Mankind has changed drastically over time.
People change because they must adapt to their environment,
and thus society changes as a whole.
Some say that society is like a living organism,
in that it is born, matures, and eventually dies.
Throughout history, various political
and religious structures have been practiced by society.
Civilizations have risen and have collapsed.
Theorists have argued that all societies develop following a determined path--
from bands, tribes, and kingdoms to statehoods,
becoming more multi-faceted and progressing over time
As social classes shift,
technology advances,
and governing systems change.
Yet, despite a revolution in communications
and despite a powerful movement in economic globalization,
it is apparent today that there is not one single linear progression
in political development that is standard for every society.
For example, what would you think if someone were to tell you that kingdoms still exist in Africa?
The man sitting on the far left is Chief Foto of Dschang, Cameroon,
he is giving money to one of his subjects during a funeral ceremony.
When a Westerner, hears the words “chef” or "tribu" he thinks of archaic practices or
of British kings and Native American rulers.
Yet, many would be surprised to find out that chiefdoms still reign today,
although their rule has changed over time.
In Cameroon, the chiefdom system of government
has played a pivotal role in the country's history
Today chiefs are leaders of the people in the spiritual,
economic and political realms of the country.
However, what does the word "chef" really mean?
What is the role of a "chef"?
And how have the chiefdoms changed overtime?
An investigation into the chiefdoms in Cameroon, can help us answer these questions.
Cameroon is known as “Africa in Miniature”
because of its geographical and cultural diversity.
In a country the size of California,
there are beaches, mountains, rainforests, savannas, and part of a desert,
over 300 spoken languages, and more than 200 different ethnic groups.
All of these different cultures have been placed together into one single nation,
which makes the country a very interesting and lively place.
Haven't you ever heard the word "chef"?
Take a picture of me smiling!
Well, that wasn't very helpful.
Maybe we should ask some intellectuals.
The first victims of the colonization
that is to say, the people who were
affected, where there were transformations,
due to colonization
were the traditional authorities, the "chefs",
because when the colonizers arrived, they wanted
the political power, the administrative power,
the economic power and the judiciary power,
in sum, all the powers
that the traditional chiefs had before
and, what happened?
The colonizers who arrived were armed
the chiefs had nothing
and, the chiefs who tried
to oppose the colonizers, who said "no",
what happened to them?
They were eliminated, they were killed.
When the colonizers arrived
the first texts
about the chiefdoms
were dated to 1933.
It was the French government
that determined the legal status
of the traditional chiefs.
Later, when Cameroon became independent,
they took these texts which organized the traditional chiefs.
This text was not that different from the other one,
It organized the chiefs into three levels,
first degree, second degree, and third degree.
But, one important part of this text is that the chiefs
became auxiliaries of this administration,
And, thus that created a lot confusion, because this text had the right to create
chiefdoms where none had existed before,
and to determine that some no longer existed where they had been previously.
There was a reform in Cameroon,
that dated from 1974,
which stated that the land now belonged to the state.
So, the chiefs were no longer the owners of their land parcels.
It was the state which took ownership of the Cameroonian lands
and who offered it to whomever it wanted, according
to the new laws.
That was when the chiefs progressively lost influence
over the people and, at the economic level, there was
the loss of revenue, of independence, of control over
people, this access to freedoms was given to the Westerners.
They started to lose their authority to them.
This authority was essentially cultural, but there were also
many losses in the economic realm also.
At the time of Independence,
some men thought that it was necessary that.....that the
chiefdoms were no longer useful at all,
because we had Western culture
we were so-called "Europeans"
other people said "No, we cannot lose our roots in this way"
and, I think it was this last tendancy that won out.
Because, when you look at independent Africa
in general,
practically speaking, in every region,
the elites support the "chefferies", the chiefdoms,
because "la chefferie" is the guardian of the traditions,
and, of the ancestral values.
So, we debated, we pooled our resources, we built and
we helped the chiefs
because it was only through the chefferies
that each African could find his identity.
His true origins.
The first anthropologists, that is to say the first ethnologists,
who came to Africa, found two categories,
the centralized powers, which were the chiefs,
and the powers that they called anarchy,
which are the stateless societies
who do not have a head of state.
In other words, the structures that did not
have chiefs.
Thus, traditionally, there were two types of power that
were recorded. But, that was not accurate, because both inside
the centralized power, as well as the segmented, decentralized, or
non-centralized structures, or anarchical structures,
there were subgroups that were not recognized.
All the centralized powers were not organized
in the same way. The proof is that the chief of North Cameroon
doesn't have the same prerogative as the traditional Bamiléké chief .
The chiefdoms vary depending on where they are
Cameroon, as mentioned earlier, has about 200 ethnicities and languages, a variety of completely different cultures
We try to categorize them into three very large groups
which still have a lot of differences within themselves.
Because we have the northern region,
the region Sudano-Sahilien
that is dominated by the muslim religion,
and the culture imported from Islam and the Peul people.
This region has their own culture and way of life 
which is lead by a leader called the 'lamido'
and it was this 'lamido' that even inspired
the classification of the Cameroonian chefferies into three groups
into three hierarchical groups, because the 'lamido' had three groups;
the Lamido,  the Lawan, the Garo,
It was very much a hierarchy with some above the others.
We have in second place the group of the grassfields,
in the Bamileke zone in the Northwest
which has purely traditional chiefdoms
very, very traditional with ancestral cults,
very well-integrated,
There the kingdoms used to be their own states,
with a 'fon' or 'fo', following the different naming, who is the spokesperson for a college of nobles, 
which is well-organized and where everyone has their specific role,
I forgot to say that the 'lamidat' in the North are states,
with a precise number of ministers,
they have a first minister... a Minister of the War... a Minister of the Nobles, which we call the 'fadaa'...
These systems are well-established and do not have anything to do with the Western governing systems.
There are kingdoms in the West also
which are very similar, the power was centralized around
one leader and a college of nobles where each person has a precise roll
it is this college which determines the politics of the village, general affairs,
whereas the chief acts as the spokesperson of his council.
In the Bantu Zone, which has more or less had kingdoms,
we talk of kingdoms that are "acifal"....which doesn't really exist, 
We say more-so that they have a diffused power.
If we take the example of Cameroon
In the Savannah Zone, the Bamiléké kingdoms
are very well-organized,
in the zone of the Savannah.
In the North of Cameroon the Sultana are very well-structured
there, in the Savannah Zone.
On the other hand, in the forest regions,
one finds mainly societies that are not very well-organized,
based on lineage,
for example, the lineage of one person, or the descendants of another person.
There, the society is organized around the ancestors of the patriarchs
and, in the forest societies, there are kingdoms in existence today
but, it is the colonizers who created these kingdoms.
Thus, they do not follow the local customs.
So, you could say that the organization
of kingdoms differs from one region to another
and from one group of people to another.
♫♫♫♫♫
There are many different categories of chefferies,
there are first degree chiefs,
second degree chiefs,
third degree chiefs, and there are the chiefs of the block.
The first degree chiefs govern departments,
the second degree chiefs govern the county,
while, the third degree chiefs govern the neighborhoods or the villages.
The Chiefs of the Block are appointed by the Neighborhood Chiefs,
when you have a neighborhood, like the Tsinga neighborhood,
which is vast, to manage all the Tsinga neighborhood well,
you may have block 1, block 2, block, 3, block 4,
and for each block, you put a chief,
Those are the Chiefs of the Block,
who are appointed by the third degree chiefs.
