Republic of Cameroon
Peace-Work-Fatherland
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Ministry of Higher Education
*******
The University of Maroua
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Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social
Sciences
******
Department of Bilingual Letters
République du Cameroun
Paix-Travail-Patrie
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Ministère de L’enseignement
Supérieur
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Université de Maroua
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Faculté des Arts, Lettres Et Sciences
Humaines
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Département de Lettres Bilingues
MASTER 1
.
STUDENT PERSONAL INPUT
MLB 431: INTRODUCTION TO INTERCULTURAL COMMUNCATION
ANGLAIS
TOPIC: REFLEXION ON THE CULTURE OF
MY ETHNIC GROUP
PRESENTED BY:
NAME AND SURNAME
GORIE MADI
REGISTRATION N°
15D1239FL
LECTURER:
Dr Herbert Rostand NGOUO
Academic Year: 2022-2023
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 3
1.
PRESENTATION OF THE FALI PEOPLE ...................................................................... 4
2. THE CULTURE OF THE FALI ............................................................................................ 4
2.1. Beliefs .............................................................................................................................. 4
2.2. Attitudes........................................................................................................................... 5
2.3. Values .............................................................................................................................. 5
2.4. Traditions ......................................................................................................................... 5
CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 6
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 6
INTRODUCTION
There are many groups of people in the world. This diversity of people supposes also diversity
of languages, cultures, religions, etc. Cameroon alone has about 250 ethnic groups that have
more or least different cultures. The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary 8th edition defines
culture as the customs and beliefs, art, way of life and social organisation of a particular country
or group. Another dictionary sees it as the attitudes and behaviour that are characteristic of a
particular social group or organisation. Culture is also defined as the characteristics and
knowledge of a particular group of people encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social
habits, music and arts. Communication between people of different culture is sometimes
subject to intercultural shocks and conflicts. The intercultural communication studies the effects
of culture on interactions between people of different cultural background. The current work
discusses the culture of Fali people that I belong to. Before discussing in details the culture of
my ethnic group, I am going to start by a brief presentation.
1. PRESENTATION OF THE FALI PEOPLE
The Fali Language is the language spoken by the Fali people. The Fali is one of the major ethnic
groups of the North Region. The Fali people are found in great number in the Benoue and Mayo
Louti divisions. They are mountainous people who live on the plateaus of the North Region
towards the border Cameroon - Nigeria. The Fali are estimated at 50,000 people subdivided
into five main groups namely the Fali Tinguelin, Fali Kangou, Fali Ngoutchoumi, Fali Bori and
Fali Bossoum. The first three groups are found in the Benoue division from Garoua towards the
border with Nigeria while the two last groups are mainly in the Mayo Louti division.
The fact that the Fali people is divided into different groups presupposes that there are some
slight differences among them. The first difference is language; each group has its own dialect.
These dialects are not completely different one another. The slight differences lay at the level
of pronunciation and vocabulary. A word that may exist in all dialects can be pronounced
differently and sometimes have different meaning. In spite of these slight differences, some
elders do not feel any barrier in conversing fluently in all dialects.
As far as I am concerned, I am a Fali of the Bossoum group that is found in the Mayo Louti
division more precisely in Guider and Mayo Oulo subdivisions. Cultural aspects that are going
to be discussed here are those mostly displayed by this subgroup although there is little
difference between the various subgroups in terms of culture.
2. THE CULTURE OF THE FALI
In the introductory part of this work, it is said that Culture involves beliefs, attitudes, values,
and traditions that are shared by a group of people. Some of these cultural aspects are going to
discussed here in relation to the Fali people.
2.1. Beliefs
Beliefs of the Fali people encompass things that they believe especially as part of their religion.
In my ethnic group, it is believed that everything on Earth and Heaven is controlled by a
supreme being called “Faw” which is the synonym to the English word God. This divinity
decides on the fate of human beings by rewarding good people and punishing evil doers. It is
believed that ancestors are the intercessors between the living people and “Faw”. That is why
when there is any misfortune such as sickness, accident, drought, etc. oracles are consulted and
some rituals performed in order to appease the anger of “Faw”. Ancestors are invoked after
libation of a traditional wine called “Mbolo” and the slaughtering of a male goat “Hun Biy”.
The elders will then enter the ritual hut where they talk to stones and other crafts that are
disposed representing ancestors. It is believed that dead people have not gone far; they are just
veiled to others sight and can therefore heal or harm living people. Women are not supposed to
enter ritual huts or talk to ancestors. Although some beliefs and rituals are still practiced in Fali
villages, many others have been wiped out by Christianity and Islam.
2.2. Attitudes
As far as attitudes are concerned, Fali people have developed repulsive reaction towards other
groups during the invasion of Islam. The negative attitudes of these people was due to the
“djihads” organised by Muslims, through their leader Ousman dan Fodio (1754-1817), to
convert kirdi people into Islam by force. The Fali were forced to have refuge on mountains
from where they could fight back using stones, arrows, etc. Fali people also used to have
negative attitude towards modernism arguing that they should be like their ancestors used to be
if they expect some favour from them. These negative attitudes started disappearing during
colonial periods when White men approached them using peaceful methods. Recently, positive
attitudes towards people, development, science, etc. can be observed in all Fali villages.
2.3. Values
The Fali people shared some values irrespective of moment and place they live. One of these
values is hospitality. They think that it is a divine honour to receive a stranger and therefore any
guest should deserve a special consideration. That is why strangers are used be fed with a special
meal constituted of chicken or goat meat. Hardworking is also considered as a value of Fali
people as they consider a man who depends on others to feed his family and himself is a
disgraced person. That is the main reason why Fali people prefer doing agriculture or any other
activity in their villages instead of going to towns and work as servants. My people are also
very proud of themselves. A typical Fali always enjoy appearing neat to others. They endeavour
to be clean as much as they have means to permit it.
2.4. Traditions
There are many traditions in the Fali culture. Initiation is one the most important traditional
practices. Boys are initiated to manhood immediately after circumcision that takes place in the
bush during their adolescent age. Girls are initiated to motherhood when they are ready for
marriage. Initiation is practised through teachings on how one can lead an upright life and
correctly deal with his or her social roles. Some rituals are also performed during initiation in
order to call for the favours of the ancestors on the initiated. After initiation, any young man is
ready to build his own compound, get married, take part in common decision making and so
on.
Funerals also have great esteem in Fali culture. Deaths are kept for some days before burial.
After burial, the family members of the deceased plan the funerals that would take place in the
months ahead. The ceremony which constitutes of rituals, foods, drinks, songs and dances
would gather many people and last for three to five days. The traditional dance of Fali people
is “Ndu” that is generally performed by a group of young men and women during various
ceremonies. The common dish shared by this group of people is “Nom Semji” that is cooked
with Sesame and other ingredients.
The fali people Mayo Louti division are neighbour to two ethnic groups that are the Guidar and
the Daba. These three constitute the main ethnic groups of this division. They have more or less
similar traditions and rituals. There is sometimes mixture of culture as intercultural marriages
are tolerated.
CONCLUSION
The Fali people, like other ethnic groups in Cameroon, used to display a very rich culture that
is unfortunately persecuted by modern religions namely Christianity and Islam. Today it is rare
to encounter a Fali man who has embraced Islam speaking in mother tongue to his children or
giving them Fali names. Most of them falsely think that to be a good Muslim means to abandon
the culture of his ancestors and embrace that of Foulbe and Arabs. The assimilation process is
different from the Fali Christians who still attached to their ethnic culture.
REFERENCES
Olson, J., S., (1996). Fali, The people of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood.
Stokes, J. (2009). Fali, Encyclopedia of People of Africa and the Middle East, Volume 1.
Infobase.
Oral Source: Sembe Damay (56 years old).