NOURRIT1980-001 - ethnographic attestation
Nkana, the hidden groundnut orchestra
Cameroon - Haut-Nkam, southern Bamileke plateau, West Region - Central Africa
Restricted
Source term: rhombe
Nkana: the groundnut dance of the Bandoumgia association of Pe'Ndja (Bandja), and the orchestra that plays it.
The Nkana, the groundnut dance of Pe'Ndja (Bandja) in the Bamileke country, has a band nobody is meant to see. At certain great ceremonies its orchestra plays inside an enclosure built specially for the occasion, hidden from the people's view, and among its instruments is a strip of raffia whirled on a hand-held cord. When the neighbouring chiefdom of Bana gathered dance associations from other Bamileke chiefdoms, Pe'Ndja's players came and performed the Nkana.
l'orchestre du "Nkana", à l'occasion de certaines grandes cérémonies, joue à l'intérieur d'un enclos construit spécialement pour la circonstance en vue de dérober cet orchestre à la vue des gens.
the "Nkana" orchestra, on the occasion of certain great ceremonies, plays inside an enclosure built specially for the purpose, so as to hide the orchestra from people's sight.
Chantal Nourrit and Bill Pruitt, Musique traditionnelle de l'Afrique noire: Cameroun (1980), p. 8
- Object
- A piece of raffia whirled on a cord held in the hand.
- Source
- Chantal Nourrit and Bill Pruitt, Musique traditionnelle de l'Afrique noire: discographie, vol. Cameroun (Paris: Radio-France Internationale, Centre de documentation africaine, 1980), pp. 8, 90
- Source location
Page references
p. 8 (glossary no. 7, Rhombe); p. 90 (chefferie Né / Bana)
- Source confidence
- medium
- Location note
- Bana (chefferie Né), Haut-Nkam (OSM), the place the source names; the Nkana's own chiefdom, Pe'Ndja (Bandja, 5.2650, 10.2288), lies about 13 km NNW.
Regions: Africa · Central Africa
- Agriculture / crop magic