Amulettgewänder von den Vute in Kamerun im Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim und im Linden-Museum Stuttgart

The holdings of the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum include a piece of clothing from the Wute (Vute) people in Cameroon, which is decorated with around 170 leather amulet capsules. The museum received it in late 1906 from the Bremen-based merchant Gustav Pelizaeus with the explanation: Fetish coat of the Wute paramount chief Ngilla (…). He was recently compelled into submission by Captain Dominik who, on this occasion, divested him of this coat. The connections through which Pelizaeus obtained the garment are still unknown.

Ngilla/Ngila is not a proper name, but a title; the Vute term for this title of a ruler is ngraŋ.

A comparable piece is in the Linden Museum Stuttgart. It is also said to have belonged to the head of the Vute, and Hans Dominik allegedly conquered it from the then ruling Ngilla/ngraŋ on the occasion of the Wute-Adamaua campaign (1898/1899). Given the information about the two war shirts, one can safely assume a violent colonial acquisition context. With regard to provenance, however, the question of who the items of clothing actually belonged to is still open. After all, the Ngilla with the proper name Neyon (reign ca. 18911899), who was in office at the time of the Wute-Adamua campaign (1898/99), was never subdued by Dominik. He died on his return from a military campaign shortly before the arrival of the German military in Ndumba/Ngilla City during the Wute-Adamua campaign. This means that neither of the two war shirts could have been conquered from Neyon by Dominik. Is there any evidence that an amulet robe from the late Neyons assets was among the spoils of war in 1899?

In view of Pelizaeus statement recently, it is also possible that the Hildesheim war shirt comes from Neyons successor (killed in 1905), because in late 1906 more than seven years had passed since the capture of Ndumba (in early 1899). However, one or both shirts could also have belonged to men other than the ngraŋ. For example, Gimene, Neyons field captain, is described by Dominik as wearing a magnificent war shirt, and we can safely assume that this shirt was decorated with amulet capsules. Gimene was killed during the first attack by the Protection Force on Ndumba/Ngilla City in January 1897. Dominik then stripped him of his war shirt and offered it to the Royal Museum of Ethnology in Berlin in 1898. However, the museum did not accept the offer. Did Gimenes war shirt subsequently end up in Stuttgart (1901) or Hildesheim (1906) as supposedly coming from the Ngilla, and through which channels did this happen?

The meaning of the garment for the Vute today also needs to be clarified. In this context, it is planned to get in touch with representatives of the current royal family of the Vute.

© Roemer- und Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim