Background*: The Tikar people in Cameroon are spread in the Adamaoua, North West and Western Regions. They are believed to have originated from Sudan and migrated to north eastern Cameroon around the Adamaoua Region where they settled for some time. Upon the death of their king, his oldest son inherited the throne and sometime after, his second son, Share-Yen, and his followers moved to present-day Founbam and started the Bamoun dynasty. Their sister, Ngouo-Nso, and her followers moved to present-day Kumbo and created the Kumbo Clan in Banso while the youngest brother took his own people south and created the Bafia Clan in today’s Mbam. This notwithstanding, other tribes of the North West Region of Cameroon, specifically, Boyo, Donga/Mantung and parts of Mezam Divisions claim their ancestries to the Tikars. However, the history capital of the Tikar tribe in Cameroon remains Bankim.

The Primary religion of the original Tikars is Islam which they blend with African traditional religion. The people are excellent sculptors who carve masks with hot wax and bronze.

Occasion: Staged

* Source: The Tikar People of Cameroon, rootsrevealed.blogspot.com, September 13, 2014 (accessed: August 21, 2018).

Some years back, there was a dragon which lived in a water source and had a great influence on the people living in that kingdom. Every year, the dwellers had to offer a virgin girl to appease it. When they failed to do so, it would come out of the water and devour anybody it met, whether child or adult. People lived in constant fear and starvation for they were too afraid to do either farming or trading. The king was so worried that he promised to reward, with his own crown, whoever would kill the dragon. Near to that kingdom, there were two stranded orphan boys who were looking for a place to stay. They were very stubborn and fearless and that attitude of theirs was because their late mother had instructed their elder sister never to make them cry. As they were wandering, they saw a big bird and begged it to transport them to a prosperous place where they could live happily. The bird carried them but as it was flying, the boys started plucking its feathers. In anger, it threw them on a tree and unfortunately for them, it was the monster’s kingdom.

An old woman received them and warned them never to go out after six o’clock in the evening for there was a dragon that was eating children. In those days, he dragon had decided to terrify the dwellers. So as it was roaring, one of the boys sneaked out of the house to see what creature was making that dreadful noise. The old woman, in fear, called him back inside and begged him to stay indoors. The next day, the boy woke up very early in the morning, gathered some stones and made a huge mountain of them. At nightfall, he set fire on the mountain of stones and sat beside it waiting for the dragon to come. The boy started singing to attract the dragon. This is how the song goes:

Wule wule ka wule wule ka

Ka wule wule ka….

Wule wule ka wule wule ka….

Wule wule doudou…

When it came and saw the boy outside, it asked in a frightful voice: “Who is that?”

“It’s me!” answered the boy.

“I am going to eat you up,” said the dragon.

“Dare me not,” replied the boy.

The dragon, while talking, was coming towards the boy and as it approached, the boy started shooting the hot stones in the its mouth until they filled its stomach. The beast became heavier and heavier and when it could no longer resist, it fell and died. The boy went to it, cut off its tail and ears and put one of his sandals on him. He then went to sleep. At day break, people were astonished to see that the dragon had been killed and were praising the unknown “messiah” who had delivered them from the dragon. As the king was asking for who did the great job, the boy came out with the dragon’s tail and ears as proof and was rewarded with the crown.

This myth accentuates the concept of heroism, sacrifice and adventure, which are good ingredients for children and young adult literature. The element of bravery and courage possessed by the protagonist in the myth are characteristics of most epic heroes, thereby making him share the character traits of the most ancient and classical mythic heroes.

The myth shares a motif of a young boy who defeats a monster using hot stones with the myth entitled Myth of Issah.

Myth of Issah (accessed: December 06, 2020)

Method of data collection: Tape recording and note-taking.

Researcher: Divine Che Neba.

Research Assistant: Houlbai.

Editors: Daniel A. Nkemleke and Eleanor A. Dasi.