Episode with Dr Bulami Edward Fonyuy (Cameroon) by podcast Decolonial Memories (on all major platforms)
Founder Ancestor Ngonnso
The Nso in north-western Cameroon are one of many peoples in their country who suffered under German colonial rule. Military defeats, loss of lives and the destruction of palace and settlements have left a deep mark on their history. Until today, the community feels pain over the looting of their cultural heritage, which was taken to Germany. Of unique significance to the Nso is a deity embodied in a carved wooden statue adorned with cowrie shells who has been in the Ethnological Museum Berlin of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) since 1903. She was created in honour of Ngonnso, the founding mother of the Nso Fondom (Kingdom), who is regarded as the incarnation of the Nso people’s worldview.
Podcast Decolonial Memories
In a new episode of the Decolonial Memories podcast, Nso cultural scientist Dr Bulami Edward Fonyuy describes how long his people have been striving for the return of Ngonnso. For Open Restitution Africa, he has described the spiritual significance of the mother goddess and her representation in German captivity. He illustrates the growing frustration of the Nso that the SPK Foundation Board’s restitution decision of June 2022 has not yet been implemented. In this context, he also refers to the Cameroonian government’s insufficient support for the concerns of the communities of origin.
Museum plans
On behalf of the Nso‘ Arts and Cultural Heritage Association (NACHA), Dr Bulami is coordinating the construction of a museum in the immediate vicinity of the royal palace in Kumbo. This is where the returning cultural belongings will find a home. In preparation, NACHA – together with scientists at Santa Clara University in the United States – has already created a virtual museum.
Cameroon’s Restitution Committee
The Restitution Committee of the government has invited Dr Bulami to participate. He appreciates that the state authorities have now involved traditional leaders in the process of coming to terms with colonialism. And he hopes that work on the restitution strategy will regain momentum once a new government has been formed.
Staat Kamerun by doual’art
Dr Bulami cites the exhibition and symposium Once upon a time… The Birth of the State of Cameroon 1884-1914, recently organised by the cultural organisation doual’art with the support of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and the Goethe-Institut, as a successful example of cooperation between English- and French-speaking civil society.
Sylvie Njobati
Dr Bulami praises the efforts of cultural activist Sylvie Njobati, who has been effectively promoting the demand for the return of Ngonnso for several years on social media through her cultural organisation Regartless. This has enabled her to persuade the Cameroonian government to become more involved in coming to terms with the German colonial period and to mobilise support in German society. In recognition of her work, the German-Cameroonian youth organisation Initiative Perspektivwechsel recently published a comic book about Sylvie Njobati.
Healing process
In the podcast, Dr Bulami calls on the German government to play a long-term role in the healing process between the two countries, going beyond the restitution of colonial loot. He is confident that increased civil society cooperation between Cameroon and Germany will help to come to terms with the painful experience of colonialism.
Dr Bulami’s position & publications
Dr Bulami is a part-time lecturer at the University of Bamenda in Cameroon and director of the Government Bilingual High School Kimbo in Kumbo. A list of his publications can be found here.