Chapter IX: Ale and the Ancestors 120 (4)

Opposite the door of the principal shrine a little group of offerings was to be seen, backed by the branched sticks of the Thunder God. Questioned as to this, Eleche said:

Amade Onhia is kin to my Juju. In many towns the biggest Jujus
have the habit of sending to request him to come and stay by
them. Aya-Eke did this and ordered that his shrine should be
placed opposite to her own, saying that when ceremonies were
made in her honour they should be performed for him also.
On being asked as to when the wrestling would begin, Eleche
answered, with true African placidity, that this depended upon
the arrival of the combatants, who would probably not appear
until the sun sank lower in the heavens. He explained that
he had told us the play began at mid-day, because by ancient
custom the summoning drums must start at that time.

Now, according to widespread West Coast belief, noon and midnight are the special times at which ghosts walk abroad. Among Ibo and Kalahari little children are warned never to throw sticks or stones when the sun is high overhead, lest they should inadvertently injure one of these wandering spirits and thus draw down its wrath upon themselves. With Mbolli and Etche Ibo--as usually in the Ikwerri country--seed yams and corn are stored in the shrine of the ancestors, _i.e._ beneath the guardianship of these beneficent friends, much as was the seed-grain of ancient Rome within the sacred Mundus. Chief Eleche also told us that the Egu Nda Madu, the festival of the forefathers, is always held at the same time as that of the new yams and, were these rites neglected, the ghosts would cease to exert a protective influence upon the next season’s crops. It is probable, therefore, that the reason the drums must start to play at noonday is to call the attention of the ancestral shades to the fact that the ritual wrestling is about to begin.

First, one or two youths stepped out, at long intervals, from the ranks of patient spectators, to dance round in wide circles, always from left to right--in the contrary direction to the hands of a clock. Later, as the shadows lengthened, more and more joined in the pastime, till from twenty to thirty were dancing almost continuously. Nearly all raised eyes and hands to heaven at a point, roughly speaking, halfway round the circle. Most of the performers wore necklets of knotted palm, while a considerable number bore in addition a single vivid bloom of the scarlet Akpane Besin--the old Ekoi wrestlers’ challenge--stuck in their black locks.

In the midst of the circle danced a strange figure, wearing a tail of skin behind and a long strip of blue native cloth falling before. Round his waist was a girdle of brass bells; a band of cowries, three deep, was fastened beneath the knee, while a cloth of leaf-green silk was tightly bound round the loins. In his right hand he bore a horn, black and twisted like that of a bushbuck, the open end filled with a tassel of long fur. This, when stationary, he sometimes drove point downwards into the earth or, while circling round with the other dancers, bore it raised over his head. Chief Yellow explained that such was the traditional wrestlers’ costume.

During the dances several ‘masters of ceremonies,’ bearing bunches of palm-leaves, went up and down, keeping a clear space--driving back the circle of spectators by striking these on legs and feet. Suddenly the performers scattered, leaving two of their number alone in the centre. These bent and touched the ground with their fingers, then almost immediately gripped and after a struggle, which caused the wildest excitement among the spectators, the taller and slighter of the two flung the other to earth and seated himself firmly astride the prostrate form--to be lifted upon the shoulders of a friend and thus borne round amid the plaudits of the multitude.

So it went on, couple after couple struggling till one was overthrown. Occasionally, if they were deemed ill matched or thought to be growing angry, friends rushed in, as is usual in such contests, to separate the combatants. What struck us as unusual was the short time allowed to each pair. Should one not succeed in throwing the other after the first few minutes the spectators flung themselves between and bore them apart by force. This was explained to be ‘lest they should become exhausted,’ and was possibly done with the idea that such a result might, by sympathetic magic, have an ill effect upon the crops.

These wrestling rites are carried out amongst nearly all the Ibo in the Division, though held in greatest importance among the Ikwerri. The same ceremony is customary with the Mbolli, whose head chief told us: ‘When the season comes round for the festival of Mbiencha,[21] we make sacrifice to her of fowls and goats. After the sacrifice has been made, we start wrestling. We do this for children, farms and health.’

One evening, during our stay at Elele, we heard the sound of a far-off tom-tom, beaten with a queer insistent call. The method of playing was new to us, so without a word to any one we set out to investigate. There was no need to ask the way, since it was easy enough to follow the beat of the drum. This led through the market-place along the Omo Dioga road; then, after a sharp turn to the right, we found ourselves in an open space, upon one side of which trees tossed dark branches against a sky of scuttling cloud.

The moon, nearing her third quarter, was climbing up the heavens, shedding a cloud of misty silver radiance upon the scene beneath. By a fortunate chance our shoes fell soundlessly upon the soft sand; so we stole in unnoticed, shadows amid a multitude of shadows which flitted to and fro ‘now in glimmer and now in gloom’--in swaying, everchanging lines of a dance impossible to describe.

My companions were wearing white, as was nearly every woman and most of the men present. The latter mostly wore long flowing Hausa robes, bought or imitated from the fashion set by Chief Ododo, the enterprising Hausa who, following in the steps of a mighty elephant-hunter of his race, settled here and made himself chief of the town.

At once, on realising what was going forward, we slipped into a pool of shadow, cast, it seemed, expressly for our convenience in a spot where we could see everything but ourselves passed for a while unnoticed.

Men and women danced in separate lines, approaching and retreating. To our surprise we saw that many of the latter wore not only white robes but white coiffures as well; for their crisp, dark wool was covered with a dressing of native chalk or pale-tinted clay, while the faces were often streaked with white lines, giving them an appearance indescribably ghost-like. To and fro, backward and forward, co-mingling at one moment and the next in clearly defined lines, moved the dancers to the monotonous tom-toming of their strange orchestra, which somehow managed to suggest things beyond the power of words--the fall of the first rains upon the parched earth; the enfolding of soft mists, from whose gentle embrace springs a stirring and quickening, changing her barrenness into fruition; the swelling of grain and root crops in the dark ground; the first feeble upward striving of young shoots, later to spring into radiant verdure in the free air above; the passion of pride, of life and strength and love--all that is poignantly felt but can seldom be expressed save perhaps by the monotonous beat of the tom-tom, the strange soughing of elephant horns and thrumming of savage lyres on such a night as this.

Only one air evolved by a northern musician gives any idea of the effect of these weird African melodies--that is the Braut March in _Lohengrin_, which, written on so few notes, yet beats with a strange persistence on certain fibres of the human instrument. In this, too, the theme is much the same--the bringing of the Earth Bride to the arms of her mystic bridegroom. Each thema, monotonous in itself, changed imperceptibly into another equally monotonous but built on different notes and shadowing forth a very infinitude of meaning.

In and out among the dancers crept strange shapes, elaborately coiffured and with whitened faces, much in the style of some Ibo masks, at the time of unknown origin, which wandered into our collection several years ago. These have since been explained as typifying the moon, much after the manner of the so-called Isis masks of the Pangwe Moon Goddess So; or again as representing those strange wanderers from the ghost realm, the spirits of beneficent ancestors who watch over the harvests of their descendants.

Hardly daring to breathe, we watched the strange phantasmagoric figures pass to and fro in the intricate mazes of the dance--the lines merging and separating in oozy triangles, squares and circles such as those woven by Ka for the perdition of the Banda Log.

Suddenly a change came over the scene. The tom-toms sounded a series of sharp insistent strokes. The moon, emerging from friendly clouds, shed a brilliant light upon the place where we had hitherto remained hidden in shadow, and the crowd, grown aware of our presence, began to scatter. We withdrew with all possible speed since nothing further was to be learnt by delay. After our departure the mystic dance began once more and continued, as could be heard from the far-away drumming, almost till the first rays of dawn.

On 26th July chance led us to pass by Chief Eleche’s compound while a ceremony connected with the Aya-Eke cult was in progress. Under the Obiri shed, a band of various drums, together with a particularly sweet-toned xylophone formed of cork-wood slabs laid upon fresh-cut plantain stems, was playing. To the sound of this music danced the chief of Elele Aliminni (Ale by the water) with his three principal wives. Two points were specially noticeable in the performance; first, the intense solemnity of the dancers, and, secondly, the way in which their oneness of purpose was emphasised by gesture. This is the only West African dance witnessed by us in which the performers continually linked arms, or twined these round one another’s shoulders and waists.

When Chief Eleche was questioned as to the meaning of the ceremony, he said that it was performed in order to draw down the blessing of the great Juju Aya-Eke on the chief of Elele Aliminni, his family and crops, before beginning to dig the first yams of the year.

A few weeks later came one of the greatest disappointments of our tour. By means of much planning it had been made possible, though with considerable difficulty, to arrive at Elele on the day before that fixed for the great yam festival, which we were anxious to witness. As ill fortune would have it, however, a runner came in in the late afternoon to bring tidings of trouble which was thought likely to break out in a far-off corner and to prevent which the presence of the white man was needed. To hesitate under such circumstances was of course naturally impossible. So the crowning ceremony of the year, the Aya-Eke harvest festival, was perforce missed.

IX

ALE AND THE ANCESTORS

Another link between Ale and her human children may be found at Ogu, a town inhabited by Okrikans, in the extreme east of the District. Here marriage is only solemnised once a year, immediately before the making of new farms. The Earth Goddess, locally called Amakiri (Earth of the town) is the principal deity, and not far to the rear of her shrine stands that of Ababa, the protectress of marriage. The spot sacred to the latter is an oval enclosure, fenced round by a wall of rough logs. Within this grow many Odumdum--the tree which, as previously mentioned, is looked upon almost all over the West Coast as bestower of babes, protector against evil influences and purifying agent, as well as in some cases the symbol of the yam spirit and that of the Earth Goddess herself.

Thither, before the cutting of new farms, go all the brides of the year to take the vow of faithfulness to their new-made lords. Libations of rum and palm-wine are poured out, while the blessing of the indwelling Genius, Tenye Te’en, is invoked upon the faithful and her vengeance called down upon any woman who should prove false to her wedded vows.

In the local shrine of Obaji (or Obazi) the god of the sea, we came across a representation of multiplied, or limitless, birth--eight frogs carved from a solid strip of wood. Several other slabs showed designs of the sacred crocodile with human beings laid out before it in sacrifice.

A frog is often depicted--with probably the same reason--in the carved tablets known as Nyama Ahia or sometimes Ahia Osimiri (the river market), which are hung up as ghost-offerings in Ikwerri Ibo houses in order to remind the ancestral spirits of the need for constant activity in increasing the prosperity of their descendants. In one found at Elele, the sacred crocodile and the phallic serpent are shown together with the hoe, the symbol of fruitful Ale. Again, the central figure has its tail joined to another hoe, while the tail of the serpent touches that of the crocodile and is thereby linked with the hoe.

During the making and planting of farms among Mbolli and Abuan--both tribes of particular interest and distinct type--the rule of strict chastity must be observed. No man may approach his wife until his share of the work is over. The labour apportioned to the males of the tribe at this season consists, first, in cutting and firing bush, after which women clear away the charred branches. Men again usually dig the holes into which it is the task of maids and matrons to lay the yam-tubers. Nowadays, however, both the last mentioned duties fall to the lot of women. Till every ‘seed of Proserpine’ has been laid in the dark ground, however, neither wife nor maid may yield to the prayer of husband or lover; for should the strictest chastity fail to be practised during this period, the farm of the frail one would yield but scanty increase.

Among Mbolli, in the words of the Chief Igwe of Ogali:

We worship our ancestors (Okwenji). We sacrifice to them fowl
and fish. Rich men give goats at such times. The sacrifices are
made three times a year--at the harvests; first at the new corn
month, next one month later again and then five months later,
when we start digging yams. We hold this festival in the tenth
month (November) and go to cut farm again two months later. We
start to count months from putting the crops in the ground till
we begin to dig--_i.e._ ten moons.

At the feast of the ancestors we pour out drink, saying:

‘Ebe atena ’mgbom ami, ami ’mgbo nan mwi.’
‘As (my) father got me, (let) me get other child.’

We have already lived two moons in the farm--October and
November. We shall stop another five. While we stay in the
farms, we may not have connection with our wives; for such a
thing we must come back to the town, sleep for a night and then
go back. Otherwise we should offend ’Nkike, who would not let
our crops grow well or send plenty children.

Among the Ale Nsaw Ibo a strict rule as to chastity was imposed by the direct command of the Earth Goddess. On this point Chief Osu of Obiakpo stated:

Our people are generally known by the name of Ale ’Nsaw (Ale’s
tabu or the land of the tabu) because in our ancestors’ time
there were many forbidden things in our part. All our women
were sacred to Ale, therefore in olden days no man might reach
out a hand to touch a woman’s leg or foot. Should a man meet a
woman going to bush, he must at once hide his eyes or pass by
another way. In those days it was a very terrible sin for any
man to commit adultery. Should one fall into this crime, he was
not only heavily fined but at once made outcast. Never again
was he permitted to join any ‘company.’ Never again might he
drink or eat with others. As regarded his own family, because
he was of their kin they would help to collect the fine, but
after this was paid off they would have nothing further to do
with him.

Among the Abuan, who live to the west of the Sombreiro River, the law of the Earth Mother as to chastity is even more strictly enforced. Like the Mbolli, this people on starting the new season’s farms early in January, take up their abode in little huts built on their plantations. There they spend the space of three months, after which they return to their town for about four weeks, and then go back for another three months, weeding the crops and tending them till they grow strong for harvest.

During all that time strict continence obtains. It is absolutely forbidden for any man to approach a woman, _even his own wife_. Should desire prove too strong, the pair must leave their farm and seek their town dwelling for the purpose. Any breach of this law is thought to have disastrous effect upon the crops.

Again, while, as already mentioned, it is regarded throughout the whole of the region as a grave sin against the Earth Mother for a woman to yield to the embraces of any man, whether lover or husband, while lying upon the ground, the crime is of yet deeper dye if committed upon farm land than in the depth of the bush. In olden days a couple convicted of such an offence would have little chance of surviving the wrath of their outraged townsfolk. Even now such a charge would bring down upon the accused the invocation of some reputedly fatal Juju. For instance, in a case heard at Abua Court (No. 116/14), a woman named Ugenni stated as follows:

All our townspeople laughed at me, saying that I was having
connections with men under plantains. So I said, whoever
accused me of having connections under plantains, the Juju
Obuku of Amingbokko must kill that person.

The same law against intercourse in the bush--and in some parts in a canoe--prevails throughout almost the entire Niger Delta. Among the Jekri it is so strong that in a recent murder case (Rex versus Iyeabor) it came out that the dead woman had such belief in the strength of this tabu--and an additional one which enjoined chastity during pregnancy--that she had no hesitation in going into the bush with her murderer, a man whom she knew to be desirous of her.

Case No. 297 tried in the Ijaw Native Court of Nembe in January, 1925, gives the procedure which was adopted in order to convert a ‘bush’ place, where cohabitation was not allowed, into a village, where this could take place with impunity.

Igoin and his people sometimes stayed at this newly discovered
place for two months, but no cohabitation was to be conducted
there. One of the main reasons why they used to return to Nembe
was because no husband was allowed to use his wife as regards
sexual intercourse there.

Finally an envoy was sent to the Long Juju (that of Aro Chuku)--a journey which would have taken at least several weeks--to ask for the necessary ceremony to be performed on the village, so that one can have connection with his own wife. Alegi returned from the Long Juju and told Ogede the rites which should be carried out. Ogede performed the necessary ceremony. The ceremony he performed was first he let a cock and hen cohabit at Ewelesuo. He brought one thing called ‘Ovo’ (Covenant) from Long Juju, one ‘Odo’ (a red round stuff) and a round white lime and gave these to the juju to appease the jujus and prayed that the village should become an inhabitable town and that one can have connection with his wife. Before this ceremony was performed it was forbidden for a woman to urinate in the village (Ewelesuo). On this account one place was chosen and called ‘Sanpogu’ _i.e._ (Waterside for urine).

Egula and Ogede were friends. After the ceremony had been performed Egula went after his friend and settled at Ewelesuo. Egula was dancing a juju called ‘Akpana.’ This juju Akpana and those at Ewelesuo made a covenant and Egula then ‘danced’ juju at Ewelesuo. Eugla is a native doctor. Ogede asked the juju, when Egula was dancing it, why they are not allowed to remain at Ewelesuo in November month. The juju asked whether he will be able to do so. He said ‘Yes.’ The juju then told him that, if people wanted to remain at Ewelesuo in November month, the people should keep a watch-night in the town and when the water ebb, they (the people) should take all jujus to the water edge and let the water soak them--which signifies that all the juju has gone out of the town (Oru iderimo). Then when December came the whole inhabitants should man one canoe, beat the tom-tom and sing a song and go to a creek called ‘Orumokolo.’ A prophet native doctor was to be in the canoe who will say to the people in the canoe that the jujus had come in. Then the canoe is to return to the town (Oru iwomo) and a juju called Ogoni is to be danced. Ogede agreed to perform all these. They (the people) were then to dance on three consecutive days after these jujus have been performed.

In many parts of the country there is likewise a strong tabu against the commission of adultery, particularly in the husband’s or adulterer’s house, and against a woman cooking food for her husband when she has just returned from her lover.

No sooner is farm work finished, however, than, as already stated, scenes of licence are not only permitted over the greater portion of this region, but even enforced in certain parts; for, just as the priestesses of some temples of old Greece were obliged to offer themselves to strangers, so excesses, regarded as most reprehensible at other periods, are encouraged at this.

Among certain of the Brass Ijaw adultery is openly condoned under certain conditions. It is the custom, for some towns that are friendly together, to make an agreement that no man will take an action in Court against any other of their inhabitants and claim damages or punishment for adultery.

This plea was raised in case No. 253/25 before Amassama Native Court and an action for damages was dismissed in view of a covenant to this effect between the towns of Amassama and Agoro.

The cult, in which religious prostitution was perhaps most openly and extensively practised throughout the Ibo country, was that of Ife-Ala (literally ‘thing of Ala’ or ‘that which concerns Ala’).

To those few Europeans, who have hitherto had knowledge of this cult, it appears to have been known as the Ifallum Juju. All natives questioned on the subject, however, including Chief Gabriel Yellow, stated that the real name was as above given. The headquarters of this particular cult of the Earth Goddess were at Nguru, a town to the North of Okpala in Owerri Division:

All people from neighbouring lands went there and lodges were
also set up in nearly all important towns throughout Degama
District. Many men and women, who could not be cured from
trouble by native doctors, went there to pray for help, but
the priest refused to invoke the aid of the Juju unless the
suppliant brought him a virgin as gift. The priest then took
her as handmaid and she was kept in the temple and hired out by
him to worshippers--especially to sterile men who came to pray
for increased virility. Such ‘slaves of the Juju’ were marked
out by a shaven patch at the top of the head.

There were about three hundred of these girls at Nguru but to none of them was it permitted to rear a babe, because by native custom they would have been obliged to refrain from the company of men for the two years during which they were suckling their offspring--and this would naturally have greatly diminished their earnings. So soon as a babe was born, therefore, the law of the Juju ordained that it must be disposed of in one of two ways; either must it be clubbed on the head and flung away, or laid in one of the big earthen jars and deposited in the bush beyond the town.

The Nguru lodge was suppressed about 1913 by Mr. J. M. Binny, District Commissioner. Great was the joy of the three hundred women thus set free to rear the babes born to them, instead of being forced to slay these at the harsh behest of the covetous priest of Ale.

A belief in the efficacy of sacrificial blood in order to purchase the favour of the powers of fertility is world-wide; but perhaps nowhere in past days did this dread libation flow in such streams as in West Africa. It is true that now the vigilance of Government and missionary effort have succeeded, to a great extent, in substituting that of slaughtered fowls, sheep and goats, for the costly ichor drawn from mortal veins; but in many a hidden shrine on the banks of unexplored creeks or in the depths of the silent bush--wherever indeed a chance occurred to do so in secret--human victims were till lately offered up. Especially was this practised at the season when the yam vines first send forth tender shoots to clothe the poles with green--as a means towards strengthening the new crops--and at harvest, in gratitude to Ale for her bountiful gifts of garnered grain. At such times it was dangerous for any unprotected wayfarer to venture forth beyond the borders of his own country, since strangers were very liable to seizure for such a purpose. Kula, the centre of many strange and terrible cults, bore an ominous reputation in this respect, until its evil practices drew the attention of Government and, as a result, the principal shrines were destroyed.

In May of one year, a chief stated, they chanced to sacrifice
a Brass woman. I do not know how she managed to disappear from
her own town, but the Kula people caught her for their Juju.
Always they made sacrifice when the new yams were coming up
from the ground. Every Juju of every nation demands a victim at
that time of year. News of the sacrifice of this Brass woman
was brought to Mr. Binny when he was D.C. of Degama; so he went
down and destroyed that Juju house. Word went forth that it
was to be burnt to the ground, whereon the people came to him
and said: ‘May we not take the sticks of which it is made to
mend our own compounds?’ Therefore he gave permission and the
townsfolk pulled it down themselves. In the shrine were found
many skulls carved from wood in exact imitation of real human
skulls. There too were human figures, finely painted; some like
those modelled in clay in the ’Mbari houses and others like the
’Nduen Fobara (ancestral images) in Kalahari shrines.

Yet another link between ancestor worship and that of the Earth Mother Ala is to be found at Omo-Ala (children of Ala)--a town in the south-eastern part of the Division which proved to be a great centre both of the cult of the Earth Goddess and of the forefathers.

Here, as in most other Ibo towns, nearly every compound has its sacred tree which is usually a specimen either of Ojji (_Chlorophora excelsa_) or Oil Bean (_Pentaclethra macrophylla_). In this the souls of the departed are thought to dwell while awaiting reincarnation. So long as the least fragment of the tree lasts, the faithful shades cling to its ancient trunk or branches or even retire into the furthermost rootlets. For this reason, when one of these giants falls beneath Time’s axe, the family to which it belongs marks the place where it formerly stood and no farm may be made thereon again. Were this not done, it is thought that the ghosts might be imprisoned for ever since they could not break through the earth to return to the light of day, lest, by so doing, they might injure the sown crops of Ale.

Before the last rootlets of the ‘ghost trees’ return to the dust of Mother Ale, the spirits announce to their family through the mouth of some medicine man that a new tree must be chosen for their dwelling-place. The homes of such ancestral shades are obvious, even to the most careless passer-by, from the earthen pots or bowls and the freshly-offered plantains, etc., which may always be found amid the roots.

At the planting of new farms the members of each compound assemble beneath the family tree and give a great play. At such times they bring gifts and dance and sing, robed in their best, praying the ancestral shades to guard the seeds laid in the bosom of Mother Earth and help them to come to fruition. Again, at harvest time, another play is held to thank the ghosts for their share of the crops. A part of the increase is always set aside in gratitude to these beneficent spirits.

There is an interesting point to be noted about such ‘ghost trees.’ In this part of the District only the souls of good men are thought to await reincarnation in these peaceful dwelling-places, gladdened by sunshine, quickened by gentle dews or warm fertilising rain and refreshed by soft breezes. It is a matter of firm belief that, however fiercely tornados may rage around, these are spared. The branches of such trees are never rudely torn nor dashed together, while no thunderbolt has ever been hurled against their sacred trunks.

The ghost of an evil man would in vain seek admittance within the shelter of the family tree, but would be driven forth by the shades of his blameless kin to await, in animal form, a new term of earth life.

Young brides, therefore, often linger beneath those trees in which dwell the souls of gentle ancestors, in the hope that one such may choose her as his Janua terrae. Among Owerri Ibo, however, a different belief is held; only the ghosts of those foully slain, whether by force or witchcraft, are thought to seek refuge in the tree tops, there to wail and cry throughout the hours of darkness and in time of storms with a pitiful sound ‘like a small chick or a piccan but a few days old,’ until the guilty cause of their untimely death has been brought to justice.

It has already been mentioned that ghosts, who have taken on brute form while awaiting reincarnation, sometimes fall upon women who chance to pass through their haunts. By means of the animal body, which they temporarily inhabit, these evil spirits force their unfortunate victims to bear a babe, into which the sinful soul may enter--thus procuring an earlier return to mortal state.

From a case heard in Degama Native Court it also transpired that, among some Kalabari at least, the belief is held that the spirits of dead husbands are not altogether cut off from earthly joys but, when bound by specially ardent affection for the wives they have left behind, may on occasion return for the purpose of once more embracing the object of their desire. That such a proceeding is supposed to be not without danger to the woman thus visited will be seen from the statement of Ogoloba H. Horsfall, who summoned her brother-in-law, Charlie H. Horsfall, for accusing her of witchcraft. Complainant stated on oath:

Three months ago the defendant accused me of witchcraft. This
was on the Government beach. He stated that several people
had died in the house owing to my having bewitched them.
My husband was defendant’s brother. He died, and since his
death has appeared to me in the night time and tried to have
connection with me. I had to make medicine to stop this, as
otherwise I might have died.

How deeply the longing for offspring is ingrained in the hearts of these people may be gauged to a certain extent by the horror of the means to which they will sometimes resort in order to overcome sterility or increase fruitfulness. For such an end no crime is too cruel; no magic rite too dark or revolting. For example, a case was reported from the Ogoni country on unimpeachable authority but seven years ago, in which the foetus was removed from a pregnant woman in order to be shared out among, and devoured by, others who believed this to be a sure way of increasing fertility.

In a land case, which had arisen between the Okrikans and the Mbolli tribe and came before me in April 1915, it was stated by Daniel Kalio, head chief of the former, that the disputed territory had been seized by his people in punishment for the terrible crime committed by their opponents.

In the old days, he said, the river formed the boundary between
our land; but our women were in the habit of crossing over to
attend the markets. One day, while thus peacefully buying and
selling, the ’Mbolli rose and slew seventy-two of them at one
time--forty-one at one place and thirty-one at another. Their
heads were struck off and borne before the Juju; while the
bodies of those who had been about to bear babes were slashed
open and the small, small piccans removed and carried away.

It was suggested from another source that this last outrage was promoted by the same idea as that recorded among their neighbours the Ogoni and that the Mbolli sought, by this terrible means, to procure unprecedented fruitfulness to their own women. The suggestion, however, has never been substantiated.

The story of the coming of Ale was told by an Ibo named Obi Amara. It differs from the usual southern Ikwerri Ibo idea that Chi, or Chineke, the creatrix, was the great first cause from which all mortal men have sprung. He explained seeming contradictions by saying that to Ale the bodies alone were due, into which Chi sent down souls from the Spirit Realm.

They make Ale play for this country at the feast of new
yams and also give food to Ale when they want plenty yams,
especially at the sowing of farms. Ale is the mother of all Ibo
people. Her husband is called ’Ndiche.

Perhaps it is worth mentioning here that this was the only occasion on which any such appellation was given among the many local names for the spouse of Ale. Ndiche, or Ndichie, itself is the ordinary Ibo word for the forefathers, and the relationship here mentioned between the Earth Goddess and these beneficent shades is significant in view of the co-operation thought to exist between them, not only as regards seed corn and harvest but also fertility of the hearth. Further it may be noticed that the primary cause of the coming of Ale, as here given, was not to provide a home for the living but a resting-place for the dead. To continue:

There is a big bird in our country named Ogbughu (hornbill).
Its mother died. In those days Ale was not, so that the bird
could find no place to bury his mother. He went round and
round and at last had to bury her on his own head. That is why
he bears upon his head a mound the shape of a grave to the
present day. After a while, as he flew over the water, seeking
a resting-place but finding none, he saw one fine woman and
one man swimming in the water. As he watched, he saw they were
making something and, in a short time, the first land began to
appear. When it had grown quite big, Ale cried: ‘When any man
dies, let him be brought and buried here.’ Her own body she
stretched over the land; she it is who made all, both the earth
and the earth-folk, whom she bore from her womb. When the dead
are buried they turn to earth, so that our people say: ‘We are
of one body with Ale.’ The trees too she brought. Ojji tree was
the first that ever grew upon earth. The second was Agbo (or
Akpu, the silk cotton tree) and the third Odala. Food is still
given to this tree for every child which is born to a house
and, if a woman wants a piccan, she brings a fowl to the Odala
tree.

When a woman wants to become a mother, she lies down to sleep
for night time after prayer to Ale. She dreams that Odala
brings a piccan and lays it upon her breast. At daybreak she
wakes and cries: ‘Where is the piccan that was over my heart?’
Then she takes a long piece of chalk,[22] called ’Nsu by Ibos,
and lays it before the Odala tree, praying: ‘Make my dream come
true.’

The fourth tree which Ale brought was the Kola Ojji, the fruit
of which is often set out in offering to the ghosts. At an
Ale feast the women bring food and the oldest man of the town
offers it up. After a man has eaten of such a feast, should he
do any evil thing that day, Ale would surely kill him.

When a bad sickness comes upon a town, the old priest of Ale,
who is always the head chief, beats upon the long drum to call
all the people together in order to find out the cause of the
trouble. Then Kola nuts are laid upon the place set apart for
offerings. Each man in turn kneels down and picks up the kola
with his lips, eats it and goes away. This is done until the
guilty one comes. When a wizard bends down to take Ale’s kola,
the Earth Spirit catches him and he is forced by her power to
confess how he spread the pestilence. Before all the people he
must speak out, saying: ‘I killed this man. I killed that man.
That woman also I slew!’--until all his crimes are known. When
everything has been told, his belly swells up and he dies. No
man touches him. It is by Ale’s power alone that he is slain.

This aversion to witchcraft is characteristic not only of the Earth Mother but also of her spouse the Thunder God; for, though certain magicians can raise a tempest by their spells, it is held to be extremely dangerous for witch or wizard to practise magic rites during the time of storms. When a man is struck by lightning, it is thought that Amade Onhia slew him on account of his crimes. Such men are never buried, lest the evil within them should defile Ale. The corpses are therefore flung away into the bush of the unblest dead. Similarly among Aro and some other Ibo tribes no tree struck by lightning can be used for firewood; since food cooked upon this would be accursed and even the light and heat given out by such logs would have a sinister influence on all whom it might reach.

With these peoples the bed-rock of religious ideas has perhaps been attained in this direction; and, unless the fascination of the subject has misled one with will-o’-the-wisp-like glamour, then surely in the cult of the Earth Mother, of the Sky Father, by whose fecundative showers her fruition is brought about, of the kindly ancestors, whose spirits still watch over their descendants and aid in the sending of rich harvests--lastly, and most intimately of all, by sympathetic magic through that mysterious link thought to lie between the generative organs, both male and female, and the fruitfulness of the animal and vegetable kingdoms--the innermost workings of primitive minds may, in a measure, be reached at last.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See also figures on the ancestral tablet described on p. 121.

[2] 1904, pp. 134, 135.

[3] In the Mbari houses of the neighbourhood of Omo Akani, Owerri District, where the Juju Ogugu holds sway, monkeys also are shown in the act of procreation.

[4] A different word to Abara ‘Juju.’

[5] Our informant did not know of any link, yet it seems not without significance that the phallic pillars, raised by maidens before marriage to ensure plentiful offspring, also bear the name of Eki. See chapter vii.

[6] At the Etche town of Okudu Mba there was an Mbari house erected in honour of Ajala (Aja ground or mud), ‘a brother of Ale.’

[7] In this neighbourhood are the principal shrines of Adumu, the head and father of all the snake cults of the region. The little village of Adum-Ama is its chief centre, while at ’Ngeri-Baw-Ama it was stated that ‘only men may talk with him; for with his cult some of the most important of the male secrets are said to be connected.’

[8] The wrestling scene depicted in every Mbari house generally represents the ceremonial wrestling ‘to help the crops grow’ described on p. 112 _et seq._

[9] Cf. The Bird and Pillar Cult of old Crete.

[10] See _Life in Southern Nigeria_.

[11] No information could be obtained as to whether the priest ‘died’ at the end of the seventh year of his office, like the priest of the Aya-Eke cult at Elele, _vide_ p. 103 _et seq._

[12] The tabu among Okoba and Ale Nsaw Ibo against climbing palm trees is probably due to the same idea.

[13] _Zeus: A Study of Ancient Religion_, by A. B. Cook.

[14] Vide _In the Shadow of the Bush_, p. 14.

[15] Many of these would now be classified by me as symbols of ‘medicines’ or charms, not ‘jujus.’ Vide _The Peoples of Southern Nigeria_, vol. ii. p. 153.

[16] _In the Shadow of the Bush_, p. 76.

[17] It is perhaps worth remarking that among Mbolli all fire brick is used for the same purpose.

[18] The Ajokko-Ji, the Yam Spirit, is further described in _The Peoples of Southern Nigeria_.

[19] _Woman’s Mysteries of a Primitive People_ (Cassell), p. 81.

[20] Eke day is one of the four days of the Ibo week. It is market day at Elele. Eke is also the name of the great python. See p. 7.

[21] Mbiencha is the child of Nkike, the Mbolli Earth Goddess.

[22] This offering is of the same shape, though apparently slightly larger than the small phallic symbols found before the Juju Ezum Mezum depicted on p. 92.

INDEX

A

Abara, messenger of the Earth Goddess, represented in Mbari Houses,
16-7.

Abaw, clan of Ika sub-tribe of Ibo, 79.

Abuan, Semi-Bantu tribe, 75, 121, 123.

Adultery:
Tabus, 126-7;
condonation of, 127.

Ajiji, ‘play’, 93-4.

Ajokko-ji, or Njokku:
Yam cult, 99 _et seq._;
among Mbolli, 29.

Ala, or Ale, or Ana. _See_ Earth Goddess.

Ale Nsaw, sub-tribe of Ibo, 122-3.

Amade Onhia, or Amad’ongha. _See_ God of Lightning.

Ancestors:
and Fertility, 9, 60, 113, 120;
and Ale, 120 _et seq._ esp. 134;
accursed, 64;
shrines and phallic figures, 84;
symbols, 80-1;
between reincarnations, 77, 130-2.

Ant hill, and phallic cults, 90-2.

Ape, represented in Mbari Houses, 22, 24-5.

Aro, sub-tribe of Ibo; and worship of Thunder God, 46.

Art, clay figures in Mbari Houses, 15, 41.

Axe, double-headed, depicted on Ikoro drum, 4, 8.

B

Binny, Mr. J. M., former District Commissioner, 108-9.

Bird and Pillar worship, 43.

Birth:
representation in Mbari Houses, 15, 24, 51;
due to Jujus, 60.

Blood and Fertility, 102, 128-9.

Burial. _See_ Death.

C

Chief of town, must be priest of Ale, 12.

Child birth, tabus re, 63.

Coiffure, representations in Mbari Houses, 15, 41.

Cooking cones. _See_ Eku, 82 _et seq._

Copulation:
method of, 24-5;
with the dead, 132;
unnatural, 33-6;
tabus re, 32-3, 121 _et seq._;
and cults of Earth Goddess and Thunder God, 15, 48.

Crocodile, depicted on Ikoro drum etc., 4, 7, 9.

Cult, yam, 99 _et seq._ _See_ Fertility.

D

Dance, at Elele, 116 _et seq._

Death, tabus re, 62-4.

Drum, the Great, 1 _et seq._

E

Earth. _See_ Goddess.
Spousals with Sky, 61.

Egyptians, Ancient, 75;
Legend re Horus, 85.

Ekkpahian, sub-tribe of, Ibo, and unnatural copulation, 34-6.

Ekoi, Semi-Bantu tribe, 65, 79.

Eku, phallic figures, 82 _et seq._

Eleche, Priest of Aya-Eke yam cult, 104 _et seq._

Elele, Ikwerri Ibo town, home of Aya-Eke Yam cult, 103.

Etche, sub-tribe of Ibo, builders of Mbari Houses, 12, 20, 23, 40 _et
seq._

Ethnological Sketch by P. Amaury Talbot, v.

F

Farms, 99. _See_ Fertility.

Fertility:
of farms, 50, 99 _et seq._;
of farms and flocks, 36, 113;
and Jujus, _see_ Ibudu, 65 _et seq._;
linked with priest, 103;
desire for, 133;
and blood, 128-9.
_See_ Ancestors, also Earth Goddess, esp. 40-1, 48, 60.

Frazer, Sir James, 85.

Fruitfulness. _See_ Fertility.

G

Genital Organs, 65-6, 70, 5-6.
_See_ Phallic, Symbols.

Ghosts. _See_ Ancestors.

Girls, and initiatory ceremonies, 14, 82 _et seq._

God, of Lightning and Thunder, Amade Onhia or Amad’ongha, 52 _et
seq._;
and Mbari shrine, 12, 20-1, 27, 30-1, 40, 43;
symbols, 47;
signs of, 57;
his ‘Palms’, 46;
his Priest, 49, 56;
and witchcraft, 57, 136.

God, Sky, 52 _et seq._, 61.

Goddess, Earth, 9, 52 _et seq._;
the coming of, 135;
and Mbari shrines, 12, 16, 21, 26, 30, 40;
and Ancestors, 120 _et seq._;
and witchcraft, 136.

H

Head-Dresses:
of Obukere Society, 37-8;
representation in Mbari Houses, _see_ Coiffure.

Horn of Plenty, 9.

I

Ibibio Tribe, 64-5, 85.

Ibo Tribe: v.

Ibodo, Etche Ibo town, 42, 44.

Ibudu, phallic pillars, 65 _et seq._

Ikoro Drum, 2 _et seq._

Initiatory ceremonies, feminine. _See_ Girls.

Intercourse. _See_ Copulation.

J

Jekri, sub-tribe of Yoruba, Tabus re copulation, 124.

Johnston, Sir Harry, 56.

Jujus, and Fertility of human beings, 60, 65.

K

Kalabari, sub-tribe of Ijaw, v, 56;
and double Ibudu, 77-8.

L

Lightning:
and trees, 58;
God of, _see_ God.

M

Marriage:
among Okrikans, 120;
ideal, 89;
betrothed girls, 82 _et seq._

Mbari Houses: Chs. 2, 3 and 4;
at Omo Dim, 10 _et seq._;
at Ibodo, 44;
construction of, 14 _et seq._;
ceremonies at, 14;
in Etche country, 40 _et seq._;
license depicted in, 32-3.

Mbolli, tribe:
and yam cult, 29, 115;
and farms, 121-2.

Medicine man, and construction of Mbari House, 21, 23.

Mgbe, and temples, 21, 23.

Moon:
depicted on Ikoro drum, 4;
on figures in Mbari Houses, 26 _et seq._, 31;
and fertility, 28-30.

N

Njokku, figure in Mbari House, 11.
_See also_ Ajokko-Ji, 99 _et seq._

O

Obogwe, Ibo town, Mbari House at, 30.

Obukere Club: 36-9;
and unnatural copulation, 36.

Ohambele, Ibo town, where Ikoro drum is worshipped, 2.

Okrikans, clan of Kalabari sub-tribe of Ibo, and Death Tabus, 63.

Omo Dim, Ibo town, Mbari House at, 26 _et seq._

Opioro, Etche Ibo town, Mbari House at, 24-5.

Otaminni, River Deity, and Mbari Houses, 12, 20, 24.

P

Peoples of Southern Nigeria, by P. Amaury Talbot, v.

Pepple, Mr. B. M., 2

Phallic Cult, 65 _et seq._, 84-5.
_See_ Procreation, Fertility, Symbols, Genital organs.

Pillar, Bird and Pillar worship, 43-4.

Pliny, 6.

Priest:
of Earth Goddess, 12, 16, 30;
of Yam cult, Fertility linked with his life, 103;
of Thunder God, 49.

Procreation, represented in Mbari Houses, 15, 32.

Prostitution, religious, 127-8.

Puberty, girls’ initiatory ceremonies, 82 _et seq._

R

Rainbow, sign of Lightning God, 57

Romans, and seed-grain, 113.

S

Seed Yams, and corn, 49, 59, 113.

Sekapu Society, 39.

Sex, Male and Female combined, 89.

Sky God. _See_ God.

Slaves:
of Juju, 56, 59;
in Mbari Houses, 42;
sanctuary in shrines, 59.

Snake:
depicted on Ikoro Drum, etc., 4, 6-7;
symbol of male organ, 5 _et seq._;
cults, 34.

Stone, worship of, 80-1.

Symbols: 65, 79-81, 84-5, 94;
on Ikoro drum, 4;
of tortoise and snake, 4-9;
of lightning, 47.

T

Tabus:
re copulation, 25, 32-3, 121, 123-6;
food, 49, 102;
climbing, 58;
picking leaves, etc., 58;
death, 62-4;
revocation of, 125.

Thunder, God of. _See_ God of Lightning.

_Times Literary Supplement_, quotation from, 4-5.

Tortoise:
symbol of female generative organs, 5-9;
and Folklore, 5.

Tree, sacred, 101-2, 130-1.

U

Umoyo, Etche town, 22.

Unnatural copulation, 33-6.

W

Whitehouse, Mr., former District Commissioner, 14.

Witchcraft, and Earth Goddess and Thunder God, 136.

Wobilo, Chief of Umoyo, 22-3.

Wrestling:
depicted in Mbari Houses, 41;
in connection with yam and corn cults, 110 _et seq._

Y

Yam Cult: 99 _et seq._;
among Mbolli, 29;
Aya-Eke cult, 103 _et seq._

Yellow, Mr. G. A., 11.

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