Dignity royalty of Kom Kingdom

"Dignity and royalty" of the Kom Kingdom: before the ghel bangnɨ showed up in this region, the Kom people knew and understood the words respect, protocol, dignity, royalty… and the difference between a Nyamabo and a Nyamfɨkah.

Note that Kom called the Europeans ghel bangnɨ (Red People), not ghel fɨfnɨ (White People). There is a difference that even so-called "white people" understand: if a human figure is referred to as "white", it is most probably… a ghost (if you believe in those). Just for the record.

TribalMonk

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Unfortunately, the genie has been out of the bottle for a long time now. The AfoaKom statue was stolen in 1966 and sold abroad; it took until 1973 to bring it home. There are art shops and museums around the world selling some of my grandpa's juju heads. The gheli bangnɨ have earned PhDs writing and publishing about nchinɨKom…

Question: are Kom citizens ready to do what it takes, in today's context, to safeguard Kom traditions, customs and culture? You tell me… how.

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Not answering for anyone. Just my two shillings here.

As long as there is no documentation or records to point to, applying laws, customs and traditions in the Kom context will stir up feelings like the ones you are expressing here. That is normal in an age when Kom is not an island, but a tribal kommunity in the "globosphere" (so to speak).

Documentation and records? What does that mean? Why is it important? I can say "you tell me", because I think anyone with minimal reading and writing skills will understand. I assume it is understood that reading and writing skills are important for building a framework to document and record Kom tribal laws, customs and traditions for posterity (and all other practical purposes).

I cannot resolve the specific worries in your question, but I will say this. As long as we do not have a written book of reference for the laws, customs and traditions of the Kom people (one every Kom citizen can turn to when in doubt, or point to when there is a conflict of interest), there will always be doubt in the minds of Kom citizens about whether the law is being twisted, abused or obscured by those who can talk the loudest (remember: "oral" history). In other words, in a complex traditional situation, the person with the loudest voice wins, not necessarily the person on the side of the law (or tradition, or custom).

What all of the above means is that we can have a "civilized" Kom space without doing away with Kom traditions, customs and laws. But there is work to do in recording, documenting and codifying them in a way that makes them available to Kom citizens.

Is this kind of work being done? You tell me.

iBoisɨ

— Wanaku Verdzekov