Warrior Masking, Youth Culture, and Gender Roles Masks and History in Aro Ikeji Festival
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Warrior Masking, Youth Culture, and Gender Roles Masks and History in Aro Ikeji Festival Eli Bentor all photographs by the author unless otherwise noted racing the history of masking traditions in the part of my argument is that, while historical perspective is crucial broader region of southeastern Nigeria and ad- to the understanding of the present, a synchronic view of the way jacent areas of southwestern Cameroon may masking performances are done today provides important clues as seem like an exercise in futility. Formal proper- to that history. Moreover, the transformation of warrior masking ties of masks, masking genres, names of individ- in Arochukwu from an expression of masculine warrior ethos to ual and types of masks, and various combina- a vehicle of age associations during the colonial and post colonial tions of elements such as carved masks or headdresses, costumes, periods has echoes in similar processes in the larger region. It andT hand-held objects may seem to appear in a bewildering mix proves that artistic practices are sensitive barometers of social that changes from place to place and even coexists within the same and political changes. community. Similar complexity can be observed when we examine The area of southeastern Nigeria and the adjacent parts of west- the music and dance that accompany masquerade performances ern Cameroon is known for its cultural diversity. The region is and the institutions that govern them. The picture that emerges home to speakers of several language groups, ethnicities, and social can easily give the impression of intractable chaos. In an earlier formations. Today, there are over a dozen ethnic groups of various article, I suggested a big-picture view of this complexity by tracing sizes in this area, the largest being the Igbo, who number well over masking genres from the Cross to the Niger Rivers (Bentor 2002). 20 million people. However, it is an open question as to when a A major conclusion of that study is that a spatial analysis of the distinct sense of ethnicity emerged in this area. As the prevailing current distribution of masking genres and styles is only the tip social order is that of small-scale, noncentralized village-groups, of an iceberg whose larger mass lies in the depth of time. Only a each area and even village-group possesses distinct cultural pat- diachronic analysis of the history of population movements, in- terns. In the absence of large-scale kingdoms or empires, each vil- tergroup relations, trade, pilgrimage, and other such factors can lage-group is free to adopt and adapt new patterns either from a begin to explain the current map. In other words, what we need neighboring place or from far away. This is reflected in the great is to move from a “geography of style” to a “history of genres.” A variety of artistic traditions and masquerade genres. similar attempt was made by Ute Röschenthaler for the area east of The Aro people emerged by the eighteenth century as the result the Cross River and Cameroon (Röschenthaler 2006, 2011). In this of the coming together of several ethnic elements including Igbo, paper, I attempt to trace the history of a single genre (or a group Ibibio, and groups from the other side of the Cross River, known as of closely related genres) of masking throughout the larger region Akpa by the Aro people. They established the new community of to try and tease out the history of warrior masquerade traditions Arochukwu following a war known as the Ibibio War. Aro oral tra- as an example of such cultural dynamics. I will do so through the dition relates that the area between the Cross and Enyong Rivers, lens of one locality, the historically important center of the Aro close to today’s meeting points of Abia, Akwa Ibom, and Cross people in Arochukwu in current Abia State of Nigeria. A critical River states, was a no-man’s-land sparsely populated by Ibibio and Igbo speaking people. Different Aro segments argue strenuously about the specific details and sequence of events that led to the Eli Bentor is a professor of African art history at the Department of war and its consequences. One version claims that Nnachi, an Igbo Art, Appalachian State University. His research focuses on the histori- medicine man from Edda to the north, wished to gain control of cal interpretation of masquerade performances. He has been engaged this region. He secured the help of an Akpa warrior called Osim, in a long-term study of the Ikeji festival of the Aro people of southeast- ern Nigeria for three decades. [email protected] who brought his younger brother Akuma to fight the Ibibio. Osim died during a battle and after the war Nnachi, Akuma, and an 34 african arts SPRING 2019 VOL. 52, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00445 by guest on 26 September 2021 521.indb 34 11/20/2018 12:12:35 PM 1 Nwékpé masquerader performing during Nkwo Ekpe Ibom day of the Ikeji festival, Ibom Village, Arochukwu, September 22, 2005. Nwékpé is one of over a dozen different masquerade genres owned by the different villages of Arochukwu as a reflection and expression of their varied histories. 2 Oglinye Society Dance Headdress Idoma region, Benue State, Nigeria, early 20th century Wood, metal, pigment; 35 cm x 18 cm x 21 cm The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchased as the gift of Helen and Howard Benedict, Tiburon, California, in Memory of Alan and Janet Wurtzburger, BMA 1982.65 Photo: Mitro Hood Ibibio leader called Eze Agwu settled down to create a multiethnic community called Arochukwu. This version represents the view of the descendants of Nnachi known today as the Aro segment of Okennachi. A counter version challenges the identity of the Eze Agwu section as Ibibio and claims that they were an Igbo group who brought in both Nnachi and Osim to fight the war and thus deserve to be considered a senior clan. Although there is an agreement in Arochukwu that the warriors came from across the Cross River, the exact location of Akpa is in dispute. Different sources point to locations as far south as Calabar all the way to the upper reaches of the Cross River. Colonial offi- cials, who noted the crucial role played by the Akpa in the estab- lishment of Arochukwu, speculated about their possible origins in Egypt and connection with the legendary Kwararafa kingdom. A common claim is that Akpa is across the river from Arochukwu in the middle Cross River area of Biase (Jones 1939: 102). Two argu- ments make it difficult to accept this location. Although Biase oral traditions recall violent skirmishes over land (Iyam 1995: 60–61), the Biase are not known as warriors and their age grades are not VOL. 52, NO. 1 SPRING 2019 african arts 35 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00445 by guest on 26 September 2021 | 521.indb 35 11/20/2018 12:12:36 PM associated with combat. A critical part of Aro oral tradition re- social life is still determined by what “segment” one belongs to. The lates that the Akpa came from an area where yam and the cultural annual Ikeji festival is a complex event that provides an arena for practices associated with it were unknown (Bentor 2011: 286). the reenactment and renegotiation of the tenuous bonds that tie The Biase area is known as a yam-growing and -exporting area. this heterogeneous community together. Yams are also the most prestigious farm product and the center Aro prestige was based on the veneration of the powerful of elaborate rituals (Iyam 1995: 87, 188–96). The area farther east Ibiniukpabi oracle known to the British as “The Long Juju.” The inhabited by Ejagham and related groups, known both for their oracle attracted clients as a court of last appeal and brought in warrior prowess and where plantain rather than yam was the main people seeking solutions in times of crisis. In a region lacking cen- staple food, may be a more likely origin of the Akpa. Given the fre- tralized authority, a religious center of such repute played a partic- quency by which Akpa is mentioned as a place of origin by differ- ularly important role (Ottenberg 1958). ent groups throughout the region, it is also possible that it is more Based on the prestige of the oracle, the Aro people developed an of a mythical than a real location. extensive trading network throughout the region. With the emer- This is not the place to present the nuances of Aro traditions of or- gence of the transatlantic slave trade, the Aro specialized in slave igins and the debates regarding chronology (Bentor 1995: 71–82), dealing, recruiting slaves from the interior and trading them for but the basic outline is central to the understanding of the history imported goods with the coastal trading states Calabar, Bonny, and of masking genres among the Aro. The death of Osim is regarded Opobo (Afigbo 2016). as a pivotal event that prevented the Akpa warriors from returning To facilitate their oracular and trading activities, the Aro forged to their home across the Cross River and facing the wrath of Osim’s a complex system of alliances with neighboring warrior groups in- father. As the Akpa, Igbo, and remnants of the Ibibio decided to cluding the Abam, Ohafia, and Edda, who could impose the Aro settle down, the new community of Arochukwu was established. will on reluctant partners and fight competitors. They also estab- At its formation, the constituent groups spoke different languages lished a network of agents and alliances with leaders of other com- and possessed very distinct cultural patterns.