traditional vase about to dive into the water and stay under it for over an hour and return unwet during annual Ngondo festival at Douala, Cameroon. The immersion of the sacred vase starts with an assembly very early in the morning on the last day of the festival. Dignitaries in ceremonial dress come to the river accompanied by their staffs and followed by a dense crowd of people. Initiates on a pirogue look for a secret passage for the immersion of the sacred vase.
Tradition has it that the ‘Myengu’ protect their people and help them to carry out their instructions that are sources of blessings: strength, wisdom, prosperity, fertility, good fishing, good harvests, fraternity and love of one another, peace in households and throughout the country. This immersion of the sacred vase is the mystic aspect of the ceremony and the occasion for this people to communicate with their ancestors.
The spectacular and very popular final event of the Ngondo is the race between giant pirogues that can be crewed by up to 70 paddlers. It is watched by thousands of supporters gathered on the banks of the Wouri. It also has a mystic connotation
Sawa tribal Jengu secret cult members performing rituals to the gods in the water,Miengu and about to enter the water with the basket as a messenger. He will stay beneath the water for over one hour and return from the water with his body as well as the basket unwet at annual Ngondo festival at Douala,Cameroon, West Africa. The festival takes place on the first two weeks of December on the Wouri river banks in Douala and show cases the culture of the Sawa, the country’s coastal dwellers. The name “Sawa” has not always designated all people known by this name today. They once referred to themselves as “muna mboa” (Duala), mwan mboka (Mongo), man bo, mwan mba — which generally means “native son”. Usually, each clan is identified by a specific name, referring to the most common ancestor. But not all of the clans gave themselves a name. Sometimes they were named by surrounding peoples. In the case of Sawa, our fellow citizens referred to us simply as “the coastal people” — or Duala. In reality, this term identifies only one of the many clans, which has caused frustration among those who do not belong to the Duala clan in the strict sense.
According to Cameroonian anthropologists, the Sawa are divided into two major groups: (1) Firstly, the clans of the ancient inhabitants of the region: Bakoko,,Abo, Pongo, Bassa and the area around Douala, Edea and Yabassi… (2) Secondly, families with Manela’a Bwele as a common ancestor. They are divided into several families, including those of Mount Kupe and those of the ocean.
BY kwekudee