Bali Kumbat, Bali Gasu, Bali Gansin, Bali Gham,
and Bali Nyonga. The Bali Nyonga is the only
group that acquired a totally different language
other than Mbakoh. It is not clear why they
elected to use mungaka.
It is misleading to refer to the language spoken
by the Bali as “Bali” and it can cause confusion
among the villages, the people, and their lan-
guage. This mistake probably stems from the fact
that the descriptive name, “Tsu bah’ ni” in
Mungaka, which literary means “talk (of the)
Bali” or the language of Bali, of the Bali people
is used interchangeably. When a speaker asks, ‘‘u
nin chu chu bah’ ni?” (“Do you speak the Bali
language?”), the conveyed meaning is the same if
the speaker said, “u’ nin chu mungaka?”
However, the first, rather than the latter, ques-
tion is frequently expressed.
The appellation “Bah’ ni” is the original form of
the now anglicized authentic form “Bali,” which
dates from the colonial period when the colonizers
found it difficult to articulate the sounds in the
African names. They were forced to proceed with
phonological changes and smoothing. Several
complexities must be noted here—the name of the
people, Bali Nyonga, Ba’ni, and Banyonga, and the
name of the language. Earlier writers indiscrimi-
nately used unorthodox names such as Bali and
Ba’ni to refer to both people and language.
Religious PracticeMedicine and religion among the Bali people are
derived from the same philosophical foundation.
Thus, one finds that the priests and priestesses in
the society can treat physical and psychological
problems. They are able to discern whether a per-
son needs one or the other. This happens because
the doctors are skilled in the study of human
behavior, physical or psychological. Living in vil-
lages with their people, the religious officials are
able to determine who is psychologically in need
of assistance and who is in need of physical help.
They are experts at the use of herbs as well as in
the nature of communication.
The doctors perform rituals that are rooted in
the people’s traditions, and this activity could
include rubbing of special oils to ensure that
the disease does not reappear or slaughtering
chickens and other animals and pouring the blood
on the patient. All of this is done with the sacred
words used to call on the spirits or ancestors
who might be responsible for the patient or the
particular illness.
Among the Bali people, thevomais a male
society of secrets. Thevomais a type of cleans-
ing team that would arrive in a village from the
river and enter the town to cleanse it of all evil
spirits. It was considered an abomination for a
woman to view thevoma when they paraded
through the village, singing and dancing the
special dance of the religion of the Bali. One
can understand the temptation to view this dra-
matic performance, but women were warned to
stay inside their homes when the voma per-
formed. If a woman saw thevoma, she would
have to perform rituals to cleanse herself or she
might not be able to bear children or see. The
Bali also had other societies such as the house
of njong, literally nda-njong, reserved for those
who had completed certain rites.
When a young man inherited a throne and
became a king, he was given the title “Ba Nkom.”
It was the title of a king in a major family. The Ba
Nkom had to observe certain spiritual rules—for
instance, he could not shake hands. This particu-
lar rule was made more explicit when Europeans
started visiting the Bali people. When the
European would extend his hand, the Ba Nkom
would not take it. This would have been a spiri-
tual violation.
The Bali also had rituals that included every-
one. For example, theLelawas a ritual dance that
involved a brilliant array of colors and costumes
at the Fon’s (King’s) palace. TheLelamay be con-
sidered the coming together of the ethnic group in
a massive ceremony of the prowess of the ances-
tors, spirits, and deities of the Bali people. As a
crowning festival of the religion of the people, the
Lelacreated the occasion for unity and reinforced
the connectedness of the Bali people.Emmanuel Kombem NgwainmbiSee alsoKings; Societies of SecretsFurther Readings
Austen, R. A. (1999).Middlemen of the Cameroons
Rivers:The Duala and Their Hinterland,c.1600–
c.1960. New York: Cambridge University Press.96 Bali