An Afrocentric Cultural Study of Buum Oka Dance Yaounde and Perceptions of its Relevance to African (-Canadian) Students Between the Ages of 18 and 25 in the City of Regina

Abstract

This is an Afrocentric cultural study of Buum Oku Dance Yaounde in Cameroon and perceptions of its relevance to African (-Canadian) students between the ages of 18 and 25 in the City of Regina. The study is pitched against a national backdrop in which African (-Canadian) students experience disproportionately high school drop/push out rates. This is just one of many others problems associated with various forms of racist discourses and practices which harken back to the days of black enslavement. An enduring legacy of slavery and Western colonialism has been the continuous distortion of African history and culture, which are sometimes used to justify marginalization, injustice and various forms of oppression. An Afrocentric approach to this study seeks in part to counter colonial and oppressive discourses, thus serving as a tool for emancipation. The study ascertains whether the introduction and promotion of cultural practices such as Buum Oku Dance could serve as a tool for effective resistance and emancipation. Drawing mainly on written and oral sources, the inquiry has used Johnson’s (1986/87) “circuit of cultural production” of the dance, that is, its historical production, its representation and audience reception to determine to what extent such a dance could serve as tool for liberation. Its findings, based mainly on interviews of six students, three males and three females, from the City of Regina, illustrate the perceived relevance of the dance in creating community, reinforcing family values and traditions, promoting greater cultural and gender inclusion and equality, in asserting group identity and in combating low self-esteem and high dropout rates. These actions constitute forms of resistance which illustrate the possibilities of dance as a credible tool for human liberation from oppression.