Leadership Symbolism in Igbo Crowns and Ijele Author(s): Richard N. Henderson and Ifekandu Umunna Source: African Arts, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Feb., 1988), pp. 28-37+94-96 Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3336526 Accessed: 01/06/2010 12:37

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http://www.jstor.org LeadershipSymbolism in Onitsha Crowns and Igbo Ijele RICHARDN. HENDERSON* IFEKANDUUMUNNA

distinctive contribu- forms an elegant and powerful cultural In West African religions these relation- Anthropology'stion to the study of art is to view art construction of this sort. ships are grounded philosophically in objects in relation to the whole culture The ijele is part of a cultural complex origin myths. According to the Nri ver- and to other cultures. Our aim here is to that Cole and Aniakor (1984:map A) sion, in the Beginning the Great God in examine certain headdresses of characterize as "northcentral Igbo" (in- the Sky created a termite hill and sent in this light. The forms of objects them- cluding the people of the Anambra val- down the first Nri king to sit upon it. selves may directly stimulate aesthetic ley and associated uplands of southeast- There the king found himself sur- experience. When, for example, the ijele ern ). Its traditional cultural cen- rounded by a limitless morass, and masquerade of the Igbo (Cover), with ter is the Nri- area where the divine asked for help. The Great God then its combination of great mass and deli- king of the ancient re- facilitated the drying out of mother cate symmetry, is displayed in a dance by sides. Throughout West , divine earth, created vegetation and animal life, a bipedal performer, its beholders can kingship has long been rooted in reli- and gave the king the staple food plants hardly fail to experience meanings as- gions that postulate an intimate associa- (yam and cocoyam) enabling human be- sociating strength with balance. Such tion between the lives of humans and the ings to thrive. Ever since that time the meanings appear to be universals, life of nature.2 They postulate moreover Nri king has had both the right and the rooted in our very perception of the ob- that human beings can increase their duty to establish the yearly and seasonal jects themselves. The most powerful control of natural forces and ensure cycles, to make yam medicine and dis- aesthetic experiences are induced when prosperity by installing selected indi- tribute it among the surrounding such visually salient forms are connected viduals into leadership positions that en- peoples so the yams will be good, and to to the dominant symbols or root tail increasingly close relationships with send his agents traveling among them to metaphors of a culture in such a way that aspects of nature that the people identify supervise and repair their moral rela- the composition of the art object leads as crucial, and by instituting ritual pro- tionship with the earth, upon whose participants to experience that culture's grams in which these divine kings dem- good will both survival and long-term reality as a whole.1 In this paper, we onstrate both identification with and prosperity depend.3 suggest that the Igbo ijele masquerade control over these natural forces. This basic cosmology - in which the opposition between earth and sky is mediated by natural vitality (vegetable, animal) together with the moral guid- ance of human leadership - is wide- spread in Africa, with kings (and to some extent lesser leaders as well) possessing attributes of both "mother earth" and "father sky" In there is a general tendency for the king's relation- ship to mother earth to be less explicit, more hidden than his overt identifica- tion with the sky.4 For example, in the Nri-linked kingdom of Onitsha (where our own work has been concentrated), everyone knows to hail the king as igwe, which means "sky," but far fewer know his salutation as nkpu, which means "termite hill." These two terms of refer- ence reflect the basic polar dualism of the I. Onitsha king's identity.5 In this paper we suggest that this cul- tural complex is reflected both in the ~~.kL4TIforms of ijele masquerades and in aesthe- tic forms homologous to them: the headdresses worn by Onitsha chiefs and the king. Consider the appearance of these latter during the festive emergence of the king from his normal life of palatial seclusion. These "great crowns" 1. PHILIPANATOGU, THE PRIMEMINISTER (ONOWU) OF ONITSHA,WEARING HIS GREATCROWN. OCTOBER1960. (nnukwu-okpu)6are mainly worn for the

28 Jr

2. CHIEF OREFO, THEN OWELEOF ONITSHA, DANCES TO OBI OKOSI II'S ROYALWAR DRUMS AT THE FUNERALOF THE OBI (KING) IN 1961. annual New Yam Harvest festival (ofala), when chiefs and king assemble with their people in the royal palace square. lot Viewed from a distance, these headdres- 17 *ab. 4W' ses primarily display plumage (Fig. 3). In low, 400, the early 1960s, the use of imported os- trich feathers overshadowed that of the more traditional local birds like the cattle 1.va egret, and some feathers were dyed in 4C- colors including purple, yellow, red, green, or violet, creating spectacular ef- fects. But among this varied array of feathers must also be those of the vul- turine fish eagle, ugo, king of birds. Typi- cally the large feathers have been 4f ro stripped except for their tufted tips, lend- 'Of ing a strongly branch-like aspect to the superstructure (Fig. 1). Itu The clustered feathers and intimations of branching on these spectacular crowns suggest birds perching on a tree, and therefore a tree itself, an im- plication made quite explicit in the Onitsha people's prime metaphors for leadership: the leader is a "mighty tree," oke osisi (this is a general term accom- modating diverse types of trees), that gives birds perching on its outstretched arms and shoulders a safe abode. We infer that one dominant symbol of these 3. THE GREATCROWN HEADDRESSES OF ONITSHA CHIEFS(NDICHIE) CLUSTERNEAR THE ENTRYWAY headdresses is a tree of this kind. TO THE PALACEOF THE OBI DURING OKOSI II'S FINALFUNERARY FESTIVE EMERGENCE IN MARCH 1961.

29 The chief's head rests under a small Onitsha people also have ijele (Fig. 5). symbolized by incarnate ancestors like depression whose top side is exagger- They explicitly identify this masked fig- ijele. Ijele, then, represents both an ideali- ated to form a mound, out of which rises ure as representing a deceased person of zation of the titled leader - his reflection the central pillar that (in one dimension high title, a great leader who has re- as it were, coming from the other earth of meaning) designates the trunk of the turned from the land of the dead, emerg- - and a potential social opposition to liv- tree. Vertical arches and horizontal loops ing out of the termite hole that connects ing, titled leaders. The masquerade as- are then attached to complete the this world with the other earth of the hal- sociation forms a collective opposition to framework. lowed ancestors (ani-mmuo, "land of the the overweening pretensions of living Around the periphery of the flat disk dead"). Like the chief's headdress, its leaders, in the name of the idealized base, coiled decorations suggest an en- primary visual aspect is elevated plum- leadership of the dead.8 circling snake (Fig. 2). In Onitsha this age, implying birds perching in a tree ris- Below the disk of the ijele's headdress implies the python, denizen of rivers ing out of a mounded base, with a much (Fig. 5), the bearer of this crown takes not and messenger of mother earth. Also more prominent coiled snake signaling living human form but that displayed in present on the base, sometimes dangling mother earth's domain. color coding and decoration of the ijele from its circumference, and in the lower In Figure 5, we see the ijele figure es- elsewhere among the Nri-associated part of the superstructure are small corted by members of the Ota ("Arrow") Igbo. This color patterning is prominent bronzes and other objects that may in- age set, men who are of course members also in another context: so-called clude representations of small animals of the secret "incarnate dead" or "mas- maiden-spirits, ghostly women who also like the lizard, tiny mirrors, iron tools, querade" (mmanwu) organization of the represent the vitalizing, fertilizing pow- and other valuables. One must view this community and whose age is appropri- ers of mother earth. Both in Onitsha and portion of the headdress at close range to ate to ijele - that is, men in their late fif- among the Nri-Awka people, these appreciate the lively and varied display ties to early sixties, who have largely forms and colors imply the feminine, of valued objects (Fig. 4). Symbolically, achieved their position of prestige in though this ijele has but the most abstract then, the chief's head lies under a mound Onitsha society. Ijele represents a shared hinting of breasts. This is an ambiguous of earth, out of which grows a mighty social ideal: to become a community female/male, referring to an aspect of tree, on which perch birds of rivers, leader of high title. Noteworthy among mother earth we will describe shortly. fields, and bush, secure and exalted in the escorts is the man on the mask's In Onitsha, and other Nri-associated their elevated fold. In the lower parts, right, who is garbed as a hunter Igbo areas as well, these color patterns various small earth creatures clamber (leopard-killer) and who acts as guard for also signal the leopard (agu), king of the about and valuable things lie around, the ancestral figure. This man, Peter forest, identified with the king and indi- and the whole is encircled by a snake. Aniweta Achukwu, was an unusual cated by spotted patterns (Fig. 6). When Finally, according to one source, the leader in Onitsha, an orator-spokesman the Onitsha king (primus inter pares headdress implies a living system in its (onu-ekwulu-ora) of the town. Although among his chiefs) emerges from seclu- "hands" (aka) reaching out, colored he had taken no high title in Onitsha de- sion once a year, he wears not his nor- blood red. These hands may be inter- spite his obvious capacities to do so, he mally prescribed white gown and red preted to emphasize that the figure rep- was nonetheless a powerful leader by cap, but multicolored dress that pro- resented on the headdress is a personifi- virtue of his unusual abilities to repre- claims his identity with both female cation of some kind.7 sent the ancestral truths of the town as ghost and predator. His own headdress is like that of the chiefs, only larger and more golden. Returning to ijele (Fig. 5), we note the lfb superstructural personification, first in the frontal pair of black-background, Ilk multifaceted "eyes," which produce a startling effect. Perhaps these make ref- erence to insects having compound eyes, or perhaps they allude mainly to multi- plied capacities for seeing that a tree may provide; its superior position allows it to "watch over" the whole community. Another possibility is that they refer to the multiple "eyes" attributed to termite hills. An upraised hand, rendered in green, is also visible. The color-coding of this emblem seems to assert more di- rectly that the structure personifies a tree. Green in Onitsha is called akwukwo-ndu, literally, "leaves of life." Idw Our own experiences with the much larger and more famous ijele found among other Nri-linked Igbo peoples also strongly suggest root metaphors of earthy mound and sky-ascending tree. In an example from the town of Awkuzu (photographed in 1960 during its own post-harvest emergence, Fig. 7), we see first of all a dark red mound at the base, echoed in the upper triangular forms, and a superstructure supporting ilk outward-facing realistic depictions of 4. THE ONITSHA MODERN ELITESALUTE A DANCING TRADITIONALSENIOR CHIEF(NDICHIE-UME). birds (rather than actual feathers) and

30 5. AN ONITSHAIJELE, ITS HEADDRESS DISPLAYING"EYES" AND SNAKE AND, BELOW,THE MASKEDVISAGE OF THE ANCESTRALFIGURE, ESCORTED BY MEMBERSOF ITS APPROPRIATEAGE-SET diverse human beings, leaders dressed might hypothesize that where the do- data from nearby. We will not undertake like actors on a stage. In these forms minant aura of the superstructure is red to provide here a systematic review of the from Awkuzu and in related forms from and brown (representing maturity), the abundant evidence of the ritual promi- the Aguleri and Nri-linked uplands, as hands will be a strong green; where it is nence of both mounds and trees among Chike Aniakor (1978:44) and Herbert yellow-green (representing the phase of West African peoples,11 but in light of the Cole have pointed out (Cole & Aniakor young growth), the hands will be bright prominence of termite hills in both Nri 1984:134), a central mound and pillar are red. This alternative of red or green and Onitsha kingship traditions, and of strikingly present in the interior struc- hands intensifies the probability that ijele the importance of the tree in Onitsha ture. The top of the central pillar and the represents a generalized conception, a leadership symbolism, closer examina- outreaching hands of this form are col- "tree of life," specific examples of which tion of their cultural importance is rele- ored green, presumably alluding to will represent different stages of the life vant here. "leaves of life" and tree (Fig. 7). Refer- cycle.9 The significance of mounds/pillars/ ence to a tree or trees is even more In all these structures, then, we find trees may be explored first by consider- explicit in an Awkuzu ijele from 1970 (Fig. visual evidence of a symbolic system that ing the known intrinsic properties of the 8), where instead of feathers, tree leaf makes strong allusion to the sky through objects, and second by analyzing their forms bristle prominently around the transcending elevation (and probably evident employment as extrinsic sym- upper frame. through the topmost figures), opposes bols - as putatively arbitrary markers of The ijele displayed in the 1984 exhibi- this to a disk-earth and subterranean differences within a specific cultural sys- tion at UCLA, "Igbo Arts: Community base, and produces out of earth the tem. While either approach may yield and Cosmos" (Fig. 9), constitutes mound that bears the life-supporting valid results, we will here emphasize in- another variation on the basic form: it tree, bridging dead, static opposition trinsic features on the grounds that, lacks real feathers except for the horse- with burgeoning, blossoming, fruitful when dealing with dominant symbols of man at the top who displays the ugo, but life (birds, important people, animals, a culture (those having strongly numin- tufted branching forms are emphasized and encircling snake). A simultaneous ous meanings), intrinsic properties are and the long strips producing the do- equation is made between this whole often very important because they root minant yellow-green aura of the formation and leadership, living and experience in our very structures of per- superstructure could be either feathers dead (ancestral).10 ception. or leaves. Here the outstretched hands That these headdress configurations Termite hills are complex, dynamic, (as well as the underlying mound, al- represent at once an earth mound and a living systems whose observable most concealed inside the superstruc- great tree, a tree of life, should surprise properties might stimulate awe in almost ture) are bright red. Comparing this pat- no one in light both of current knowl- anyone not thoroughly jaded.12 First, tern with that of the ijele in Figure 7, we edge of and of comparative some African termite species can pene-

31 trate as many as forty meters down into attracts many kinds of animal predators; nection with pregnancy is clear, and we the subsoil and bring up water to prominent among them are some species suspect that both ideas are elaborated in humidify the interior of their mounds, of birds that rely heavily on termites for Igbo traditional thought. whose tunnels and passages con- feeding their young (Nutting 1969:256). Fifth, as Herbert Cole (1969:2,4,46) and sequently remain nearly saturated re- As a model for the proliferation of life G.I. Jones (1984:79) have pointed out, the gardless of seasonal variations in humid- (perhaps the cardinal value of traditional insect-processed clay of termite hills is a ity of the outside air. Partly for this rea- Igboland), the termite colony seems al- superior modeling clay and is widely son termite hills attract a variety of ani- most archetypal. used for sculpturing, smoothing, and mals, serpents being noteworthy among The formal structure of these head- polishing objects people wish to en- them. Some types of serpents (including dresses suggests that the Igbo are well hance, beautify, and preserve, including the cobra, associated in Onitsha with aware of the association of birds with not only shrine mounds and images of kingship) dislike dry conditions and termite mounds, though we have not spirit powers but also surfaces of house tend to inhabit the moist ventilation seen other details of ethnography em- walls, which are symbolically identified shafts of these mounds and to hunt other phasizing this link. The symbolic con- with the human body and skin. The clay animals who are also attracted to live nection of mounds with fertility is, how- forms a very hard surface when exposed there. Thus the association between ever, very clear: in Onitsha, for example, to the air (though within a mound it is snake and mound that we have noted in the termite hill is used for making large, relatively moist and soft). Its capacities the headdresses has a strong basis in the village-owned mound shrines dedicated as a surfacing material to reflect polish- empirical nature of the living termite hill to the fertility of village wives (Fig. 12). s15 ing and to withstand the elements are (Irwin 1982:352). In Nri the linkage is strikingly illustrated two factors fostering its religious associa- Second, termites also translocate soil in the traditional installation rituals of tion with the ancestral past, and the re- from far underground, often bringing up each new Nri king: he begins his trip to quirement that it be used in shrines be- minerals less common on the surface, in- re-enact the mythological origin of the lieved to protect people from misfor- cluding (in areas where it forms part of world by first dclimbingand sitting upon tune. In relation to the interior earth it is the substrate) gold. This may explain one the particular termite hill that is iden- as skin to innards. dimension of the widespread association tified with him, where - it is tradi- Sixth, there is the structure of the of termite hills with various valued ob- tionally anticipated - the mound may mounds themselves, which varies jects, which is reflected culturally among break open like an egg, releasing swarms widely, some termite species raising the Igbo in the custom that requires in- of insects to provide the people with "gigantic structures which have always cluding pieces of the hills in shrines de- food. 16 staggered the imagination," and some dicated to the pursuit of wealth. 13 Fourth, the physical growth of a ter- building "the most complex edifices of Third, termites display an astonishing mite mound in its early building phases the animal kingdom" (Noirot 1970: 73- fertility: a single termite queen produces displays a rather spectacular burgeoning 74). One African species important in the - up to 36,000 eggs per day, 13 million eggs a rapidly upward-swelling bulge of Igbo area, the Macrotermesbellicosus, con- per year. This fertility is externalized earth, some types forming what could be structs a central pillar inside its mound when, during the rainy season, the adult construed as phallic shapes, the largest that contains the rather complicated winged insects swarm in huge numbers. becoming great subconical mounds. cellular-structured living quarters of the The Igbo traditionally harvested and While we encountered no specific Igbo creatures themselves, resting on a hori- roasted these insects for feasts and for traditions directly linking termite hills zontal clay base supported by sale in the market.14 The swarming also with the male sexual erection, the con- downward-pointing conical pillars (Noirot 1970:73-74; Collins 1980:42-48, cited in Irwin 1982:352). This kind of structuring provides a model of a com- plex architecture that might suggest not only a "building" but a "city." The sys- tem, moreover, contains a boundary- maintaining society, including a caste- specialized social structure with workers and soldiers that rush to block and repair any breaching of mound surface and that sometimes interact as defense-oriented "teams" when foraging (Stuart 1969:219; Noirot 1969:323). While we have not seen any specific ethnography detailing Igbo symbolic identification of termite hills with ar- chitectural forms, it is probable they have thoroughly explored these struc- ma w tures as long as they have been building il mud houses, since very large quantities E. . of termite-hill clay may be used in surfac- ing the walls and floors of a single house. Cole's mbarihouse study reports that the ritual digging of termite-hill clay, done at night, is considered dangerous by virtue of its association with the spirit powers, and that it is physically hazardous be- cause the disturbed termites bite fiercely. The miners dig deep into the mound to obtain the most which 6. OBI OKOSI II, ASSISTED BY MEMBERSOF THE ROYALFAMILY, BESTOWS CHIEFTAINCY TITLE desirable clay, UPON H. O. OREFO. A LEOPARD-SPOTTEDCOILED PYTHONFIGURE APPEARS BEHINDTHE KING'S HEAD. they refer to as the "yam food of mother

32 :4f

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7. IJELEWITH PROMINENT "EYES," FIGURES, MOUND FORMATIONSURROUNDED BY A COILED SNAKE, GREEN-TIPPEDINTERIOR PILLAR, AND GREEN HANDS REACHINGOUT AWKUZU,1960. earth."17 Cole's study (1982:57-58, haunt [termite hills]," a termite hill being tree and mound in religious shrines. In 72-100) thoroughly demonstrated the regarded as "a porch of the under- Onitsha, for example, the basic symbols deep symbolic connection between world."19 We also know that the people of a male adult's personal identity in rela- mother earth and the termite hill, which of the Benin kingdom (culturally related tion to the earth include a mound-and- points to a further crucial dimension of both to Onitsha and to Nri) explicitly tree combination placed in the center of meaning: its sanctioning of the moral or- equate the structure of termite hills with one's house (Fig. 11). The Onitsha king der. that of the city of Benin, and identify the himself must live in the center of a sacred In both Onitsha and Nri, mother earth termite queen as "male" and equivalent grove whose great trees testify to the fer- is regarded as the primary sanctioner of to the Benin king.20 tility of the surrounding soil (Henderson the moral order, and the termite hill as A final noteworthy feature of large and 1972:281). the superior source of the living powers extensive termite hills is their tendency Termite mounds, therefore, provide of the ancestors who reside in the earth. to support distinctive islands of vegeta- strong intrinsic grounds for generating Onitsha people specify in this connec- tion. The spread of Macrotermesbellicosus symbols of a complex living order that tion another aspect of architecture: the often assists the regeneration of stimulates fertility, new life, well-being, many apertures of the hill are multiple exhausted soils. Termite mounds some- and wealth, and that offers protection eyes through which the ancestors survey times encourage evergreen growth in from danger. The ethnographic literature the domain of the living, and they say woodlands that are mainly deciduous, on the Igbo shows they have employed the king, like the termite hill, must have and growth often returns to them most these qualities in their religious sym- many eyes."' The anthropologist C.K. quickly after bush has been fired. When bolization (where termite hills form Meek reported intimate identification of mounds become quite large, trees tend parts of shrines dedicated to spirits who the Onitsha king with the termite hill in to sprout in them, and remarkably the fertilize, fructify, strengthen, protect, - the central ritual of his installation: he resident termites creatures who sus- and cure the people),22 and Nri, was traditionally made to sleep beside tain themselves by demolishing wood Onitsha, and Benin kingships indicate one (located near the sacred grove said to with great and ravenous speed - often that such termite-hill symbolism is pro- contain the graves of the ancient kings). live in harmony with the wood of these foundly involved with sociopolitical The intention was both to notify the an- trees.21 Such a combination might con- forms. cestral kings that he now assumed the stitute a thought-provoking paradox. These patterns clearly extend far be- kingship and to allow his body to "be- One of the most prominent features of yond the region in question here. Ter- come dynamized by the spirits which Igbo religion is the tendency to combine mite hills have ancient status as objects

33 - of symbolic reverence not only through- bases in their intrinsic qualities and though it would require too much out Africa but far beyond in the (1958:265-330). In African studies his space to provide the documentation here tropical - tropical and subtropical areas of the Old work has been extended by French an- the Igbo show ample evidence of hav- World, where they are widely viewed as thropologists, especially Genevieve ing elaborated these qualities in their sources of fertility, homes of the ances- Calame-Griaule (1969, 1970) and her col- own extensive arboreal religious sym- tors, and places where treasures are hid- leagues in their wide-ranging study of bolism.25 Some further considerations den and where protective snakes are African folktales. are required regarding this last feature, likely to be found. In India they are used Granting Eliade's contention that trees of settling conflicts. It has been widely as images of the primordial creation of are often used as images of the cosmos, observed among African peoples that the earth, sites out of which trees first Calame-Griaule has shown that in Afri- the practice of holding discussions and rose to separate sky from earth, and can folktales the tree is also widely de- disputes near trees increases the proba- where the earth first contacted the light picted as a protector, giving shade, shel- bility that conflicts will be resolved with- of the sun.23 ter, and refuge. The tree is a provider of out violence, but this does not of itself Trees in forests have an obvious and essential utilities for living, especially clarify the tree's relationship to pro- profound significance based on condi- food, but also medicines, fuel for fires, cesses of justice. tions intrinsic to West African horticul- and of course widely diverse building Trees are of course greatly valued for ture: high forest signals maximally fertile materials. It is, moreover, a living being, their shade, considerably cooling the earth. The fact that the Onitsha king whose parts may be seen to correspond space beneath, and Igbo associate cool- must live in a clearing surrounded by with the morphology of humans (in- ness with dispute resolution and social high forest reflects his powers to concen- cluding among other things phallic ex- calm.26 In addition, if we consider some trate and preserve the life-generating po- tension and hollows, implying both male of the widely distributed folktales dis- tential of the earth. Igbo ritual valuing of and female). It has in addition the re- cussed by Calame-Griaule and her col- forest as such consequently contains a markable capacity to wither and then re- leagues, some further relevant patterns strongly ecological message.24 generate by seasons, and even the emerge. Typically, in these stories, con- At another though not unrelated level, power, after dying or being cut down, to flict arises somewhere on the ground but various qualities associated with trees regenerate life out of roots or even is ultimately resolved near or on a tree. may be seen to parallel the essential na- branching parts. Finally, the tree is as- For example, one actor strives to climb a ture of human individual and social life. sociated with the resolution of disputes tree for some purpose of material gain, Mircea Eliade's work thoroughly dem- and with persuasive powers of speech. while a second actor opposed to the onstrated a worldwide range of religious All but the last conception seem clearly climber tries to defeat this attempt. beliefs about trees that suggests some rooted in intrinsic properties of trees, While there are many variations in how and between whom the conflict develops and how the outcome is achieved, the nature of the outcome is constant: justice 4 is served by redressing an imbalance created by inappropriate human action. Very frequently (though there are excep- tions to this trend) the tree does not itself do anything - it is simply there, like a stage set. Its presence facilitates the out- come. 27 This pattern of linking tree-climbing to the just resolution of disputes suggests that trees have intrinsic properties that may make them appropriate as agencies for this: on the one hand, the capacity to support human striving to transcend given limitations of life on earth (both in jk P the sense of enabling living beings to do the unprecedented or difficult and of en- them to their , Ar, abling expand perspec- tive); and on the other hand the pro- found capacities for balance in face of the forces of flux. Humans must of course exhibit both the will to transcend earth boundedness and powerful capacities for balance in climbing a tree, but in these domains of accomplishment the tree itself is unsurpassed. These intrinsic properties make the tree strongly ap- propriate as a metaphor of what is needed for the just resolution of dis- putes: the capacity to measure and ap- preciate both human will to achieve and

9. IJELE UNDER CONSTRUCTION BY NWEKE KOGULU AND THREE ASSISTANTS AT UMUEZEDE ACHALLA IN 1983. THE MASK WAS LATERDISPLAYED AT THE 1984 EX- HIBITION"IGBO ARTS COMMUNITYAND COSMOS," OR- GANIZED BY THE MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORY 8. IJELEWITH LEAVES PROJECTING PROMINENTLY AT THE TOP AWKUZU,1970. UCLA.

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W=r I--.--Nommmw human earthly limitations, and the ca- We think that this whole stock of ideas ing discussed at the outset, a statement pacity to resolve the tensions generated concerning mounds and trees is re- conventionally uttered at the death an- by these opposites while maintaining a flected in the norms of leadership as nouncement for any strong Onitsha sense of balance together with a truly represented in both ijele and the Onitsha leader: "A mighty tree has fallen, and the comprehensive, transcending point of king's and chiefs' crowns.28 The implica- birds who used to perch on its shoulders view. tion would be that, on the one hand, now have lost their safe abode." But the Yet there is the fact that trees are as- human leadership succeeds by emulat- social forces reflected in Figure 5 - the sociated with mortality, with the recogni- ing trees of the forest, first in accommo- age sets and orator-spokesman escorting tion that all living systems are mortal. dation to conditions set by mother earth, the ijele - were at the time of the photo- Trees eventually fall or are felled, and second in dynamic aspirations to excel graph parading this figure through when this happens, the living forms (es- (to rise into the sky above things that Onitsha town precisely (in part) to de- pecially nesting birds) that have de- surround them), third in maternalistic clare that although King Okosi II had pended on them may be suddenly scat- provision of bounty and protection for died and the social order was con- tered, broken, the order of their lives de- dependents, and fourth in assumption sequently threatened, the essence of or- stroyed. The Onitsha saying about the of their powers not only to foster and derly leadership forever remains an an- death of a leader is testimony to this no- stimulate creative proliferation of living cestral example for the whole commu- tion. But that occurrence, for trees and forms but also to maintain the balance nity to recall. for humans as social groups, need not be among such forms in the face of the We hypothesize that ijele has similar the end. Indeed, it may be a general con- dynamics of differentiation. On the symbolic relevance in Nri-related Igbo dition of existing that physical things other hand, the appropriate matrix sus- towns like Awkuzu, where the compara- must fall apart periodically if they are taining life is a form of superior earth, a ble secret organization of masquerade again to recombine in ways that create moral connectedness to ancestral will elders is in fact the major traditional new forms. The life cycle of a tree dem- and wisdom that serves to protect the comprehensive power, and that within onstrates that collapse of a central focus people from threats both without and its fold the norms of leadership approx- of order may produce chaos for a time, within, thus both sustaining and pro- imate those we have described. A recent but if the surroundings are nurturing, liferating life in the cornucopic manner study of Nri suggests that this system of the tree can resurrect out of remnant observed in termite hills. It also seems kingship may have provided an ancient roots or seed. Its seasonal renewals re- important that the representation of prototype of what we might here label a mind us of this never-ending potential multiple birds (and other creatures) con- termite-hill-tree-and-bird model of for death, catastrophe, then regenera- stitutes an affirmation of individuality leadership, in which the presence of the tion and creation of new forms. and diversity, the acceptance and cele- nurturing and balancing sacred leader bration of an ultimate reality of social as facilitates wide-ranging activities of so- well as natural variety and a capacity for cial mediation conducted mainly by autonomous development. others (Onwuejeogwu 1981:157-61, 165- All these ideas are reflected, for exam- 70). ple, in the norms of leadership applied to We may also view the Nri-area ijele as a the Onitsha king and his chiefs. While model of action that postulates an eter- the king holds accepted powers over life nal alternation between differentiation and death, in traditional litigation prac- and collapse. The outer or peripheral tice he may sit on his throne largely mute superstructure, with its numerous and while discussion proceeds among all diversified figures, represents the fertile relevant community-interest groups, creating of new forms, while the inner and final decisions they make are an- mound-and-pillar represents the peren- nounced in his name. Like the tree of nial grounds out of which dynamic social folklore, he tends to be a mediator of bal- worlds evolve (and periodically col- anced decisions, whose presence is often lapse). In the Awkuzu ijele, it would ap- more crucial than his deeds. The pear that the art rendered (Fig. 7) con- "mighty tree" has not only many eyes centrates initial visual focus on the but many supporting arms in balance, glories of the proliferation process. Just sustaining diversity. as all modern societies are producing In Onitsha, justice is ensured over a endless varieties of institutions, produc- longer run, moreover, by a structural tions, social roles, and dramas, so in the balance that sets against the king oppos- Awkuzu ijele the many peripheral figures ing forces represented by ijele - namely, seem to dominate this art. But the other, the community's incarnate dead, the countervailing aspect of underlying masquerade organization composed of order should not be forgotten. It would all adult males excluding the king, and seem important for every human being N. whose members share a power equiva- (as well as every moral community) to be lent to his. The leaders shown with the in touch with the roots of our existence, ijele in Figure 5 represent this collective which do not change between social wisdom (embodied both in the ijeleand in categories or over time but rather are re- its leopard-killer escort - himself a cursive and eternal. As Victor Turner has symbolic counterforce to the king) that is said (1969:96-111,166-202), it is especially felt to emanate from the ancestors and incumbent upon leaders to be reminded from mother earth. This collective of the "eternal verities" that they share leadership has the potential even to de- with other human beings and indeed all pose the king should he tend to become other life. Otherwise leadership tends to tyrannical. become irresponsible. the fact that the If we look from east to 10. IJEBU YORUBA CROWN FROMTHE AGEMU NATIONAL Finally, king ultimately briefly west CULT. THE DOMINANT ASCENDING FACE IS COM- dies and that this death creates disorder across southern Nigeria, as Simon Ot- PLEMENTEDBY A RECESSIVEINFERIOR ONE. is the central meaning of the Onitsha say- tenberg (1983) has done in comparing

36 with that of the Yoruba, here technological artifact than a thing of na- mask with powerfully bulging eyes, drawing a line mainly from the Nri- ture. The Oba's overall appearance, in- while his curving legs form two mud- Awkuzu area to Onitsha and then across terestingly, is rather like that of a fish, allusions to cool, slimy zones (a to Benin, some tentative contrasts termite hill both in shape and colora- symbolism shared with Benin). Out of among traditional leadership headdres- tion,29 and especially striking toward the his head sprouts a surmounting bird, ses may be drawn. We see a sequential bottom is what might be construed as while below - though almost suc- shift. In the Nri-Awkuzu aesthetic vision bulging pregnancy. The lower decora- cessfully concealed - a very ghostly face of leadership, impersonal figures carry a tions on his dress also seem very differ- has round, multifaceted eyes, her(?) massive structure whose central mound ent from those of ijele'sabstract allusions smile a crescent moon. Yoruba religion and tree are largely obscured by the sur- to mother earth: trees and animals are retains a subtle ambiguity, one of its rounding peripheral elaborations of represented, but they have an appear- deepest traditional secrets being the form (where so to speak the "many ance of notational analytic categories king's identification with mother earth birds" predominate). In the Onitsha im- rather than numinous symbols. Some (Morton-Williams 1960). age, the system of mound-tree-birds is sculptural forms (Fraser 1972:268, fig. In symbolic transformations such as placed on the head of an identifiable 14.4; Brain 1980:139, pl. 6.25; Gallagher these we are increasingly enabled to see, human being. If we then compare some 1983) emphasize the Oba's association as Fraser, Cole and others have illus- of the headdresses worn by the Benin with mudfish and other creatures of trated (Fraser 1974; Fraser & Cole 1974), Oba, we find sculptural forms in which deep water (linked, as Bradbury and how chiefs and kings have diversely the human face itself becomes primary. others have suggested, with increasingly manipulated, transformed, and selec- For example, on some plaques represent- overseas sources of powers of life; Brad- tively pruned the richly varied intrinsic ing the Oba and his warriors, mound- bury 1957:53; Ben-Amos 1983:52; stock of ideas associated with mounds and-pillar are displayed, but the pillar is 1980:46-49, 68). The overall emphasis has and trees in order to legitimize substan- bare, boldly phallic or weapon-like shifted from balance to the fertility of tially different patterns of leadership. We (Ben-Amos 1980:89, pl. 96). On the more power. also see, at the two geographic extremes, elaborated crowns associated with the We follow Ottenberg's nice contrast of what appear to be (from this brief and Oba's annual emergence to honor his Igbo and Yoruba art (1983), noting that partly speculative interpretation) two ancestors (Ben-Amos 1980:8, pl. 2), the Yoruba crowns are distinctive too. The very different philosophies of mound (which is continuous with the Yoruba typically emphasize not leadership. In both aspects, the Benin Oba's prominently visible face) gives rise peripheral proliferation but repre- and Nri-area crowns stand at opposite to a form apparently homologous to the sentational, horn-headed, masculine poles, with the Onitsha Igbo (and to- Igbo constructions, with horizontal ancestral faces (sometimes in sunburst ward the more centralized side, the loops and vertical "arches," but no "tree color) on the front of their crowns Yoruba) forming intermediate syntheses of life" is apparent and representations (Thompson 1970:8, pl. 1; 1971:ch. 8, pl. 1) of types. 0 of multiple birds are conspicuously ab- - the king is very much "lord of the Notes,page 94 sent. Bird symbolism does remain im- sky." The mound-and-pillar allusion is portant in Benin (figures of the Oba present, however, and above all, the sometimes wear a feather or feathers), birds are there, although pecking at a but the notion of a diversified cluster of pillar that is not obviously a tree. But birds appears to have been shifted to a where there are multiple birds they tend single pair of wing-like structures flank- to orient toward an ascendant figure at ing the Oba's head (Ben-Amos 1980:83, the apex. One remarkable Ijebu brass pl. 89; Brain 1980:138, pl. 6.24). The pillar crown (Fig. 10)30 presents, at the upper itself is no doubt a multivocal symbol, side of the mound, the deified ancestral but its appearance is more like a face, horn-headed, his face an impassive

d•1 " .e

a'ieAPP 4 , :,f,:41,

11. PERSONAL SHRINE TO THE COURTYARDEARTH IN THE ANCESTRALHOUSE OF JERRY UGBO, ONITSHA.

12. T.C. IKEMEFUNA, AN ONITSHA ELDER, DIRECTS A SACRIFICE NEAR THE BIRTH SHRINE OF HIS VILLAGE. THE GROVE OF BANANA TREES BESIDE THE MOUND IS IDENTIFIEDWITH THE REINCARNATIONOF SMALL CHIL- DREN.

37 Interpretation.Seattle: University of Washington Press. Cole, Herbert M. 1972. "Ibo Art and Authority," in African Art 1. See Turner (1967:19-47) and Ortner (1973) on dominant or Ottenberg, S. 1983. "Igbo and Yoruba Art Contrasted," Afri- and Leadership, edited by D. Fraser and H.M. Cole, pp. key symbols. We follow Jacques Maquet (1986:1-5)in viewing can Arts 16, 2:48-55, 97-98. 79-97. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. art as a "collective mental construction of reality," recogniz- Ottenberg, S. 1982a. "Boys' Secret Societies at Afikpo," inAf- Cole, Herbert M. and Chike C. Aniakor. 1984. IgboArts: Com- ing that human social realities are symbolically constructed ricanReligious Groupsand Beliefs:Papers in Honorof WilliamR. munity and Cosmos. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural His- (and therefore variable). Bascom, edited by Simon Ottenberg, pp. 170-84. Meerut, tory, UCLA. 2. Feeley-Harnik 1985:273. A reconsideration of the work of India, and Cupertino, Calif.: Archana Publications for The Dalziel, J.M. 1955. The Useful Plants of West TropicalAfrica. Sir James Frazer (1911-15) is now under way. For another Folklore Institute. London: Crown Agents for Overseas Government. example, see Vaughn 1980. Ottenberg, S. 1982b. "Illusion, Communication, and Drewal, Henry and Margaret Drewal. 1983. Gelede: Art and 3. Thomas 1913a:50-52, 138; Jeffreys, n.d.: ch. 6. In Thomas's Psychology in West African Masquerades," Ethos 10, Female Power among the Yoruba.Bloomington: Indiana Uni- version, the creation of all plants was the result of human 2:149-85. versity Press. sacrifices bargained between the Great God and the king (p. Ottenberg, S. 1975. MaskedRituals of Afikpo: The Context of an Green, M.M. 1964. Ibo Village Affairs. 2nd ed. New York: 137). See also Henderson 1972: 59-65. For an indication of the African Art. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Praeger. cultural centrality of Nri for the rest of northcentral Igboland Ottenberg, S.1973. "Afikpo Masquerades: Audience and Per- Henderson, Richard N. 1972. The King in EveryMan: Evolutio- and beyond across the Niger toward Benin, see Henderson formers," African Arts 6,4:32-35. nary Trendsin Onitsha Ibo SocialLife and Culture. New Haven: 1972:297-98, 370-73. Ottenberg, S. 1972. "The House of Men," African Arts 5, 4: Yale University Press. 4. McCall (1982) discusses this dialectic. 42-47, 85-88. Horton, Robin. 1956. "God, Man and the Land in Northern 5. Meek 1937:188. See Henderson 1972 for general treatment Riesman, Paul. 1985. "The Person and the Life Cycle in Afri- Ibo Village Group," Africa 26, 1: 17-28. of Onitsha religion in its societal and intersocietal context (in- can Social Life and Thought." Paper presented at the 28th Ilogu, Edmund. 1964. "Ofo: A Religious and Political Symbol cluding comparisons to Nri). Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, New in Iboland," Nigeria Magazine 82:234-53. 6. Onitsha culture and society have changed very rapidly Orleans, November 24. Jeffreys, M.D.W. 1956a. "Anam Ofo: A Cult Object among the during the past 125 years, with accelerating loss of traditional Teilhet, Jehanne. 1983. "The Role of Women Artists in Ibo," South African Journalof Science 52, 10:227-33. knowledge, the consequence being that by 1960 (when our Polynesia and Melanesia," in Art and Artists of Oceania, Jeffreys, M.D.W. 1956b. "The Degeneration of the Ofo initial field research was done) conceptions of traditional reli- edited by Sidney M. Mead and Bernie Kernot, pp. 45-56. Anam." Nigerian Field 21, 4:173-77. gion were fragmented at best. The crowns we discuss here Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunsmore Press, and Jeffreys, M.D.W. 1954. ": The Ibo Ram-Headed God," are today called simply "great crowns" (nnukwu okpu), but Mill Valley, Calif.: Ethnographic Arts Publications. African Studies 13, 1:25-45. they may be related to a now extinct type called "crowns no Winnicott, D.W. 1971. Playing and Reality. New York: Basic Jeffreys, M.D.W. 1951. "The Winged Solar Disk or Ibo Itsi needle can penetrate" (okpu ntutu aga, an allusion to the fact Books. Scarification," Africa 21, 2:93-111. that, though woven of grass to make themlight, they are, like Leonard, A.G. 1906. The Lower Niger and Its Tribes.London: hard and heavy wood, impenetrable). These were large, 53 PICTON, notes, from page Macmillan. elaborately decorated caps made of cane and straw (replaced 1. Herbert M. Cole and Chike C. with all the Aniakor, Marcus, George E. andM.J. Fischer. 1986.Anthropologyas Cul- early in this century by small red caps of imported felt that are wealth of and illustrative material extraordinary descriptive ture Critique. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. now given the same name). We have not conducted an inten- in their Arts: and Cosmos in- published Igbo Community (1984), Masterpiecesfrom the WellcomeCollection. 1965. Los Angeles: sive study of what exegeses may be made of these objects by clude some or nine which eight Ekpeye sculptures (of only Museum and Laboratories of Ethnic Arts and Technology, Onitsha elders, and it is unclear to what extent this may be five are certainly identified as such); and the area is also UCLA. rewarding today. We hope such a study will soon be underta- discussed G.I. in The Art Eastern briefly by Jones of Nigeria Meek, C.K. 1937. Law and Authority in a Nigerian Tribe.Lon- ken, but here we rely primarily on positional analyses rather This article can be seen as a belated (1984). appendix, particu- don: Oxford University Press. than indigenous exegeses (Turner 1973). to Cole and Aniakor's volume. larly Meek, C.K. 1933. Report on Social and Political Organizationin 7. Orakwue 1953:50. This identification of "hands" is doubt- 2. In the literature available in the of Ahoada and 1966, people Division. : Government Printer. ful. Whether or not "hands" are in fact normatively repre- were called Talbot surrounding villages Ekkpahia (e.g., 1926) Meek, C.K. 1931. An EthnographicReport on the People of the sented on traditional crowns is not a central issue for us here, and Forde & I arrived with both Ekpeya (e.g., Jones 1950). Division, Onitsha Province. : Government though if they are, an additional symbolic correspondence in hand to be told that versions only quite clearly they were Printer. with the ijele (see below) would be implied. and that the form in current use was wrong, Ekpeye. Metuh, Emefie E. Ikenga. 1981. God and Man in African Reli- 8. See Henderson 1972:471-94 on the political significance of 3. This a that is both and may represent development spatial gion. London: Geoffrey Chapman. the masquerade association. Boston (1960:62) strongly em- be more elaborate because are Ek- temporal: they may they Neaher, Nancy. 1976. "Bronzes of Southern Nigeria: Igbo phasized the religious significance of Ijele as a "symbol of rather than or because were made in the peye Abua, they Metalsmithing Traditions." Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford continuity and ritual well-being" within the community dis- or both. At least one Nwoka of 1960s, Ekpeye carver, University. playing it. was aware that older artifacts were less Ubarama, compli- Njaka, E.N. 1974. Igbo Political Culture. Evanston: Northwest- 9. The ijele (Fig. 9) displayed in the Igbo arts exhibition was cated. He that elaboration have been suggested might ern University Press. commissioned by Elizabeth Evanoff and made by the people about the use of iron nails in the construction brought by Nzekwu, Onuora. 1959. "Awka: Town of Smiths," Nigeria of Umuezede Achalla under the condition that it never be rather than the or slivers of raffia wood used in the pegs palm Magazine 61: 136-56. danced. It may have been intended to represent a very junior the technical means could be one ele- past. However, only Nzekwu, Onuora. 1960. "Masquerade." Nigeria Magazine 66: form. Cole and Aniakor (1984:pl.35) show a related example, ment in the motivation of these changes. 134-44. probably more senior in status. 4. I do not know whether these various names can be iden- Onwuejeogwu, M.A.1981. An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom 10. At Nri the ijele masquerade complex includes not only the tified with variables in the specific iconographic headdresses, and Hegemony. London: Ethnographica. central giant figure but also a complex of smaller ones. The but I would it not matter too all - - suspect might much; possibly Ottenberg, Simon. 1958. "Ibo Receptivity to Change," in Con- huge tower which requires two men to dance it is called are names for of images pretty girls. tinuity and Change in African Culture, edited by W.R. Bascom the "king of the spirits" and "symbolizes the king of Nri," Bibliography and M.J. Herskovits, pp. 130-43. Chicago: University of while the small figures are called its "people" (Onwuejeogwu Cole, H.M. and C.C. Aniakor. 1984. Arts: and Igbo Coimmunity Chicago Press. 1981:141-42). A comparable dance formation is performed Cosmos. Los Angeles. Riesman, Paul. 1985. "The Person and the Life Cycle in Afri- during the Onitsha by the Onitsha king and his W.B. 1963. London. Fagg, Nigerian Images. can Social Life and Thought." ACLS/SSRC Joint Commit- chiefs. While Cole and Aniakor (1984:138-39) argue that the C.D. and G.I. 1950. The Ibo and Forde, Jones. Ibibio-Speaking tee on African Studies, Research Overview. Presented at ijele form is a recent development, cross-cultural comparison South-Eastern London. Peopleof Nigeria. the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, New Or- suggests that the basic pattern is old. It has also influenced Bendor-Samuel and R. 1976. An Hansford, K., J. Stanford. leans. forms developing recently outside Igboland (see Borgattil1979 Index Studies in of Nigerian Languages: Nigerian Languages, Shelton, Austin J. 1971. The Igbo Igala Borderland:Religion and for a Northern Edo example). No. 5. High Wycombe, England. Social Controlin IndigenousAfrican Colonialism. Albany: State 11. Henderson (1972) describes this for a variety of personal Horton, R. 1967. Kalabari Sculpture. Lagos. University of New York Press. and collective cults in Onitsha. Talbot (1926: 15) emphasized G.I.1984. The Art Eastern Jones, of Nigeria. Cambridge, Eng- Smith, S.R. 1929. "The Ibo People." Ph.D. dissertation, the widespread religious significance of the complex. land. Cambridge University 12. We wish to emphasize our general indebtedness to Irwin Talbot, PA. 1926. Southern 4 vols. London. Peoples of Nigeria. Stevenson, Ian. 1985. "The Belief in Reincarnation among the (1982) in discussing this topic. Igbo of Nigeria," Journal of Asian and African Studies 20, 13. For example Thomas 1914:22-23. The translocation also BENTOR, notes, from page 71 1-2:13-30. has effects on overall soil fertility (to be discussed below). I would like to thank Dr. Herbert Cole for his insightful com- Talbot, P.A. 1926. The Peoplesof Southern Nigeria. 4 vols. Lon- 14. Collecting swarming termites and marketing them for and of field ments, criticism permission to publish some his don: Oxford University Press. food occur over much of tropical Africa, and some ingenious I would photographs. also like to thank the Office of Fellow- Talbot, PA. 1932. Tribesof the Niger Delta. London: Sheldon collecting techniques are employed. Lightly roasted, termites ships and Grants, Smithsonian Institution, for a summer 1985 Press. contain 36% protein and 44% fat (Harris 1961:40-41). Short Term Visitor Grant that enabled me to conduct research Thomas, N.W. 1913-1914. Anthropological Report on the Ibo- 15. The stylistic treatment of these omumu (birth shrine) on the ikenga. Special thanks to Kristyne Loughran for the SpeakingPeoples. 6 vols. London: Harrison. mounds bears comparison with the mbarihouse of the Owerri help in editing the text. Wittmer, Marcilene K. and William Arnett. 1978. ThreeRivers Igbo. Bibliography of Nigeria. Atlanta: High Museum of Art. 16. Jeffreys n.d.: ch. 8. Though we lack specific ethnographic Afigbo, A.E. 1972. The WarrantChiefs: Indirect Rule in South- evidence for the Igbo, in some parts of Africa people some- eastern Nigeria 1891-1929. London: Longman. times induce swarming by sprinkling water on the mounds Agbogu, Herbert Tagbo. 1974. "The Art of Nri." B.A. thesis, HENDERSON & UMUNNA, notes, from page 37 (see Harris 1961:40-41). Such a "magical" practice may be University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The interpretations on which this paper are based arose in speculated for what is described in Jeffreys's acount. See also Aniakor, Chike C. 1973. "Structuralism in Ikenga: An long conversations comparing Yoruba and Onitsha Igbo cul- Thomasl914:23 on the search for a piece of termite hill when it Ethnoaesthetic Approach," Ikenga 2, 1:6-28. ture, held with Robert Farris Thompson in the early l970s. An is discovered that one's wife is pregnant. Arinze, F.A. 1970. Sacrificein IboReligion. Ibadan: Ibadan Uni- initial version was read in a public lecture in 1977 at the Uni- 17. Cole 1982:88-89. The identification of termite-hill clay versity Press. versity of Arizona, where Inga Kohn directed attention to the with "yam food" for mother earth also strengthens an in- Basden, George T. 1921. Among the Ibos of Nigeria. London: works of Calame-Griaule. A paper by John Irwin (1982) fur- terpretation of the mound-and-pillar ijele image suggested by Seeley Service. ther focused our thinking, and subsequent versions were Simon Ottenberg (pers. comm.): that of yam-mound-with- Basden, George T. 1938. Niger Ibos. London: Seeley. read at the "Igbo Arts" Symposium of the African Studies support-pole. This kind of multivocality should of course be Bentor, Eli. 1987. "Ofo and Ikenga in Igbo Life and Thought." Association annual meeting held at UCLA in October 1984 expected in a dominant symbol of this kind. M.A. thesis, Indiana University and in Seattle at the Seattle Art Museum and the University 18. Cole (pers. comm.) was told during his mbariresearch that Boston, John. 1959. " Shrines in Udi Division," Nigeria of Washington African Studies Seminar in April1986. We are young hills have four eyes; mature hills, eight. I have seen Ijele Magazine 61:157-65. much indebted to Herbert Cole (both for substantive ideas displaying four "eyes" (a Janus pair), and some have many Boston, John. 1977. IkengaFigures among the Northwest Igboand and for encouraging our research on the subject) and have more. With reference to these latter, adult winged termites the Igala. Lagos: Federal Department of Antiquities, and benefited greatly from discussions with Chike Aniakor, have hemispherical compound eyes. London: Ethnographica. Obiora Udechukwu, Simon Ottenberg, Paula Ben-Amos, 19. Meek 1937:186. In this passage, note also the depositing of Chukwuma, Helen 0. 1974. "The Oral Tradition of the Ibos." Jean Borgatti, Gail Hershberger, Jane Hill, Robert Netting, the king's hair into the anthill, symbolizing the commitment Ph.D. dissertation, University of Birmingham. and Helen Henderson. of his identity therein.

94 20. Paula Ben-Amos (pers. comm.). According to Ben-Amos, 30. For a side view, see Thompson 1972:fig. 13.6, facing page Jeffreys, M.D.W. n.d. "The Divine Umundri Kings of Igbo the Bini also say that each morning, the soldier termites carry 241. Land" (ms). London: International African Institute Li- the "king" to the very top of the mound, where he performs a Bibliography brary. ritual to open the day This point is interesting in light of Ir- Aniakor, Chike. 1978. "The Igbo Ijele Mask," AfricanArts 11:4: Jones, G.I. 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria. London: Cam- win's suggestion that termite hills are widely associated with 42-47, 95. bridge University Press. solar cosmology Ben-Amos (1980:45) writes suggestively on Ben-Amos, Paula. 1983. "The Powers of Kings: Symbolism of Krishna, Kumar and Frances Weesner, eds. 1969. Biology of the probably ancient cultural connections of Benin with Igbo- a Benin Ceremonial Stool," in The Art of Power, the Power of Termites,vol. 1. New York: Academic Press. land, reflected in a Bini origin myth. Art: Studies in Benin Iconography,edited by Paula Ben-Amos Krishna, Kumar and Frances Weesner, eds. 1970. Biology of 21. Harris 1961:73-74; Lee & Wood 1971: 163-64. The iroko, a and Arnold Rubin, pp. 51-58. Termites,vol. 2 (?). New York: Academic Press. tree symbolically associated with kingship, is especially Ben-Amos, Paula. 1980. The Art of Benin. London: Thames & Lee, K.E. & T.G. Wood. 1971. Termitesand Soils. New York: noted for its resistance to termite attack (Harris 1961:116),but Hudson. Academic Press. apparently where trees grow out of termite mounds these Ben-Amos, Paula and Arnold Rubin, eds. 1983. The Art of McCall, Daniel. 1982. "Mother Earth: The Great Goddess of insects do not attack them (see Irwin 1982:355). Power, the Power of Art: Studies in Benin Iconography. Los West Africa," in Mother Worship: Theme and Variations, 22. For further examples, see Talbot 1926:314; Thomas Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, UCLA. Monograph edited by James Preston, pp. 304-23. University of North 1914:22-24. series 19. Carolina Press. the 23. Irwin (1982:343-47). In light of profound symbolic im- Borgatti, Jean. 1979. From the Hands of LawrenceAjanaku. Los Maquet, Jacques. 1986. The Aesthetic Experience: An An- portance of insects in traditional West African religion, more Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, UCLA. Pamphlet thropologistLooks at the Visual Arts. New Haven: Yale Uni- thorough investigation seems warranted concerning their series 1: 6. versity'Press. use as metaphors in art. For example, one remarkably intrigu- Boston, John. 1960. "Some Northern Ibo Masquerades," Meek, C.K. 1937. Law and Authority in a Nigerian Tribe.Lon- ing bronze figure from the Igbo-Ukwu archaeological finds is Journalof the Royal AnthroplogicalInstitute 90: 54-65. don: Oxford University Press. the so-called double-egg pendant, of which two examples Bradbury, R.E. 1957. The Benin Kingdomand the Edo-Speaking Morton-Williams, Peter. 1960. "The Yoruba Ogboni Cult in have been found. In both there is at one level of interpretation Peoplesof South-western Nigeria. London: International Afri- Oyo," Africa 30:4:362-74. a representation of the leadership-signifying double gong can Institute. Nevadomsky, Joseph. 1984. "Kingship Succession Rituals in (one type of which is called ogene in both Onitsha and Nri), Brain, Robert. 1980. Art and Society in Africa. London: Benin: The Coronation of the Oba," AfricanArts 17:3:48-57, the two slightly outward-pointing bells joined at the top by Longman. 87. an arch. On its frontal, closed side, the gong appears as two Calame-Griaule, Genevieve, ed. 1974. Le th'me de l'arbre dans Noirot, C. 1970. "The Nests of Termites," inBiolohgyof Trmites, 2 pendulous eggs or perhaps breasts. The egg image is inten- les contes africains, vol. 3. Paris: SELAE edited by Kumar Krishna and Francis Weesner, vol. (?), sified by the presence of a fowl (hen? cock?) shown resting Calame-Griaule, Genevieve, ed. 1970. Le th'me de l arbredans pp. 73-125. atop the two relatively huge eggs, its head and beak facing les contes africains, vol. 2. Paris: SELAF. Noirot, C. 1969. "Formation of Castes in the Higher Ter- down between them and its small wings folded over them in Calame-Griaule, Genevieve. 1969. Le thiemede l'arbredans les mites," in Biology of Termites,edited by Kumar Krishna and a protective fashion. A pensive observer is likely to be sud- contes africains, vol. 1. Paris: SELAE Frances Weesner,.vol. 1, pp. 311-50. WL. 1969. and in Biol- denly struck by the resemblance of this complex to human Cole, Herbert. 1982. Mbari:Art and Lifeamong the Owerri lgbo. Nutting, "Flight Colony Foundation," edited Kumar Krishna and Frances male genitalia - to penis (the cock in Igbo symbolizes virility Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ogy of Termites, by vol. just as it has traditionally in Western culture) and to testicles Cole, Herbert. 1969. "Mbari is a Dance," African Arts 2, 4:42- Weesner, 1, pp. 233-82. M. 1981. An Civilization: Nri (the two eggs). As Maquet has suggested, such intuitive ex- 51, 79. Onwuejeogwu, Angulu. lgbo and London: Co. periences should not be lightly discounted, but further Cole, Herbert and Chike Aniakor. 1984. IgboArts: Community Kingdom Hegemony. Ethiope Publishing Onitsha Custom Onitsha: explored. An additional striking feature is the covering of the and Cosmos. Los Angeles, Museum of Cultural History, Orakwue, Jerry 1953. of Title-Taking. Africa Press. figures by representations of flies (Shaw 1970, vol. 1:144;vol. UCLA. Renascent 1973. "On American An- 2: pls. 274-77). Collins, Mark. 1980. "Two Hundred Years of Termitology," Ortner, Sherry. Key Symbols," 75:1338-46. What we wish to call attention to here is that one of these Antenna: Bulletin of the Royal EntomologicalSociety 4:2:42-48. thropologist Simon. 1983. and Yoruba Art double gongs has eleven bell-shaped pendants attached to it Eliade, Mircea. 1958. Patterns in ComparativeReligion. New Ottenberg, "Igbo Contrasted," Arts 2:48-55. by wires radiating out from a position below the eggs (a York: Sheed & Ward. African 16, C. Thurstan. 1970. An crotch or belly position if one presumes representation of Feeley-Harnik, Gillian. 1985. "Issues in Divine Kingship," Shaw, Igbo-Ukwu: AccountofArchaeolog- - - ical Discoveries in Eastern 2 vols. Evanston: North- sexual parts). These bells are crescentic moon-shaped Annual Review of Anthropology14: 273-313. Nigeria. western Press. with mouths opening out toward the bottom. Along the Fraser, Douglas. 1972. "The Fish-legged Figure in Benin and University wires are strung many small golden-yellow beads (Cole & Yoruba Art," African Art and Leadership,edited by Douglas Stuart, Alastair. 1969. "Social Behavior and Communica- Aniakor 1984:33). Clearly this symbol must have presented a Fraser and Herbert Cole, pp. 261-94. tion," in Biology of Termites,edited by Kumar Krishna and manifold image of fertility and nurture; we wish to suggest Fraser, Douglas and Herbert Cole, eds. 1974. African Art and Frances Weesner, vol. 1, pp. 193-232. here that, in light of the importance of insect symbolism in Leadership.Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Studstill, John. 1970. "LUarbreancestral," in Le th'me de larbre Igbo culture, the possibility that these yellow beads repre- Frazer, James. 1911-15. The Golden Bough. Macmillan & Co. dans les contes africains, edited by Genevieve Calame- sented an insectoid proliferation of life or plenty (insect eggs Gallagher, Jacki. 1983. "Between Realms: The Iconography of Griaule, vol. 2, pp. 119-37. or pollen, etc.) ought to be considered. Kingship in Benin," in The Art of Power, the Power of Art, Talbot, P. Amaury 1926. The Peoplesof Southern Nigeria. Vol.11: of forests in 24. This has not of course prevented degradation edited by Paula Ben-Amos and Arnold Rubin, pp. 21-26. Ethnology. London: Frank Cass & Co. Igboland, but the connection between fertile potential and Gorog-Kardy, Veronika. 1970. "U'arbrejusticier," in Le Thomas, Northcote W. 1914. Anthropological Report on Ibo- such theme preservation of sacred groves contains insights. de l'arbre dans les contes africains, edited by Genevikve SpeakingPeoples of Nigeria, Part IV:Law and Custom of the Ibo to the reli- 25. Henderson (1972) gives considerable attention Calame-Griaule, vol. 2, pp. 23-62. of the Asaba District, S. Nigeria. London: Harrison & Sons. Onitsha. For gious significance of trees (and parts thereof) in Harris, M.V. 1961. Termites:Their Recognitionand Control. Lon- Thomas, Northcote W. 1913a. Anthropological Report on the Benin, see Gallagher 1983:22-23. don: Longman. Ibo-SpeakingPeoples of Nigeria. Part I. Law and Custom of the that elders 26. Ottenberg (pers. comm.) emphasizes Afikpo Henderson, Richard N. 1972. The King in EveryMan: Evolutio- Iboof the Awka Neighbourhood,S. Nigeria. London: Harrison consistently meet to resolve disputes under shade trees and nary Trendsin Onitsha Ibo Society and Culture. New Haven: & Sons. that trees are ritually likened to houses as protective (and Yale University Press. Thomas, Northcote W. 1913b. AnthropologicalReport on the cooling) coverings in this sense. Irwin, John. 1982. "The Sacred Anthill and the Cult of the Ibo-SpeakingPeoples of Nigeria. Part IlI. Proverbs,Narratizves, 27. A remarkable story illustrating the tree's passive role is Primordial Mound," History of Religions 21, 4:339-60. Vocabulariesand Grammar.London: Harrison & Sons. recorded in Studstill (1970:120), where the tree merely consti- tutes an obstacle to the physical balance of a protagonist who has lost his moral balance. Meek (1937) reports that during a trip to the Land of the Dead, a novice in the Onitsha mas- querade association encounters an old woman sitting beside CONTRIBUTORS a large cotton tree. The woman requires him to scale the tree and fetch her some article from the top, but if he is socially ELIBENTOR, a Ph.D. candidate in art historyat IndianaUniversity, is currentlydoing research unfit he will fall (p. 68). One version of a widespread tale in in which the tree participates more actively is given in Gorog- Nigeria. Karady (1970:41), where an abandoned child causes his fruit HERBERTM. COLEis Professorof ArtHistory at the Universityof California,Santa Barbara.He tree to grow higher, thus threatening the life of the mother who had wronged him and has subsequently climbed the tree presently holds a Rockefeller Residency Fellowshipat the National Museum of AfricanArt, to gather its fruits. A widespread aspect of tree symbolism SmithsonianInstitution. illustrated here is an implicit association of its pinnacle with death. Pinnacle figures displayed on Ijele may prove to HENRYJOHN DREWAL,presently Visiting Professor at the Universityof California,Santa Bar- exemplify this association. is a future exhibitionon "TheArts of MamiWata and Her Sisters in Af- 28. Thomas (1913b:70-72) reports an interesting narrative bara, planning traveling from the Awka district that strongly supports the symbolic rica and the New World." identification of kings with both termite hill and tree. Tortoise (the irrepressible Igbo trickster) directs his wife to cook food RICHARDN. HENDERSON,Professor of Anthropologyat the Universityof Arizonain Tucson, for him, as he will become king. He takes the food, sits on a lived in Onitsha,Nigeria, from 1960 to 1962. termite hill, and begins to eat. But since he fails first to offer food to the hill, it bites him repeatedly on the rump, and SIMONOTTENBERG, Professor of Anthropologyat the Universityof Washington,is spending when he tries to stand he finds he cannot. So he shouts loudly that he has become king, like his father. When elephant the academic year at the Universityof Cambridge. He is author of The Masked Rituals of comes by, tortoise proclaims that he has become king and Afikpo:The Contextof an AfricanArt (1975) and Boyhood in an AfricanSociety: An Interpreta- states that the elephant cannot lift him up; the elephant tries tionof AfikpoMaturation Rituals (forthcoming). but fails. The leopard then comes, and tortoise repeats his claim, saying, "I put root [abwelimmbologo] for the land of my JOHN PICTON,recently returned from UCLAwhere he was Visiting Associate Professor, fathers, come and try." The leopard does but also fails. Finally4 after the bush rat repeats the pattern, it digs into the termite teaches Africanart history at the School of Orientaland AfricanStudies of the Universityof hill and finds the tortoise's tail down inside. He bites into it, London. He previouslyworked at the BritishMuseum and in Nigeria in the federal Antiquities releasing the tortoise, and causing the latter to have a short tail. (Thus the tortoise in striving for kingship becomes Department. rooted" in the termite hill, yet also strives to rise above it.) IFEKANDU a of Humanitiesand 29. Ben-Amos 1980:8, pl. 2; Nevadomsky 1984: pls. 11,12,17. UMUNNA, native Onitsha, Nigeria, is Associate Professorof Nevadomsky specifically emphasizes this analogy (1984:54). Social Sciences at EdwardWaters College in Jacksonville.

95 Vaughn, James. 1980. "A Reconsideration of Divine King- BOOKS STATEMENTOFOWNERSHIP ship," in Explorationsin AfricanSystems of Thought,edited by Rare,important, and out-of-printbooks on Af- Statementof ownership,management and circulation Ivan Karp and Charles Bird, pp. 120-42. Bloomington: In- (Requiredby 39 U.S.C.3685) diana University Press. rican, Primitive,and Ancient art purchased 1. Titleof Publication:African Arts COLE, notes, 65 and sold. Catalogues available on request. lB. Publicationno.: 00019933 frompage 1. The book on mbari (Cole 1982) is a revised version of my Please write for furtherinformation. Michael 2. Dateof 9/17/87 filing: doctoral dissertation written in 1967-68. Graves-Johnston,Bookseller, PO. Box 532, 3. Frequencyof issue: Quarterly(February, May, Au- I would like to acknowledge with thanks helpful sugges- gust, November). tions made by Doran Ross after reading a draft of this paper. LondonSW9 0DR, England.01-274-2069. 3A. No. of issues publishedannually: Four. 2. Data are skewed by the varied numbers of mbarirecorded - 3B. Annualsubscription price: $22.00. at different times not necessarily the numbers then extant. ETHNOGRAPHICITEMS and Kenneth recorded 7 or 8 mbariin the 4. Completemailing address of knownoffice of publi- G.I. Jones Murray For sale: Old African,Oceanic, mid-thirties, when many dozens more existed. I sur- Antiquities, cation:African Studies Center,University of Califor- surely veyed the area thoroughly in 1966-67, recording about 150 otherPrimitive and Precolumbianart, artifacts nia, Los CA90024-1310. Angeles, structures (some remaining from the 1930s and many quite and in with 5. Completemailing address of the headquartersof small) in varied states of deterioration. weapons. Specializing earlypieces general business offices of the publisher:African 3. I am indebted to Hyde's important study of gifts (1979) for knownprovenance. Free illustrated catalogue. StudiesCenter, University of California,Los Angeles, sharpening my understanding of this aspect of mbari,and to WilliamFagan, Box 425E, Fraser,MI 48026. CA90024-1310. R. Reid for pointing out the relevance of his book. 4. am to and Drewal for the use 6. Fullnames and complete address of pub- I grateful Henry Margaret of mailing their and data from their 1978 visit to ROWLAND-ABIODUN lisher,editor, and managingeditor: African Studies photographs Chukueg- gu's Centre. ProfessorRowland Abiodun, head of the Fine Center, Universityof California,Los Angeles, CA 5. Pounded anthill clay is the "yam" or fuft from which pre- Arts ObafemiAwolowo University, 90024-1310.John F Povey,African Studies Center, 1967 mbarifigures were modeled. As Henderson documents Department, Universityof California,Los Angeles,CA 90024-1310. elsewhere in this issue, anthills are important spiritually in ,Nigeria, expects to be in the UnitedStates None. many parts of Igboland, as wellas central tombarisymbolism. from February to August 1988 and seeks 7. Owner:Regents of the Universityof California,405 6. This was kindly reported to me briefly in 1982 by the artist, whose father was one of the five artists speaking on Africanart and Hilgard,Los Angeles, CA 90024-1310. Geoffrey I. Nwogu, engagements involved in its construction. 8. Knownbondholders, mortgagees, and othersecu- aesthetics. Contact him care of the Art De- 7. The group is composed of Sylvester Agu Chukueggu rityholders owning or holding1 percentor moreof Cleveland State Cleve- (leader), his son Silver 0. Chukueggu, and Chukueggu partment, University, totalamount of or othersecurities: bonds, mortgages kinsmen Nwogu Josiah Anyawu and his son Geottrey land,OH 44115. (216) 687-2040. None. Iheanyichukwu Nwogu, LongJohn Mbazuigwe II (de- 9. The purpose,function, and nonprofitstatus of this ceased), Albert Anya, and Remegius. All except G.I. Nwogu organizationand the exempt status for Federalin- and Mbazuigwe worked on the cement mbari. 8. This from Abakalike is illustrated as come tax purposeshave notchanged duringpreced- sign, township, figure Indiana 132 in Cole and Aniakor 1984. Bloomington: University Press. ing 12 months. Drewal, H.J. In press. "Mami Wata:African Bibliography Representations 10. Extentand natureof circulation: number of the Other in Art and Action," The Drama Review (T118). Average Beier, Ulli. 1963. AfricanMud Sculpture. London. Hambly, W.D. 1931. "Serpent Worship in Africa," Field of copies each issue duringpreceding 12 months;ac- Beier, Ulli. 1968. ContemporaryAfrican Art. London. Mu- Series tual number of copies of issue Brett, 1986. TheirOwn Mod- seumof NaturalHistory, Publication289, Anthropological single published Guy. Through Eyes:PopularArtand 21, 1. nearest to filing date: A. Total number of copies ern History. London. Jenkins, D. 1985. "The Art Mamy Wata: A Popular Water 5200. B. Paidand/or circula- Cole, Herbert M. 1982. Mbari: Art and Life among the Owerri of printed:5200; requested Spirit Found among the Igbo of Southeast Nigeria." M.A. tion: (1) Sales throughdealers and carriers,street Igbo. Bloomington. thesis, of California, Santa Barbara. Cole, Herbert M. 1975. "The of Mbari Houses: University vendors and countersales: 354; 363. Mailsub- History Igbo Jenkins, D. 1984. Wata" in Arts: and (2) Facts and Theories," in in "Mamy lgbo Comintunity African Images: Essays African Cosmos, edited H.M. Cole and C.C. 75-77. scription:3691; 3745. C. Totalpaid and/orrequested edited D. McCall and E. New York. by Aniakor, pp. Iconology, by Bay. Los Museum of Cultural UCLA. circulation:4045; 4108 D. Free distributionby mail, Cole, Herbert M. 1969. "Mbari is a Dance," AfricanArts 2, 4. Angeles: History, Jones, G.I. 1984. TheArt of EasternNigeria. Cam- carrieror othermeans; samples, complimentaryand Cole, Herbert M. and Chike C. Aniakor. 1984. IgboArts: Com- Cambridge: bridge University Press. otherfree copies: 135;131. E. Totaldistribution: 4180; munity and Cosmos. Los Angeles. Hyde, Lewis. 1979. The Gift: and the EroticLife of 4239. F Copies not distributed:(1) Office use, left Imagination KEBEDE, notes, 90 Property.New York. frompage over, unaccounted,spoiled afterprinting: 1020: 961. 1. I served as Music for the of Education Morell, Karen (ed.). 1975. In Person: Achebe, Awuoonor,and Expert Ministry and (2) Returnfrom new agents:0;0. G. Total:5200;5200. Fine Arts, as the founder and first Director of the Yared Soyinka. Seattle. 11. I that the statementsmade me above School of Music, and as the first President of the certify by Wenger, Susanne, and Gert Chesi. 1983. A Lifewith the Godsin Ethiopian National Music Committee. are correct and complete. (Signed) John E Povey, Their YorubaHomeland. (Austria). Worgl 2. See A. Kebede and K. Editor. Whitehouse, A.A. 1904. "Note on the 'Mbari' Festival of the Suttner, Ethiope:Musique delcEglise Copte (Institute for Music Studies and Docu- Natives of Ibo Country, Southern Nigeria, Man," 4, Comparative 106:162-63. mentation, Berlin, 1969). 3. See A. Kebede, "The Bowl-lyre of Northeast Africa" in Thompson, Robert. 1972. "Sign of the Divine King," in Afri- DREWAL,notes, from page 45 Ethnoinusicology,vol. 21, no. 3: pp. 379-95, 1977. 4. The can Art and Leadership,edited by D. Fraser and H.M. Cole, I am pleased to acknowledge generous financial support for explosive Ethiopian consonants can be easily indi- cated a it is pp. 227-60. Mami Wata research among the Igbo in 1978 provided by the by capital K; sounded like k but exploded. Thompson, Robert. 1971. Black Gods and Kings. Occasional National Endowment for the Humanities (Grant no. F77-42) 5. See A. Kebede, "The Azmari, Poet-Musician of Ethiopia," The Musical papers of the Museum and Laboratories of Ethnic Arts and as well as institutional support from the Nigerian Museum Quarterly,vol. 51, no. 1: pp. 47-57, 1975. Technology, UCLA, no. 11. and Ibadan University for research affiliations. I especially SMITH, from 91 Thompson, Robert. 1970. "Sign of the Divine King." African thank the followers of Mami Wata for generously sharing bibliography, page Daniel. 1977. from the Eastern Zaire Arts 3:3:8-17, 74-80. their thoughts with me; Geoffrey Nwogu for exceptional as- Biebuyck, "Sculpture Forest and Arts Turner, Victor. 1973. "Symbols in African Ritual," Science sistance in introducing us to devotees and artists in Imo Regions: Metoko, Lengola Komo," African 10, 2:52-58. 179:1100-05. State, and Margaret Thompson Drewal for her many helpful Daniel. 1976. from the Eastern Zaire Turner,Victor. 1969. TheRitual Process:Structure and Antistruc- suggestions on earlier versions of this paper. This article is a Biebuyck, "Sculpture Forest Yela and Arts ture. contribution to the growing literature on Mami Wata among Regions: Mbole, Pere," African 10, 1:54-61, 99-100. Turner,Victor. 1967. The Forestof Symbols. Ithaca: Cornell Uni- the Igbo (Cole 1982; Jenkins 1984, 1985; Jones 1984:87-92). A Bravmann, Rene. 1973. Frontiers:The Art in versity Press. more detailed discussion of Mami Wataart and performance Open Mobility of Black Seattle: of Press. across Africa will appear in a forthcoming issue of The Drama Africa. University Washington Theodore. 1983. A Art the Review, edited by Margaret Thompson Drewal. Celenko, Treasuryof African from Harrison Collection. Indiana Univer- 1. The edition illustrated was printed in Bombay, India, by the Eiteljorg Bloomington: Press. Shree Ram Calendar Company in 1955 to copy an earlier ver- sity sion sent to them by a trader in Kumase, Ghana. Between Kjersmeier, Carl. 1935-38. Centresde style de la sculpture niigre ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Paris: Albert Moranc&. 1955 and 1956, 12,000 copies (10"x 14") were sent to this trader africaine. 1987. "The of Mask in the Photographs,page: and another in Kumase "without changing a line even from Roy, Christopher. Spread Styles Black Volta Basin," AfricanArts 20, 4:40-46. 28-34, 37: RichardN. Henderson the original" (Manager, Shree Ram Calendar Company, letter 1985. Art and Lifein Selections the dated June 17, 1977). The history of the original print will be Roy, Christopher. Africa: from 27, 35, 55 (top, bottomleft), 56 (bottom),61, 62 Collection.Iowa of Iowa Museum of outlined in the forthcoming Drama Review article. While the Stanley City: University (top), 63 (bottom),65, 66, inventiveness of African artists sometimes makes it difficult Art. 1979. The Collec- 71 HerbertM. Cole to be certain, I discern the print's influence in atleast fourteen Roy, Christopher. African Sculpture: Stanley (right): tion. Iowa of Iowa Museum of Art. 36: RobertF Thompson countries and forty-one cultures. City: University 2. Nigerian Museum Photo Archive, neg. no. 106.94.17. Sieber, Roy and Arnold Rubin. 1968. Sculptureof BlackAfrica: 39-45, 59 and Drewal I The Paul Tishman Collection. Los Los (top):Margaret Henry wish to thank the Nigerian Museum for a of Angeles: Angeles providing copy Museum of Art. 46-53: John Picton this photograph. County Norman. 1978. Traditional from 54, 60: G.I. Jones 3. My discussions with Dr. Candido took place on May 21, Skougstad, Sculpture iUpper in . Volta. New York: African-American Institute. 55 (bottomright), 63 (top): R. Reid 1978, , 4. My conversations with Njoku took place on May 22,1978, 67 (left), 69, 78 (left):Richard Todd in , . 67 Catherine Bibliography (right): Angel OPPOSITEPAGE: THE DISTINCTIVE REGALIA OF HIGHEST 71 (left):Michael Cavanaughand Kevin Alagoa, E.J. 1972. "The Niger Delta States and Their Neighbours, 1600-1800," in , vol. 1, GRADEEKPE MEMBERS AMONG THE CROSS RIVER Montague edited by J.EA. Ajayi and M. Crowder, pp. 269-303. New IGBOINCLUDES STITCHED-AND-DYED UKARA CLOTH, IN 73-77, 78 (right), 79-81: RaymondSilverman York: Columbia University Press. THIS CASE DESIGNEDBY ITSWEARER, UGU AGWU 87: Bo Gabrielsson Cole, H.M. 1982. Mbari: Art and Life among the Owerri Igbo. OBIWOOF . PHOTOGRAPH 1983.

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