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Encyclopedia of African Religion

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Encyclopedia of African Religion

Molefi Kete Asante & Ama Mazama

Pub. date: 2009 | Online Pub. Date: January 26, 2009 | DOI: 10.4135/9781412964623 | Print ISBN: 9781412936361 | Online ISBN: 9781412964623| Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.

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Bamileke

Emmanuel Kombem Ngwainmbi

The Bamileke people are located in the western province of Cameroon. They share a boundary with Anglophone Cameroon. Mount Bamboutous, a well-known demarcation of the Bamileke in Cameroon and abroad, extends to the Southwest up to the Nkam region. The High Lands of Dschang-Bana-Bangante, a relatively cold area for this part of Africa, divide the land from the North to the East. The word Bamileke is a colonial corruption of the name of the Dschang people, who consider themselves Baliku—that is, the people of the hole in the Earth. Thus, the name Bamileke is not an original term and carries a meaning never intended by its people, although it has been embedded in the culture. The word simply attempts to provide a description of the location of the Bamileke people. The Bamileke are found everywhere in the country given their large population ...

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