Product Description
This story hails from the great and mysterious continent of Africa and from the lesser known country of Cameroon, but even more importantly from the voice of a child—a child who dared to dream.
The story is about his will, his untiring persistence and determination to reach for a place we know as America, the land of liberty and—for those brave enough to patiently embrace her—the enduring land of opportunity.
Ayeah was born into the Kom tribe in the northwest region of Cameroon. As first-born male in his family, his role was significant in Kom culture, where strict and obligatory traditions must be honored. However, as fate would have it, a tragedy befell his mother, and Ayeah was born out of wedlock. As they struggled to satisfy tradition, a series of events unfolded and paved a trail that would become an enduring and winding journey for his family and a relentless challenge for Ayeah.
In Pursuit of My Python Trail has its roots in the legend of the great Kom leader, whose spirit led his people out of harm’s way to their present home of Laikom. Although the exact origins of the tribe are unknown, Kom oral tradition says that they migrated to Bamessi in the grassland Tikari region during the population migration of the early 18th century. As the Kom tribe took root and flourished in Bamessi, the indigenous inhabitants and their leaders became envious of the tribe’s vibrant and prosperous expansion.
According to legend, the tribe's rivals, through trickery and deceit, managed to lure and slaughter the majority of the Kom males, including their leader. The remaining members of the tribe—boys, women and children—began a wandering exile through woods and brush in search of a new home.
As they drifted aimlessly through the tangle of land and bedraggled vegetation, they were heartened to see the spirit of their slain leader appear to them in the form of a great python. Sensing the snake had come to lead them home, they began a long trek, following a wide, deep line carved in the sand by the slither of the great python.
Mapping their way through the landscape, the Kom followed this trail around curve and bend, up and down, hoping and trusting in their eventual deliverance. No one knows how long they traveled. When the trail suddenly disappeared and the sand went silent, they knew they had arrived.
The Kom settlers created the village of Laikom around 1740, establishing their dynasty with Jinabo I as the first Fon or head chief. In gratitude for their safe arrival, they erected a royal palace on the spot where the snake was last seen. At the very top of the highest of seven high mountains, Laikom surveys its kingdom and the arduous path its people took to arrive there.
To this very day, intellectual elders in the Laikom kingdom debate the question of whether the Python Trail will appear once again some day. The consensus is that it will, and that the people must be ready when that day comes. And so sentries are posted to look out for the snake and quickly mobilize the people when it arrives.
* * *
When I recall this story, told to me as a child, I realize this is my story too. I have also followed the trail of my python, and it has led me throughout Cameroon, north and south, east and west, and finally to this great land of opportunity called America.
My journey from home began when I was eight years old, and my path has been a twisting and curving one. I have, sometimes by choice and sometimes by chance, had to settle and resettle from family to family, village to village, town to town, and ultimately homeland to homeland.
It has been a trying and challenging journey and continues to be so. For the moment, the sand is silent, but I have many hills yet to climb and many paths yet to take. For now, deep in the heart of Cameroon, my people continue to wait for their trail to reappear, as do I, in America, in Maine.
The story is about his will, his untiring persistence and determination to reach for a place we know as America, the land of liberty and—for those brave enough to patiently embrace her—the enduring land of opportunity.
Ayeah was born into the Kom tribe in the northwest region of Cameroon. As first-born male in his family, his role was significant in Kom culture, where strict and obligatory traditions must be honored. However, as fate would have it, a tragedy befell his mother, and Ayeah was born out of wedlock. As they struggled to satisfy tradition, a series of events unfolded and paved a trail that would become an enduring and winding journey for his family and a relentless challenge for Ayeah.
In Pursuit of My Python Trail has its roots in the legend of the great Kom leader, whose spirit led his people out of harm’s way to their present home of Laikom. Although the exact origins of the tribe are unknown, Kom oral tradition says that they migrated to Bamessi in the grassland Tikari region during the population migration of the early 18th century. As the Kom tribe took root and flourished in Bamessi, the indigenous inhabitants and their leaders became envious of the tribe’s vibrant and prosperous expansion.
According to legend, the tribe's rivals, through trickery and deceit, managed to lure and slaughter the majority of the Kom males, including their leader. The remaining members of the tribe—boys, women and children—began a wandering exile through woods and brush in search of a new home.
As they drifted aimlessly through the tangle of land and bedraggled vegetation, they were heartened to see the spirit of their slain leader appear to them in the form of a great python. Sensing the snake had come to lead them home, they began a long trek, following a wide, deep line carved in the sand by the slither of the great python.
Mapping their way through the landscape, the Kom followed this trail around curve and bend, up and down, hoping and trusting in their eventual deliverance. No one knows how long they traveled. When the trail suddenly disappeared and the sand went silent, they knew they had arrived.
The Kom settlers created the village of Laikom around 1740, establishing their dynasty with Jinabo I as the first Fon or head chief. In gratitude for their safe arrival, they erected a royal palace on the spot where the snake was last seen. At the very top of the highest of seven high mountains, Laikom surveys its kingdom and the arduous path its people took to arrive there.
To this very day, intellectual elders in the Laikom kingdom debate the question of whether the Python Trail will appear once again some day. The consensus is that it will, and that the people must be ready when that day comes. And so sentries are posted to look out for the snake and quickly mobilize the people when it arrives.
* * *
When I recall this story, told to me as a child, I realize this is my story too. I have also followed the trail of my python, and it has led me throughout Cameroon, north and south, east and west, and finally to this great land of opportunity called America.
My journey from home began when I was eight years old, and my path has been a twisting and curving one. I have, sometimes by choice and sometimes by chance, had to settle and resettle from family to family, village to village, town to town, and ultimately homeland to homeland.
It has been a trying and challenging journey and continues to be so. For the moment, the sand is silent, but I have many hills yet to climb and many paths yet to take. For now, deep in the heart of Cameroon, my people continue to wait for their trail to reappear, as do I, in America, in Maine.
