The Tikar are a Central African people who inhabit the Adamawa Region and Northwest Region of Cameroon. They are known as great artists, artisans and storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some oral traditions trace the origin of the Tikar people to the Nile River Valley in present-day Sudan. Such ethnic groups were referred to in the 1969 official statistics as "Semi-Bantus" and "Sudanese Negroes." They speak a Northern Bantoid language called Tikar. One of the few African ethnic groups to practice a monotheistic traditional religion, the Tikar refer to God the Creator by the name Nyuy. They also have an extensive spiritual system of ancestral reverence.
These Madou-Yenou thrones were ordered to be created by the Tikar chieftaincy of Rifum. They were created by Njikam Isidore, grandson of the great sculptor of King Njoya’s reign, Nji Gbetom Salifou. As was the custom, two thrones were made at the same time; the second as a backup, in case anything should happen to the primary throne.
Tikar Throne, Tikar Bamum artist, wooden, 42' high; 27" deep, 38" wide. Photo by Bruno Kemayou. Released by David W. Reed, PhD.
This is a picture of the late fon (king) of Ngambe, one of the Tikar villages. Around his neck is an ivory collar made of elephant tusks. He carries it only once per year, during the time of the festival called "Sweety". It is a traditional Tikar festival during which one calls upon the spirits of the ancestors and asks them to bless the community.
Bronze figurines of four enslaved Tikar being marched by a Moorish colonial guard and a Mboum royal guard toward the coast to be exported to the Americas, by Nji Gbetkom Salifou, a Bamoun sculptor from Cameroon’s Grasslands, 1946-1950. Photo by Bruno Kemayou. Released by Chief Mongbet Vessah Ibrahim and David W. Reed, PhD.
The Adamawa Region is a constituent region of the Republic of Cameroon. It borders the Centre and East regions to the south, the Northwest and West regions to the southwest, Nigeria to the west, the Central African Republic (CAR) to the east, and the North Region to the north.
Mountainous area near Tignère locality, Faro-et-Déo department
On the road between Ngaoundéré and Bélel
Lake Mbalang near to Ngaoundere
Lake Tizon at Ngaoundere
