Myth / Sawa Mythology

Devotees of the Jengu cult leaving a ritual hut during the sacred Ngondo festival

The Sawa (meaning "coastal" or "littoral") are a collection of closely related ethnicities within the Bantu family. They occupy the northwestern section of the coast of Cameroon and dominate the Wouri estuary. The most prominent group among the Sawa are the Duala, whose language functions as a bridge between the various Sawa ethnic groups. They are among the wealthiest and most educated peoples of Cameroon owning to their extensive trade with the outside world since the 16th century. Traditionally the sea and elaborate system of rivers was the lifeline of the Sawa, they sailed the waters in beautifully carved boats which carried many dozens of people. They were renowned as excellent fishermen and canoemen, even now pirogue racing remains a popular sport. Like many other peoples of the African rainforest belt the Sawa were patrilineal forest farmers led by chieftains and organized into clans, in their case with an additional emphasis on fishing for food. Secret societies were another form of social control.

All Sawa claim descent from a legendary figure known as Mbongo. The Sawa universe was inhabited by many spirits both formerly-human and never-human. In particular, one of the mythical figures who appears to exist throughout the Sawa imagination is Djeki or Jeki La Njambe.

Sawa Mythology provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Even if we ignore the multiple murder attempts, Njambe Inono was horrible to Jeki. He played a guessing game with him over the contents of a box. Every time Jeki guessed wrong Njambe made Jeki's brothers beat him.
• The Ace: Njambe Inono was a wealthy wizard and king. He had nine vast fields, ninety-nine canoes, many slaves, and many cattle. He was a great deep sea fisherman and whaler, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a hunter. He was powerful enough to defeat the Miengu and the Bedimo in open battle from all directions, forcing them to resort to trickery to go after his kingdom.
• Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: Jeki's Ngalo was an amulet that was a source of his extraordinary abilities. It could even talk and frequently gave him advice about how to overcome challenges.
• Angry Guard Dog: Njambe Inono's village named Bakiri Ngindi was guarded by the Kambo and Eswa Mbaki on the side towards the forest, and on the river by the enormous crocodile Difum Ditudu.
• Archnemesis Dad: Njambe Inono despised Jeki for various reasons: fear of being usurped, preferring daughters who can be traded for bride-wealth, being the son of his least favorite wife, or even bitterness about losing his daughter Engome to the spirits. In almost every version of the story he is the main villain.
• Arc Number: Nine is the perfect number in Sawa culture. It shows up many places in folklore.
• Back from the Dead: Jeki the Younger saves Jeki the Elder by sprinkling magic dust on his grave. Others say he took a maggot from the grave and held it over the fire until his brother popped back to life like popcorn.
  • After getting his brothers killed to draw the attention of the Kambo bird, Jeki used his magic to bring them back to life.
• The Bet: The ancient Jengu goddess Mojili challenged the human ancestor Moto to a contest, to see who could keep a fire going longer. Mojili lost the bet and now all Miengu have to live in water.
• Birdcaged: Jeki casts Esunguadibe and her dwarf warriors into one. They flew off and she returned flying in a giant iron pot.
• Boy Meets Ghoul: Njambe Inono was married to Ekunti who was a princess of the Bedimo and Miengu.
• Buried Alive: Jeki Disadi lures Esunguadibe into a hole in the ground as she chases him and buries her alive.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Jeki berated and mocked Njambe for throwing him away like trash.
• Cruel Elephant: Njambe turned himself into an elephant in an attempt to kill Jeki.
• Cute Ghost Girl: Ekunti was one of the Bedimo.
• Death by Looking Up: Esunguadibe squished Jeki to death with her magic flying pot despite his attempts to hide in the jungle, a stone house, and the sea.
• Divine Parentage: Jeki in tales where Njambe is unambiguously the supreme God and not just a powerful wizard.
• Doting Parent: Njambe Inono absolutely adored his daughter Engome. He actually ignored his familiars warning him of the secret raid planned by the Jengus and Edimos because he was too distracted by her cuteness as a baby.
• Eating the Enemy: Jeki roasted and ate the Kambo bird with palm oil.
• Enfant Terrible: Like many African heroes, Jeki spoke before he was born and named himself.
• Evil Is Petty: Njambe Inono eventually gave up on trying to kill Jeki after having his plans foiled again and again. So he retired and was content to mumble insults under his breath.
• Evil Sorcerer: Inono Njambe was a dark wizard who taught his vile magic to his surviving son Njambe Inono.
• The Exile: Njambe Inono was exiled from his tribe for murdering people and dark sorcery. He and his wife sailed aimlessly down the river until the came to an appropriate area to settle.
• Exotic Extended Marriage: Njambe Inono had nine wives: Bekele, Ebode Jumbwa, Ekiabe, Makekembe, Essenena, Eteng Dina, Bwinga, Ndimisi, and Ekunti. He also had a mistress named Kudu Ekune.
• Familiar: Once Njambe Inono found a place to build a village he released his three familiars: the Kambo bird, the crocodile, and the leopard.
• Feathered Fiend: The Kambo bird liked killing people.
• Femme Fatalons: Esunguadibe had sharp nails she could extend at will. She stabbed Jeki in the shoulder with them.
• Flaunting Your Fleets: Eponde brought a fleet of nine magic war canoes manned by many Jengus during the attack on Bakiri Ngindi. It was a dark and stormy day as the mighty fleet approached. Eponde stood at the helm of the central canoe. Eponde's first mate was a Jengu named Ekwa Medi, who himself had an assistant named Diso l'Elolo.
• Follow in My Footsteps: Njambe Inono embraced his father's legacy and walked down the path of evil.
• Genius Bruiser: Mbonda was the mightiest wrestler around, he also devised the plan to infiltrate Njambe Inono's village.
• Giant Flyer: The Kambo bird was an enormous monster who lived in Njambe Inono's palm tree.
• The Ghost King: Kulani was the king of the Bedimo and father of Ekunti.
• God Couple: The Jengu goddess Liengu la Mwanja is married to the mountain god Efasa Moto of Mount Fako (Mount Cameroon).
• Heinz Hybrid: Ekunti was half-Jengu and half-Edimo. Her father was king Kulani and her maternal grandfather was king Eponde.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Njambe turned himself into the elephant Jeki was supposed to hunt. Jeki caught him and kept him in a corral until he starved.
• Horse of a Different Color: Jeki threw a magic spear at Njambe who had transformed into an elephant. He then rode the beast to the edge of the sea and back.
• Hot Witch: Esunguadibe turned into a beautiful young lady to seduce Jeki the morning after their first fight. She teased and bantered with him so much he ignored Ngalo's warning about her wiles and slept with her.
• Human Sacrifice: Inono Njambe would sacrifice his own wives and children to enhance his own power.
  • Years later, son Njambe Inono was discovered to be kidnapping people from the village to sacrifice in rituals.
• Hungry Jungle: The forest is the domain of the Edimo and other horrors, and people try their best to avoid it.
• Impossible Task: Njambe threw many labors at Jeki in hopes the youth would be killed.
  • Njambe once tasked Jeki with bringing him a live elephant with big tusks.
  • Njambe told Jeki to dig up a magic yam which none of his brothers could. Anyone who tried digging up this yam would find themselves in the underworld and die.
  • Njambe challenged Jeki to guess what was inside of a wooden box. After failing twice on purpose to see what Njambe and his brothers would do, Jeki guessed correctly: it was a female louse.
  • Njambe told Jeki to clean his great chest with a leopard and its cubs inside. Ngalo warned Jeki to take the chest into the sea to wash. Once it was deemed safe to open, Jeki found all the predators inside dead. He had drowned them.
  • Njambe told Jeki to bring him his gigantic crocodile from the sea. Jeki sailed out to meet the monster and flattered it into attending his father's meeting, insisting they needed its wisdom. Jeki and the crocodile rode a tidal wave into the village of Njambe. The flooding and the snapping reptile devastated the village. Njambe Inono begged Jeki to send it back to the ocean. So Jeki summoned another wave and send the crocodile on its way.
  • Njambe Inono made Jeki go fetch palm nuts from his palm tree. The problem was that the gigantic Kambo monster bird lived at the top.
  • Jeki traveled to the spirit world to save his big sister Engome from the Edimos despite his bitter father Njambe Inono telling him that it was impossible.
• Inescapable Net: Jeki tried to catch Esunguadibe with one, she used magic to make it fall away.
• Knows the Ropes: Jeki lassoed the Kambo bird with his magic vine and sent it crashing down to earth, crushing the oil from the palm nuts too.
• Land of Faerie: The spirit world is a strange place and is very easy to become lost in. Humans cannot see spirits, but may smell them. The spirit world has to be entered backwards.
• Lethal Chef: Esunguadibe made a horrific meal with Jeki's begrudging help. After making him gather and peel bananas she scratched off her scabs into the pot which turned into crabs. Jeki was warned by Ngalo not to eat it and proclaimed the first visitor on the horizon would eat it first. A gigantic dog came by, ate the soup, and dropped dead.
• Longest Pregnancy Ever: Jeki the Younger spent 2 years in the womb. Or twenty-five years.
• Long-Lost Relative: Jeki grew up and met his sisters again one day. They did not recognize him but he recognized them by the marks on their chests like his. The girls told Njambe about the stranger they met so Njambe summoned the boy to his court.
• Lord of the Ocean: Eponde is the king of the Miengu.
• Maniac Monkeys: An Edimo is the form of a chimpanzee kidnapped Jeki's sister Engome. It was angry because Njambe Inono never seemed to reciprocate the favors it did for him.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: In some tellings Jeki is the ninth son, in others he is the only boy among eight girls.
• The Methuselah: Njambe Inono had been married for 146 years when Jeki was born.
  • Bekele had been sterile for eighty years before bearing Engome.
• Moses in the Bulrushes: Njambe threw baby Jeki into the river to kill him. A woman found the infant floating down the river and cared for him.
• Mystical Pregnancy: Jeki would come out of the womb before his true birth to help his mother with chores. He told her when he wanted to be born and how he would be born. Jeki tells her to give birth to his goods over the sea waters, then he is born on a heap of broken shards unharmed. His mother Ngrijo gives birth to all manner of trade goods and treasures, armor, a spear, a trident, a swordfish machete (Ebenge Njonga) musical instruments, tools, magic charms, Ngalo, a magic vine, a huge canoe, and a magic nine-pointed paddle.
  • Engome was born on the same day of Ekunti's wedding to Njambe Inono.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: Njambe Inono's pet crocodile Difum Ditudu was ten times larger than the infamous monster croc Difum of the Yabassi. Difum Ditudu fended off the Jengu fleet by creating huge waves with his tail.
• Not Distracted by the Sexy: Jeki's younger brother Jeki Disadi (the younger) obeyed Ngalo and ignored Esunguadibe's seduction.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: An Edimo (plural Bedimo) is a ghost. They haunt the wilderness and have villages in the underworld. They are white in color and usually malevolent. They are capable of shapeshifting and sometimes kidnap living people.
• Our Gryphons Are Different: Eswa Mbaki was a monster resembling something like a western griffin.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: Jengu (plural Miengu) are water spirits. Most Sawa worship is directed towards them as they are generally more benevolent than the Bedimo. The Jengu women look like cute young ladies with gap toothed smiles. Jengus have long hair and bring people good luck. During the Ngondo festival it is thought that initiates are taken below the waters by the Miengu for blessings and knowledge. Jengu villages exist underwater and it is thought drowning victims have actually come to live with them.
• Rescued from the Underworld: Jeki is successful in saving Engome from the Bedimo, and they happily ran through the gates back home.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Njambe was trapped as an elephant by Jeki.
• Sibling Murder: Jeki got his revenge on his brothers who had beaten him by forcing them to climb the palm tree to meet the Kambo bird first, threatening them with Ngalo. The bird killed them all.
• Spot the Imposter: Jeki used Ngalo to determine which girl out of identical dozens was his real sister Engome. Ngalo sent a bee to land on the true Engome.
• Torches and Pitchforks: Inono Njambe's evil became intolerable to the people of his village, so they set upon him in an angry mob. They buried him up to his neck, threw palm nuts at him, and whipped him with palm fronds until he abandoned his wicked art.
• Transhuman Treachery: Mbonda was the most powerful wrestler in Njambe's village. After he died and became a Bedimo he faithfully served his new master Kulani and devised a plan to infiltrate the village so they could capture Engome.
• Trojan Horse: The Bedimo hid in barrels and entered Njambe Inono's village, with some of them disguised as humble merchants.
• Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: Sometimes Jeki and Engome are twins.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Jeki turned himself into a bat to avoid the Bedimo while visiting his grandmother in the underworld.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Jengus have a bizarre fear of paper according to some.
• Weather Manipulation: Ekwa Medi called down lightning strikes nine times brighter than daylight, then turned the area darker than a coffin underground during the invasion of Bakiri Ngindi.
• Wicked Witch: Esunguadibe (short breast) or Dingonpe (the big) was a powerful witch who owned Life, which Jeki was questing for because it made all things possible. Other times he sought her out for Honor itself, or even just her golden tooth. She was a terrifying hag covered in festering scabs and had long sharp nails.
• Wise Old Folk Façade: Esunguadibe presented herself as a little old lady in need of a surrogate son to care for her. Jeki didn't buy the act but played along.
• Wizard Duel: Jeki battled Esunguadibe the night after she tried to kill him with her cooking. She conjured up flames to roast Jeki who retaliated by summoning ocean water to drown the fire. Jeki then summoned many giant snakes to constrict Esunguadibe. So the witch cast a spell to render them harmless. The battle went on all night.
  • The day after Esunguadibe and Jeki had sex they fought again. Both summoned hundreds of dwarfs to fight for them.