The Dancing Dead: Ritual and Religion among the Kapsiki/Higi of North Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria (Oxford Ritual Studies)

Walter E. A. Van Beek Draws On Over Four Decades Of Extensive Fieldwork To Offer An In-depth Study Of The Religion Of The Kapsiki/higi, Who Live In The Mandara Mountains On The Border Between North Cameroon And Northeast Nigeria. Concentrating On Ritual As The Core Of Traditional Religion, Van Beek Shows How Kapsiki/higi Practices Have Endured Through The Long And Turbulent History Of The Region. Kapsiki Rituals Reveal A Focus On Two Fundamental Concepts: Dwelling And Belonging. Van Beek Examines Their Sacrificial Practices, Through Which The Kapsiki Show A Complex And Pervasive Connection With The Mandara Mountains, As Well As The Character Of Their Relationships Among Themselves And With Outsiders. Van Beek Also Explores Their Rituals Of Belonging, Rites Of Passage Which Take Place From Birth Through Initiation And Marriage - And Even Death, With The Tradition Of The ''dancing Dead,'' When A Fully Decorated Corpse On The Shoulders Of A Smith ''dances'' With His Mourning Kinsmen. The Dancing Dead Is The Result Of The Author's Lifelong Study Of The Kapsiki/higi. It Gives A Unique Description Of The Rituals In An African Traditional Religion Based Not Upon Ancestors, But On A Completely Relational Thought System, Where In The End All Rituals Are Integrated Into One Major Cycle. Language And Orthography -- The Funeral Of Zra Teri Kwada -- Understanding African Ritual -- Slaves, War And The Wider World -- At Home In The Mountains -- Sacrifice And The History Of Dwelling -- The Other Side Of The World -- Rain And Cycle Of Ritual -- Starting Life -- The Song Of The Bride -- The Brass Boys: Initiation -- Harvesting Crops, Harvesting People -- The Dancing Dead -- Dynamics Of Kapsiki Ritual. Walter E.a. Van Beek. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 327-331) And Index. The Kapsiki/Higi, one of the many groups living in the Mandara Mountains, straddle the border between North Cameroon and Northeast Nigeria. This book describes their religion, with a particular focus on ritual. Throughout, the Kapsiki/Higi history as a refuge area against slave raiding shines through in their dealings with “the other world” and with each other. This is a religion of long-time political insecurity. In contrast to many traditional religions in Africa, ancestors are not part of their belief system; instead, an intricate system of a flexible religious cosmology emerges, directed at the individual more than the collective. Using Ingold’s “dwelling” perspective as one central notion, the text develops this into a close understanding of a religion deeply embedded in its environment, both ecological and historical. The book’s approach to ritual uses Whitehouse’s “modes of religiosity” theory, expanding this approach further into the realm of ritual. Two basic kinds of ritual are distinguished, those of dwelling and those of belonging. The first are dominated by sacrifice, the second by a close integration of the rites of passage inside the yearly ritual calendar. The book results from the author’s life-long involvement with the Kapsiki/Higi and thus offers a diachronic perspective of almost half a century, so the dynamics change in this traditional religion are integrated throughout the descriptions and analyses Walter E. A. van Beek draws on over four decades of fieldwork to offer an in-depth study of the religion of the Kapsiki/Higi, who live in the Mandara Mountains on the border between North Cameroon and Northeast Nigeria. Concentrating on ritual as the core of traditional religion, van Beek shows how Kapsiki/Higi practices have endured through the long and turbulent history of the region.Kapsiki rituals reveal a focus on two fundamental concepts: dwelling and belonging. Van Beek examines their sacrificial practices, through which the Kapsiki show a complex and pervasive connection with the Mandara Mountains, as well as the character of their relationships among themselves and with outsiders. Van Beek also explores their rituals of belonging, rites of passage which take place from birth through initiation and marriage and even death, with the tradition of the "dancing dead," when a fully decorated corpse on the shoulders of a smith dances" with his mourning kinsmen.__The Dancing Dead__ Cover Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Language and Orthography PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. The Funeral of Zra Teri Kwada 2. Understanding African Ritual 3. Slaves, War, and the Wider World PART TWO: RITUALS OF DWELLING 4. At Home in the Mountains 5. Sacrifice and the History of Dwelling 6. The Other Side of the World 7. Rain and the Cycle of Ritual PART THREE: RITUALS OF BELONGING 8. Starting Life 9. The Song of the Bride 10. The Brass Boys: Initiation 11. Harvesting Crops, Harvesting People 12. The Dancing Dead 13. Dynamics of Kapsiki Ritual Appendix A founding myth of the Kapsiki Birth order names Glossary of Kapsiki terms A B C D F G H J K L M N P R S T V W Y Z Kapsiki plant names End Notes References Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W Y Z