Foreword

FOREWORD About a year and a half ago, when sending forth my first record of a West African people, I wrote : “ To my critics I would say that, written in the depths of the bush it describes, far from every book of reference, or the society of those who might have enriched its poverty from the store of their learning, this book claims nothing, save that it strives to tell the story of a little-known people from a standpoint as near as possible to their own.” The same plea still holds, but there is one great difference between this study of the Ibibio and my former one of the peoples of the Oban District. For the first no information was available save what could be wrung, alone and unaided, from natives, long distrustful, often purposely misleading, and only partially won over after years of patient effort. Here, on the other hand, within a few weeks of arrival in the Eket District, Mr. W. W. Eakin of the Kwa Ibo Mission, who had collected valuable information concerning certain Ibibio customs, generously placed this at our disposal. It has consequently been incorporated, under his name, in this record. To one other the present volume owes more than I can say, i.e., to Etubom Nyung Ansa, better known by his English name, Chief Daniel Henshaw, Native Political Agent for the District. He is a Chief of pure blood and Head of one of the seven ruling families of Calabar, where his ancestors were found in possession on the coming of the early traders. vii For over twenty years this man has been a faithful servant of Government, and his life would form a thrilling record of adventure and hairbreadth escapes. His tact and courage have, over and over again, saved the lives of white officials, and to him, and such as he, white rule owes a debt of gratitude only too little realised or expressed. He has visited England, is well educated,—not merely Christianised, but Christian,—and has learnt the lesson of European culture, without losing the simplicity of manner and primitive virtues of his forebears. In too many cases education has deprived the negro of the good qualities of his own people without implanting ours. Up to a short time ago I must confess to a preference for “ bush folk ” rather than the more civilised specimens of the black race ; but that European education may bring the black man to a high pitch of civilisation, without destroying the natural dignity or simple charm of manner to be found among “ bush ” people, I now gratefully acknowledge. Not only did Chief Henshaw tell us much that, in all human probability, would never have reached our ears in other ways, but he willingly consented to the labour of working through with us Sir James Frazer’s exhaustive list of questions. Also, from his vast knowledge of native customs and beliefs, he was able to corroborate, or gain confirmation of many a statement gleaned from sources not trustworthy enough to include without verification. Unless specially marked as uncorroborated, no information is given in these pages without the testimony of several independent witnesses. The wishes of my wife and her sister forbid me to write as I should have liked to do concerning the help given by them ; yet it is impossible to let this account appear without at least mentioning that my wife is responsible for the description of scenery, and had they not both been willing at all times, and no matter how weary from long marches and other causes, to take down information or amplify hurried jottings gleaned during the day, it would have been a physical impossibility, under the stress of political work, that this record should have been written. Not only were they of the greatest help in all branches of research ; but their presence inspired confidence in many women, so crushed by centuries of oppression, that, according to native testimony, a considerable number were only thus emboldened to bring their complaints straight to me. Further, many men openly testified that they were kept from believing the statements of agitators, as to my intention of “ making war ” upon the people, by the fact, put forward by one of the principal Oronn chiefs, that no white man would have come on “ war palaver with his wife on the right hand and her sister on the left ! ” As time passes, it brings with it added humility to counterbalance a growing sense of the urgency of placing on record every scrap of information which can be gleaned from this vast treasure-house of forgotten lore, before the little lamp of antique wisdom—handed from father to son through countless generations, and still burning brightly among some few in the prime of life, and many so feeble that they must, before long, lose hold of earthly things— has been quenched in the onward march of civilisation. The longer a kind Fate arranges that my life should be spent among such peoples the firmer is borne in upon me the conviction that, to men so placed as I, only the privilege of the first spade-work may be accorded—such, indeed, as falls to the lot of humble excavators who, on the other side of this great continent, wield pick and shovel, to bring the treasures of forgotten cities to the light of day. It seems better, therefore, to rest content with a simple placing on record of facts fresh from the lips of those to whom they have been confided through long lines of forebears, from a past of hoar antiquity, than to strive to present such information in more polished guise. This could only have been made possible by laying it aside till another leave, when the impressions here recorded would have been dimmed by new happenings amid other races. Unless the love of this fascinating study deceives me, authors, golden-penned, and writing in the restful atmosphere of panelled libraries at home, may, one day, not disdain to correlate the information thus gleaned, in saddle and dug - out, through bush and creek, by such rude chroniclers as I. For the more than charity hitherto shown by critics the world over I have no words, adequately, to express thanks. Is it too much to venture, once again, to claim a little indulgence on the ground that only ten months in all were allowed us among this people—nearly a quarter of a million in number, and demanding the utmost vigilance of administration ? During this time nearly five thousand miles were covered, mostly on foot or in canoe. The seven Native Courts of the District needed constant supervision, while the mere task of keeping alive, despite the many plots to the contrary, was not unlike the moves in a game of chess, and exacted nearly as much care in the playing. Yet, in despite of drawbacks and shortcomings, if, as Stevenson says, " In all narration the only way to be clever is to be exact,” and “ the best story-tellers are the poor, for they must lay their ear to the ground each night ” : then surely this account, taken straight from the lips of a people who, not at night-time only, but throughout their lives, cling close to the heart of Mother Earth, cannot be quite valueless. P. AMAURY TALBOT. Degama, 1914.1 1 The delay in publication is due to the outbreak of the War and my absence from England. The Big Drum at Okon Ekkpo. ILLUSTRATIONS In an Ibibio Sacred Grove . . . . .10 Pots of Offerings at Place of Sacrifice . . . .26 The Rock of Abassi Isu Ma . . . . .26 The Priest of the Sacred Water of Edogho Ukwa . . 38 Entrance to the Sacred Water of Edogho Ukwa . .38 Sacred Water at Okobo . . . . .40 Place of Sacrifice . . . . . .40 The “Mother of the Town” . . . . .46 ’Mbiam Water at Ikotobo . . . . .48 The late Chief Daniel Henshaw . . . .58 Market-place where the Magic Plays were held . . • 1- Marionettes used in the “ Akan ” Play . . . .76 The Sacred Bird Dance . . . . .80 “Bird” Masks. (Front and Side Views) . . .82 Ibibio (Ogoni) Masks and Marionettes . . . .82 Situ ...••• 91 Fish Trap . . • • • • • 91 Uya-Oronn Creek . . . • • . ioo A Famous Were-leopard . . • ■ .106 The Great Tree which sprang from the Spot where the Body of Ebiribong lay . • • • .114 Cut Stone near Ofun Atam . . • • .114 Chief’s Memorial . . • • • • !42 Heap of Broken Calabashes and Pots . . . .158 Funeral Hut . • • • • • I-^ Chief Inaw of Ikotobo, wearing the Crovm of the famous Idiong Society ..••••• Palm-leaf Hut, in which sits the “ Mother ” of Ekong during the Celebration of his Rites . 1 80 180 xv One of the “ Images” of Ekkpo ’Njawhaw . . . 188 Eka Ekkpo ’Njawhaw, with her eldest Son Akpan Ekkpo ’Njawhaw 188 Ibibio Cult Objects . • ■ • • .192 Ibibio Fetishes . . • • • .192 Two Old Fetishes and the Drum of the Ekkpo ’Njawhaw Society 192 Adiaha Usin with her Husband . . . 194 Court Messenger William . . . ■ 194 The Funeral of a Great Ekkpo ’Njawhaw Chief . . .198 Ibibio, showing Teeth-filing ..... 222 “ Mandara” (from the Mandara Hills, south of Lake Chad) . 222 The Obba of Benin . . . . • .226 An Ibibio Boy carrying Fire in a hollowed Plantain Stem . 252 Yoruba Traders . . . . . .252 “Image” of the Akpambe Cult, very powerful in the Oronn region . . . • • • .258 “ Image” with Skull . . . . . .258 Tree cut down in Ibibio Market-place because one of the Branches fell and killed a Woman . . . . .272 Type of Ibibio Chief ...... 274 Phallic Juju—to bring Fertility to Farms . . . 274 Chief Cookery Gam of Opolio and his Wives . . .284 The Tree Ainyena ...... 284 Stubb’s Creek . . . . . . .310 Base of Sacred Ebiribong Tree, surrounded by Plaited Mat, denoting Dry and Rainy Seasons . . . .310 Ebiribong Tree. . . . . . .314 Near the Source of the Ubium River .... 320 Woman Potter at Ikotobo . . . . .320 Map of the Eket District . . . 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