La mort et les rites funéraires chez les bamum, du XIVème au XXIème siècle : approche historique

Abstract

The present work on the topic “The death and funeral rites among the Bamum, from the XIVth to the XXIst century: historical approach” is aimed at showing the place of the dead and the funeral rites in the Bamum society. To arrive at this, we made recourse to oral sources guided by observation which were both participative and non-participative, written sources, iconographic and numerical sources. A descriptive, analytical, critical, comparative and evolutive methods were used in the exploitation of data for the realisation of this work. It comes out from these that funeral rites had a precise aim: that of creating links of assistance between the living and the dead because the Bamum were convinced about the continuity of life after death just like their Egyptian ancestors. They believed that death was just a crossing stage to attain a new status, that of the ancestors. These ancestors then became those through whom the living referred their grievances to God. In the Bamum traditional society, secret societies which played a religious role were having as mission to coordinate burials and officiate moaning ceremonies. Islam and Christianity arrived this region through the Peul at the beginning of the XIXth and through the German missionaries at the beginning of the XXth century. On arrival, they believed that the funeral practices of the Bamum were set of polytheistic rites which they had to abolish and promote new ways. From then on, the Bamum funeral rites underwent transportations. This cultural cohabitation then favoured the putting in pace of new forms of rites identified at the same time in the ancestral tradition and in the Judeo-Christian and Muslim traditions. Also, the development of market economy which gave birth to a new elite class and the phenomenon of globalisation, caused thorough mutation in the mortuary rites and the organisation of funerals. As such, funeral rites no longer respond to the objectives of the past. These has become ceremonies of festivities costly and expensive where self-worship and pride took precedence over the sacred feature of the event given the activities of all kinds that develops around the death today. Thus, death and funeral rites now constitute a source of indebtedness, impoverishment for some and enrichment for others. However, looking at the slippages observed here and there in the execution of the funeral rites, the urgency of positive thinking is essential, with a view to the contribution of the said rites in the consolidation of the achievements of solidarity and in the promotion of the ethics and cultural values.