THE IMPACT OF HAUSA-FULANI TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND HEALING METHOD ON THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE BAMENDA GRASSFIELDS

Abstract

Traditional medicine was and still remains a very important method of treating diseases in the Bamenda Grassfields of Cameroon. Before the late 19th and early 20th centuries the indigenous population of the Bamenda Grassfields relied so much on traditional medicine in healing themselves. Local herbalists with the use of natural materials and other instruments carried out diagnosis and prescribed treatment to their patients. With the arrival of the Hausa and Fulani people into the Bamenda Grassfields along side their tradi-practitioners; things started taking a different turn. Most of the indigenous people started adopting the Hausa-Fulani healing methods to the detriment of their own traditional method of treatment. Even the arrival of the colonial masters to the area in the 19th Century and their introduction of conventional medicine or hospitals did not affect the popularity already gained by the Hausa-Fulani healing method. As a result, the Hausa-Fulani healing and medicine greatly influenced the health sector in the Bamenda Grassfields. To carry out this study, primary and secondary sources were used. At the end of the study, we were able to come out with the following conclusions: That the indigenous people of the Bamenda Grassfields had their own traditional method of treatment before the coming of the Hausa-Fulani traditional healers to the area. That, the Hausa-Fulani healing methods had a great impact on the local population and health sector in the Bamenda Grassfields. That, the Hausa-Fulani traditional medicine and healing methods gradually replaced the indigenous methods of treatment in the Bamenda Grassfields. Finally that, the Hausa-Fulani herbalists or traditional healers help in eradicating so many diseases in the Bamenda Grassfields.