The role of ancestralisation rituals for deceased patriarchs to the perpetuation of the Dom funeral orchestra among the Beke and Bekpak people of Mbam in Cameroon (1800-2022)

Abstract

The Beké and Bekpak ancestors are Tikar descendants. They left the Bamoun kingdom due to the raids of King Nsharé and moved to the Mbam plain in 1650. They knew how to use woody, pedological and atmospheric resources to produce the Dom funeral orchestra.  The Bati-Yalongo slave raids (1830-1893), colonial exactions (1907-1933) and Judeo-Christian doctrines (1924-1944) attempted to weaken the Dom funeral orchestra. With the advent of revealed religions in Africa, indigenous religious identity has been disrupted. The missionaries sought to convince the Beké and Bekpak of their idolatry and the need to be enlightened by the Western light. They deemed African dances incompatible with Christian standards. From their point of view, funeral ritual dances were regarded as the preserve of animism. Participants in Dom rhythms were accused of mystically casting evil spells. The doctrinal system developed by the messengers of the Judeo-Christian faith was designed to format traditional cultural knowledge. However, the ancestralisation rituals performed for the deceased patriarchs helped to safeguard the Dom funeral orchestra. This paper examines the role of ancestral funerary practices in the perpetuation of Dom sounds among the Beké and Bekpak. How have ancestralisation rituals preserved the vitality of the Dom funeral orchestra? To answer this question, cultural ecology is used to examine the socio-historical conditions that contribute to the production of ancestralisation rituals and the protection of the Dom funeral orchestra. Ethnomorphology analyses the complementary relationship between funeral rituals and musical cadences in the perpetuation of Dom acoustic arts among the Beké and Bekpak. The methodological approach adopted is both hypothetico-deductive and multidisciplinary. Fieldwork was carried out between May 2015and January 2019. An interview guide was used to conduct oral surveys with twenty-two key informants, whose average age was seventy-nine. During the visits, we recorded and documented funeral practices. The analysis of audio and visual tapes, the interpretation of photographs, and participatory observation all contributed to the formulation of the research hypotheses. Reading sheets facilitated the collection of written data from libraries and websites. Therefore, the exploitation of oral and written sources, along with audio-visual materials, and the application of hypothetico-deductive and diachronic approaches, led to the assertion that ancestralisation rituals for the deceased patriarchs served as an incubator for the development of Dom funerary dance. The interdependence between ritual and sound plays a crucial role in the protection of the funeral orchestra.