Patterns of Slaving and Prey–predator Interfaces in and Around the Mandara Mountains (Nigeria and Cameroon)

Nicholas, David

doi:10.1017/s0001972014000382

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Another reason can be traced to the history of Islamization and slave raiding in the region. From the fifteenth century, the expansion of the Islamized empires of the Borno, Bagirmi, and Wandala pushed populations to migrate as they fled from slave raids (Chétima & Gaimatakwan 2016; Chétima 2015; David 2014). Thus, for over half a millennium, the Mandara Mountains have served as a place of refuge.…”

Section: Context and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

You are where you build: Hierarchy, Inequality, and Equalitarianism in Mandara Highland Architecture

Chétima¹

2019

Afr. stud. rev.

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Abstract:Ethnic groups living in the Mandara Mountains are assumed to be segmentary in structure, which is why scholarly literature portrays them as egalitarian societies. The configuration of the architectural landscape reveals a different reality. This article shows how the architectural landscapes of the Mandara Highlands are ideologically constructed to represent and legitimize hierarchies between clans and individuals. Physical entities appear as particular elements of social space, and as places socially constructed and tinged with ideologies. These fieldwork-based observations provide the foundation for interrogating the meaning of egalitarianism in African society.

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Section: Context and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

You are where you build: Hierarchy, Inequality, and Equalitarianism in Mandara Highland Architecture

Chétima¹

2019

Afr. stud. rev.

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“…The reason for this high population density is to be found in the region's history. From the fifteenth century, the expansion of the Islamic empires of the Borno, Bagirmi, and Wandala pushed the populations to migrate as they fled the slave raids (Chétima and Gaimatakwan 2016;Chétima 2015;David 2014;Van Beek 2012;MacEachern 2011). In this context, the Mandara Mountains represented a place of refuge for over half a millennium for persons who came to inhabit the area.…”

Section: Research Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Vernacularising Modernity?” Rural–Urban Migration and Cultural Transformation in the Northern Mandara Mountains

Chétima

2018

Africa Spectrum

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This article explores the different ways in which new houses built by migrants from the Mandara Mountains to bigger cities in Cameroon function as an important site for studying their relations within the cities and within their communities of origin. I argue that these new houses constitute both a powerful resource for addressing migrants’ stories about their migratory experiences and a constituent element of these experiences. In many circumstances, the migrants interviewed were unable to speak separately of their migratory experiences and their homes. Thus, the impact of their mobility to cities goes far beyond the mere ownership of the houses; they also manage to change their perceptions of themselves, to restructure their models of social interaction with other migrants, and to change the balance of their relations with the village. The article ends by proposing to connect the two sides of the village/city duality to find out how the local is a product of the global and how the local has reappropriated the global, giving it a meaning.

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“…The first reason for this high density is to be found in history. From the fifteenth century, the expansion of Islamized empires of the Borno, Bagirmi and Wandala pushed the populations to migrate as they fled from slave raids (Chétima 2015; David 2014). In this context, the mountains appeared as a place of refuge for over half a millennium for persons who came to accumulate in the Mandara massifs.…”

Section: Geographical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within 20 years, many publications on the issue of ethnicity and material culture appeared. Archaeologists have explored, among other things, the issues of basketry (Sterner 2012), grinding equipment (David 1998), mortuary practices (David 2010), metallurgy (David 2012a; MacEachern 1993) and, of course, ceramics (David et al 1988; Gavua 1990; MacEachern 1998; Sterner 2012). One of their key findings is that material style contributes to the recognition and formulation of ethnicity and is structured by it (David et al 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Ethnic Boundaries: Architectural Practices and Social Identity in the Mandara Highlands, Cameroon

Chétima¹

2018

CAJ

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The relationship between material culture and ethnicity is an important topic of social science research, but review of the literature shows that archaeologists were more interested in ceramics and to a certain extent in metals and mortuary practices. Other material artefacts such as basketry or architecture attracted little attention, while elsewhere it has been shown that variations in techniques and architectural forms are used to emphasize or to disrupt ethnic distinctions. The Mandara data presented here and collected among three different ethnic groups (Podokwo, Muktele, Mura) show that houses are considered as more important compared to other material artefacts when one comes to speak about ethnicity. People used material practices related to houses to establish specific social parameters so as to differentiate themselves from others (e.g. the Podokwo), as a way to regulate marital relationships (e.g. the Muktele), and as a means to articulate cultural practices that determine interrelationships among rival clans (e.g. the Mura).

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Patterns of Slaving and Prey–predator Interfaces in and Around the Mandara Mountains (Nigeria and Cameroon)

Abstract: There can be no doubt that the most horrible topic connected with slavery is slavehunting . . . the miseries arising from slavery and the slave-trade are here revealed in their most repulsive features.

Cited by 16 publications

References 23 publications

You are where you build: Hierarchy, Inequality, and Equalitarianism in Mandara Highland Architecture

You are where you build: Hierarchy, Inequality, and Equalitarianism in Mandara Highland Architecture

“Vernacularising Modernity?” Rural–Urban Migration and Cultural Transformation in the Northern Mandara Mountains

Beyond Ethnic Boundaries: Architectural Practices and Social Identity in the Mandara Highlands, Cameroon

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