Informative knowledge about the landscape

There are several ways in which stories can provide information with respect to the landscape. In this section I shall mention two aspects. In the first place there are specific characteristics in the surrounding landscape that have attracted attention and these are narrated literally in stories. These features are often known as landmarks, such as hills or water streams, but also less notable elements of the landscape may show up in stories, such as a particular tree or stone in the proximity of the village. Listening to these stories may give one information about these landscape elements.9.

In the second place, it appears worthwhile to look for information about the general types of landscape that usually form the setting of the story. The type of landscape, varying from desert, savannah to forest, is often mentioned literally or could be deduced from other story elements. The two types of landscape information will be discussed successively below. Information about the function and origin of landmarks

Several stories deal with remarkable landscape elements. Numerous examples have been given in previous sections such as the hill in Zimadou and the peak of Mindif. Most of these stories explain the origin of such a landmark. Zimadou (box 5.15) was formed after a bad act of mankind. The aim to obtain the tree of God led to a disaster of which the hill is merely a souvenir. In the case the peak of Mindif, no information is given about the origin of the

8 _{These nights most often coincide with the religious ceremony ‘fête de mouton’.}

9 _{Many of these stories have been elicited by using a PRA technique called environmental mapping. This} technique has been described in chapter 3.

landmark. However, the peak fulfils an important function: it provides habitat for God’s bird, the Dutal.

In both cases, specific marks in the landscape are directly related to the presence of spiritual or divine powers. Indeed, during environmental mapping sessions, many places in the environment were indicated to be inhabited by spirits. Furthermore, the landscape is often the physical left-over from an important event in the past; such as the Zimado hill and the hill of Nguila. As in many cultures (Kommers, 1994; Osseweijer, 2001) Cameroonians also tend to see the landscape as a book describing their own history.

Apart from these two general observations, I will now focus on a specific example of how stories can provide interesting information about the landscape.

Misreading the Central Cameroonian landscape10?

In this subsection I will discuss a specific case in which general landscape information found in stories leads to surprising results, contradicting current scientific insights and expectations. The example concerns the landscape of Central Province.

As described in section 4.1, the landscape of Central Province is characterised by a forest-savannah mosaic. It forms a transition zone between the forest in the south and the savannah in the north of the country. The transition zone is bordered by the Sanaga River, south of which the landscape turns mainly into forest. Traditionally, the mosaic landscape is perceived by many supra-locals as a landscape in the process of degrading. The forest patches are considered to be relics of rainforest that have disappeared because of unsustainable management by people. It is considered to be a typical example of what will happen to the remaining forest in the southern part of Cameroon if man continues to mismanage the environment. It strengthens many environmental NGOs to carry out their work. In the last decade rainforest protection has become big business in Cameroon (though still less than forest destruction).

Listening to stories told in this area may put the picture of a degrading forest into a different light. Let us first consider the most common category of stories: fictional animal stories. As has been explained in section 5.3 the types of animals that occur in stories differ depending on the region. In the small region around the lake in the Far North province of Cameroon, for example, hippopotamus and fish are very common animals in stories whereas they are absent in stories from elsewhere in the province.

Surprisingly, many of the principal animal characters that occur in the stories of Central Cameroon are savannah animals such as the antelope, lion, kob, gazelle and hyena in spite of the fact that nowadays these animals do not occur in the area. This single fact could indicate that people are more familiar with the savannah than with the forest. On the other hand, it should be noted that typical forest animals like the gorilla or the chimpanzee also appear in

stories from Central Province. It is remarkable that there are many stories in which these forest animals initially lived together with other animals including those of the savannah. In some cases it is even literally indicated that they lived in the savannah. These stories then tell that, because of a conflict, these animals have finally fled and found a new habitat where they have stayed ever since. Apparently, in the story context, the habitat of a forest animal is seen as more remote than the savannah.

The presence of these animals in stories could be partly explained by the fact that many inhabitants from the region originally came from the north of Cameroon with the invasion of Islam about 150 years ago (see section 4.3). People from the north could of course have taken the stories with them while migrating, and this may explain the presence of many savannah animals in their stories. Notwithstanding this influence, it should be noted that many fiction stories are mixed with elements from real history such as the names of geographical places. To give an example, a story in Ndjolé about an heroic hunter begins with the description of a large savannah between two villages Bissagne and Mbajana. These villages exist in reality and are situated in the same region as Ndjolé. The savannah is called Whedome, and this

name is found back in several fiction stories as well. This means that even if these stories have been originally taken from the north they have undergone some modifications and may thus refer to the situation in the Central Province.

In addition, it is interesting to consider real life stories from elderly people in the region. Many of these stories of their childhood during which they hunted such animals as lions and spotted antelopes around their village. This wildlife has now disappeared. Moreover, when interviewing elderly people in the villages they all declare that around their village the forest has increased during the last century. A man from the neighbourhood of Nguila (Baba Lucien, 85, from Yambetta) explained:

“A long time ago the savannah was reserved for hunting. With the help of a lot of men we encircled a large area and then we set fire to it, while singing: “where you are standing now, set it on fire.” That is what we did to chase the animals to the middle. The animals outside the circle could also be easily caught because the savannah was already burnt down, so one could see very far. Nowadays, we do not set it on fire. We use other hunting techniques, and we have other activities. That is why the forest is now replacing the savannah.”

So far, all these stories give evidence of an increase of forest in the area in the last century. Indeed, it is plausible that 150 years ago people from the northern part of Cameroon initially tended to look for a ‘familiar’ savannah landscape. The hypothesis that they did so is strengthened by the findings of some anthropologists in Cameroon. They found that during the last decades these people have only recently approached sedentary groups living in the

southern forest to ask for permission to communicate with forest gods they had never encountered before in their lives (Abega11, pers. comm).