Missionary activity in Bakunduland, Cameroon, 1873 – 1960: An historical appraisal

Joseph Ebune Betoto

Department of history, faculty of arts, university of Buea, P O Box 63 Cameroon.

E-mail: mbuagbo@yahoo.com

Received 08 March, 2012; Accepted 20 March, 2012

This paper is a historical analysis of Missionary activities in Bakunduland in the southwest region of Cameroon in the 18^th and 19^th Centuries. These activities such as Christian proselytization, Western education, health care took place in a context of opposition from the Bakundu local population. This opposition can be explained as a from of resistance to what was perceived by Western colonists and missionary officials as a civilizing mission, and by the same token considered traditional culture of the Bakundu inferior. As a result of these missionary activities, the Bakundu society was transformed. But this transformation was never complete for as the paper highlights, there is a blend of Western and African cultures expressed in syncretism, a situation that still prevails among the Bakundu.

Keywords: Missionary, Bakunduland, Evangelization, Culture.