Cameroon Art Abbia - Gambling 1969

Abbia was a popular game of chance played in Cameroon for centuries up until the mid-1950s. The chips were made from the nuts of the local Elan tree. Men engraved images on small nuts to represent aspects of their daily lives and used them as betting chips. Each engraved nut represents an object, land, person, or spiritual event. Gambling often lasted the whole night. When German colonists arrived in the late 19th century, they banned the game due to its excessive and sometimes tragic results.
Engraved chips dating from visits by early Portuguese explorers in the 1700s have been found. Abbia is one of the few artifacts that have survived from Cameroon's indigenous culture and represent an essential aspect of local history.