Oroko people


The Oroko are an ethnic group in Cameroon. They belong to the coastal Bantu group, widely known as Sawa, and primarily occupy the Ndian and Meme divisions of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. The people predominantly speak Oroko, English, and Cameroon Pidgin English. The Oroko are related to several ethnic groups in Cameroon's coastal areas, with whom they share a common traditional origin, and similar histories and cultures. These include the Bakweri, Bakole, Duala, Ewodi, the Bodiman, the Pongo, the Bamboko, the Isubu, the Limba, the Mungo, and the Wovea.
The Oroko may share ancestral and cultural relations with the Barombi and the Isangele, as well as the Balong, Bafaw, and Bakossi.

Ethnicities

Early Oroko history is hard to find in written sources and so relies mostly on oral historical accounts that have been handed down from generation to generation. While many Oroko do not claim their origins to a common ancestor, most Oroko trace their ancestry to a man named Ngoe, son of Nebongo. Some versions of this history claim that Ngoe originally lived in Bakota, present-day Gabon and migrated with his brothers Mbedi and Ngasse to a place called Piti in Cameroon. Mbedi's sons, Ewale and Dibongo would later found the Duala and Malimba nations and Ngoe's son's would found the various tribes occupying the slopes of Mount Cameroon towards the Rio del Rey and Rombi Hills.
Another version of this narrative holds that Ngoe appeared on the Mount Cameroon and founded the town of Batokki or Batekka. While on the mountain, Ngoe's descendants co-existed with the Boobees and were forced to migrate towards the sea due to an eruption of the mountain. It is important to note that Ngoe appears in other origins narratives of the Bakossi people as having appeared on a mountain after a global deluge. It is possible that Ngoe, like his supposed father Nebongo, is a mythical figure, as opined by Ardener.
The various tribes of the Oroko ethnic group are, according to these versions of oral history, descended from the sons and grandsons of Ngoe, including Mokundu, Muma and Elume.
Another version of oral history, which seems more plausible, is that the Oroko are primarily descended from an earlier Batekka people who later became known as the Batanga. These Batanga were settled in areas close to present-day Isangele in the Bakassi peninsula. Probably in the 15th century, tensions between the Batanga and their Efik neighbours began to heighten over trade, leading to what has come to be known as the Batanga Wars. The aftermath of this war saw seven families of the Batanga, from the Balondo clan, migrating into Efik territory in what is today Calabar, Nigeria. That faction is now known as the Efut people of Calabar. Successive waves of migration took place in small family groups, beginning probably with the Bima, then the Bakundu, Batanga, Ngolo, Balue and Balondo. It is believed that the Balue are directly descended from the Batanga and that the Ekombe and Mbonge are directly descended from the Balue. At least seven out of fifteen Balondo ba Nanga communities were founded by the Balue and the Ngolo, making the Balondo a plausible offshoot of their more populous Ngolo and Balue relatives. A list of about 250 Oroko villages and towns was published by the Oroko Cultural Association, USA on their website.
The Oroko occupy a region historically known as the Kingdom of Biafra. If one turns to Knut Knutson's 1888 memoir, which recounts his experiences with the people around the Cameroon Mountain, the possibility of a historical connection between the ancestors of the Oroko and the founders of the Kingdom of Biafra becomes clear. It is also probable that the ancestors of the Oroko were the same as either the Kalbongo or Ambozees, described by early European explorers like Samuel Blommaert, O. Dapper, and John Barbot.
Whatever the version, all Oroko sub-clans agree that their most ancient migrations began from places around Mount Fako from where they migrated into the creeks of the Rio del Rey, following the routes of the Moko, Massaka and Meme rivers. After establishing several Batekka settlements, the people again migrated from the creeks back into the interior, following the Ndian, Moko, Massaka, and Meme rivers.

Geography

The Oroko occupy the Ndian and Meme mangrove plains as well as the most part of the Rumpi Hills towards the Bakossi Mountains to the northeast and the Ejagham forest to the northwest. The Ndian and Meme rivers, together with the Massaka and Makunge rivers form the major watersheds of the Cameroonian coast, northwest of the Cameroons River. All rivers played significant roles in the migration and settlement of the Oroko people. There are currently 250 known Oroko towns and villages, the largest semi-urban center being Ekondo Titi and the largest indigenously settled community being Dikome Balue.

Culture

Very few Oroko communities are urban or semi-urban. Hence, the majority of Oroko people live in rural areas with usually large villages of over 3000 people. So much of Oroko culture is shared with the ethnic groups that surround them. The Oroko claim to have founded the Ekpe secret society, a type of masonic organization which traditional kept the peace in the Bight of Biafra, and its secret writing system, Nsibidi. The word, nsibidi, is possibly derived from the Oroko word, njibidi, which means "violence" or "chaos". Today, Ekpe has been popularized by the Ejagham and Efik-speaking peoples of Cameroon and Nigeria, as well as their diasporic communities in the Caribbean, in the form of Abakua. Apart from Ekpe, the Oroko also share several cultural traits with, especially, the Bakweri and Bamboko. The Malle and the Nganya are some of their most visibly shared cultural heirlooms.
Traditional Oroko society was organized according to social castes. At the helm of the society were the Konja or freeborn natives. They possessed the right to own land and participate fully in the affairs of the community. Following that rank were the bafa, who were either foreigners living among the Oroko or descendants of formerly enslaved people. At the bottom of the social rung were the enslaved, also known as baboďeďi (sing. moboďeďi. Slaves were usually incorporated into their owners family and it was the duty of the master to provide, land and spouses for their slaves.

Language

The Oroko speak the Oroko language, a Narrow Bantu language which appears in Zone A.10 of Guthrie's classification. The Oroko language is a dialect cluster comprising nine dialects, namely: Londo, Lolue, Lokoko, Lotanga, Lokundu, Lokombe, Longolo, Loma, and Lombongi. Some linguists have treated these dialects as separate languages.

Marriage and kinship

Unlike their closest kin, the Bakweri, the Oroko lean towards a matrilineal tradition of succession, which is common among many Bantu societies. While children can inherit their father upon his death, it is usually the children of a man's sister who inherit him after he dies. This implies that children inherit their mothers or their uncles from their mother's side.
Polygamy was common among the Oroko in the past. Although traces of polygamous relationships are still visible today, the acceptance of Christianity has discouraged the practice to a large extent.
As a matrilineal society, the Oroko cannot marry among the extended relatives from the mother's side. Cousins, several generations removed, from the father's side are free to engage in matrimonial relationships, on the other hand.

Religion

The traditional religion of the Oroko people centered around the belief in a Supreme Being, called Obas' a Loba, a sky deity who supposedly created the world. Oroko scholars like Blessed E. Ngoe believe that the earliest Oroko belief system venerated a fire deity called Erobe or Elobe, from which the word, Loba, originates. Among the Sawabantu, the term loba refers to both the sky and to God. It is also however used to describe the sun.
The Oroko worshipped the Sky god through their ancestors by way of Molimi. Molimi, according to Ngoe, derives from the term, molimo, meaning "a spirit". Among the Oroko, Molimi is the way through which the Oroko commemorate their journey from the sea to the land. All secret societies and ancestral worship systems are incorporated into Molimi.

Institutions

Traditional Oroko society was organized in various institutions of administrative, legal and judiciary importance. Most important among these institutions was the Etana. The Etana served as the parliament for the deliberation of matters that affected the land and for the proposition of laws. In more organized communities like Bafaka Balue there was, in addition to the Etana, a Council of the oldest men, known as makōrō na manei. This is still the ultimate law-making body of the society.
At the judiciary level was the Ekpe. The head of the Ekpe was ultimately the head of the community, and, in most cases, the oldest man in the society. He was also, in most cases, the Nganga Molimi. He was therefore, the natural Sango' a Mboka. In consultation with the Etana, the Sango' a Mboka directed the administrative, judicial and legislative affairs of the land.
Leading together with the Sango' a Mboka was the Nyango' a Mboka, her most important honorific being Nyangerômô. She was the head of the Besambe, a council of women who held the same status as Ekpe men. Among the Balue, this remains the only title inherited by people of the same lineage, usually, of the Bareka clan.
Everyone in the society was also a member of an age group. These age groups ensured the smooth functioning of the community through collaborative work. Younger age groups usually ran errands for the community that demanded energy. Older age groups involved in intercommunal diplomacy with other villages and ethnicities.

Economy

The economic activities of the Oroko have always been diverse. The production of oil from palms is an age-old economic activity of the Oroko people. For those dwelling on the coastal plains, the other economic activity has traditionally been artisanal fishing. For the Oroko who live in the forested highlands, the traditional economic activities centered around the cultivation of cocoyam, plantain, banana, and the gathering of forest products, including game. In recent times, the cultivation of cocoa, as a cash crop, has taken center stage among the Oroko.

Notable people