Jaglavak,
Prince of Insects:
A Cameroon People's Alliance With an Ant
by Christian Seignobos
The
Mofu, who live in the Mandara Mountains of northern Cameroon, have developed
a rich lore about their insects and have a particularly impressive
entomological vocabulary. This may be in part because insects are virtually the
only other creatures living on their jumble of boulders and terraces.
The
Mofu eat certain insects, though this practice seems to have been more
widespread in the past than it is now. Insects are also used in medicine and
agriculture, serve as omens, and are even the object of board games. And for the Mofu, certain insects "speak" while others, like bees and
mosquitoes, are socially neutral.
The
jaglavak
The
Mofu are particularly interested in two types of insects, those involved in the
growth and conservation of grain sorghum, their stable crop, and those ants or
termites that live in social groups. The Mofu relate these social insects to
their own politico-religious beliefs as well as to their systems of kinship and
social relations. Among ant species, those of the Dorylus genus, a type of driver ant that is known to the
Mofu as jaglavak, hold a
special place.
The
Mofu associate the jaglavak with termites, which is logical because jaglavak
soldiers resemble those of certain species of the termite order, Isoptera. The Dorylus ants live in underground communities, sometimes in large numbers,
without building visible nests. Their ferocity in attacking termites and the
fact that no other insects appear able to resist them have conferred upon the
jaglavak a position of eminence. Yet the jaglavak seemingly avoids other
insects that are "organized as it is," according to the Mofu,
including two species of termites that they know as the mananeh (Microcerotermes solidus) and the ndakkol (Trinervitermes trinervius), and especially the gula ant (Megaponera sp.).
Chief
of the massif
There
are several "interpretations" of the jaglavak. In relation to other
insects, the jaglavak is defined by kinship and relations of alliance or power.
Some say the termite mananeh
is its "cousin"; others say the mananeh is the "prince of the plain insects"
and rival of the jaglavak. The jaglavak's ndaw kuli (what the Mofu call its "intimate
friend"), who stands in for the head of the family in sacrifices (kuli), is singel gagazana,
a red ant (Pheidole sp.), while another ant, ndroa (Lepisiota sp.), is the mananeh's
"intimate friend." The jaglavak is
considered the chief of the entire massif, from Wazang to Meri (see map at right), while
other ants constitute "local chiefs." The classification scheme is
rough, and its composition varies by region. One wonders, was it once more
firmly fixed?
By virtue of an ancient alliance, the jaglavak are believed to aid the Movo in
times of trouble.
The
Mofu see correlations between chiefs of the massifs and chiefs of the animal
realm. The panther and the Mofu chief are one and the same; the chief commands
the panthers. When a panther is killed on a massif, by rule the skin goes to
the chief, who either keeps or disposes of the head and whiskers. He is
supposed to eat the eyes and give the liver to his sons. The last act involved
in the ritual burial of the massif chiefs is the turning over of the mortuary
bundle into the grave, which is accomplished by pushing it while turning away
and imitating the panther's snarl.
In
certain Mofu mountain ranges, and also among the Jimi and the Gude, the
crocodile was perceived as the chief of water-dwelling animals. The death of a
crocodile would be announced to the chief as that of a relative would be, and
people would cry over it. When one was slaughtered, the chief would ritually
eat its tongue.
The
jaglavak, for its part, held the role of "prince of insects." In
the past, Mofu mountain chiefs would closely follow the jaglavak's
movements and behavior to find omens. If there was combat between the jaglavak
and the ant ndroa, for
example, seers would interpret the repercussions of this combat for the massif
chiefdom. For the Zumaya, the clan of the Douvangar chief, the jaglavak
furnished the war stone, which would be found in its nest. In the absence of
a stone, in other massifs, such as that of the Meri people, before combat
people might put some jaglavak on a pointed stone against which they would then
rub their spearheads.
The
"prince" and the Movo
The
Mofu use the jaglavak to explain their own history, in particular the case of
the Movo. The jaglavak is supposed to be the equivalent of the Movo people, who
are now dispersed among the Mofu. Long ago, the Movo possessed a powerful
chiefdom on the banks of the seasonal river Mayo Tsanaga, in the foothills
facing the principal point of entry into the Mandara Mountains. This chiefdom
was to give rise to the Gudur chiefdom, installed higher up the mountain. In
the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, the Movo dominated the Mofu
massifs and foothills and well beyond. Crushed by the Wandala kingdom, from
which they had originated, and then dispersed by the Peuls, the Movo took
refuge in the Mofu massifs.
Today,
the Movo are viewed as clans that inspire respect, fear, indeed ostracism.
Thus, the Movo are accused of sending caterpillars into the sorghum crop and in
the past have been accused of sending locusts. And when a Movo individual is
buried, it is deemed necessary to spread ashes on the path where the cadaver
has passed, in order to prevent worms and other granary predators from touching
grain supplies.
The
jaglavak is often designated as "the red insect," referring to the
color that is the emblem of the Movo. And a parallel can be seen in the fact
that the jaglavak are Dorylus
ants, which move from place to place and do not seem to have a territory, just
like the Movo, who no longer have their own chiefdoms. But like the jaglavak,
the Movo are feared for their power to harm. And by virtue of an ancient
alliance, the jaglavak are believed to aid the Movo in times of trouble,
including cleaning up their compounds by chasing out undesirable insects,
because the jaglavak is commonly entrusted with chasing vermin out of infested
dwellings.
Jaglavak
to the rescue
The
Mofu who sees his compound invaded by termites and ants calls on the jaglavak
for help. Dorylus colonies are
not easy to find. After identifying the nest or colony of jaglavak on the move,
the Mofu removes from the colony several hundred to a thousand, or even more, Dorylus soldiers. He puts them into a calabash or new
clay pot, sometimes in leaves of the large-leaved rock fig (Ficus
abutilifolia). Among the Mofu,
these leaves are used, for example, for wrapping sacred objects, rain stones,
and the meat of the maray (the
bull sacrificed at the feast of the massif).
They fear the jaglavak might kill them in the night, during their sleep, by
entering their nostrils.
When
the Mofu carrying the ants arrive at the compound, people salute the jaglavak
in different ways, clicking their fingers or striking the head of a hoe with a
stone. The head of the family declares, "Today we have a distinguished
guest," and then asks the jaglavak to chase out these harmful insects—such as the momok (a generic term for termites) and Trinervitermes ants from
the straw of the roof, and Macrotermes subhyalinus termites from the sorghum stems protecting the
walls—as well as snakes. They ask the jaglavak, however, not to touch
people and to spare their animals, for they fear the jaglavak might kill them
in the night, during their sleep, by entering their nostrils. Yet our
informants were unable to cite any specific instances of such an act of
aggression.
The
Mofu put the jaglavak on the ground within an ocher circle from which extends a
path, also traced in ocher, that leads toward the area of the most badly
infested house. The Mofu admit that they do not see the jaglavak operate, but they claim that two or three weeks later,
the harmful insects have disappeared, and the jaglavak as well, for they do not
remain in the compound, unlike the gula ant (which the Kapsiki, another ethnic group of the Mandara
Mountains, enlist for the same job).
One
might wonder about the conduct of the Dorylus soldiers deprived of the mass effect of the
colony. Do they disperse an odor that causes other insects to flee?
A
waning tradition?
Jaglavak
lore varies from massif to massif and depends on which clans are in or out of
power. Today, however, for the Mofu who come down to the plains and go to work
in urban areas, everything concerning insects, including the role of the
jaglavak, is seen as belonging to the past. 
