Traditional masquerade called Nkor. From the BU Village in Menchum Division.
I am a product of Mr and Mrs Sang David from Bu- Village in Menchum Division. This Division is found in the NorthWest region of Cameroon.
Africa and Cameroon in specific has a very rich culture and traditional. Before the colonization of Africa, Africans were in deep worship of idols and spirit gods. The arrival of colonization came with christianity which has significantly reduced the old way of life by Africans.
As a child born in the early 1990s I was privilege to know some little things about my tradition and I will like to share a unique feature about my tradition today on @History and culture.
NKOR.
I will wish to talk about the masquerade called NKOR. Growing up this was one of the most impressive masquerade " juju" that I loved seeing. The nkor is one of the most respected and valued masquerade in Cameroon especially in the NorthWest region where it is found. Almost every village or palace setting in the NorthWest region has this amazing masquerade.
The masquerade wears on its head a big traditional carving made of of traditional materials, wears no top but the body is rubbed with white powder. A long robe is tied on one of its arm and is being held by a man from the back, it is believed that this masquerade possesses tremendous power and energy (both physical and spiritual) so the robe tied to it's arm is reduce and regulate the Nkor not to go out of control and be harmful to the spectators or passer by.
The Nkor commands so much respect that if invited to a funeral, when entering the compound every other masquerade runs away to shelter till it performs and leave the compound
It is a top rank masquerade in the palace and is seldomly seen.
As a teenager till now I can count the number of times I saw this "JuJu"in my village and it's not more than 10 times. This is because the masquerade comes out only when a high ranking member of the community or Village dies.
It is rather unfortunately that most NorthWesterners below the age of 22 will hardly know about this masquerade.
As our tradition is in danger of extinction combine with the sociopolitical crisis now.
I wish we could enjoy moments like this once more. And I hope you learned something today called the Nkor.
Thanks for reading @ ebuahsang1