Kwifon of the Bamenda Grassfields

The tradition

In the kingdoms of the Cameroon Grassfields, the Kwifon — called Nwerong, Ngwerong or by other names depending on the kingdom — is the regulatory society that holds power in tension with the Fon, the sacred ruler. It is composed of titled men, organised into ranked lodges, and its inner knowledge, its membership and its proceedings are secret. The Kwifon's functions are those of a government: it counsels and constrains the Fon, deliberates on law and custom, judges disputes and grave offences, manages succession, and enforces its decisions through its own masked emissaries and messengers. When a Kwifon mask comes out, it does not represent a spirit for an audience to admire — it carries the authority of the society and, through it, of the kingdom, and its appearance can summon, warn, judge or command. The masquerades, the musical instruments, the calls and the regalia are restricted ritual property, and to reveal or intrude upon them improperly is a serious matter governed by the society itself. Some of this life intersects with public royal festivals, but the Kwifon's own rites and knowledge are closed to non-initiates by their nature. Wesaka documents the Kwifon only at the level of what is already public — its existence and its governing role — to make the political and ritual order of the Grassfields legible, and defers wholly to the Fondoms and the societies over anything further. There is nothing here to attend.