Dating rituals
Before the modernization of the Maka territory, marriage was endogamous. A Maka was not allowed to marry or to get marry to a member of a different tribe. However, with the evolution of the world, marriage has become exogamous. In the ancient days, a woman was forced to get marry to her parents’ choices. Nowadays, for a woman to get marry to a man, she must accept to do so by herself and not through arrangements by the family or force. It is when the two are engaged that the families then come to arranging things and being in accord. Marriage between men and women is free, as one will like it to be.
Furthermore, it is important to mention that marriage between two people of the same gender is forbidden by the tradition. In other words, it is prohibited for women to marry with women and men with men. The marriage must exist between two people of opposite sex.
Sex attitudes
Conjugal bonding is the only sex attitude required by the Maka. Incest is forbidden.
Marriage rituals and practices
For a woman to get marry, she needs to be endowed, meaning that bride price is the base of Maka marriages. It is a must for the groom to pay the bride price. The first and most important element on the pride price list is SALT. The Maka consider salt to be an element that unites all families in Cameroon, reason why it is important. They also stress on this because they believe that all foods need salt so as to have a good taste. Thus a woman needs to be endowed with salt primarily so as to be a good cook in her husband’s house. Other elements of the pride price are wine (all the types), sheep, rice, oil, cubes, amongst all others. No fix amount is assigned for bride prices, but usually, it depends on the groom’s financial means.
Also, whenever a Maka girl must get marry to stranger, some sacrifices of the blood of animals are offered to the ancestors for her protection.
Marriage patterns
Maka marriages are mostly polygamous ones; every man needs to have four wives and above. The first wife must, above all, be a Maka girl, and it is only the first wife that gets married at church. The rest of the wives may now come from any tribe and their marriage cannot be celebrated in church. Polyandry is considered as an abomination there and is condemned by the tradition.
Inheritance patterns
Despite the fact that some centuries ago chiefdom and leadership were hereditary and the inheritance pattern was mainly patriarchal, today inheritance pattern is both patriarchal and matriarchal depending on the capacities of the heir and the goodwill of the deceased. This implies therefore that a female child can inherit the throne and the property of her father.
Household pattern
Usually, the Maka people believe that the girl must live in her husband family’s compound. This simply implies that the household pattern is an extended family where the couple lives with the consanguineal family; rarely shall we find the couple living with the affinal family. Usually, servants are not needed since the man must be polygamous; his wives are to work for him.
Languages
Most Maka speak a language known as Maka or South Maka. This language is seen to have had an estimated 80,000 speakers in 1987. In the north of Maka territory, speakers use a related language known as Byep, or North Maka. Byep had an estimated 9,500 speakers in 1988. Though they consider themselves a single people, Maka dialects serve as a form of identity as well. The main dialects are Maka are Bebent (Bebende, Biken, Bewil, and Bemina), Mbwaanz, and Sekunda. Byep has two dialects: Byep and Besep (Besha, Bindafum).
Maka people mostly practice polygamy and the salt is the basis of their marriage. How is the economy managed? What are the types of activities they practiced in their areas?
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