Birth and Death Rites among the Ba-Vengo of Cameroon: Norms and Variations

Rites and rituals are phenomena that cover a wide range of African spirituality and are religious expressions that have been in existence from time immemorial in Africa. Their efficacies are thus never in doubt as their cosmic significance is recognized. However, from the colonial era in Africa, religious understanding had been influenced by Western thought, and therefore any cultural phenomenon that could not be subjected to its rationality was simply regarded as superstition. That notwithstanding, even with such notions, rites and rituals have continuously remained part and parcel of many indigenous cultures and traditions. Among which, have been those pertaining to birth and death cultures. The perception of birth and death particularly in many African societies constituted an integral part of their cultures and traditions. It was received with several rites that either required cleansing or preparation for the afterlife and journey to the world of the ancestors. Have these ritual performances been carried out in the same proportion as they were before colonial influence or of have they experienced some degree of deviation? When we take into account that culture is dynamic rather than static,
rites associated with birth and death culture in Ba-Vengo witnessed deviations with time and circumstance and for a greater part were continuously pollinated by varied influences modifying and at times transforming long established norms. In this study therefore, we evaluate the evolution of cultural and religious rites associated with welcoming newborns and honoring the dead in Ba-Vengo.
Keywords: Birth, death, rites, culture, western influence, variations