Objects as Expression of Power, Religion and Therapy: The “Country” Pots in the Bamenda Grassfields Fondoms of Cameroon

Abstract

In most parts of the world especially in Africa, people can be identified and distinguished through objects. These objects which some are worn on the body or carried along are decorated with symbols which could be decoded by those who comprehend their cultural connotations. The object this article focuses on is the indigenous or ‘country’ pots of the Bamenda Grassfields, pots which were used in the past by women in the kitchen, by traditional medical doctors and by traditional leaders; notables and heads of secret societies. Today, these country pots are not very visible in the kitchen as it was the case before because of the introduction of other containers. The questions raised by this paper are: What is the place of the country pot in the lives of the Bamenda Grassfields people? What is the symbolism of the motifs represented on the Bamenda Grassfields country pots? What are the change currently taking place in the production and use of these pots? The objectives of the article are to examine the roles and find out the meanings of the motifs represented on pots. It also explores the changes which are taking place in the production, commercialisation and use of the country pots. Data for this article was collected using the qualitative method and this data was analysed using content analysis and interpreted soon after collection was over. The interpretation was done with the theories of cultural ecology of Steward, functionalism of Radcliff-Brown and Malinowski, symbolic anthropology of Geertz and cultural evolution of Tylor and Morgan. Findings reveal that the country pots are an aspect of material culture of the Bamenda Grassfields. They are of very great cultural value and play a fundamental role in these cultures; they are an expression of power, religion, healing as well as communion. The country pots like any other cultural element, if they are valorised, they will continue to identify the people from generation to generation.