Teeth Filing: Painfully Pleasant For Baka Pygmies

By Fidelis Pegue Manga

At 50, Dominique Ngalla, a Baka pygmy residing in Mambele, near Lobeke National Park, East Province of Cameroon, exhibits brown but sharp pointed teeth.

Ngalla, a farmer/hunter underwent the not-too-pleasant exercise of teeth filing at the age of 12. Now, he boasts, his teeth have remained intact and still effective at tearing and chewing meat.

"Teeth filing is part of our tradition. We are identified as Bakas through it," explains Ngalla. "We inherited this practice from our ancestors and nobody can stop us from continuing with it," he insists.

A cruelly painful exercise, teeth filing is done using a stick, knife and a hammer. "The 'victim' lies on his back, a stick is placed between his lips to keep the mouth open. The filer then places the knife on one of the 'victim's' incisors and strikes the top edge of the knife with a hammer, carving out the edges of the tooth into a trenchant pointed shape.

The exercise, that lasts some 45 minutes, is repeated on the other canine and incisor teeth, resulting in an array of finely carved out teeth."It is really painful, sometimes blood oozes out. However, we use plantain paste to cap the wounds in order to assuage the pains. The 'victim' stays for four days without eating anything, just drinking," explains Ngalla.

He said his wife requested that her two teeth be pulled out because she could not stand the pains after they were sharpened.A father of nine, Ngalla says four of his children already have their teeth sharpened and there are five more to go.

Jean Paul Ndoboli, Ngalla's son, claims with his sharpened teeth, he is able to devour meat with ease. "Before my teeth were filed, I used to have problems chewing meat. I had to go looking for tooth pick each time I ate meat and it pained. Today, things have changed for the better," he says.

Though still popular, teeth filing is beginning to face resistance among young Bakas. But not for this little girl of about 12, who, according to Dr. Leonard Usongo, WWF Jengi Regional Coordinator, wept bitterly because her parents had hesitated to file her teeth.

Holding On To Culture

The determination to stick to teeth filing, despite the deep pains, portrays Bakas attachment to their culture. It stands to reason because they have witnessed unprecedented infringement on the forest around them, which for centuries has been their natural habitat.

The arrival of logging companies, opening up of many roads and the advent of the Catholic Church posed a threat to their traditional way of life. Some Bakas have joined the Catholic Church, especially in Salapoumbe, a small town near Boumba Bek National Park. Despite such strong influences, they still keep their culture.

Their shrines remain intact and they continue to perform rituals and incantations. One of such sacred places is the Djia Wesse cave found in Ngolla 120, a village near Boumba Bek Park. Djia Wesse, many Bakas in Ngolla 120 believe, is the originator of womanhood. It is said that Djia Wesse was discovered by a Baka hunter, called Waito.

"During a walk in the forest, Waito found traces of human beings accompanied by sounds of songs coming from far away. He tried hard to identify the source of the song to no avail. Waito is reported to have used wood ash to mark the footsteps which enabled him trace the source of the sound to the cave.

Upon entering the cave, Waito reportedly discovered human beings whose physical structures were different from those back in the village. "The women lacked genitals which were generously provided by Waito. That is how women began making children and became man's main companion," explained an elderly man in Ngolla 120.

Djia Wesse remains an inkling of maternal flame in the collective memory of Bakas in Ngolla 120.Bakas' attachment to their tradition is also seen in the use of honey. Honey is used during traditional dances called Mboma and Mbomo. Mboma dance is performed during funerals, while Mbomo is performed to chase away evil spirits.

Both dances serve as cleansing processes. The widow needs Mboma to cleanse her body. The Jengi dance and circumcision rituals are still very popular in Baka communities too, lending credence to the assertion that Baka pygmies still stick to their culture.

Cognizance of Bakas' strong attachment to their culture, World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF, Jengi Southeast Forest Program, has been leading studies on resource and space use by Bakas around Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks both in East Province of Cameroon.

Recommendation of these studies will be used to negotiate access rights of Baka pygmies to natural resources in and around the parks. Efforts shall also be made to protect their sacred sites.

Comments

[mayang]

thanks for this opportunity i am a student from an institute and i want to carry out research based on tooth filing how do i get some pass work

[Dental Seattle]

Aww! Looks hurt to saw that.

[all-on-four]

I would like for them to adapt the modern dentist approach. These are quite a painful practice to bear in the western world.