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Home , Arochukwu, Aro people, Cross River (Nigeria)

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 and ad- to the understanding of the present, a synchronic view of the way jacent areas of southwestern 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 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 post­colonial 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 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 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 , 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

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521.indb 34 11/20/2018 12:12:35 PM 1 Nwékpé masquerader performing during Nkwo 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 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

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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, , 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. While heterogeneous munities that allowed them free movement and access to trade and origin is common in communities throughout the region, other a steady stream of clients for the oracle. As they gained foothold in communities usually adopt a fictitious idiom of kinship that bind the larger region, they also helped disseminate cultural institutions the segments into a unitary group and establish an internal hier- such as Ékpè and Okonko societies that furthered their commer- archy. Crucially, the emerging Aro community did not obliterate cial interests (Oriji 1987: 154–57) their cultural differences to create a sense of homogeneity. To this day, the Aro people keenly maintain a separation into their vari- 3 Igede Ogrinye masquerade (right) Uwokwu, Benue State, 1986. ous groups of origin, and much of their ritual, political, and even Photo: Sidney Kasfir

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521.indb 36 11/20/2018 12:12:37 PM 4 Eblami masquerade of the Obam hunter and The Akpa warriors became known as the Ibom Isii segment warrior society performing during a festival in Idomi, Yakkur, , September 28, of Aro and maintained their role as defenders of the community 2001. by settling in six villages along the eastern and southern frontiers Photo: Gitti Salami facing the Ibibio. During the Ikeji festival a special day, Nkwo Ekpe Ibom, is dedicated to the celebration of the Ibom Isii section. The With the decline in the slave trade in the early nineteenth cen- main event of the day takes place in the village square of Ibom tury and the development of the “legitimate trade,” the Aro contin- village, the head village of Ibom Isii. On that day, the leaders of the ued to use their slave conscription ability to establish an extensive other two major sections (Okennachi and Eze Agwu) are guests network of settlements throughout southeastern Nigeria. These of Eze (king of) Ibom Isii. This is the only time during Ikeji when settlements specialized in the production of palm oil for export. wrestling (m`gbá) takes place, with the explanation that it was the As the new community of Arochukwu emerged following the old way of training young men to become warriors. Each of the Ibibio war, the Aro developed shared institutions to bring the dif- six Ibom Isii villages performs one of the dances or masquerade ferent segments together without obliterating their separate iden- genres owned by the village. The most popular performance, often tities. An early form of government based on sacred attachment to selected by more than one village, is that of Nwékpé. their places of origin known as Otusi was later replaced by a tri- The following day is Èké Ekpe, the main day of masquerade umvirate of leaders of the three major sections with the Eze Aro as performances when each of the nineteen villages of Arochukwu first among equals supported by the Aro Clan Council. The most brings one of its dances or masquerades to Amaikpe Square, the important institution that brings the Aro together is the annual communal arena owned collectively by all the villages. Standing on Ikeji festival. The Aro adopted and adapted a regional agricultural the edge of the arena on this day, one can observe troupes perform- festival celebrating the harvest of a new crop of yams. However, ing many different dancing and masking genres from throughout since they were primarily traders rather than farmers, they recon- southeastern Nigeria and beyond. Amaikpe Square functions as a stituted it as a celebration of their preoccupation with trade and “place of memory.” It is the place where Osim, the Akpa war leader, as an expression of their intricate history. The festival is a complex bled to death—the spot marked by a stone shrine and an ogrisi tree. affair lasting twenty-four days with different activities marking dif- In the past, it was the place of judgment and execution. It is the ferent historical relationships (Bentor 2011, 1995). In this paper I site of all major public community-wide events. It embodies what will limit my discussion to the specific contributions of the Akpa Michel Foucault (1986) called heterotopia or heterotopic space.1 descendants and especially their Nwékpé masquerade genre to Each of the nineteen villages of Arochukwu owns several the annual festival.

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521.indb 37 11/20/2018 12:12:37 PM 5 Skin-covered headdress Boki or Keaka, early 20th century Wood, skin, fiber, hair, metal; 22.9 cm x 13.3 cm x 16.5 cm Toby and Barry Hecht Collection

6 Ékpé dance headdress Igbo, early 20th century Wood and pigment; 29.2 cm x 10.8 cm x 15.9 cm Toby and Barry Hecht Collection

different masking and dance genres. The specific genres depend of the headdress, performance, and dance steps is very close to my on two factors: the area of origins of the group and their main records of Nwékpé. The costume is a tight body suit, the dancer areas of settlements. A prominent masking genre in all six Ibom carries (or used to carry) a machete, and the performance includes Isii villages is Nwékpé.2 Today, Nwékpé is a benign type of masked vigorous foot stomping. Most critical to this discussion is that the dance associated with age grades. It appears wearing a tight off- Oglinye sport a headdress in the form of a human head. Both types white body suite with raffia frills, holding a machete or a broom. of masquerade are associated with age grades. However, there are A live cock is often tied to its waist. Chains made of dry oil bean several noticeable differences. Kasfir recorded a mock battle as part seeds are tied to the masquerader’s legs to accentuate the rhythm of Oglinye performance that does not take place at Arochukwu, of the dance. A lifelike carved human head sits on top of the mas- and the accompanying musical instruments are different. While querader’s head. A chain or a rope ties the masquerader to one the headdresses among the Idoma are identified as feminine, those or two people who attempt, somewhat unsuccessfully, to constrain at Arochukwu are decidedly masculine. Idoma Oglinye masquer- the aggressive outbursts of the dancer (Fig. 1). Before Nwékpé ap- aders mainly perform at second burial ceremonies (Kasfir 1988: pearance, two young men with large colorful flags announce its 87); in Arochukwu Nwékpé primarily appears during the annual arrival. A group of young men and women, some playing drums Ikeji festival. It is to be expected that related masking genres of and claves, follows the masquerader. It is the only type of mask in such wide distribution will show both similarities and differences Arochukwu that is followed by a mixed-gender group. The mas- due to multiple influences that impact differently the two distant querader moves quickly and from time to time stops in its place locations. Based on the use of headdresses rather than face masks, to perform a short dance consisting of vigorous leg stomping. This slit drums, and other clues, Kasfir traces the origins of Oglinye to elicits an intense reaction from the audience. the Middle Cross River area—as I suggested earlier, this is also Students of masking in the larger region will recognize Nwékpé the area of origin of the Akpa warrior segment of the Aro. Kasfir affinities with a broadly distributed complex of masquerade genres points to the closely related Igede people to the east of the Idoma associated with masculinity and warriorhood. We can find varia- as the corridor for the transmission of masking genres including tions on this type in some of the many acephalous groups from the Oglinye (Fig. 3). Those findings are supported by Robert Nicholls’s forest area of Cameroon, to the Cross River area, on to the Idoma research among the Igede, where he noted the importance of and Igede of the Benue Valley, and into the southeastern Igbo “Ogirinye [due to its] deep roots in most parts of Igede and its great area. Talbot was the first to cluster those into a group of related antiquity as a warrior institution common to a much wider ethnic “headhunters societies” (Talbot 1926, 3: 788–89). The literature area” (Nicholls 1984: 72 and n.12). The Igede have a related associ- on these warrior associations repeatedly suggested that member- ation called Onyantu using Janus-face skin-covered masks that are ship was restricted to those who have killed an enemy in battle or, clearly related to the Ejagham skin-covered warrior masks of the occasionally, a ferocious wild animal, especially a leopard. Early middle Cross River (Nicholls 1984: 72 and n.12). The sources often connect these associations with head hunting and farther east are another Benue-region group who may have played even cannibalistic practices. One should take such claims with a a critical rule in cultural transmissions from the Cross River to grain of salt, but more recent studies, including my own, suggest the Benue area as they trace their origin to the middle Cross River that among the functions of these societies was furnishing human and are known as fierce warriors. However, Tiv cultural history heads for the burial of notable men. is poorly understood. Sidney Kasfir investigated the appearance and history of an Kasfir suggests that Oglinye and related masks developed out of Idoma version of warrior masks known as Oglinye or Ogrinye (Fig. dances performed by warriors returning from battle with trophy 2) that, in her words: “encapsulate the Idoma idea of masculinity heads. With the decline of warfare and headhunting during the in both the biological and social sense” (1988: 85). Her description colonial period and the spread of Oglinye into Idomaland from the

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521.indb 38 11/20/2018 12:12:38 PM Igede people and the Ogoja area to the southeast, it gradually lost its clear association with warfare and became a more general embod- iment of aggression and masculinity (Kasfir 1988: 93–94). Kasfir and others propose that the headdress gradually transformed from an actual skull, into carved heads covered with human skin, to a carved wooden headdress without skin. Different localities adopted different variations along this trajectory (Kasfir 2011: 75). The ritual use of human skulls was outlawed by the British, a prohibi- tion that is, at least nominally, still in effect. However, human skulls are still sometimes used (or, perhaps, their use has resurfaced) by powerful masks in the middle and upper Cross River areas. A decline and later resurfacing of the use of skulls as part of masking costumes is also evident when comparing Daryll Forde’s information from his Yakurr (Yakö) research in the middle Cross River area in the 1930s with the recent studies by Gitti Salami. Forde could not observe any activities of a warrior society called Obam, and members were reluctant to give him information. Colonial authorities banned Obam following an alleged ritual murder. Forde proposed that

Obam had generally a reputation for cannibalistic practices and there were suggestions that in the past it regularly undertook to pro- vide victims for human sacrifices … its ceremonies included perfor- mances by two dancers wearing masks in which skulls were incorpo- rated (Forde and International African Institute 1964: 160).

7 Ohafia war dancers performing during In contrast, Salami, who has studied Yakurr since 1998, docu- the burial of Eze Kanu Oji in Oror Village, mented several masking genres using human skulls. Among them Arochukwu, Abia State, January 9, 1988. is a mask with a tight bodysuit and a skull used as part of a hunter and warrior society called Obam (Fig. 4). The male Eblami mask appears with a female masquerader called Mna Oban using a borne by the victors” (Talbot 1912: 261). He describes a chief’s fu- skin-covered headdress. “Obam members are said to be the first to neral used by a club (his term for an association or society) called 3 go to the warfront.” Igumi established to wage war on a neighboring town using a skin-covered mask together with a mask fashioned out of a human Eblami manifests a fierce spirit that symbolizes the people’s confi- skull (Talbot 1912: 223). Nicklin, who surveyed the distribution dence in their ability as warriors. To intimidate threatening forces, it wears a head crest made of a human skull. Because it is dangerous, it of skin-covered masks in Nigeria (Nicklin 1974) and Cameroon is controlled by chains (Salami 2005: 80–81). (Nicklin 1979), mapped their distribution and recorded their connection with warrior associations whose membership was re- Interestingly, like the Idoma and the Ibom Isii segment of stricted to those who killed in battle. Performances were primarily Arochukwu, the Yakurr people also trace their origins to a done during burial ceremonies of members and often involved the place called Akpa that they locate in the near the masquerader brandishing weapons. He also documented human Nigeria-Cameroon border. skulls overlaid with skin, a possible transition between the use of In the middle Cross River area populated by the Ejagham and re- actual skulls and their replicas in skin-covered wood (2000: 202). lated groups on both sides of the Nigeria Cameroon border, warrior Koloss conducted an exhaustive study of different associations societies are primarily noted for their use of skin-covered masks. in the central Ejagham community of Kembong in the Manyu However, not every skin-covered mask is used by a warrior society. Division of the Southwest Province in Cameroon. He observed The basic type is a single-head headdress often tied to a concave that skin-covered masks belong to secret societies called Nchebe basket base for attachment to the masquerader’s head. However, and Mkepe, which appeared infrequently during second burial there are also variations such as Janus-face headdresses, helmet ceremonies. However, he could not get a clear sense if those masks masks, and face masks that are skin covered. No clear correlation were primarily ancestral or war trophies (Koloss 2008: 112–24). seems to exist between the type of mask and its significance except It appears that by the time of his studies (1980–2005), the masks that skin-covered masks shaped in an animal form are usually as- and their associations became marginal and any association with sociated with hunter societies (Nicklin 1983: 70). It also appears warfare has been lost (Fig. 5). that the simple single-head headdress is primarily used by warrior As we move to the western side of the Cross River and enter societies. Talbot, whose first book is devoted to a detail study of the the Igbo area, skin-covered masks are only sporadically used. They Ekoi (an earlier term roughly corresponding to the extent of pres- were replaced by wooden headdresses that sometimes try to em- ent-day Ejagham people), noted that “wooden masks covered with ulate the texture or color of skin. Jones (1984: 74) and Cole and skin are used, in lieu of the freshly killed heads of enemies formerly Aniakor (1984: 176–78) identify a southeastern Igbo masking

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521.indb 39 11/20/2018 12:12:39 PM 8 A skull pot (Ìtè Ódó, central background of picture) at the burial of Mazi Kingsley Okoro Obasi, Isimkpu Village, Arochukwu, April 24, 1989. Originally used at burials of great warriors, in this case it was brought to a burial of a success- ful Arochukwu trader by his Ohafia in-laws. The “skulls” in this pot are made of wood.

genre among the , Ohuhu, and Bende Igbo they call Ékpé are interchangeable (Fig. 7). The central head is usually covered (not to be confused with the more famous Ékpè or “Leopard” so- by a red and white cap associated with warriors. The cap hides ciety) that they claim has been defunct since colonial times. Ékpé the content, suggesting that in place of a carved head, it contains “were danced in contexts about which we know almost nothing” a skull. Although not a masquerade in the conventional sense be- (Cole and Aniakor 1984: 176). While they do not claim any con- cause the dancer’s identity is not hidden, he holds a palm leaf in his nection between these headdresses and warrior societies, their mouth to signal his transformation (Mbah 2013: 299). Studies by visual appearance suggests that Ékpé either originated as a war- Chukwuma Azuonye (1990), John McCall (2000), and Ndubueze rior association or diffused into the Ngwa area as a form of dance Mbah (2013) of Ohafia war dance demonstrate how the lyrics of without the association with warfare. This is similar to the way the songs, the costume and headdress, and the dance itself embody we can trace the origin of the Okonko society in the Ngwa and Ohafians’ notions of masculinity, honor, and military prowess. Ohuhu area to the Ékpè secret society brought by Aro traders and McCall relates that when warfare was more common, the dance settlers but without the judicial and executive function of Ékpè celebrated either the return of warriors from a battle or the burial elsewhere (Bentor 2002).4 of a notable warrior. At that time, the dancer carried “a large pot, The most famous war dance in southeastern is the blackened with sacrificial blood, upon which were tied the pre- Ikperikpe Ògù or the Ohafia War Dance. As already mentioned, pared heads of particularly formidable victims” (2000: 66) (Fig. 8). Abam, Ohafia, and Edda are village-groups to the north of With the decline of warfare, the pot and skulls were replaced by a Arochukwu whose men often fought on behalf of the Aro. Their board originally used in dances celebrating leopard hunters. willingness to fight was based on their warrior ethos, character- Ikperikpe Ògù has become very popular in burial and other cer- ized by the colonial authorities as that of headhunters. They resent emonies throughout Igboland. A semi-professional troupe is often being characterized as mercenaries of the Aro, asserting that they brought to a second burial ceremony by relatives or friends of the were not motivated by material profit but by the cultural norm of bereaved family (Fig. 9). Although deemphasized today, the Ohafia proving their valor in battle (Uka 1972: 76). Thus, it is no surprise war dancers are believed by many spectators to provide human to find that warrior ethos and war dances are central in those com- heads to be interred with the deceased. This is obviously a sensitive munities. Ikperikpe Ògù consists of male dancers led by an expert issue, but I have witnessed troupes showing burial attendees a bag dancer carrying a plank with three heads on top. The side heads made of a knitted warrior cap. At some point they discreetly leave can be actual skulls, skin covered, or fairly naturalistic wooden the performance area and inter the bag next to the burial place. ones—suggesting once again that, at least in recent years, the three Although the assumption is that today it is just a mock-up, the

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521.indb 40 11/20/2018 12:12:40 PM 9 Ohafia war dance performing at the burial of Mazi Kingsley Okoro Obasi, Isimkpu Village, Arochukwu, April 25, 1989. Ohafia war dancers are often brought by friends or family members of the deceased. In this case, the deceased in-laws were from Ohafia.

10 Middle Cross River masquerade troupe performing at the burial of Eze Kanu Oji, Amaikpe Square, Arochukwu, January 9, 1988.

content of the bag is not revealed. While warfare and headhunting Returning finally to Arochukwu, we can now examine Nwékpé are now in the distant past, the war dance has become “an embod- as an instance of the larger regional complex of warrior dances. In iment of Ohafia identity” in a changing world (McCall 2011: 76). Arochukwu, Nwékpé is the preferred name for the masking genre The Ohafia origin tradition claims that the dance originated in discussed here as Ékpé (Nwá Ékpé or “son of Ékpé”). The con- Ohafia, and other communities accept Ohafia as the birthplace of nection between Arochukwu and groups on the other side of the the genre (Udensi 1988, Mbah 2013: 297). While Ikperikpe Ògù Cross River was clearly demonstrated during the 1988 burial of the is distinct from the other genres already discussed in both ap- legendary Eze Kanu Oji, who ruled Aro for over seventy years. As pearance and style of dancing, its cultural role and use of skulls or a demonstration of their historical connection, a non-Aro group skin-covered heads suggests an affinity with the broader complex from the middle Cross River area brought their Obam society of warrior dances and masquerade. masquerade, consisting of two female and one male characters. The warrior masking genre is not universal throughout the This trio of masqueraders has been documented by Gitti Salami region. It appears among those groups who have a history of in- among the Yakurr people. The female masks had wooden head- volvement with warfare and who cultivated a warrior ethos. At the dresses, while the male displayed a human skull (Fig. 10). When risk of arguing from a lack of evidence, it seems to be absent among I saw the same type of masquerade again during the Ikeji of 2005, the Nyang (Banyang) people of the upper reaches of the Cross River. Ruel (1967: 207), who provided an exhaustive description of “traditional associations” did not find any warfare association or masquerade. He describes age groups, who were largely defunct since the 1930s, as primarily recreational. He also suggests that warfare did not play a major role in Nyang life or ethos (Ruel 1967: 181–86). The neighboring Bangwa to the northwest at the foot- hill of the Cameroon Grassfields have a history of wars with their neighbors and have two warrior societies. One of them, Ngkpwe, required a member to kill in battle and bring a skull home. Brain suggests that the society and its masks are modeled after those of the Ejagham. They use a headdress that is sometimes skin covered, but their costumes are billowing rather than body-tight. Brain’s description of the dance suggests that it is very similar to that of both Oglinye and Nwékpé (1980: 147). However, Ngkpwe appear to be of lesser importance than the Gong, Royal, or Elephant so- cieties (Brain and Pollock 1971: 32–37, 92–100). Similarly, among the neighbors of Arochukwu, versions of warrior dances appear among the warlike Ohafia, Abam, and Edda but not among the primarily agricultural groups of Ihechiowa and Ututu.

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521.indb 41 11/20/2018 12:12:41 PM 11 Group representing Ibom Village perform- ing at Amaikpe Square during the Ikeji festival, Arochukwu, September 23, 2005. The masquer- ader on the far right, seen from its back, sports a wooden headdress rather than the human skull used by the male character of the same masking genre in Figure 10.

it was performed by Ibom, the largest Ibom Isii (Akpa) village in transformed into age grades. In precolonial days, Arochukwu vil- Arochukwu. In that event, the female masqueraders were accom- lages had separate male and female age grades providing the work- panied by a Nwékpé with a wooden head (Fig. 11). This proves force for communal projects such as road clearing. Men’s grades of that, at least in Arochukwu, Nwékpé with a carved wooden head the Ibom Isii (Akpa) section also provided warriors to defend the is equivalent to and even a substitute for a human skull-sporting community. However, as Aro participated less and less in actual mask. This observation lends support to Kasfir’s more hypothetical warfare, Nwékpé no longer celebrated actual warriorhood but a trajectory of change from skull, to skin covered, to wooden carved more general notion of masculinity. headdresses. It also suggests that skulls that were clearly used in In 1901–1902, with the onset of the colonial period, Arochukwu precolonial days went underground during the colonial period was the target of an expedition to destroy the Ibiniukpabi oracle only to resurface when the colonial and postcolonial eras’ prohibi- and bring an end to what the British saw as Aro dominance hin- tion on their use has relaxed. dering their advance into the hinterland. Following the expedition, The close affinities of Nwékpé to the broader regional complex Arochukwu remained under surveillance out of fear of a revival of of warrior masquerade is clear from its formal appearance, stomp- the oracle’s power. Colonial authorities were hostile toward most ing dance steps, rapid movement, and menacing performance of the associations that they lumped together as “secret societies” style. Aro people often compare it to the Ohafia war dance and (Nwaka 1978). As part of their “civilizing mission,” they prohibited claim that it has its origins in headhunting practices. However, the use of skulls and any human parts in rituals and any form of while other performance genres in Arochukwu, notably Ekpo and public display. They also outlawed the use of machetes and other Eketensi, continue to cultivate violence in character and perfor- weapons in performances. However, as pointed out by Nwaka mance, Nwékpé has not. Instead, it has become one of the more (1978: 191), there was an inherent conflict between the colonial benign masking genres. It is the only Aro masquerade that is fol- and missionary zeal to reform Africans’ lives and the policy of in- lowed by a mixed gender group. To understand this transforma- direct rule that called for the preservation of traditional institu- tion of Nwékpé we must return to the Aro tradition of origins and tions so that they could be used as instruments of administration the way it has played out from the precolonial to postcolonial eras. and control. Complaints, often by missionaries and early converts, At the time of the establishment of Arochukwu, Nwékpé was an were more often leveled against Ékpè and its derivative Okonko, association celebrating the status of the Akpa as warriors. However, popular in the Ngwa area and seen as an instrument to perpet- as the Aro people developed their oracular trading network, fight- uate Aro control of their neighbors (Cheetham 1920). However, ing by the Aro became rare. Written sources and Aro persons colonial authorities were very reluctant to intervene (Allen 1933). repeatedly state that the Aro developed a strong aversion to par- Colonial reports do not single out Nwékpé as a troublesome form ticipation in fighting, considering their blood too precious to be of “club,” probably because, as already mentioned, by the early spilled. As mentioned, the Aro preferred to recruit warriors from colonial period it has lost much of its aggressive demeanor. This is the neighboring Abam, Edda, and Ohafia communities to fight different from the fate of Oglinye among the Idoma, banned by the for them in promoting their commercial interests (Webber 1922, British in 1917 (Kasfir 2007: 73), or of Yakurr’s Obam, outlawed by Dike and Ekejiuba 1990: 161–69). Thus, in Arochukwu, Nwékpé the 1930s (Forde and International African Institute 1964: 160). began to lose its association with warfare long before the impo- As the colonial period progressed, age grades in Arochukwu sition of colonial rule. In the process, warrior associations were gradually changed their emphasis and became associations

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521.indb 42 11/20/2018 12:12:41 PM 12 Nwékpé masquerader during Nkwo Ekpe Ibom day of the Ikeji festival. Ibom Village, Arochukwu, September 22, 2005. The masquerader in this image performs the fast foot stomping shared by many warrior masking throughout the region.

devoted to self-help activities such as building schools and clinics. Western education, convert to Christianity, and move to the cities. Starting in 1930, Western-educated men began to form modern Thus, the modern elite consisted primarily of people who were not associations such as the Aro Youth Committee (District Officer part of the traditionally privileged class and did not see the Ikeji 1930). Simultaneously, the Arochukwu Youth League emerged in as an expression of their identity, providing another reason for Aba and , allowing Aro who moved to the emerging the sparse attendance of the festival and turning Christmas into cities to continue their engagement with home affairs. Colonial a major time for meetings and celebration, including dancing and sources often comment that many Aro living in urban areas would masquerade. Many Christians also frowned upon aspects of the return to Arochukwu during the holidays, when a festive atmo- festival that involved sacrifice and use of “charms.” During the late sphere would be felt throughout the community. In 1931, an assis- colonial period many Nigerians believed in a unidirectional move- tant district officer commented that “The Aro Youth Society met in ment from traditional ways of life into modernity, casting tradi- December to fan the flame of patriotism. There can be little doubt tional festivals as a thing of the past. but that the Aro loves his country … At Christmas time the roads Under these circumstances Nwékpé became a dance of a junior and waterways are crowded with Aro people returning for the age grade performed primarily during the Christmas period. Some annual festivities” (Warren 1931). At the time, Christmas rather non-Ibom Isii villages also adopted it, but the Akpa descendants than the Ikeji festival was the main event that brought home the are still considered its experts. By the 1950s the Aro Clan Council increasing number of Aro living away from Arochukwu. Many decided to unify women’s and men’s age grades into age-related Aro residing in urban areas were employed by the government and associations known as “Improvement Associations” to better serve could only travel home during the Christmas period. their new functions. They developed a repertoire of dances using During the colonial period and into the early 1960s the Ikeji large colorful flags to signal their arrival. In the process, Nwékpé festival continued to play an important role within Arochukwu lost even more of its military demeanor and became an expression as a way of maintaining and renegotiating social relationships of a modernized age grade accompanied by a mixed-gender group. by reenacting Aro history. However, it did not involve the entire It is likely that, as part of this transformation, some Nwékpé mas- community and was not well attended. One aspect of the festival queraders replaced the hand-held machetes with brooms. Nwékpé is that it reasserts the distinction between freeborn (àmádí) and costume does not hide the dancer’s legs and hands, and it is often slave descendants. Those of slave descent were the first to adopt possible to see his eyes as well (Fig. 12). This contrasts with the more

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521.indb 43 11/20/2018 12:12:42 PM 13 Nwékpé masquerade during Èké Ekpe day of the Ikeji Festival, Amaikpe Square, Arochukwu, September 24, 1988. On this day, each of the nineteen villages of Arochukwu bring one of their dances or masquerades to the communal square. The variety of masking genres creates a dazzling spectacle.

powerful and secretive types of masks in Arochukwu. I was repeat- became a prime vehicle for the Ibom Isii section to assert its criti- edly told that Nwékpé is not a society and it does not have secrets. cal rule in the establishment of the community as warriors during Things began to change following the (1967– the Ibibio war. One knowledgeable Ibom man told me that having 1970). While prior to the war the descendants of the Akpa and Nwékpé is so central to Ibom Isii identity that possessing it was a did not identify themselves as Igbo, during the early condition set by the Akpa for joining Arochukwu.5 part of the war, when Arochukwu was at the frontline, the Aro Thus, Nwékpé retains its currency not because warfare is part people decided to cast their lot with the Biafran side. Following of lived experience but because it is a way for the descendants of the defeat of , the Igbo abandoned their belief in becoming Akpa warriors to play out their role in contemporary Arochukwu Nigerian at the expense of their Igbo identity. They concluded that by emphasizing their critical contribution to the establishment of they can only find their place in Nigeria by strengthening their Igbo the community centuries ago. The result is a masking genre that roots. This led to a resurgence of interest in aspects of “traditional harks back to the origins of the community while simultaneously life” including traditional rulers, masquerade, and the annual fes- bearing the marks of subsequent transformations (Fig. 13). tival. For the Aro, the Ikeji festival that languished during the late I can trace about a dozen additional masking genres, each with colonial and early independence eras became a galvanizing event several distinct types of masks, that all find their way to Amaikpe allowing them to come together to deepen their identification with Square on Èké Ekpe. Each of these genres represents another tra- home and history. In a wider context, this is also the time when dis- jectory that hints at an aspect of the complex history that brought illusion with the project of modernity began to reawaken interest the Aro people together and shaped their subsequent history. The in aspects of traditional life. Starting in the 1970s more Aro came result is not just a dazzling, kaleidoscopic spectacle, but also a home for the Ikeji festival, especially for Èké Ekpe, and the main visual overview of Aro history communicated not through what day of masquerade performances and dances was redesigned as a each performance says, but through the style of their masks and formal contest, with villages competing for the Best Dance award. the manner of their performances, demonstrating the importance In this revitalized festival, the ritualistic aspects have been care- of, as Richard Fardon aptly put it, focusing on “how masks mean” fully maintained but are done mostly out of sight. The emphasis rather than “what they mean” (Fardon 2007: 23). In this paper, I turned to pageantry and performance and the social gathering of used the example of one masking genre to suggest that the coex- Aro, most of them living far away from home most of the year. istence and simultaneous appearance of masks of different origins With all this show of unity, the different Aro segments did not in the same time and place create an awareness of Aro collective leave behind their sense of distinctiveness. In fact, tensions be- identity and complex history that brought the Aro together not by tween Aro segments intensified. The events of the Ikeji festival obliterating but by underlining their differences. are grounded in the history of the Aro, and the flourishing festival became the arena for contestation between the different segments (Bentor 2011: 280). This very contemporary struggle is articulated as a reenactment of history. Under these circumstances, Nwékpé

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521.indb 44 11/20/2018 12:12:42 PM Notes Cultural History, UCLA. African Arts 7 (3): 8–15, 67–68, 92. 1 “There are also, probably in every culture, in every civilization, real places—places that do exist and that Derrett, Ros. 2003. “Making Sense of How Festivals Nicklin, Keith. 1979. “Skin-Covered Masks of Camer- are formed in the very founding of society—which are Demonstrate A Community’s Sense of Place.” Event oon.” African Arts 12 (2): 54–59, 91. something like counter-sites, a kind of effectively enacted Management 8: 49–58. Nicklin, Keith. 1983. “No Condition is Permanent, utopia in which the real sites, all the often real sites that can be found within the culture, are simultaneously rep- Dike, K. Onwuka, and Felicia Ifeoma Ekejiuba. 1990. Cultural Dialogue in the Cross River Region.” Nigerian resented, contested, and inverted. Places of this kind are The Aro of South-eastern Nigeria, 1650–1980: A Study Field 48 (1–4): 66–79. of Socio-economic Formation and Transformation in outside of all place, even though it may be possible to Nicklin, Keith. 2000. “Quest for the Cross River indicate their location in reality” (Foucault 1986). Het- Nigeria. Ibadan: University Press. erotopic spaces stand in contrast to notions of “homo- Skin-Covered Mask: Methodology, Reality, and Reflec- geneity, sameness and uniformity” (Derrett 2003, Sohn District Officer, Aro. 1930. Annual Report for Aro Dis- tion.” In Karel Arnaut (ed.), Re-visions: New Perspectives 2008: 77). trict, 1930. Arodiv 20/1/26. : Nigerian National on the African Collections of the Horniman Museum, pp. 2 Nwékpé or Nwa Ékpé (son of Ékpé) is not to be con- Archive. 189–207. London: Horniman Museum and Gardens fused with the powerful and much better-known Ékpè and Coimbra, Portugal: Museu Antropâologico da Fardon, Richard. 2007. Fusions: Masquerades and society that played an important role in the region for Universidade de Coimbra. centuries. While both were brought to Arochukwu by Thought Style East of the Niger-Benue Confluence, West the Akpa warriors, they are distinct institutions of very Africa. London: Saffron. Nwaka, Geoffrey I. 1978. “Secret Societies and Colonial different characteristics. Change: A Nigerian Example.” Cahiers d’Etude Africaine Forde, Cyril Daryll, and International African Institute. 3 Gitti Salami, personal communications, April 2015, 18 (69/70):187–200. July 2017. 1964. Yakö Studies. London: Oxford University Press. 4 Talbot suggested the existence of an Ogarainye Okpalike, Chika J. B. Gabriel. 2015. “The Trajectory in head-hunting club in southeastern Igbo that is directly Foucault, Michel. 1986. “Of Other Spaces.” Diacritics the Evolution of Agamnihu Ndiigbo: Transition from connected to Benue Oglinye (Talbot 1926: 788). Kasfir 16: 22–27. the Forces of Ikeoha to Ikeotuonye.” Paper presented cites Talbot using the modern spelling of Ogaranya Iyam, David Uru. 1995. The Broken Hoe: Cultural at the 13th International Conference of Igbo Studies, (Kasfir 1988: 91–92) to suggest the extent of Oglinye Reconfiguration in Biase Southeast Nigeria. Chicago: Marquette University. diffusion. Among the Igbo, the word “Ógaranya” is as- sociated with the idea of manhood. However, it does not University of Chicago Press. Oriji, John Nwachimereze. 1987. “Slave Trade, Warfare refer to a society but to an individual of great accomplish- Jones, G. I. 1939. “Who are the Aro?” Nigerian Field 8 and Aro Expansion in the Igbo Hinterland.” Trans­ ments, prestige, and in today’s world, particularly to a (3): 100–103. african Journal of History 16: 151–166. person of wealth rather than military prowess (Okpalike 2015: 10, Mbah 2013). Jones, G. I. 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. 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PhD diss., History, Michigan State Uni- sciousness and Negotiated Identities.” In Adiele Ebere- versity. Talbot, Percy Amaury. 1926. The Peoples of Southern chukwu Afigbo, Carolyn A. Brown and Paul E. Lovejoy Nigeria: A sketch of their history, ethnology, and languag- (eds.), Repercussions of the Atlantic Slave Trade: The McCall, John C. 2000. Dancing Histories: Heuristic Eth- es, with an abstract of the 1921 census. 4 vols. London: Interior of the and the African Diaspora, nography with the Ohafia Igbo. Ann Arbor: University of Oxford University Press. pp. 279–95. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. Michigan Press. Udensi, Johnson Kalu. 1988. Ikperikpe Ogu (War Dance) Brain, Robert. 1980. Art and Society in Africa. New York: McCall, John C. 2011. “The Atlantic Slave Trade and Music of Item Community in Bende LGA, . BA Longman. the Ohafia Warrior Tradition: Global Forces and Local thesis, Music, University of Nigeria. Histories.” In Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo, Carolyn A. Brain, Robert, and Adam Pollock. 1971. Bangwa Funer- Brown and Paul E. Lovejoy (eds.), Repercussions of the Uka, N. 1972. “A Note on the ‘Abam’ Warriors of Igbo- ary Sculpture. London: Duckworth. Atlantic Slave Trade: The Interior of the Bight of Biafra l an d .” Ikenga 1 (2): 76–82. Cheetham, J. N. 1920. Revival of Secret Societies in the and the African Diaspora, pp. 71–77. Trenton, NJ: Africa Warren, W. J. 1931. Annual Report for Aro District, Igbo Country. Abadist 13/4/54. Enugu: Ngerian National World Press. 1931. Arodiv 20/1/39. Enugu: Nigerian National Archive. Nicholls, Robert W. 1984. “Igede Funerals Masquer- Archive. Cole, Herbert M., and Chike Cyril Aniakor. 1984. Igbo ades.” African Arts 17 (3): 70–76, 92. Webber, H. 1922. The Aro People. Arodiv 20/1/1. Enugu: Arts: Community and Cosmos. Los Angeles: Museum of Nicklin, Keith. 1974. “Nigerian Skin-Covered Masks.” Nigerian National Archive.

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