Bassa people have Kemetic origins, having
migrated from Egypt following the collapse of the
Adbassa Empire in the 6th century to Bassa-ri,
Land of the Bassa, which include portions of
modern-day Senegal, Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia,
Togo, and Cameroon. Oral historical accounts
indicate that the term Bassaseems to relate to
the combination of the words Baah, meaning
“father,” andsooh, meaning “stone.” Thus, one
could derive the name Father Stone from Bassa.
Indeed, an important king was given that name
in Bassa history. Supposedly European merchants,
attempting to negotiate relations with their
African counterparts in the 15th century, strug-
gled to pronounceBaah Sooh Nyombe, meaning
“Father Stone’s people.”
The people are known as Gboboh, Adbassa, or
Bambog-Mbog, an initiate of their patriarch and
elder,Mbog, offering sacrifices of thanksgiving to
metaphysical forces for protection and blessings—
rights of appropriation, in ethnological terms,
consistently had political influence in all of their
settlements.
The Bassa people live in Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Nigeria, and Cameroon. They are found in the
central region of the Grand Bassa in Liberia,
Rivercess, and Montserrado counties, and in
Cameroon they are found in the Littoral, Central,
and South provinces. Some Bassa are found in
Togo and are called Basari; in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, they are called the Bassa
Mpoku. Culturally, the Bassa people are classified
under Niger-Congo. Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo,
Benu-Congo, Bantoid, Southern Northwest, and
Basaa include such dialects as Basa, Bisaa, Mbele,
Mee, Tupen, Bikyek, Mbene, Bicek, Mvele,
Bakem, Ndokama, Basso, Ndogbele, Bibeng, Bon,
Log, Mpo, Mbang, Myamtam, Diboum, and
Ndokpenda. This entry looks at their language
and religious beliefs.
LanguageThe ability of the Bassa language to communicate
different meanings in one word presents the Bassa
not only as wordsmiths, but it speaks to their intel-
lectual ingenuity and ability to influence opinion.
Proverbs, a typical mode of expression among the
elderly, are aimed at soliciting important informa-
tion. They provide primary and deeper meanings
that must match the context in which they are
used. Proverbs are mostly used in formal settings
and during solemn discourse such as family meet-
ings, court proceedings presided by the village
chief, meetings of the council of elders, or during
discussions on how to lead a morally upright life.
Bassa proverbs usually point to difficult and
complex problems whose solutions require prag-
matic reasoning, hence to understand them careful
discernment of the terms in their totality is
expected. For example, “The elders can always
find the crab’s heart” suggests that elderly people
are smart and brilliant enough because of experi-
ence to locate the most difficult of objects; there-
fore, they can locate any problem and solve it. Due
to their longevity, experiences full of patience,
careful scrutiny, and repertoire of knowledge, the
elderly person can find the crab’s heart.
On the psycholinguistic and semantic levels,
Bassa constructs the brand of a powerful language
with apt imagery and multivariate meanings. The
Bassa of Cameroon address themselves within the
same context of a pluralinguistic community with
supernatural potential. They are Bon ba Ngock
(“Children of the Rock”) andBon ba Mbog Liaa
(“Children of the Tradition of the Rock”). They
are associated with Hilolombi, The Supreme
Being, the Most High.Hilolombicomprises three
roots: the normative articlehi, complementingiloo
(to surpass), and the adjective nlombi (ancient)
when combined means “The-Greatest, Eldest” or
“The-Greatest-Because-The-Eldest.” Given that
Hilolombi, the Supreme Being, is neither male nor
female, but a divine authority with grandeur, one
capable of mercy provides the basis for mitigating
male and female principles in the Bass-ri.Religion and Moral and Ethical Behavior
The current moral and ethical foundation of the
Bassa is contained in a compendium of ancient
and modern sociolinguistic and ancient values,
where traditional and Judeo-Christian principles
often clash or blend, with decisions made and
opinions formed in consultation with the oracles,
the Holy Bible, or other supernatural entities.
Traditional customs are deeply connected to the
spirit world where humans are transformations of
the supernatural.
The deceased are not dead; they have moved to
another realm and can be reached by libation
performed by the living. They are helpful to theBassa 109