Les Pana : une chefferie sacrée en République Centrafricaine
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Abstract EN:
The pana are a small ethnic group living in central african republic at the border between cameroon and chad. Their number is approximately 30 000 people in c. A. R and about the same number living in cameroon as expatriate. Up to date no reliable work has been published on their account. During the french colonial era, their land was included in a. E. F, first in moyen-congo, then in tchad and oubangui- chari. Between 1911 and 1916 it was under german control. As opposed to the dominant ethnic groups in c. A. R. (gbaya and banda) their language and far-off history are not "oubanguian" ; they must be related to the mboum of cameroon (adamawa area). The purpose of this research is to show how -although involved in the scheme of modern local institutions such as mayors appointed by the government- they have been able to partly retain their traditional model of power. It consisted in a dual chieftaincy with a "belaka" considered as the leader for profane matters and a "gangpana" or sacrifice leader representing the very essence of the group ; the latter being the descendant of the founding clan, he - still nowadays- is the only one allowed to reach the top of the sacred moutain (mont pana) to commmunicate with the ancestors ; thus he is the one transmitting their messages to the living and the one worth conducting rites on their behalf. Up to the fifties, the belaka had to be inthronized on the sacred mountain by the gangpana to be accepted as the pana leader. Because of a colonial history embedded in violence ("kongo wara" rebellion and "caves war" 1928/1933), eventually the belaka was considered as not being worth the sacred rites any more and ceased to be both a religious and a profane leader. However, up to 1993, the mayor of ngaounday (main pana town) always was a descendant of the specific clan to which belakas had been born since the first decades of this century. He did not make any important decision without taking the advice of gangpana and of the elder. The second purpose of this work is to give a comprehensive picture of the history of this group which only tardily entered in contact with the europeans (1906) ; this has been achieved through a very documented work in different colonial archive departments (aix-en-provence, vincennes and potsdam). Other information has been gathered through numerous interviews conducted in ngaounday.
Abstract FR:
Les pana sont un petit groupe ethnique etabli en republique centrafricaine, frontalier du tchad et du cameroun. Leur nombre est d'environ 60 000 (30 000 en centrafrique et 30 000 expatries au cameroun). A ce jour, aucun travail serieux n'a ete publie a leur sujet. Pendant la colonisation francaise, leur territoire avait d'abord ete rattache administrativement au moyen-congo puis au tchad et a l'oubangui-chari (a. E. F) ; entre 1911 et 1916, il avait ete sous controle allemand. Contrairement aux groupes ethniques dominants en centrafrique, leur langue et leur histoire lointaine ne sont pas oubanguiennes ; elles se rattachent plutot a celles des mboum camerounais (adamaoua). L'objet de la presente recherche est de montrer comment -bien qu'ils soient organises selon un schema moderne d'institutions locales avec des maires nommes par le gouvernement- les pana ont reussi a conserver partiellement leur modele de pouvoir traditionnel. Il s'agissait d'une chefferie bicephale avec un "belaka" considere comme le chef des affaires temporelles et un "gangpana" ou chef de terre representant l'essence meme du groupe ; ce dernier, descendant du clan fondateur est -encore de nos jours- seul autorise a gravir la montagne sacree (le mont pana) et a s'y entretenir avec les ancetres ; c'est lui qui transmet les messages de ces derniers aux vivants et procede aux rites en leur honneur. Jusqu'aux annees 50, le belaka devait etre intronise sur la montagne sacree pour etre reconnu comme chef des pana. Par suite d'une histoire coloniale marquee par la violence (rebellion du kongo-wara et guerre des grottes 1928/1933), le belaka a finalement ete considere comme indigne de l'intronisation rituelle et a cesse d'etre a la fois chef spirituel et chef temporel. Cependant, jusqu'en 1993, le maire de ngaounday ("capitale" locale) etait toujours un descendant du clan duquel etaient issus tous les belaka depuis quatre-vingts ans environ ; il ne prenait aucune decision importante sans en referer au gangpana et aux anciens. Le second objet de recherche a consiste a reconstituer l'histoire de ce groupe qui est entre tardivement en contact avec les europeens (1906) ; ceci a ete rendu possible par un travail approfondi dans les archives coloniales (aix-en- provence, vincennes et potsdam). D'autres informations proviennent des nombreux entretiens realises sur place.