Many African cultures display their social and political ideals through art of the body; the Cameroon Grasslands are one such culture area.   Hats, one of the oldest and most important parts of the Cameroon’s national dress, are just one of the many types of body art that are used as a form of communication (Lamb 1981:181).  There are several types of caps worn in the Cameroon Grasslands, these include the ntamp, and ashetu caps.  Each type of cap communicates the level of prestige of its wearer through its shape, size, and material (Gebauer 1979:82).  Hats are especially important to the people of the Cameroons because it is felt that within the human head resides both one’s spirit and intellect (Arnoldi 1995:12).

            The Cameroon Grasslands are made up of three large culture areas:  The Bamum, the Bamenda Tikar, and the Bamileke.  Within each of these three culture areas are numerous small ethnic groups who are closely related historically and politically.  All of these culture areas pay homage to one king, or Fon, while also supporting their own village chiefs.  The Fon is at the apex of the social and political triangle of the Cameroon Grasslands, he inherits the throne through his paternal lineage and generally maintains it for life (www.iowa/~africart 2001).  He regulates the populace with the help of a secret society of approximately eight ranked male title-holders.  The secret society provides a system of checks and balances on the Fon’s power (Northern 1984:26).  A small number of elite women may also participate in the upper levels of the kingship (Gebauer 1979:85). 

            The Fon and his secret society control all aspects of life: secular and religious.  The material wealth is one of the many areas of life the Fon controls.  Material wealth is seen as a physical manifestation of power and prestige:  symbolic capital (Arnoldi 1995:15).  The Fon controls the material wealth of the people in order to assert his own power.  He does this by maintaining a monopoly on objects of value such as furs, pelts, animal teeth, and feathers (Northern 1984:20).  A royal treasury is also maintained, it is comprised of a variety of material items, such as sculpture, jewelry, masks, stools, drinking horns, clothing and hats.  During festivals these objects are displayed to communicate the power of the Fon and his people.  The material items create “a visual and metaphorical extension of the ruler” (Life & Art in Africa 1998). 

            Caps, one of the many material items acquired by the royal treasury, both conceal and draw attention to the wearer simultaneously.  They draw attention to the wearer through the display of symbolic capital, while blocking the viewer’s gaze from the head of the wearer.  Due to the important communicative ability of this item of clothing the Fon maintains the power to limit the creation and use of these caps (Art & Life in Africa 1998).  Ntamp caps, which are kitted with brightly colored cotton thread, are just one type of hat the Fon controls.  These hats fit snuggly around the forehead and widen with height.  They are completed with a broad flat top, which is woven with raphia fibers for support.    Ntamp caps, the most traditional type of cap, are often decorated with bright geometric patterns.   Common men are permitted by the Fon to wear the ntamp hats on non-ceremonial days.  They are typically worn in conjunction with Togho gowns.  Some of the ntamp caps are decorated with a single bird feather (Lamb 1981:184).

            A second type of cap worn by the people of the Cameroon Grasslands is the prestige cap or ashetu.  This type of hat is also made with crocheted cotton; it fits snuggly on the heat and supports projections that point in all directions.   The projections are made of short wooden dowels around which cotton thread is crocheted; these projections are called burls.  The whole crown of the cap may be covered with burls, or the burls may be divided to the right and left sides of the elaborate “coiffeur” by vertical lines of color.  On many of the ashetu caps the burls are decorated with horizontal striped bands (Arnoldi 1995:107).  The burls are a reflection of the tufted hairstyle worn by high-ranking men of the Cameroon culture (Arnoldi 1995:16).  Prestige caps on the whole are reserved for the elite males, as well as a very limited number of elite women (Arnoldi 1995:58). 

            There is a third type of hat made in the Cameroon Grasslands by the Tikar people; these hats are made entirely of feathers.  They have the same snug-fitting base as the prestige caps.  The crown of the hat supports feathers that project in all directions.  These hats recall the wilderness: the realm of the bird.  They are the most elaborate types of hat and thus the most restricted by the Fon (Arnoldi 1995:113).

            According to Cameroon culture “the head is an ideal site for the aesthetic and symbolic decoration of the body” (Arnoldi 1995:9).  This is due to the belief that the head is the seat of one’s intelligence and spirit, otherwise known as one’s “inner head.”  Thus the function of the skull is to protect the “inner head;” the most important part of the body (Arnoldi 1995:12).  The oldest living male of any familial clan keeps the skulls of his ancestors in his home because the people of the Cameroon Grasslands maintain that the spirit of each ancestor continues to reside in his/her former skull post mortem (www.uiowa/~africart 2001).

            The elaborate form of hats (and hairstyles) worn by the people of the Cameroon Grasslands reflects the regard they hold for the head.   Representations of  the head are seen on nearly all decorated utilitarian items (www.uiowa/~africart 2001).  Many of the heads are represented with projections coming from them in order to symbolize the figure’s “inner head.”  One example is the sculptures which are made of the Fons’ wives.  Many ceremonial masks are also embellished with burl like projects on the top of the head (Art & Life in Africa 2001).  Projections from hats such as feathers and burls should be seen as a physical manifestation of one’s “inner head” by means of material wealth.

            There are many types of materials that embellish Cameroon caps in order to illustrate one’s wealth and power.  Feathers hold the highest level of status among these items and thus are the most restricted by the Fon.  In addition, the Fon also restricts the use of other items that may embellish caps, these items include cowry shells and beads (Arnoldi 1995:105).  Only very few males of elite status, and the Fon himself are permitted to wear caps with feathers, cowry shells and/or beads.  Applique’ and embroidery, inspired by Islamic traders, are also permitted on the caps of those people at the upper levels of society.  These material embellishments communicate to viewers the importance of the wearer socially and politically and the magnitude of his “inner head” (Art & Life in Africa 1998).  While prestige caps are generally reserved for upper class males, and ntamp caps for the common free man, slaves are forbidden from wearing any head adornments at all.  In fact they are required to shave their heads completely, reflecting the low status of their intellect and spirit, as well as their lack of wealth.  Children’s hair is also kept short to reflect their undeveloped “inner head.”  In the past women have adopted the use of prestige caps in an effort to communicate to viewers their own high level of worth; this was the case specifically during the women’s revolt, at which time they donned only prestige caps and floral garlands (Arnoldi 1995:60).

            As you can see, because of the important role visual communication holds for the people of the Cameroon Grasslands, hats such as the ntamp cap and the ashetu cap, hold a very key role in social and political life.  Thus, as with other forms of art made by the peoples of Cameroon Grassland cultures, caps should be considered as tools of society as well as items of aesthetic value.

            Hannah Liverant '02

Bibliography:

1998    Art & Life in Africa CD-Rom.  Project of the University of Iowa.

2001    Art & Life in Africa Website.http://www.uiowa.edu/africart

Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Christine Mullen Kreamer

1995 Crowning Achievements:  African Arts of  Dressing the Head, University of California, Los Angeles, Fowler Museum.

Gebauer, Paul

Art of the Cameroon.  Oregon: Portland Art Museum.

Lamb, Venice and Alastair Lamb

Au Cameroon.  Roxford.

Northern, Tamara

1984    The Art of the Cameroon.  Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institue Press.