General overview of the study

401 Pages·2017·4.29 MB·English

by  Thomas Jing

An Afrocentric Cultural Study of Buum Oku Dance Yaounde and
Perceptions of its Relevance to African (-Canadian) Students Between
the Ages of 18 and 25 in the City of Regina

A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
in
Education
University of Regina

By
Thomas Jing
Regina, Saskatchewan
April 2017

Copyright 2017: T. Jing
UNIVERSITY OF REGINA

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH

SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE

Thomas Jing, candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education, has presented
a thesis titled, An Afrocentric Cultural Study of Buum Oka Dance Yaounde and
Perceptions of its Relevance to African (-Canadian) Students Between the Ages of 18
and 25 in the City of Regina, in an oral examination held on April 25, 2017. The following
committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the
candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material.

External Examiner: *Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Temple University

Supervisor: Dr. Ken Montgomery, Faculty of Education

Committee Member: **Dr. Ann Kipling Brown, Adjunct

Committee Member: Dr. Valerie Triggs, Faculty of Education

Committee Member: **Dr. Patrick Lewis, Faculty of Education

Committee Member: Dr. Claire Carter, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies

Chair of Defense: Dr. Elizabeth Domm, Faculty of Nursing

*Via teleconference
**Not present at defense
ABSTRACT
This is an Afrocentric cultural study of Buum Oku Dance Yaounde in Cameroon
and perceptions of its relevance to African (-Canadian) students between the ages of 18
and 25 in the City of Regina. The study is pitched against a national backdrop in which
African (-Canadian) students experience disproportionately high school drop/push out
rates. This is just one of many others problems associated with various forms of racist
discourses and practices which harken back to the days of black enslavement. An
enduring legacy of slavery and Western colonialism has been the continuous distortion of
African history and culture, which are sometimes used to justify marginalization,
injustice and various forms of oppression. An Afrocentric approach to this study seeks in
part to counter colonial and oppressive discourses, thus serving as a tool for
emancipation. The study ascertains whether the introduction and promotion of cultural
practices such as Buum Oku Dance could serve as a tool for effective resistance and
emancipation. Drawing mainly on written and oral sources, the inquiry has used
Johnson’s (1986/87) “circuit of cultural production” of the dance, that is, its historical
production, its representation and audience reception to determine to what extent such a
dance could serve as tool for liberation. Its findings, based mainly on interviews of six
students, three males and three females, from the City of Regina, illustrate the perceived
relevance of the dance in creating community, reinforcing family values and traditions,
promoting greater cultural and gender inclusion and equality, in asserting group identity
and in combating low self-esteem and high dropout rates. These actions constitute forms
of resistance which illustrate the possibilities of dance as a credible tool for human
liberation from oppression.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the Western Grassfield of Cameroon, during important festivals such as the
village annual dance, just before the event kicks off, as soon as the xylophones strike up
and the drums start to roll, the kam, as the lead dancer is called, struts alone into the circle
of assembled villagers and dances around until he reaches the grandstand where the Fon
(king) and notables are seated, he goes down in prostration in acknowledgement of the
accomplishments and services, not only of the dignitaries but of the villagers whom they
represent. Harkening to that tradition, I express in writing similar acknowledgement for
the contributions of all those whose actions have helped in making this research come to
fruition.
I begin by expressing my most profound gratitude to Dr. Ken Montgomery, my
thesis supervisor, who has been with me and showed me all the tricks of the trade of
research at every step of this investigation; to Dr. Patrick Lewis, Dr. Valerie Triggs, Dr.
Ann Kipling Brown, and Dr. Claire Carter who accepted to become members of my
thesis committee and have provided me with invaluable information and advice on this
research process. The gratitude also extends to Dr. Carol Schick, Dr. Paul Hart, Dr.
Jennifer Tupper, Dr. Marilyn Miller and other members of the university teaching staff
from whose fount of knowledge I drew inspiration. I would like to thank Dr. Barbara
McNeil who provided me with some invaluable tips on how to conduct research with
high school students and within the black community in Regina; Naomi Frecon, who
gave me numerous books and rides on my way to school; April Chiefcalf for her advice
and car rides; and the staff at the office of the Faculty of Education and at the libraries of
both the Universities of Regina and the First Nations for their assistance.
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Of tremendous importance to this research has been the contribution of the
Caribbean Folk Arts Dance Troupe which trains at the Multicultural Council Building
downtown Regina on Broad Street. My special thanks go to Nimone Campbell, the main
instructor, who made it all happen by inviting me to her dance school and encouraging
her students to participate in the research as well as providing me with literature on her
school and the Saskatchewan Caribbean Canadian Association; to Kweira and Kabari
Quaye, Jennifer Kuger, Isaiah Bennett, and to Sierra, the dance students who sacrificed
their time and other pressing matters to take part in the interviews.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, in Cameroon, my greatest thanks go to Dr. Peter
Ntaimah, my greatest collaborator, who mediated this research at all levels in Yaounde
and Oku as well as provided me with abundant literature and explanation on the dance
and on Oku. As president of Buum Oku Dance, he encouraged me to select his dance for
the inquiry, agreed to have an interview with me and convinced the entire troupe to give
me full assistance. He was gracious to abandon pressing family and work issues in
Yaounde to travel with me to Oku where he introduced me to Francis Jick, a veteran of
the dance, as well as Fai Baimenda, the village notable who heads the lineage that owns
the original Subi dance in Oku. The interviews I conducted with these personalities as
well as members of Buum Oku Dance, such as Gladious Keja, Dr. Dinsi Stanley, and
Nsakse John, had profound impact on the research and for that I am highly indebted.
I also wish to thank Dr. Martha Ngum of the University of Buea for granting me
an interview as well as providing me with literature on Oku; to John Tatah Gamse in
Douala, first bam eykum of Buum Oku Dance Yaounde and cultural adviser to the dance
troupe Mawe in that port city, for his interview and literature; to Dr. Tatah Mentan, a
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Professor at St Joseph’s University in Minnesota and an eminent authority in Oku history
and culture for his in-depth analysis and clarifications which greatly reinforced the
inquiry; to Dr. Bill Ndi, a professor at Tuskegee University in Alabama whose sound
knowledge of West Cameroonian Grassfield traditions, institutions and dances gave me a
clearer picture of the subject under investigation; and to Professor Moses Nyongwa who
drew from his experience in Nkongsamba to enlighten me on the political upheavals
which rocked the region before and after Cameroon’s independence.
My thanks go to some of my family members who made my stay and this
research possible: to Judith Selambi and her husband Christopher; to Major Emmanuel
Jing of the Cameroonian military and his family; my beloved nephew Ndifor Selambi at
the Catholic University in Buea; to Pa Ngufor Jing in Douala and his entire family; to
Freda and Evaristus Joko in Old Town Bamenda; Tangie Ndiforndeh and his family in
Buea; to Vincent and Hilda Ndumu for their warm reception at their Bamenda hilltop
mansion; to Christopher Ntembi and Ayeh Fidelis Jing, for taking care of the family
homestead while I am away studying at the university; and to His Royal Highness Fon
Fongwa II of Bamendankwe for his incisive observations on Grassfield folkdances.
I would also like to acknowledge the assistance and encouragements of the
following: Madeleine and Clement Marchildon of Prince Albert, Celena Kalusky, Felicity
Vindevoghel, Dr. Beatrice Wamey, of Donna Chouinard, Kaity Rossmo, Jason D’Souza,
Clement Burikukiye, David Deng, Mabior Alier, Rev. Fr. Okai of St Jean-Baptiste Parish,
of Chris Taylor at the Education Computer Centre, of Gillian Nowlan, of Chip and Dale
Company in Regina, and of Focus Studio in Essos in Cameroon.
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this work to the following:
To my late parents Joseph Fombui and Rosaline Ndobih Jing, who both knew the
value of good education even though they never had the opportunity to attend school; and
whose entire lives of sweat, tears and toil had one main purpose: to ensure that I obtained
the best education in order to become what they had only dreamed of;
To my siblings, Rose Chefor and Anna Sirri Jing, now of blessed memory, and to
Freda Joko, whose love and support for me throughout my life have been totally
unconditional; and to my nephews Ayeh Fidelis Jing and Christopher Ntembi who have
borne with remarkable stoicism the bulk of family responsibilities while I am away
studying in Canada;
To my beloved uncles, Dr. Martin Ngu Ndumu, whose keen observation and
incisive mind helped me to develop a critical spirit; to Tamajung Ndumu, Cameroon’s
first engineer, and a man from whose vast fount of knowledge I drank deeply; and to Jing
Ngwanueh, a towering cultural icon whose exceptional intellect and sense of vision
raised the bar of achievement high for me to emulate;
To His Royal Highness Fon Sintieh III of Oku and the entire Buum Oku Dance
troupe for setting high standards in the revival and promotion of an important aspect of
our African cultural heritage that is still floundering in the whirpool of cultural
assimilation and westernization;
And, most importantly, to those Canadian students who have to contend with
problems arising from racism, sexism and classism as they face up to the challenges of
education and society.
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MAP ILLUSTRATIONS

Map 1: Oku and its villages and surrounding districts
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Map 2: British and French Cameroons
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Map 3: Cameroon today
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