Banen

expand_more Description

The Bantu-speaking Banen are agriculturalists who live in mountains of southwest Cameroon. They are a patrilineal society living in dispersed, clan-based settlements, under the largely judicial authority of local tribal chiefs. Exchange of brides between clans, once common, has changed to the payment of bridewealth. The Banen believe in a high god and nature spirits, but also in a vital force found throughout nature, the strength of which in humans, along with wealth, forms the basis for leadership.

Identifier

Region

• Africa

Subregion

• Western Africa

Subsistence Type

• intensive agriculturalists

Samples

• EA
• SCCS

Countries

• Cameroon