Cameroon Grasslands
Bamileke

Wood, Red Cloth
Early 20th century
Length: 26 in (66 cm); Height: 11 in (28 cm)
Idiophone – Struck Directly

This Bamileke balafon consists of 7 slats held in place by wooden pegs and suspended over a one piece resonating hallowed log that terminates at each end with two ancestral heads with open mouths. These heads, possibly, represent the skulls of an ancestral “Fon.” The Bamileke people are located in the grasslands of western Cameroon and culturally are known collectively as the Cameroon Grasslands. Social behavior with the villages is controlled through a series of extensive age-grade associations and secret societies that fall under the authority of the village chief, known as the “Fon.” The “Fon” is often an elder member of the most powerful extended family within the community, who is elected to this position by his predecessor’s council. He is recognized as the de facto owner of all the land that belongs to a given village and is seen as the dispenser of supreme justice. While the Bamileke recognize a supreme god (“Si”), they more commonly pay homage to the spirits of their ancestors, whom they believe are embodied in the skulls of the deceased.