The Awe-Inspiring Malle Society: Sacred Elephant Dance of the Kpwe and Nearby Clans (Part 1)

In the shadow of Mount Cameroon, the Bakweri (also known as the Kpwe)  people carry on a breathtaking tradition that few outsiders ever witness. The Malle Society (also spelled Maalé) is a sacred secret society most renowned for its dramatic “elephant dance” known as Veambe. This society has long been a pillar of Bakweri culture – one of several traditional assemblies that helped unify villages, set communal goals, and solve problems in times past. What makes the Malle so striking is its mystical connection to the elephant, an animal revered as a powerful spiritual symbol. Members of Malle are believed to share a supernatural bond with elephants, even claiming to have elephant spirit “doubles” roaming the forest. According to lore, a man of the society might spiritually transform into an elephant or control one – but if that elephant is killed by a hunter, the man himself could suddenly die. This awe-inspiring belief, alongside elaborate masquerades and rituals, sets the Malle Society apart as a truly unique cultural phenomenon. The society’s exact origins are shrouded in legend and mystery, but its presence has been felt for well over a century among the Bakweri. Today, though modern life has encroached and only a handful of villages still practice it, the Elephant Dance continues to captivate the imagination – a living link between the Bakweri people, their history, and the spirits of the wild.

Mythic Origins: The Legend of Lisonge Maytey

Every great tradition has a story of how it began. Bakweri elders recount a dramatic origin myth for the Malle Society through the tale of Lisonge Maytey. Maytey was said to be a wealthy man from the Bomboko area (west of Mount Cameroon) known for his reckless gambling. In fact, his luck turned so sour that he gambled away all his wealth – even his three wives, as the story goes. Overcome with shame, Maytey fled deep into the forest, disappearing from his village. Surviving on wild fruits and animals caught in his traps, he lived in isolation for years and was presumed dead by his people.

Yet Maytey’s exile was not the end of his story, but the beginning of the Malle’s. Alone in the rainforest, he experienced a profound vision. The spirits of the ancestors revealed to him secret wisdom and bestowed powers that would give birth to a new sacred society. In this vision, Maytey learned the rites and virtues of what would become the Malle Society, and he was commanded to spread these teachings to anyone worthy who would join. Maytey eventually wandered back to human paths and was rediscovered by his astonished villagers. Far from being the disgraced gambler who left, he returned as a man transformed – armed with supernatural insight and a mission. He gathered followers in Bomboko and beyond, initiating them with the rites taught to him by the spirits. So the Malle Society was born, according to legend, through Maytey’s journey of downfall and redemption.

Interestingly, anthropologists note that the society likely did first take root in the Bomboko (Womboko) region before spreading to Bakweri communities. It was there that the remarkable belief in elephant transformation and elephant spirit-doubles “seems to have been grafted onto” an older male society tradition. In other words, the idea of humans mystically merging with elephants was added to a pre-existing communal cult. Over time, the Malle Society evolved into its own institution among the Bakweri – open to those men prepared to undergo initiation and keep its secrets. (The term Maalé itself means a “gathering of the villages” in the Mokpwe language, reflecting how it brings people together from different communities.) Through the tale of Lisonge Maytey, the Kpwe convey that this society was not merely invented by men, but ordained by the spirit world – giving the Malle an aura of mystery and sacred authority from its very inception.

The Veambe Elephant Dance: Pageantry and Symbolism

On special festival days, the Malle Society reveals itself to the public in a spectacular fashion. This grand public display is the famous Veambe, often translated as “the steps of the elephant.” The Veambe dance is an annual ritual, rotating among different villages that host members from across the Bakweri clan for feasting, music, and dance. It stretches over two days of celebration and ceremony. The actual elephant dance is the high point, but it begins with a general parade of society members that sets the scene.

Costumes and Procession

In the morning, villagers and visitors gather as the Malle members emerge in vibrant procession. The society’s men – from elders down to young boys – are dressed in vivid arrays of traditional attire. They wrap themselves in patterned cloth around the head and waist, but much of their body is bare and smeared with red camwood mud, and they are decked with fresh green leaves and vines of the forest. Some wear headdresses of plant fibers. At first glance they almost resemble walking forests themselves! Moving in winding lines, the dancers weave in and out of the village, synchronised to the insistent beat of drums. This snaking formation is said to imitate the movement of an elephant herd trekking through the bush. The sight is mesmerizing: a string of humanity transformed with mud and foliage, swaying and dipping as one, like giant beasts threading between the trees. Traditionally, this opening dance was rich in meaning (perhaps a prayer for abundance or a tribute to elephant spirits), though much of the old symbolism has been forgotten. Today’s younger participants simply delight in the chance for “bizarre fancy dress” and exuberant dancing. Still, even without full explanation, the visual impact is powerful – it feels as if the forest itself has come alive and strolled into the village square.

The Elephant Masquerade

After the initial procession, the energy builds towards the truly breathtaking spectacle – the entry of the elephants. At this point, the ordinary members withdraw and a few select masquerade performers take the stage as the “njoku” (elephants). Of course these are not real elephants, but the performers’ costumes and movements make them uncanny representations of the mighty animal. Each “elephant” dancer is completely concealed in an elaborate costume. From the waist down, they wear a huge skirt made from palm fronds, fanning out in a rough circle to give the impression of a large, hulking creature. From the shoulders up, the dancer is entirely hidden under a loose hood of sackcloth heavily thatched with raffia palm fibers, forming a shaggy, cylindrical head. Jutting out from this raffia head are a pair of long wooden tusks, carved from ironwood and gleaming. The dancer inside holds these tusks from within the hood and can raise them high overhead – when he does so, the whole headpiece extends upward, doubling in height, like an elephant rearing up on hind legs. The effect is startling: one moment the “elephant” stands at human height, the next it suddenly looms tall, tusks thrust to the sky.

To the booming of the drums, the masqueraders begin to dance. They move with a heavy, stamping gait – stomping their feet into the earth with each step. Tied around their ankles are strings of “lisonjo” nut shells, which clack and rattle rhythmically every time a foot hits the ground. The air fills with an earthy percussion of thuds and rattles, evoking the thunderous rumble of real elephants on the march. The dancers sway and swirl their raffia-covered bodies, swinging the long tusks in wide arcs. It’s both eerie and exhilarating to behold these human-animals in motion. As part of the performance, senior society members acting as hunters enter the fray. Armed with spears or mock rifles, the “hunters” taunt and approach the elephant figures cautiously. Suddenly an elephant will wheel around and charge, rushing at the hunters in a feigned attack. The “hunters” scatter amid shrieks and laughter from onlookers. The elephant dancers then furiously strike their tusks into the ground – a dramatic gesture, as if an enraged beast is tusking the earth itself. This back-and-forth of mock hunt continues, showcasing the power of the elephants and the daring of the hunters in a kind of ritual ballet. The scene is at once comic and awe-inspiring: everyone knows it is play-acting, yet the primal force emanating from the dancers is palpable. Through the Veambe Elephant Dance, the community symbolically relives an age-old relationship with nature – honouring the elephant’s strength while acknowledging humanity’s age-old pursuit of the animal.

After a time, the elephant masqueraders pause to rest. At this moment in the program, a bit of levity is introduced by a character known as Moseke, the society’s clown. Moseke appears covered head-to-toe in a mesh net costume, with comically oversized yellow fruits (eggplants) for eyes. He dances in a goofy, frenetic style, eliciting roars of laughter from the crowd. The drummers strike up a special upbeat rhythm just for Moseke, and spectators join in by clapping along. This light-hearted interlude gives the audience a breather from the intensity, and a chance to simply enjoy the show. A skilled Moseke dancer can become a local celebrity of sorts – in earlier times an exceptional performance might even earn the clown a prize such as a live chicken from the society elders (though a lacklustre dance might earn only good-natured teasing, as one story goes).

Another notable figure in the festivities is Ekpang’a Teta, who acts as the “policeman” of the occasion. He dons a fierce-looking wooden mask painted in black and white patterns, and carries a knife in one hand and a bottle of “medicine” in the other. (In this context the “medicine” is a potent charm or juju meant to enforce spiritual protection and obedience.) With rattling ankle shells and an imposing stride, Ekpang’a Teta patrols the dance ground, using a guttural, arcane language to bark orders and keep spectators in line. Part of the lore is that this masked enforcer is “on loan” from another secret society called Nganya – a reminder of how these various traditional societies sometimes cooperate and share roles. His presence adds an extra layer of mystique and discipline to the event: even as the public enjoys the spectacle, they are aware that sacred rules are in force, and not everything about the Malle can be freely approached.

By the end of the day, the elephants return for some final triumphant steps, and then the public ceremony winds to a close. The Malle members withdraw to a private feast away from non-initiates, where presumably the deeper “business” of the society – secret rites, offerings and discussions – continues out of public view. For the villagers who watched, however, the Veambe dance alone is a thrilling and unforgettable experience. It is heritage made alive: an ancient drama of humans and elephants played out before their eyes in music, motion and colour.