Alatening History and Language

Background

Historical records show that the Alatening (called Bafawmissang in the German and British colonial period) people migrated from Widikum (present day Tad) and form part of the Ngemba who eventually settled around Bamenda (Lower Ngemba and Upper Ngemba). The migration routes of the Alatening people included settlements in Mankon and Pinyin prior to moving to their current site. The people of Alatening migrated from Pinyin to their current site under the leadership of Tening, hence the name Tening meaning ‘ the people or village of Tening’. 

The history of Alatening has been preserved mainly through oral rather than written tradition. To date, there are very limited  written records of a systematic attempt to fully document the history including the migration patterns and culture of the Alatening people.

Short and long term goals

In the short term, the History Committee will produce a brief summary of the history and culture of Alatening based on a collection of oral history as presented by a number of key resource persons. The work is currently ongoing. This version of the history will be a live document which will be supplemented in the medium to long term additional research to be undertaken in collaboration with research students under the guidance of seasoned university researchers.  Appropriate funding for these activities will be sought from a number of sources.

The Alatening History Committee

An Alatening History Committee has been set up to support research into the history and culture of the people of Alatening. Through the work of the Committee, aspects related to migration, culture, traditional governance systems, role of women, conflict resolution approaches, relationship with neighbouring villages, cultural and archaeological sites, socio-economic development, language of Alatening, etc of the Alatening people will be adequately explored  and documented. The Committee will leverage knowledge from existing literature and critically the oral history available within Alatening and other villages.

The Alatening History Committee is chaired by Pa Martin KEN and co-chaired by Prof Aaron TENING of Buea with Mr Martin Azieh NWANBA of Bamenda, acting as its Secretary. 

The History Committee has started engagements with researchers to deliver on its vision and is available to collaborate with research institutions interested in studying the history and culture of the Alatening people.  Should you be interested, please do contact us via this link (link to [email protected])/ or a link to a form to fill.