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. i 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. ii 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 iii 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. iv 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;