, but so, it seems, is the very history itself.

Oral tradition has it that the main wards in Tabenken used to be separate villages and the ‘kibais’ (chiefs) in their own right. The old quarter (Kieku) in the centre of the village, near the fon's Palace and the market square, form the nucleus of the village. Between these quarters and the palaces of the six ‘kibais’ newer quarters have been established by immigrants from other Wimbum areas. The immigrants are often political refugees or either those who flee from witchcraft or had themselves being ostracized because of witchcraft accusations. 

Ta ngaa nyuu in front of the ndap ngong in Kieku Tabenken

Kieku is one of the oldest quarters in Binjong ward though the leader of one of the resident lineages, who was a pretender to the throne, claimed that it had been the original centre of the village and site of the original Palace. To confirm this, there is a small grove in the middle of Kieku quarter where the graves of the old chiefs are situated.

Tabenken Parish was established in 1937 and the first Tabenkenian was baptized as a catholic in 1914. The church building is an enormous structure situated in Kieku on a hill in the middle of the village. There is large green neon cross on the top which can be seen kilometers away at night. Beliefs relating to witchcraft and ‘traditional’ religion abound.

The Tobias residence on map with a nearby ‘ndap ngong’ (where sacrifices are made to gods for good harvest) with ‘Ta ngaa nyuu’ (traditional priest) standing on picture infront is the ‘ndap ngong’ in Kieku. There are three such ‘ndap ngongs’ in Tabenken. Also there are ‘Mfu’ lodges (warrior meeting houses) made of mud bricks with lattice work of raffia bamboo. Infront of such are two wooden door supports, each carved in the form of a man standing on a woman’s shoulders, illustrating the superiority of men over women according to Wimbum tradition. There is also a row of carved wooden heads along the top of the entrance to the lodge symbolizing the skulls which hung there in the past as trophies of war.

Contact us to get publications on traditions and mysteries in Tabenken village.