GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - OCTOBER 2016

With the development of more detailed
DNA testing, many African Americans
and others of the diaspora in the New
World have traced their heritage to the
Tikar, inclusive of this Kingdom. The migratory
origins of the Bamoun people,
known as the Tikar, hailed from Sudan
to the fertile Grassland Region of Cameroon
more than half a millennia ago.
The Tikar split into three major tribes
which became three separate Kingdoms.
Since 2010, the Bamoun Kingdom
has welcomed its long-lost African
American relatives of the larger Tikar
origin through organized trips and welcome
ceremonies. Numerous black celebrities
of Tikar heritage include: astronaut,
Mae Jamison; actors, Taraji P.
Henson, Blair Underwood and Anthony
Anderson and music legends Quincy
Jones, Nas, Erykah Badu and Stevie
Wonder. Condolezza Rice and Oprah
Winfrey are also connected. Many African-Americans
and Afro-Caribbeans
who return are in awe of the design and
art displayed in the famed Artist Mar-