Inventing Ethnicity and Identifies in Gabon. The case of Ongom (Bakele)

Abstract

This article deals with the « fabrication » and fluidity of identities and ethnicity in Gabon since the precolonial period. It shows how a precolonial ethnic group called « Ongom » whose consciousness was kept alive by a series of symbols was progressively replaced by the « Bakele » ethnic group. This new ethnic group was a « création » of European travelers and explorers who extended the name « Bakele » to all the Ongom sub-groups across Gabon in the 19th century. This new ethnicity was crystallized by territorial divisions and the appointment of chiefs during the colonial period. But the Bakele ethnicity did not have a lasting life, because it was progressively disolved by the growing Gabonese national sentiment after the second World War. This sentiment was reinforced by social fusion and political integration of the Bongo regime in the postcolonial period. But, since the 1980's the Bakele ethnicity is being « refabricated » to perpetuate Bongo's political power.