Chapter 13

CHAPTER XIII SECRET SOCIETIES The chief secret societies of the region are Egbo (Ibibio “ Ekkpe ”), Idiong, Ekkpo ’Njawhaw, Ekong and Isong. With the first of these I have dealt somewhat fully in my study of the Ekoi,1 and to the information there collected but little remains to add. That little, however, seems of considerable importance. It is known to few, even among members of high grade, and we are, I believe, the first white people to whom the secret has been confided. While collecting information concerning ceremonies performed on the deaths of chiefs who had held great positions in the society, it transpired, as recorded in the last chapter, that when the Egbo flees the town after such an event, if the surviving members fail to catch and bring him back in triumph, they are forced to enlist the services of an ancient woman from one of the ruling families, at whose call the spirit usually returns. It was explained that this was necessary, because Egbo was originally a woman’s society. From another source we learned that the secrets of Egbo were brought down to earth, in high and far-off times, by a divine woman, who revealed its mysteries to her terrestrial sisters much as those of the great Nimm society were brought to Ekoi women. Save in the depths of the bush, where many old rites are still carried out whenever there seems a chance of eluding the vigilance of Government, death can no longer be inflicted on women found guilty of trespassing, accidentally 1 See In the Shadow of the Bush. In Eket District there is usually no phallic cut stone pillar before which sacrifices are offered to the Idemm Ekkpe, but its place is taken by a small pot filled with water, and a round stone. or with intention, on places set apart for the carrying out of Egbo ceremonies. Such an execution once happened just before my arrival at Oban, and will be found described among Ekoi customs. Powerful as is the Egbo society, with Ibibio that of Idiong seems to hold first place, at least among old men. To raise the sum necessary for entering this cult aspirants sometimes reduce themselves to penury and even sell wives and children into slavery. Such a case was brought before me in the Native Court at Eket, when Udaw Ufet Etuk ’Nwa ’Nwa was charged with having sold his wife, Ekkpo Edem Eka, and daughter, Awariku, to an Opobo trader. During the course of the trial the woman deposed on oath as follows : " I was living in my step-mother’s house at ’Mbioto when Akpan Ude came with a letter. He said to my step-mother : ‘ I will take Ekkpo Edem Eka and Awariku to my house.’ He did not take us there, but landed us at an Opobo beach, where we were sold to a woman whose name I do not know. I escaped during the night, but was unable to take my daughter with me. I ran to the bush, where I slept for three nights. After that I tried to go back to my husband, but Akpan Ude met me on the road, seized me and tied me up with native rope. Then he took me to his father’s compound. During the night I escaped again, but this time I did not try to go to my husband, lest I should be seized once more. After a while I reached the town of Ikot Ebio Ekpong, where I stayed about three years. I was afraid to come back to my own town. One day, as I was going to market, my son Udaw Umaw Andem met me and led me to the town of my dead father. All this time Awariku had been at Udi Sam Anipepe’s house on Ikot Ebong beach. This was the place to which we were originally taken to be sold and whence I escaped. When we were seized, Awariku was a tiny girl and could only just stand on her feet. I carried her on my back. I feared to return to my husband lest he should seize me and have me sold again.” One of the witnesses, Akpan Etuk Akpan Adiaha Usere, stated on oath : “ About ten years ago I saw a man bargaining with Akpan ’Nta about the price for which he would sell Awariku. At length they fixed the sum at twelve hundred manillas. It was I, together with Akpan Ude, who seized the girl and her mother and took them to Opobo beach. Udaw Ufet took the money for which they were sold to pay for his entrance into the Idiong society.” The little girl had been kindly treated. She was a bright, attractive child, and her purchasers probably thought that they could count upon a good dowry for her when old enough to be sought in marriage. So well off indeed was she that, when on the mother’s entreaty she was sent for and brought back, she begged to return to slavery rather than live with the mother who was poor and whom she had long since forgotten. The Idiong initiatory ceremonies are said to bear a strong resemblance to those of Freemasonry. When a man wishes to join it he goes with the head priest of the cult and his own father, should the latter already be a member, into that part of the bush consecrated to the deity. First, a cock must be sacrificed, that Idiong may recognise the desire of the aspirant to enter his society. After this, the father approaches the head priest and begs him to pray Idiong to draw near. It is strictly forbidden for any non-member to be present at such a ceremony, or even to watch the procession on its way to the sacred bush. An infringement of this rule is fraught with grave danger to the neophyte, as was demonstrated to the satisfaction of the people of Ikotobo only a short time ago. One of the principal chiefs of the town, who was not a member of the cult, “ made Idiong ” for his son—i.e. he provided the necessary fees and sacrifices for the initiation. Not long after, the boy died, and members gathered round the grief-stricken parent, crying : “You have killed your own son. You followed when we made procession and dared, though an outsider, to partake of the offerings. This has enraged Idiong against you, in sign of which he has struck down your son. Come now and join our society, that the god may be appeased and send no further harm upon you or your house.” The first rite of the series is concluded on payment, by the father, of nine hundred manillas—i.e. about £6— fifteen pots of palm-wine, twenty fowls, twenty sticks on which are strung large dried fish, twenty-three seed-yams and twenty-three cooking yams. On the next “ Idiong Sunday,” after the first ceremony, the company meets again, this time in the chief’s palaver- house. Libations of mimbo, i.e. palm-wine, are poured out and all drink, after which the priest rises and chants : “ Thou, Idiong, art our god. Thou hast the power to give life. We beg thee to bless this earth-child with long life, for he enters the Idiong craft to-day.” All present take up the refrain and dance to the accompaniment of basket- and bell-rattles and also long okung— a metal instrument shaped like two flattened bells connected at the top, which is played by striking with a short stick. The dance is sometimes kept up during the whole night. For his services on this occasion a hundred manillas are paid to the chief priest, while ten must be given to each member before leaving. Next day four hundred manillas must again be paid to the “ Head of Idiong,” one hundred to the second in dignity, and sixty to each of the other members. Next “ Idiong Sunday ” all assemble once more at the same place, and go together to the sacred bush. After which the chief priest calls in a loud voice : Nkanni / Nkanni / Mbun Idiong / Ancestors ! Ancestors ! Company (of) Idiong ! Yak mbufu idi dia inyong inam own emmi ndikut Idiong. Let you come eat and make man this see Idiong. The flesh of a goat previously sacrificed is then strewn upon the ground, together with an offering of dried fish. After a few moments the priest calls : Eddi-ekka uterre idi, ndienn eddi idiongaw naw fi ete If vultures come, then is sign to you father mfo inemm esset koro afo eyum ndimumm your pleased at heart because you wish to join [lit. catch) Idiong. Idiong. He continues after a slight pause : Eddi-ekka Abassi Idiong inammka essett ye afo, muterre If God Idiong not pleased at heart with you, vulture ikamika ndiwara. is not able to come forth. In country such as this, where vultures abound, it is not often that these keen-scented birds fail to appear in answer to this invocation ; especially as offerings are frequently spread upon the spot. Should they not come, however, the priest announces : “ Your ancestors are displeased. You cannot therefore become Idiong man to-day. Go home and offer a goat in sacrifice, that their anger may be appeased.” After such an announcement, all go sadly back to their houses and meet again on the next Idiong Sunday. The ceremony must be repeated at intervals of seven days, until the birds at length appear. When the first are seen, winging their way toward the sacrifice, a shout is raised : “ Look ! Our fathers are coming ! ” On this all present begin to dance, uttering cries of joy, playing rattles and striking okung. The largest vulture is called the “ Etubum Idiong,” i.e. the chief messenger of Idiong, and it is thought that his arrival signifies the approval of the deity. While the birds are feeding, the aspirant’s body is rubbed over with yellow powder. The head priest then stands forth, holding a yam-pounder in his right hand. With his left he takes the hand of the man and announces : “I am about to kill you now ! ” Then with increased solemnity he continues : “ Close your eyes.” Next, amid breathless silence, slow-falling, come the words, “Thou — art — dead”—upon which the neophyte staggers and appears about to fall. The other members seize the wrists of the supposed corpse, drag him to the local club-house and fling him to the ground, in a space marked off by a row of impaled tortoises, from end to end of which stretches a semicircle of plantain leaves. Over the body a cloth is laid, as with one prepared for burial, and all sit sadly around as though mourning the dead. After a while one of the number rises and goes out. He searches until a small plantain is found, which he then cuts down and bears back to the chamber of mourning. The head priest places native pepper in his mouth, chews it, and then ejects it over the tree, saying : “ This plantain has now power to revive our brother.” It is perhaps worth remarking that, according to general Ibibio belief, plantain trees, in the hands of powerful Juju men, have the power of recalling the dead to life. One near death too may sometimes be revived if a very powerful magician climbs upon the roof of the house, as near as possible to the place beneath which the sick man lies. Seven strokes of the plantain stem must be struck against the roof, while after each the patient’s name is called. To every call the sufferer must answer : “ Ekpenyon—O—O ! Ekpenyon—O—O ! ” In Idiong rites also the stem is beaten seven times against the ground at the feet of the supposed corpse. Immediately after the seventh stroke the man rises, whereon the chief whispers into his ear some prophecy supposed to have been learnt during his sojourn in the realm of the dead. This the neophyte carefully repeats. It is usually of a very vague nature. Next, all adjourn to the father’s house, where a feast is spread, that the new-born may eat and be strengthened on his return to earth-life, after the strain of the terrible journey which he is supposed to have undergone. When the meal is finished, the whole company goes back to the sacred bush, giving “ Idiong calls ” and beating okung all the way, to warn non-members, so that none should inadvertently witness the procession. The most solemn moment of all has now arrived. The chief priest disappears amid the trees, where the shadows lie darkest, and re-emerges walking very slowly, a human skull in his outstretched hands. At this sight all present raise a shout of joy : “ Idiong has come ! We have seen him ! ” The skull is then presented to the new member with the words : “ This is your god. Within it Idiong dwells. He will give you power to see into the other world and to know the cause of sickness and of all trouble.” The skull is then borne home to be reverently laid in a place set apart until, after the completion of the rites, a special shrine can be built for it. This must be within the house, and can only be prepared by one of the older members, who demands a heavy fee for the service. After the skull has been set in its temporary resting-place, the company adjourns to the father’s compound, where they prepare for the last ceremony of the long day. A feast has meanwhile been spread in the so-called “ Town-playground,” while at every cross-road leading thither sacrifices have been offered. The head of the neophyte is again rubbed with yellow powder. A basket, covered with brightly coloured cloth, surmounted with an Idiong ring or crown, is lifted to his head. The procession then sets forth to encircle the town, pausing at every crossroad to hold basket and cloth, canopy-wise, above the new member. When each sacrificial spot has been passed, Idiong calls and cries are again raised and continued until the playground is reached. Here each present takes Tombo in his mouth from jars set ready for the purpose, and ejects it over the new companion. Then, after partaking of the feast, all return home. Next Idiong Sunday they again gather together for the final ceremony of the long series—the rite of “ the opening of the eyes.” The new member stands once more in the centre of a ring of spectators. Seven circles, called “ the seven steps,” are drawn on the ground, and as the man sets his foot in each, the head priest passes a knife over his right eye, pretending to cut it, each time asking, “ What do you see ? ” Meanwhile the blood of a cock, previously sacrificed, is poured on the head of the neophyte, so as to flow over the eye, and thus give verisimilitude to the ceremonial cuts. On placing foot within the seventh circle the man cries, in a glad voice : “ Now I see ! ” After which he again repeats some vague prophecy whispered into his ear by the priest. On one occasion the announcement was : “I see a man who is about to die in a neighbouring town ! ” After this the first Idiong crown is placed upon his head. This is a ring made of twisted tie-tie, dyed with the blood of a cock sacrificed for the purpose. The ornament is always worn out of doors, and is a sign of admittance to all privileges belonging to the lowest grade of the society.1 Before leaving home on the first day after becoming a member, two circles are usually - drawn round each eye ; the outer of yellow paint, and the inner of white chalk. This is done to impress passers-by with his supposed newly- acquired occult power ; for all who see him exclaim : “ That man has received the gift of second sight ! ” Sometimes, too, pepper is rubbed into the eyes to make them bloodshot ; for among Ibibio “ seeing red ” signifies the power of clairvoyance. The Abia Idiong, diviner or magician priest of the cult, before attempting to deliver any oracle, lays a pair of rattles on his right hand, and an oknng on the left. In front of him a “ thunder stone ” is set, and before this a pot containing the skulls of a monkey and cat, with feathers and skull of the fish eagle and some pieces of bright stone or looking-glass. Before attempting to prophesy he prays : “ Eyes of monkey ! Eyes of cat ! Eyes of fish eagle ! Enable me to see clearly that which I would know.” The flat bean of a leguminous tree, with a small hole drilled through the centre, is placed in the diviner’s mouth and others in the nostrils in order to disguise his voice when prophesying. Oracles are usually delivered in the dark shrine built in the houses of most men of high standing in the society. On a raised platform, before the ancestral images, sits the diviner, chanting invocations and calling up all the great Idiong spirits to make the future clear to his eyes. Such a shrine we were privileged to visit in the home of Chief Inaw of Ikotobo, a man high in the ranks of the cult. On stepping over the threshold of sun-baked clay, in the centre of which the skull of an anthropoid ape was embedded as a charm to ward off evil influences, we found ourselves in a dark little chamber where the Idiong insignia were set out. Behind a group of carved figures a small 1 From a distance it looks much like a Zulu Induna’s head-ring. N door was to be seen, leading to an inner shrine in which the chief believes that he is privileged to hold communion with the spirits of his ancestors. He told us that this was possible because, while undergoing initiation into the mysteries of Idiong, he had been sent to the spirit world in order to commune with the ghosts—a power which had remained to him after his return to earth-life. He related how on one occasion, while yet a young man, he had been greatly angered against a member of a neighbouring tribe who had slain his brother, and therefore entered the Idiong shrine to consult the spirit of his father as to the best means of obtaining vengeance. The Shade appeared ; but, instead of the hoped-for advice, repeated only the words : “ Do not kill ! Do not kill ! ” in so solemn a tone that Inaw had not dared disobey, but obediently gave up all attempts to avenge his brother. The man’s tones, hushed and reverent, as those of one speaking in some great cathedral, were such as to impress an unbiassed hearer with the sincerity of his belief in these ghostly visitants. The incident brought vividly to mind a description given by Major Leonard of his visit to a somewhat similar shrine.1 Inaw himself is a mine of folk-lore and strange beliefs, which he is only too pleased to impart to those Makara Etubom, i.e. White Chiefs, who ask in order to understand, not mock at, thoughts and ideas so different from their own. A second great society is that of Ekong, the War God. This is so powerful that it is a commonplace to say : “No man, however rich, is regarded as a chief in his town until he has joined it.” Up to quite recent years the ceremony about to be described was necessary before a new member could be admitted. Even now it is by no means sure that similar rites are not carried out in remote bush towns or on the shores of hidden creeks. The following account was given by Idaw Imuk of Idua Eket, half-brother to the chief whose brow is always bound with the sacred white fillet, and son of a woman whose soul is reported to dwell in a climbing palm at Afa Atai. “ When a chief wished his son to join the Ekong Society, 1 The Lower Niger and its Tribes. he chose out a woman from among his slaves, or purchased one from another town or tribe. Her he led to the place set apart as sacred to the deity. This spot was called Isu Abassi, i.e. the Face of God, or sometimes Isu Abassi Ekong, the Face of the War God.” In the neighbourhood of Awa, we were informed, Oronn people were always chosen for this purpose, “ because they are not of our nation, and the Idiong priest bade us choose these that we might not shed the blood of our own people.” If it was not possible to buy an Oronn woman, the neophyte had to purchase the mummified head of some former victim, the preparation of which will be described later on. For such heads the price of a live slave was exacted. Once arrived in the sacred enclosure, the unfortunate victim was given over into the hands of the priest. So soon as she saw the place, she knew that there was no hope for her. The apathy of despair, which is so peculiarly the heritage of black races, descended and enveloped her. Tearless, or with silent tears slow-falling, she moved toward the priest, unresisting always, since of what use to struggle when relentless Fate has seized and holds one fast ? About her round throat—for only young and beautiful women might be offered—a cord was flung and tightly drawn, so that she died by strangulation. No blood might flow, for this was a warriors’ society, and the victim was offered to the war god that he might rejoice in her agony and accept it as the price of his aid to the youth who to-day entered the ranks of fighters, so that no drop of the latter’s blood need be shed to appease the thirst of the deity. So soon as the dark eyes of the victim had closed for ever and the brown limbs lay still, a long straight branch of some hard-wood tree was brought forward. The priest took a matchet and sharpened the end to a fine point. This was then driven through the skull of the corpse, straight down the body, and out, far beyond the feet. Afterwards, those present raised up the pitiful burden, and drove the stake deep into the ground, so that the trophy stood firm, “for a warrior may not flinch before his foes.” The body was set with its back to the bush and its face towards the Juju, but far off. In front of it a little fence was made. “ Then chop was cooked, and each member of the club received his portion in a bowl, and, sitting down before the fence, ate of it and was glad.” For seven days a feast was held, with dancing and playing, but on the eighth they took down the body, cut off the head, cleaned it, and, unless it was going to be mummified, bore the skull in triumph to the house of the head priest, while the remains were thrown into the bush to rot. By the law of the society, the bodies of sacrifices such as these might never be buried. A more elaborate way of preparing the head was, so soon as it had been severed from the trunk, to lay it in a shallow hole dug in the sand. Above this, every day, a fire was made and “ chop ” cooked, so that the heat reached through the thin layer of earth and dried the skull. Such was the method of preparing the substitutes demanded from aspirants who were unable to procure a live victim. Only perfect specimens might be accepted, for, if the hair had begun to fall out, though never so little, the offering would be refused by the war god. When all had been done as ordained, the members went back and rested for a time. Seven days later they went together down to the spring and bathed, then returned to their homes, donned the insignia of the society, and went in procession to the market-place. After parading there a while, they came back to the club-house, bearing pots of palm-wine. A great dance was given, which lasted all day and night, till dawn broke again. So soon as the first ray struck upward from the east, the neophyte, in whose honour the feast had been held, was acclaimed a full member of the society. Afterwards all went home to rest. At the time of the new yam harvest the members of Ekong assemble for an interesting ceremony. Across the corner of one of the town “ play-grounds ” a line of forked sticks is driven into the earth. This is so arranged that, at beginning and end of the row, a great tree may usually be seen. Between each two supports, at the height of about four feet from the ground, palm leaves were hung, and against the terminal tree on the left-hand side was to be seen a little arbour made of the same leaves. Chief Iwong Paem-leaf Hut, in which %it* the Mother during the Celebration ot hi- Ritet. Over the fence thus formed each of the younger members of Ekong must spring before being allowed to take his seat on the farther side among those who have made good their claim to a place of honour. Young girls who have been confined to the Fatting-house for the last months parade before the barrier, robed in their finest, “ for it is to the warriors that such maidens should first show themselves, at harvest-time.” While these walk up and down, a member of the society, chosen on account of his sweet voice, sits singing in the little arbour of palm leaves. He is clothed in woman’s garments, and represents the Mother of Ekong, “ for unless the latter be present at such a ceremony, no blessing can be expected during the coming year.” So far as could be ascertained, Ekong, like Akpan ’Njaw- haw and Obumo himself, had no father, but sprang, in full strength, from beneath the heart of a virgin. Until quite lately, human victims were offered to the war god at the time of the feast of the first fruits, and, even now, it is hardly probable that the utmost vigilance has succeeded in thoroughly stamping out this practice. Just before the new yam harvest, mysterious crimes, the victims of which are usually decapitated, still occur, and it was reported that, upon the beaches of a neighbouring District, headless corpses are washed up by the tide, in greater numbers than usual, at this time of the year. The market value of the skull alone is enough to account for the fact that head-hunting is not yet a thing of the past ! In the Isong Society may be found a survival of the cult of Gaia, pure and simple, and, of all the deities in the Ibibio pantheon, Mother Earth is, in a way, nearest and dearest. “ When anything wrong happens in a town, throughout the land,” so we were told, “ the people of that place go at once to the Isong shrine to discover the cause of the trouble. When the oracle has spoken, the chiefs judge the palaver and inflict a fine, in goats or manillas, upon the wrong-doer. Should the latter be unable to pay, or refuse to do so, the members of the society go in a body to his house and tear off the roof, carrying it away to the Isong shed. The full name of the cult is Ekkpo ’Ndemm Isong, i.e. the Spirits of the Earth Juju.” Women and non-members may never see any of the sacred plays^and in old days the transgressor, witting or unwitting, of such a tabu was slain. The Idemm symbol or image consists of palm-leaves tied seven times and surmounted by a skull. The chief play is given at the time of new yams. During processions, most of the members hold tortoiseshells, which they beat with a short stick. The leader blows a great horn, and all the others strike the shells drum-wise in answer. The tortoise is pre-eminently the sign of Mother Earth,1 as is “ crab ” of the goddess of the waters. Within the Egbo shed of Jamestown a great drum is to be seen, carved at either end with one of these two symbols of the spirits of earth and sea.2 When a member of Isong dies, the whole society comes to carry out the rites. They it is who always give the last play at a funeral, for, at once on their arrival, all women and non-members must leave. To the beat of these curious drums—following, afar off, in the footsteps of Apollo, who was, so we learn, the first to draw music from the shell of this “ strange sweet beast ”—with mournful trumpet- ings, the dead is borne to his last resting-place in the arms of Mother Isong. 1 During the course of a study of the Ibo and neighbouring tribes a further meaning for the tortoise as a symbol of the feminine sex has come to light. This is discussed in " Some Nigerian Fertility Cults.” 2 Vide drawing on p. xi.