The sacred forest is a concrete place with a rich symbolic meaning. For the Laimbwe ethnic group of the northwest region of Cameroon, it is the center of social life, around which the people organize their matrilineal system. This book describes the origin, development, and changes in matriliny as a gender construction from an insider point of view. Through material and interviews with 150 persons, the book shows how the system overcame all the various challenges since the 18th century, especially the rejection of matriliny by the colonial powers and Christian missionaries. It calls into question different prejudices of a Eurocentric gender research, which believes in the dominance of patriarchal structures and the decline of other gender systems under the impact of global influence and pressure. (Series: Narrating (Hi)stories. Culture and History in Africa / Kultur und Geschichte in Afrika - Vol. 2) [Subject: Social History, African Studies, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, Religious Studies]