It is always refreshing to learn new information. As I said earlier, it is not about downgrading anyone’s titles in Bali. We address everyone one Ni and ma on mbonbani as a sign of respect regardless of age not found amongst other cultural groups which makes us very unique. In my opinion I think Ni Pascal’s write has opened doors for a good discussion and all of us learning though might have be diverged from the truth of what he was asking for. I am not quite sure if he has the right responses or answers. I think is rightful to give respect where it is due regardless but claiming royalty and expecting people to clap hands when it is not due is not right. It is a fact there are many Tita’s with double titles which gives more weight because not all Tita’s wear ‘Fe Nguh” My question is, can a fourth or fifth generation Munjat claim royalty. The facts are not far and therefore we do the right thing to give respect where it is due. As we migrate and bring with us titles, so did our ancestors who claimed titles and chieftaincy as history shows all for the sake of power resulting to many chiefs with no Indians. A friend of a friend is not a brother. While we talk of titles we must talk of titles that are hereditary and non-hereditary for instance Nkom Mfons and Tad Manji’s etc. So if you name you children by the title given to you, that title can be revoked leaving you children with heads spinning who is my daddy? From experience, my uncle was the very first Nkom Mfon Galega ( La mie des ami) friend of the Fon who already had children prior to becoming a Nkom. He was confused naming his children because some bare his last name and some bare his Nkom name. So the question of how are we related will arise from cousins, nephew and nieces because the Nkom name is NOT their grandfathers name. It his personal thing not owned by his entire family he succeeded. So if he son succeeds him should that title be inherited? So now, you have a two headed snake. Why many questions were not responded to by our grandparents in my opinion was to hide their dirty deeds excuse my french. Why is it that in most compounds the same questions or issues arose? What was under their sleeves that they were hiding? Who were they and where did they come from? Who was their mother or father? If most of us took DNA test, a lot will be uncovered but do we want to know? Should sleeping dogs really need to lie down? For power and alienation with the jones or the Palace ( keh ndati lati). Some family lost their identity and the tombstones of the grandfathers bearing a different names. I strongly believe there many missing pages in our history and even history writers have not been honest enough to write what they uncovered for fear of embarrassment. Yes not everything is told. History worldwide was buried many years ago and so archeologist digs them up so are titles or names of individuals we dig up and bear as titles so long as not contested and approved by the Palace in some cases. Look at the name the younger Ndango in the Fomunung compound whose mother was a Fonyonga, sister to Tita Fomunung and cousin to the Fon but born a Fofang. Supposedly Ndango had passed away and the younger ndango was born and named after Ndango Fofang but the truth was never told of him until he resurfaced a few years ago and God don’t’ like ugly telling his own story and some were shamed of what had been said of him. Looking back today of the life of his mother a princess and wonder how many ndango stories are out there. How can a one man be clan or a one house be a village. For self-recognition, we have Ba’s emerging from woodworks claiming Ghost titles and assuming Ghost identities, some that had been buried. Are those titles or names legitimate? Who can argue that a particular grandfather wasn’t a Fonteh especially if his roots can be traced. For a title to be transferred, I believe the whole family presents their case to the Palace for confirmation, so who confirms all those lined up on high tables? Again it goes back to, my dad just passed, I am his successor so I am a Ba and so long as I am affiliated with certain people or group, I can shove it down the throats of others and now become one of the jones and make people clap for me. I was surprised a few years ago in Bali when the Tita’s showed up for a death celebration with Danga and the Kong, and few hours a few 6 ‘2 and 6’4 group of men showed up uninvited. They threw folks out of a room already seated ready to eat and when I asked why they said the group were Bon Nfon and Who invited them I asked, and besides why weren’t they with the Danga group who were mostly Tita’s and reservation made for them? In their midst were a few acquaintances and they claimed their Royalty. Oh well, it was a death celebration so I entertained them with food and drinks but had a bad feeling about their invasion. We give Royalty not the other way around I was told. In one of my experiences, I was astonished by these power struggles and still confused why a non born Royalty can disrespected a true Royalty and the eldest Tita’s in US at the convention and for years now has never showed up again. For many years, I can never understand how someone can claim Royalty up to the point of downgrading someone’s due right for self-gratification. Since when did a mu Nto to claim rights in a tali? It is true stories where never told, questions were never answered if one was inquisitive because of the issues of mun and Ni’s at various compounds that they were afraid would reveal identities and end with embarrassment. Why don’t we talk of the issues of mun in compounds. In some compounds, a Ni could never become a Ba and con not build a house at some compounds. It is a very sensitive issue to talk of mun nto nto, a Ni who could have been a Mun and why some people claim power now going from a Ndzindap to a ba. So we are left with unanswered questions and will never get answers for fear of the unknown or embarrassment. We know end up with folks with titles, folks who want recognition and folks who feel that they cannot own nchubuh’s in Bali but can hang out with the jones and their alienation to the Ntang Mfon has brought them closer to the Fon and can rub shoulders in US. Nothing wrong with that but I believe should not be shoved down people’s throats. I wonder if their own kids clap hands to them or to their uncles when they visit them. That is what I was taught to do, clap hands when I visit my uncles. A Man is the king of his castle why extend it to others? Ba Mfon .
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 00:16:15 +0000
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