The Niger River forms a vast network of waterways, tropical forests, and
mangrove swamps before it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The Ijo
have lived in this remarkable environment for several millennia, and
their beliefs echo its striking contrasts between land and water, rainy
and dry; Ijo art and ritual often involve canoes and other prominent
features of the riverain landscape. Unlike their relatives in the
eastern delta, who were heavily involved in trade and created a series
of city-states, Ijo living west of the Nun River supported themselves
largely by farming and fishing; their clans were united only by descent
and allegiance to common war gods. These gods no longer honor warriors
for taking human lives, but the Central and Western Ijo continue to
value masculine strength and assertiveness. References to their warlike
past abound in shrines, rituals, and masquerades, and ceremonial war
canoes still appear at festivals, including those held for war gods.
The Ijo believe that both people and spirits originate far off in the sky in a place called Wonyinghibou, or ‘Our Mother’s Forest’, and return there after death to await rebirth. They reason that the creator is female, because only women can bear children. Wonyinghi takes little interest in earthly events, but some Central Ijo towns seek her help in preventing epidemics. The priest of this shrine claims that no one knows what Wonyinghi looks like because she lives so far away, but songs portray her as an old woman wearing white, the color associated with the spirit world. The staff and stool combination, which serves as her emblem here, can also be used to represent other spirits. At a festival held during the dry season, shrine members raise the divination ladder to communicate with Wonyinghi, sweep the town clean with the broom, and sprinkle medicines from the pot to keep sickness at bay.
Before acquiring bodies, people appear before Wonyinghi to tell her whether they will be rich or poor, fertile or barren; this contract governs their lives, and even specifies how they will die. Because of their extreme naiveté before birth, some people choose badly. This young woman’s prenatal agreement prevents her from bearing healthy children, so a diviner has prescribed a ritual called zibe bari to replace it with a more positive one. In this form of the rite, the young woman holds a basket aloft on a pole; when singing and drumming induce possession, she sways, and offerings spill onto the ground. Finally, spirits guide her to the spot where she is to pin the pole in the ground. Relationships people form with spirits while living in Wonyinghibou can also affect their lives on earth; this case also involves a prenatal marriage to a jealous water spirit, who must be appeased with invocations and offerings.
Spirits, or orumo, mingle with people in Wonyinghibou, but have their own communities on earth. The Ijo distinguish between two types of spirits, whose appearance and behavior contrast as sharply as their habitats; water spirits can harm people, but tend to be far less irritable and vindictive than their counterparts on land, who kill at the slightest provocation. People take precautions whenever they enter the forest, but are especially careful to avoid areas that the bush spirits have claimed for themselves. When the volatile spirits retaliate against intruders by causing severe illness or erratic behavior, diviners may prescribe a ritual called bouyou seimo to counter their influence. The diviner and her assistants gather medicines from a special part of the forest and apply them by spitting, splashing, or poking at the patient, to ‘spoil’ the spirits’ power and ‘beat them back’. They also pour libations and sing and dance to the accompaniment of ritual drums.
The spirits people befriend in Wonyinghibou sometimes follow them to earth; some simply demand offerings, but others request that objects be provided for their use as earthly receptacles. Spirits who want attention typically alert their human friends or relatives by causing illness, misfortune, or strange behavior. Nature spirits sometimes cause people to behave combatively, reflecting their own anti-social tendencies. When this man was younger, diviners interpreted his overly aggressive behavior in the wrestling arena as an indication that a nature spirit he had known before birth wished to join him. Once he provided his bodiless friend with a carved image, his behavior became socially acceptable. Spirits of this type can also cause fertility problems. A woman described her friend from Wonyinghibou as a kind of spirit double, who looks like her and experiences the same things she does, but lives in the forest; her problems bearing healthy children ended when she acquired a carving.
In contrast to spirits living on land, water spirits tend to be benevolent beings who bring people children and money. Instead of black or dark blue, the colors bush spirits use to signify indomitability, water spirits like white, a color which connotes spirituality and wealth; they prefer offerings of imported food and beverages, like corned beef and Sprite, to the local produce bush spirits consume. Likewise, water spirits typically materialize as aquatic animals or things found in the water, instead of as vines and termite mounds, and seldom request figure carvings. In spite of these differences, the Ijo view spirits from the two zones as complementary and claim they can even intermarry. Diviners consulted about a small bronze caryatid found in the water determined it was Apeghele’s water wife. Apeghele, a bush spirit, formerly had two wives; the carving of his bush spirit wife has deteriorated, but his water wife stands propped against his legs.
Water spirits can materialize in many forms, but the Ijo generally describe them as beautiful beings with fair skin and long, flowing hair. In keeping with their watery habitat and associations with wealth and trade, they often choose shiny and/or manufactured items as their emblems: men typically purchase plastic dolls to represent their water wives; women use a glass tumbler, white saucer, and native chalk ensemble for their water husbands. As in the case of Apeghele’s water wife, diviners often consider objects people find in the water, like miniature paddles, sticks of wood, and keys, to be water spirits. This diviner says the emblems in her shrine appeared magically, like the glass tumbler she discovered after hearing something fall during a storm. According to her, not even the wooden objects in the shrine were carved by human hands. Diviners often have multiple spirit companions; this one claims to have one hundred and forty.
Adumu’s status as head of the water spirits on both sides of the Nun River suggests that the Ijo have revered him for many centuries. As an aspect of the python, he operates on both land and water, but shrines represent him as a water man. His preference for carved images sets Adumu apart from other water spirits; interestingly, the Central Ijo serve him the same types of ‘imported’ foods and drinks requested by other water spirits, but describe him as very dark skinned. Adumu typically appears with his canoe and fishing gear, suggesting that his current role as the patron of traders may have evolved from an original one as the patron of fishermen. However, some of the paddles and spears in this shrine, as well as a staff and stool configuration, represent spirits. Adumu’s wife also accompanies him, because an Ijo man must marry and produce children to be considered an adult.
Courtesy Art and Life in Africa
The Ijo believe that both people and spirits originate far off in the sky in a place called Wonyinghibou, or ‘Our Mother’s Forest’, and return there after death to await rebirth. They reason that the creator is female, because only women can bear children. Wonyinghi takes little interest in earthly events, but some Central Ijo towns seek her help in preventing epidemics. The priest of this shrine claims that no one knows what Wonyinghi looks like because she lives so far away, but songs portray her as an old woman wearing white, the color associated with the spirit world. The staff and stool combination, which serves as her emblem here, can also be used to represent other spirits. At a festival held during the dry season, shrine members raise the divination ladder to communicate with Wonyinghi, sweep the town clean with the broom, and sprinkle medicines from the pot to keep sickness at bay.
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Shrine for Wonyinghi, the creator, Azuzama, Bassan clan. Central Ijo peoples, Nigeria, 1979. Photo by Martha G. Anderson.
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Before acquiring bodies, people appear before Wonyinghi to tell her whether they will be rich or poor, fertile or barren; this contract governs their lives, and even specifies how they will die. Because of their extreme naiveté before birth, some people choose badly. This young woman’s prenatal agreement prevents her from bearing healthy children, so a diviner has prescribed a ritual called zibe bari to replace it with a more positive one. In this form of the rite, the young woman holds a basket aloft on a pole; when singing and drumming induce possession, she sways, and offerings spill onto the ground. Finally, spirits guide her to the spot where she is to pin the pole in the ground. Relationships people form with spirits while living in Wonyinghibou can also affect their lives on earth; this case also involves a prenatal marriage to a jealous water spirit, who must be appeased with invocations and offerings.
Spirits, or orumo, mingle with people in Wonyinghibou, but have their own communities on earth. The Ijo distinguish between two types of spirits, whose appearance and behavior contrast as sharply as their habitats; water spirits can harm people, but tend to be far less irritable and vindictive than their counterparts on land, who kill at the slightest provocation. People take precautions whenever they enter the forest, but are especially careful to avoid areas that the bush spirits have claimed for themselves. When the volatile spirits retaliate against intruders by causing severe illness or erratic behavior, diviners may prescribe a ritual called bouyou seimo to counter their influence. The diviner and her assistants gather medicines from a special part of the forest and apply them by spitting, splashing, or poking at the patient, to ‘spoil’ the spirits’ power and ‘beat them back’. They also pour libations and sing and dance to the accompaniment of ritual drums.
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| Zibe bari, ritual to change the birth agreement. Korokorosei, Olodiama clan. Central Ijo peoples, Nigeria, 1979. Photo by Martha G. Anderson. |
The spirits people befriend in Wonyinghibou sometimes follow them to earth; some simply demand offerings, but others request that objects be provided for their use as earthly receptacles. Spirits who want attention typically alert their human friends or relatives by causing illness, misfortune, or strange behavior. Nature spirits sometimes cause people to behave combatively, reflecting their own anti-social tendencies. When this man was younger, diviners interpreted his overly aggressive behavior in the wrestling arena as an indication that a nature spirit he had known before birth wished to join him. Once he provided his bodiless friend with a carved image, his behavior became socially acceptable. Spirits of this type can also cause fertility problems. A woman described her friend from Wonyinghibou as a kind of spirit double, who looks like her and experiences the same things she does, but lives in the forest; her problems bearing healthy children ended when she acquired a carving.
In contrast to spirits living on land, water spirits tend to be benevolent beings who bring people children and money. Instead of black or dark blue, the colors bush spirits use to signify indomitability, water spirits like white, a color which connotes spirituality and wealth; they prefer offerings of imported food and beverages, like corned beef and Sprite, to the local produce bush spirits consume. Likewise, water spirits typically materialize as aquatic animals or things found in the water, instead of as vines and termite mounds, and seldom request figure carvings. In spite of these differences, the Ijo view spirits from the two zones as complementary and claim they can even intermarry. Diviners consulted about a small bronze caryatid found in the water determined it was Apeghele’s water wife. Apeghele, a bush spirit, formerly had two wives; the carving of his bush spirit wife has deteriorated, but his water wife stands propped against his legs.
Water spirits can materialize in many forms, but the Ijo generally describe them as beautiful beings with fair skin and long, flowing hair. In keeping with their watery habitat and associations with wealth and trade, they often choose shiny and/or manufactured items as their emblems: men typically purchase plastic dolls to represent their water wives; women use a glass tumbler, white saucer, and native chalk ensemble for their water husbands. As in the case of Apeghele’s water wife, diviners often consider objects people find in the water, like miniature paddles, sticks of wood, and keys, to be water spirits. This diviner says the emblems in her shrine appeared magically, like the glass tumbler she discovered after hearing something fall during a storm. According to her, not even the wooden objects in the shrine were carved by human hands. Diviners often have multiple spirit companions; this one claims to have one hundred and forty.
Adumu’s status as head of the water spirits on both sides of the Nun River suggests that the Ijo have revered him for many centuries. As an aspect of the python, he operates on both land and water, but shrines represent him as a water man. His preference for carved images sets Adumu apart from other water spirits; interestingly, the Central Ijo serve him the same types of ‘imported’ foods and drinks requested by other water spirits, but describe him as very dark skinned. Adumu typically appears with his canoe and fishing gear, suggesting that his current role as the patron of traders may have evolved from an original one as the patron of fishermen. However, some of the paddles and spears in this shrine, as well as a staff and stool configuration, represent spirits. Adumu’s wife also accompanies him, because an Ijo man must marry and produce children to be considered an adult.
Courtesy Art and Life in Africa
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