University of Nigeria

Research Publications

ONUORA, Chijioke N

Author Author PG/MFA/87/5652

IKORO: Monumental Drums of Igbo People Title

Arts Faculty Faculty

Fine and Applied Arts Department Department

October, 1990 Date

Signature Signature

I am indebted to the following people for their

'contrihutf.ons towatds making thLs research a success: '

Dr. Ulco Akpai.de, my supervisor and friend; Dr. ChLke Aninkor, the Head of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts,

University of Niger: a; Drs. C.S. Olceke, llmanlculor and

MQki Nzewi, for allow!.ng me malcc usc of their materialo;

B.N. Igwi1.0, V.C. Amnefunah and Obiora Udechukwu, Mr. Ugwu

L G,S, for typing the manuscript; Chikc Oyeka, Okolo Okolonkwo, hrlyn Agbata, Sylvester O&echie Chudi Ugwu for their invaluable assistance,

I am also deeply indebted to Nr. Ngworbia, Mr. Idika,

Chief Chulcwudike , Chief 'Fe stuo Ne~nn1a.10, Udo Chukwu, and

Mrs. A. O~CTI'Q for their assistance during my field work.

I am also great1.y inclebteii to my brothers, Chigbo,

Chuktruma and Ikechulm, and my parents Rev. and Mrs. J .C. Onuora for their .monumental support all these while.

To other persons who by any means helped in making this worlc a success I am grateful,

Responsibilities for errors and omissions, as well as views expre ssed , are entirely mine.

Chi jioke Octobe iii

In this research, I an usinc I1:oro drums to show

the Igbo ideas of monwnen.lality in sculpture. . The paper also gives an insight into %he dyncunic implications in the

interpre tation of the conoc 1)t of mo~nunc?ntn:l.i.f;y'mong kl I(:!

Igbo, where the ikoro drum is physically, symbolically/

concel)tually ruul func tionnl ly roon~uncntal.

This s-h~dyi8 greatly em:',cl~cd by two major categories

L of source mnter.ials - esi.:;tin;; literatures on I@o art and

primary f nformation ob.tnined t11rouC;h cmeful. ob serva.tions

and interviews during my fiel-d work.

In this research, vernacular expressions and their

translations were used because they hc1.p in bringing out

more authentic meanings of the issues under ~~SCUSS~O~S.

The project 5s prcsenlxd 5.n five chapters. Chapter

me d2.scunses variova conae1;-1;s of monument by di:f ferent

people. It also contains the research problems, approach,

scope and the aim of the rcsoarch. Chapter two ~~SCUSS~S, broadly the llcoro under the title ' !,ha-t is ikord? 1 , while chapter three identifies ikoro drum types. Ilcoro production techniques is dlscnsscil in chal~terfour while the meanings and symbolism on ikoro Is discussed in

L iconography1 . ThL s re search, however, does not contain everything

on i1t0~0. My intention is to contribute in bringing the

the Igbo ikoro culture to a wider audf.ence.

Chi ji oke Onuora October 1990 \ Page i .. . ii .. iii .. iv .. v 0. vii .. vix

Conc-. of Mor.~~u~t .. .. 2 General. 'Eew .. .. 3 Western 'Tiew .. .. 3 Art Cri t.:cl. sn r1.c f':X tion .. 4 ~gboKelt ...... 6 'Phe Big i utd 14on1.mt:,!,::3. 11. The Small but !.lm.-meri-tal. .. 13 . .

TI1 IKORO DR'JM TWF;1S .. .. 46 7. V IKORO PRI )DUC!l?I ON -HAP -PAGE

i Map of I~boRefli~: Showing the five hb-Regions ii Map of Igbo Region: Showing Ikoro Drum Distribution . xi iii Map of Igbo Refion: Showing Motif Distribution on Ilcoro Drums ~ii -PAGE nubedike Monumcn-b at A~lnzi-~lni .. 8 Ol~pesimcestralobJcct .. .. I6 Umunze Ikoro infomatlon dis-trLbution nedmork ...... 23 i The warrior stc1)s out ax1 goes into a dance drama. .. i .. 35 Ikoro Ogbunlca sho~,Lngrno ther ikoro and children of ikoro .. .. 36 I koro Ogbunka .. .. 37 Ilcoro Umuchu In form of a man lying on hisback ...... 47 $'arts of a slit dnun . .. 48

Ikoro Obibialm in Umunze *. . .. 50

Ikoro 0bj.bIah l LUITIOIUI~.~ .. 0. 51 Detail of ikoro Cll)i.hlaJm .. .. 52 Naturali s tl c and Ah st-ract approach to ilcoro 'carvin.g .. .. 53 Ikoro Ezi, Awka .. .. 54

Ikoro Udo, Ummze .. 0 0 56 viii

15 A man with a human hcail on one end of Ilcoro Wgele Ojii .. e. 57

16 Ikoro drum in Arnum~, Nbaise 0

~17 Animal forms on Ikoro Np1.e Ojil, IJmunze 17a Some Ikoro dr~~msa.1; .buzu, Hbaise .. 18 Tradi tf onaJ camerst tools ..

I 0% TWO types of IJ~WU((niL;~;cr) .. 19 l'ossihle p~d~ctionstages of Ilcoro Ogbunka

M yossible pxoductfon sta,ys of Ikoro huzu

21 A traditional- hair style and its adaptation on ikoro ...... 22 Ikoro re sonator device (Ebem 0hdia) ..

23 The use of space in . the vi ].lace square during Ekpe l1estfval (Ebem 0hafia) .. 24 Responses to ikoro message ..

25. Design motifs on some ilcoro dms .a -P IA 'IX -PAGE

1 Okorie Alachebe on Ikoro Eziagu .. 87

2 Ikoro drummer in hJmn Ollafin .. 91

3 Ikoro drummer in Ablriba ., .. 911

4 Ikoro drum overlookin@ the arerln and. pavillion in Adazi-Nnukwu . .. 1%

------CIL2.PTER om

INTRODUCE ON

There are two major ti~inptlmt made me ' consider doing a research on Ikoror firstly, my ~'lhyalcalcontact wlth the monumental ikoro drum in ~cwo~munze ,' secondly, Chike Aniakorl s alaim that ilcoro drums rtil I. cxiot In J.arce numbers in I~bolc~de

The sul~jectof ikoro is tlicrcfore an interesting one.

Large numbers of ilcoro drums still exist in Ohafia,

Arochukw , Bende md Af ikpo in:. :a, I~l~mta,hkpa Ukwu, Urnaz~ux,~ and Umuyoto in Okigwe aroa. Ilroro could still. be f'ound in 2 parts of Nova, Orlu, OmrrL, Abakaliki and Ohaozara. Basden identified ilcoro drum at Acbala shrine m'ove In Ezi-Awka. Ilcoro: tradi tion also extends to Nllt? and Nsude In Udi area, Mgbaghu ';

Cmunity in Ezeagu; Ebenebe ; O,yu and Ihe in Awgu area; Achi : and Inyi in Oji River area. In A@sta area ikoro drums are located in the following communities : Ot~erri-Ezukala, hjalli ,

O~bunka,lJk&ofi, TJmuchuc, Ilaiiqu, Achina, Uga, I suof in, EzirA, and Umunze .(~nio~~dr9Pj).~heone tlmt was at Umuornaku was burnt dm by the rival Ezira in May, 1988.

Attempts made by some writers to research on slit drums of African people has given me insight into the nature and use of slit drums for cornmn~mica.l;ion. 13asden (1921) brought

to focus what he called the wonderful tom tom of UmunzeOv

6 lhlking drums of the peolllc of Southern NLgeria was part of

Talbotlls research in 1926. Ruth Finnegm (1920) did some

analysis of drum I Lterature In Africa. She omitted Ikoro.

Recent renearchc s by D. 11. Znca (1 376) , Onwudiwe Kalu (1 906)

Chike Aniakor (1383), ad IIerbert Cole (1384), have been '

L able to unravel a lot of thhgs about ikoro drums.

Some studies on ikoro susgest that they perhaps,

parallel the mbari c1ayvorl:s of Owerri area, I j de

masquareade of Anambra area, and Obu ITkwa shrine house of

Asaga Ohafia in imp~rtance.~Ilroro tradition is an interest-

ing area for research because all other arts seem to converge

there. Ikoro experience involves archI.tecture, music, dance 4 drama, sculpture, pol2 tico and warfare, religion and orahrev. It is from these points of view that the monumentality in ikoro

would be discussed.

General Kew:

To the man on the street a monument is a very big

sculpture or bullding. In a brozid sense, however, monuments , include all objects of wlmiev~rsize or nature that has been put into vlew for the prfmary 1)url:ose of cel.ebrathe; and preserving the memory of a person, m event, or,an idea. It could be a relic of almost my kind whfch by its survival bears witness of things past.

Western View:

In advanced civilizakions, monuments are mostly either architecture or scul.pt~lre. This is because painting, due to its less durable charnctcr, has seldom, seemed so

suitable a medium for preserving a memory into fndeffnite

future. It is true that emlnent people are still painted for posterity desyf te the cliall enp of photography. More

attention, however, is pald to such type of art that could be imposinc enough as wel.1. as havlng the abil-ity to ' resist change' . This is why Herbert Red believes that the unity ve call monument is an ambiguous word that may sometimes

mean architecture and oihor times s~ulp~e.~In otherwords the union between sculpture and archltecture takes us back to an object we can call a monument,

Art Criticlm Definition:

, In art criticFsm the .term 'monumentalt is often applied to a work of ark .that is usually though not necessartly, l,vge in size, elevated in idea; gives an impression of grandeur of f om, nobili t-y or simpl.lcl.l;y of conception, enduring significance or architectural quality. Some of the works of architecture with mon~uncntalpurpose from the past incl-ude the Pantheon, the Triumphal. Arch, The Obelisk, The Cenotaph,

!?he war memorial and. the pyrCmid.s.

Sculpture, partlcul.arly stone, apart from architecture, is capable of creat2.n~a sen:;@ of triumph of art over time more emphatical1.y thm other ark forms. Sculpture has a physical. presense which three dimensional. imqe natural1.y exerts with the characters of permanence. The type of material used also has a way of putting more glory hto the work.

b 5

Man could almost convince 115?1scl.f -l-haata monumental sculpture in solid gold would last forever.

Size of sculpture hclps to gl.orify as well. as preserve memory, idea, or event. It is true that a If fe-size sculpture made of weather-resistln~ material could be used to celebrate a person, an evcii-1; or m idea; but the ultlrnate In monumental sculpture is to turn a mountain into a sculpture.

Demacrates, a Macedonian archlkect , had m ambition to turn mount Athos into an awe-ins-;:iring monument. ~chelangelo, also. lamented on Es lacI: of oppor-Lunity to turn the mountain above the Carrara quarries into a statue. The artist who has come very close to achieving this kind of fea$ is Borglum, an American artist, who ca.mrcd ~;Iganticportraits of four United States presidents - \hshin&on, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore RooaevelT, on the .cliff of Mountain Rushmore in the

United State of America.

Religious or ritual motLves 12th the aim of preserving a memory has been combined In the past for many monumental sculptures. Awe inspiring foms of combined religious functions could be seen in Egypt and the Near East. The Sphinx at Gizeh and the statues of Abu-Sidbel are distingushed 2--_ d by the great size, the hardness of the materials,. the careful workmanship, and the stylizatfon wLthin a system of rectangular co-ordinates which convey an impression of inscruital~le

i purpose and timeless endurance; hence the sphinx and other

Egyptian Pyramids are massive, impre csive and lasting.

Igbo View:

Among the Igbo peoplc, the words nearest in meaning to tmonumentt is oke ihe (great thing), Llie ubw (big thing), ihe di edihe di ebube (wonderful thinc). Any of these terms as well cou1d:'stand for a thfngks an event. Ihe ncheta is also a monument which tends towards the word tmemoria.lt. -Oke added to ihe ncheta adds more greatness to it - oke ihe ncheta (the great rominder/memorial) . Many Igbo communi tPes creab artt~orksto commemorate some achievements.such as trar v%ctor+es. Thls is 'ihe nchetat

It io a1 30 iho uhm and flic di chbe.. For example, 'Ebubediket

(the dignity of the valiant) vms carved by Adazi-Ani Community in 1903 to commemorate her war victory over Neni Community.

It Is a 450 centime: ter wooden column consisting of three

C' fi~eqand<.- three skulls (pig. 1 - ) and was used as a. central house post. like house, Obu zulu Adazi-.hi onu, is sited at the place where the foundhg ancestor, Adazi-An:, first settled. All important decisions concerning the

community is talcen in it. !i?his house .post or totem pole by

Ezeoha has a seated ikenp at the baae, a female figure atand- ing on its shoulders, and seated diviner on the womant s head.

Above the diviner are three slalls, representing the war

trophies by the three villages in Adazi-hi. In the words

of ~zeonyiwah,the incumbent custodian of this sculpture

piece -

Akwukwa ntato - nmee stands ite e siri - L'uyport a pot Madu n1ato bu AdazL-Ani - Adazi-Ani are three persons 6 Asano, urn&, Ede - Asano , Umuru, Ede .

The use of house posts as monmenS2sis.cornmon among the people

of the north central Igbo and beyond.

The monumentality In )Bar: mmif'ests more In the ritual

art lkocess rather than the prodnct. Thls is because as soon

as the sacrificial process of Phrl Is completed, the entire

axt products are left to dccq and fall. apart. Nevertheless,

Mbari is a very ambitious ar-t l~rojectcrc-ated to appease

such god3 as ala (the cart11 goildem); llunu Ojiaku (god of

wealth) apm nsf (author of all troubles leder of fo'rtune

tel lorc) or Amadi.oha (~yxl o T .l-1111nclcr). On the day of dcdica- tion the community 1s trcatcrl to .i;hc best clay works and

mural paintings in the art gal.l.cry lmom as PIbarl. All human

activities, both good an6 bad, are sculpted. Pfiari monumental

expression is a native of Owerri I@o.

Obu Nlnra at OhafEa area 13 not less spectacular. The

numerous wocd sculptures, carved by the best carvers from the

cornmunfty adorn this men's shrine/meetinC house called obu nkwa

(house of artworks).

The case of Anambra area ic that of a colourful and

structm-ally intimidatin:; movin;;. houoe - I jelc. It is a. q@ ma- that reminds onc of a legendry ancestor who was

able to carry a house on his head. It Is perhaps the biggest rnasqmad.e in \Jest Afrim. Sl)ectators overwhelmed, by r ts splend.or of ten exclaim:

I j ele oke mmuo - I j ele, the great rnask/spirf t 1jel.e bu enyi - ljele is 'an elepl~ant Ijele mma - Ijele the beaut5ful Ijele oke ego - Ijele the expensive Ijele di ebube - Ijele Is wonderful7

mask. It is big, cornplcx, beau-Llful and expensive.

The greatness of ilcoro, the porlerouc drum of Igbo people, is of ten expressed in such words as ikoro bu ihe obodo jiri kwuru (ikoro is ~d~ata community supports itself with). !Ihe entire comm~ml-tyis ile~endent on ikoro. In other- words, without the ikoro s cornmunlty can not * get up' , instead it would be oversh,adorreil by oYier cornmm~ties. As the ' soul of the communityt, 2t is mounted on a strategic slte where it could be men and arlmlred I)y all.

The imposing s5ze o i' 'an art object , as shown In I j ele and ikoro, could be a factor ln defining monumentality. , Sometimes, it is not. Sonetincs, the focus is on the function.

An artwork can therefore be biz mc! monumental or small but

still monumental.

The Big and 1~5onumental:

The physlcal size of an art object, no doubt, helps to

stand it ou-t as monunicn.trt1.. 'Illis 5s achieved by magnifying

its model size to an extra-oxdlnarlly lap size. In additLon,

the labour, quality of ma l;crrlnl.r, ad tec~ol.ogywhich go

into such products are serhus at-Izibutes of monumentality.

For example, Ijele is a monumental achievement In masking

circles. In comparison to rimst ciasquerade s which together

with their hed-dress measme about 2 'meters high, the Ijele

reaxhes up to 5 meters high, To really appreciate the effort

and materials that go In-l;o l-he cons.LructIon of Ijele mask,

one should take his mind bncli to the pre-colonial perlod.

Today, a very rich individual can conveniently commission

artists to produce 1,jcle rnaal:, but before the advent of

modernity fnto the Igbo hln-tcrlmd, only few communities could om an ijele. It took the artists several months of intensive work of carving, se\J;,ng, glucins, tieing and assembling several hundreds of co:nponen';s b6 the armature to finish an Ijele mask. That ex, 1Lns why Ijcle was not often seen.

It took,perhaps~every f Lvc .Lo eimt years -to see one. Por an Aguleri man to see an 1jel.e ms to see the ultimate in masking. It was, and s.1-ill. Is '2ie biggest, most colourful , the most exl,cnsivc and the most maJ estic masqwacle in Igbolcmd and, perhal;s, beyond. ID is the heaviest and can on1.y be compared to the elwe mask of Nsukka area in weight. It is thc load of the comnunlty whlch must not fall at any cost. ms is what -the .fl.utist$blow into the ears of masker before he char,c;cs up and 15-ts the 'community load'.

The normal cylindrlcnl sllt drum, elwe, used by Igbo communi tles has a diameter a little above 30 centlmeteq, but Ikoro Obibiaku,' the rnonwncntal sl-it drum of Umunze people has a diame.ter of up to 250cm. It is blg. , heavy and expensive. Its physical presence is imposing. It took the mommental exl~crieicc~cxlcrtlsc and patience of. a skilled

carver from Amawbia to calve this struc-tux. This is a true positlve device of usinc slzc to nchlevc monumentality amonc the Igbo,

The Small nut Monwnental:

Many Igbo Ultwu bronze vorlrs arc in the miniature but

-they are monuments - nxt-ioi~nl.monuments. Tiley have become

so important beca~~aethey ax the only thing that link us with the art of the Igbo peollle of the 9th century. In fact,

they are the earliest lmom scu1p.l-11rcs produced by the Igbo people. Thus with age, their nlniaturc status has been elevated to the monumental.

Today, many modern sculp-l-ors dream of whzt one might

refer to as a monumental expression in sculpture. Art

critics believe that m,my sculp tu.res ere proposals for 8 monumental treatment. The reason behind this monumental

dream is the desire to achieve conceptual largeness of

f om 7 nrgene :;n in an ao s+t!lcl; ;c and not ~>hysi~alnen oe . Henry Moore puts very small heads on his figures, a

proportional device wliich su~:,ests crcat bulk and stability to the rest of the fi~~u-e.!Phis devlce produces a monu- mental re sul t . (He, probably, borrowed this device from some Afrl can sculptures.)

This device of ma kin^ sinal.3. works appear big Is not new to the African Sculptor. He is. a realist whose meticulous sense of d~~tyIs similm- to that of a builder's intent on achieving unlty and hamony of proportion. It is obvious that traditional artists have been a great example to the western and indeed modern artists. Their understand- in;: of l)roportion, their reeling for dezil';~:md acute sense of reallty has let them (the modern artists) to percieve, and even dare many things. Traditional African sculptars how how to create correctly proportioned works, in that they are harmonious in themselves and not In the sense that they conform to natural proportions. They understand the

scale or what Henry Moore mi:;llt call. the sl)iritual size of

sculpture, which helps them to achieve by simple means an imprevoion of grandeur mcl immobility. Theref ore, works could be srnall in size but larce In scale and particularly in meaning content. Among the Igbo, and indeed many African communities a small object could be symbolically monumental. \hen a person dies, in Igbolmd, he does not become an ancestor until a second burial is orsmlsed for him. When thts is done, the deceased man1 s s, lrlt, through a ritual ceremony, enters a carved miniature dumb bell-like structure called the olcpesi or mkpuln chi (~5.c.2). 'Tlli s wood en form is kept in the altar situated 5n thc? I'aml1.y (family1 s seat of government). It represents the man1 s sl~iritwho'is still. a member of that house. Prom its yosition in the Obi, he sees and hears everything that 11a!pens In the compound and reports back to the gods in the sp-kit world. \&enever prayers are said In this -Obi the okpcsi must be llut into use. In fact, ' it actually takes the name 01 the member of the family in whose name the object was carved. It is a memorial to him.

A miniature could therefore, be a concentration of the essence inherent in a larze object Lnto a small unit. In this sense, the concenlrated unit can, of necessity, be

transformed into an object 01 immense power being as it were

a pure object realized throu& tho diotil.lation of another

-Aims : 18 concept/i'urm, through experiments, to suit the Igbo contemporary society. The wentual aim is to pesent ikoro tradition to a wider audinncc onri prevent it From being extinct.

Scope:

Ttlc study covers the production and usas, of ikoro drums in vario~~sprr's of Igboland. These Igbo arnos include the south- east, south-west, Rorth-east and north-central (see maps). The text n,l.ca covers regional iltoro drurn typos and ikoro iconography.

i\pproncli :

The rjlproach to this project is historical, functional and aesti-1ul;j:c. The paper would also rely heavily on drawinqs and phr~togr:~lll~:;to describe and anal.yse datil ubtainnrl fro~~lcareful observctions during,, the fieldwork, interviews and existing

1itcr::turcs on ikoro. In using illustrations,,which arc' copied from originzl photographs taken by the researchnr, irrelevant inFur~ii-t.iut~are consciously eliminated, For example, where vegeta- tion nnrl crchitoctural structures obstruct ikoro forms, they are carefully eliminated in drawings. %is is the same dnun vrhlcli Dasden described In his 'Amon2 the Ibos of BLi;eriat .

G. T, Dasden, Amon;:. tl~eIbos of lTLrer:,a badan an: Univc;-sity lubl5shing Co. 1921) p. 245 Chike Aniakor, 'Ikoro: IIeroic Drums of Igbo People" A Paper presented during the Seminar on IIgbo ILfe ad Culturet , Nsukka, 1983,

Herbert Read, The Art ~f Sculpture (New York: l,rinceton University Press, 1969) P. 24.

Sydney Ezeonyiwahe (retired teacher) in an Oral Intervlerv, 1386, . '3

African ~rts,~ol; XI, No, 4, July 1978, P. 42.

Albert E . Elsen, Modem European Sculpture (1 918-1 94 (New Yorlc: Georze Braziller, Ino 1979) p. I?!!. WAT T S IKORO - (BROADF~T~TE) Ikoro are very blg comnlunlty slit drums of Igbo

people, esyectally those living In the South Vest and shar-

ing common borders ~5ththe Ibfblo and Ubembe tribes of Cross

River State. It is also knotrn to Icbo cornunities in the

northern part of the South Vest of Igboland as well as the

southern part of the north central. Ikoro culture is totally

absent in the Igbo communities mst of the River Niger (see

~ap1).

However, community ownership of wooden drums is common

in other parts of Igbolmd and indeed !Propica1 Africa whose

forests provide abundant wood for drum construction. In Igboland , every marlce t , villa,:;e and even smaller groups,

inchding dance groups have drums. Ekwe ike (power drum)

and elwe dike (valiantst drum) o.T Okotu ancestry even have monumental intentions alniost comparable to Ikoro . Ekpe Comniuni ty in Okpamerj. 1oca1.i ty of Bendel State (which f s

situated in the North Went of ~~l~oland)owns a ponderous wood

mass (drum) which is beaten durinc a particular male-oriented

ritual. It is carved in fonn of a man lying face up, its genitals clcarl y shown. 'Phlo modon mans ja not hollowed

out; so the members depend on raw physical energy to beat out sounds from its chestt . Despite the resemblance of

the communityj name and drum cul-hre with those of some

Igbo communities which celebrate %pe festival, they do not

think that there is any stronc llnk existing between the

said communities. The slf t drum 'of Mbaduku, (a Tiv

comniunity in the middle belt reg5on of ~igeria), is similar

to Igbo Ikoro drums in many wsys. Thouch it is a status

eymbol for the chief, it 'a nncd for sonding coded mosuqps

to Mbaduku natives. It Is about 300cm. in length and 120cm

across (diameter) anll in nheitercd in Ate-9 a four corner

poled hut sited in the public square. The sllt drums "Obodom

isong" of the Otoro and Iltono areas of Aha Ibom State, the

Igbo close neighbours, are of the same structure and

function as the Mbaduh-u ones. El.ephant drum, a wood mass

carved to resemble an elel~hant,is the monumenta~drum of

some commimities in Cameroun area. General.l.y, the use of

drums in sending messages is common among many other African

Communities , e spe cia1ly those croups whose 1anpa~;es are highly tonal.. Sorne of tllcnc cxo~q)sInclude Ewe, Yoruha,

Ashanti, Kongo , ICel e , Srmhi 12, Ngala and Bechuana.

Basically, ikoro Is a &ant cyllndrf cal communal owned wooden drum. In certain communities, only one ikoro exists while in some others there are many of such slit drums.

Some Igbo comrnunfties with one lkoro serving each autommous community at a time include Ezia.,yu, Ajalli, Ezira, Enugwu

Ukwu, Adazi Nnukwu, Ama.nul:e, Urum, Mbaulmu, Aguleri and

Nike. The location of these comnlunities is a bit removed from the sul~posedoriginators (~rosn ~gbo)of Ikoro traiij tion.

In Umunze, however, each vil.lwe has at least one ikoro. Of all the places visited during the field work for this paper, Umunze presented the peatest number of ikoro drums. It also has one of the best ilroro information distribution network (see EL;.3). There are, of course, other examples which re-echoe village ownership of ikoro drums as Ln Umunze. IJmuopara is an autonomoius community in Umuahfa area. It has eicht villa:-:es (Ohia, Ehume, Ekenobi zi , Ogbodinib e, Umunwanwa, Umuahia and ~zeleke)each of which has villa:;e ilcoro drum. In Ibelcu, . also f n

Ur~nlnh:la. arc:a , Arnu.~ulcwu, !mcl :e , l,ll>om, A.L'ara and Dume all own an i.koro each. In ~ben0ha:fla there are three drums -

Ikoro Eziukwu, Ikoro Eke elu ago mil Ikoro Mbagha. Every commun2.ty ikoro is houscd fn. the square that binds the ' community together while a drim owned by a village is kept at the village square, the one owned by a bfg family group is kept in the fcmllyls -Obf as 'practiced by Mgbagbu Owa and Uburu people. here are cl-aims that some individuals own iltom drums. rfio~~:htrrul3.tional I y ilcoro is owned by community groups and not indivlilua.ls, there are exceptions , since cu'l t11r.e is not sintic. Tn a particular family in

M@-mgbu Om, ikoro is placcd inside the family house &) which also contains so mcmy other trsditlonal carvings giving it a gallery status. Accorti5ng to the custodian of that

'gallery' the materials in it belonged to Mf3 dead father.

In Arond Lzuogu, Chief Ol:clzel s father, in Ndiamazu

V5lla:e had the singular honour of havin~;an ikoro sited in his 'ma1 . because of an ext!b-onEnary feat he performed.

was able to cut fourteen hunmn heac1s.l In Uburu and in 25

fact among some other coril;nunS-l,ir?sIn Ohaozara area of Imo

Sta.te, i.l:oro drums arc I:cl t 5n Llie hounes of people who

play them. ThIs hounc is Ino!m ~3 ndidi. Such ikoro which

also bear the name of i l-s dmmrwr is physically small and

could be carrled to the dte wllcr*e it is needed after which it is hroucht bacl: to the -nrl'cli An ikoro could be idcntiffcd by Its name which could

be taken from the deity kha-I; oms it, the people that own

it or the pcmon thnl, plays 5.t. Ikoro dmns located around

Um~mzebear the names of t1.1~deS.ties to which they are

A attatbched. For examplc, Ilcoro Izo is located near the shrine

of 120 deity ?n Eke Izo Narket; Tlcoro 0gbud.u in Ururo ifill.-

. is attatched to Ogbudu dclty; ikoro Udo belongs to Udo deity

in 1Jbaha Vill.age; Ikoro Nge1.e Ojii belongs to Ngele is

located in Lonue Villa~e. In Eziacu Commiinity Ikoro Ajala

belongs to Ajala deity.

Amon@ the [email protected] pcol)le every ilcoro has a link with 'Y the -ala (earth) deity, md. therefore any offence committed against the -ala (like dul:tery, Incest, murder, suicide and yam theft) is also against the ikoro because it Is the ala that mgni fen ted an tho :I-oro. AT Lcr such ahormi nations, the death of any person as a renu1.t- of hafs punishment io announced on the ikoro In o~?der-to salute her. Ikoro also features ~lrominentlyin nny cel ebrn.t;.on that concerns --.ala. - In Mgbagbu Om, therefore one can find such ikoro drums as

Ana Ofe Tkoro and ha Ezena Ilcoro.

In Ohafia arm, -1;l.l~ikoro In not attatched to any detty.

1nsteA.d It Is owned by male ncmbers who also dictate what what happens in the cornmunlty. l?hcse fachieversf cut across several. ace gr,uies whlch m~ikeix!~ tlic back bone of the cornmuni tyf s government. Xncc il:oro, in Ohaf la, is not attatched to any deity It could be irieiitlfied by the comrnunlty that obms it or the poni I;-:on it occnpics. In Ebem Ohafia,

Ikoro Fzulkwu is located at the hfcheat point, Ikoro Eke e1.e

080, at the centnal meeting place for the cornmuntty, and

Ikoro Tfiagha at the lower part of Ebem. In Ohafla still, in addition to the norrnal ilk-oro belongb~;to the entlre community,' there is motlwr ',l:oro excl1ts5vely for the diviners and medicine men. It is 1no:m as z,-o_r~.dikia, This cylindrical wooden slit drum is meant -to be camled about during the dibl an (diviners and mcd l c:; nc menf s) ritual procession and

that accounts for thc rel,?t;vcly nmnll sjze when compared

eth the ikoro owned by 'he larccr comnlunity. Ikoro dibia

is about 60cm long and 3Ocm hl~k,and h2.s a carved human head projecting from one end of the drur.1. It has no connec-

tion with head hunting or 1:i.l.l lnc of bi~wild animals, instead

it is aunifying symbol. for the local dibiats le&gue. It is

a major musical accompaniment to the percussions from dibias

tortoise shells. Ilcoro dibla venerates medicinemen who have been a11l.e to achieve ~~ext.?eats In the field of medicine.

During such celebrations, incm.l.ntions are freely used to

invoke the sptrit of divinity - apm. Thls ensures its

continiled PO tency throllgh chams, mu1 cts and herbs. Ikoro

dib5.a is celebrated on the day after the main Ekpe festival

in Ohaffa. It starts q~'ieearly in t?le morning (mostly

besore dawn) with Frayers and eating of kolanuts. This is

followed by a sacrifice of a :€owl. to a@m deity. After this,

the entlre 'dibiasf train hegln thclr vlsits to memberst homes.

They produce music with tortoise shells and ikoro as they go into each dibia's ho1i.x for food ,and drink. Sometimes there are provisions for tests of mcdlcinal powers.

Tn Ohaozara arca of Tmo State, there is nothing like fkoro dibla. Here ikoro is Ic1ent;fled with the nqmes of people who play them. For example, Ilcoro Aj,znwanpu whlch is located at Umuanum Vi1ln::e of Uburu autonomous community bears the name Ajanwmpu - .the drummers name, Ajanwangwu is also the custodian of tlmt partlcul-ar ilcoro. There are as drums many of such ikoroL ju::t as there are many drummers.

All in all, one common thbg about ilcoro tradition any- where in Igboland is that it is used in sending messages across the communities that om .them. To do this, the tonal language of the particular zroup that owns a particular drum is imitated by the ilcoro. Infonclation played are often hown phrases, though cornple te sentences are played. The drun produces two mafn sounds - the high and low notes, but a sktlled player can achieve mom.

Ikoro is played during mrs, fentiva7 s and other meat events including emergencies. In pre-colonlal days when villages used to carry oiit raids acninst themselves, ikoro was sounded to keep the people alert, and ready for the impendi-ng i.nvasion of: the cncrny. For the aggressors the ilcoro was sounded, bcforc a war to assemble the warrlors to the square, to give si tunf2on xyort to the people during and after each battle, and to con,yratulate the warriors and celebrate the victory after each battle . To assemble thn warrior:: Jn Umunze the ikoro would say:

Ihe m hum - \hat I have seen

E,m ehieghim Katara - I am afrald . to mention

Ewi ekweghfm lcatara. - I am afraid to mention

kr, when the Federal Troops was entering Umunze through the farms. These particular no-tes also lreep every one alert while they listen for more Info-matlon. In most cases it is foll.owed by thesc phmscs:

L TJmu ikorobia - Younc men Ostso Osiso - Quickl-y, quic1cl.y Umu ikorobia - Yo~mgmen Osiso Osiso - QuIc!cl.y qu2.clcly 30

% 1.t goes on to call the indiviil~mlvillazes and ,persons as

in - Umuchu

U~nlahra

Oji dlbia bumilce - vrho derives Its strenm

from mcdi c$.ne

Arnana saa - seven rrards

Unu o nakwo ya -- Are yon there?

Okpunachara, - Okpunachara Unu o nokwo ya - Ace you there?

Oje na mhosi ogu - 110 who goes on the war day)

Kwadoo - Get ready Otuhere dike aka - IIe who throws hIs hands

nt ekwu behlnd the valiants head

Kwad 00 - Get rea,d.y

- Ile who belmves Eke a vSliant Ahu odikwo gi? - Are you well? Ome ka dike - He who behaves like a valient *be gara gara - 'Rc fast

19 erne gara gara - A1wa.y~ be fast. - TJmuchu, Umuchu 4 Kwa mba Kwa isi - For every distant village,

a head

Isi a huru, si gbute - Cut any sighted head

Ugurueze Kpoke - Uprueze Kpoke 5 Unu nokm nwo - 111-e you there (plural)

Ono n'ofia bin nps npa - If you me in the bush,

come ~ILclc 1.y

Ono n'uzo bin npra npn - If you arc on the road., corm

Ibe aha di ukata ra - Everywhere is charged ukata Abara akmmmkw~ - A peg has got stuck in a wood

6 Okwara Idika - Okwara Idika Inoha h~f? - Are you there Gwere oso - Come runnin~ Gwerc ije - Cme wal.lcin~; Bla wara ware - Cone in a flash njuwn rt jua El)em 1Jl:vru - If one asks, he asks the great Ebem

Ajuwa a jua Ebem Ulfim - If one asks, he asks the

great E% em

Abu ejula ntite - Fa1.m nut husks have filled

tlle pot

ju ebelebe - and f ill-ed everywhere Ugurue z e I@ oke - Ugt~.mezeKpoke.

Ikoro salutations and e:culta-tLons virtually put, everyone in a war mood. Varriors are cl~a~geirand confident because there is nothing greater than dancLng to the hcroic ikoro miis!,c after a succ,cssfiil. military cnconn tsr. To do thls, the warrior must come back wfth a ~;enuilnetrophy - a.n enemyt s head which is given to the ikoro. Accordin: to On~\nrl:a Yalu the ikoro can successfully reject a hcnd if:

i. The nose of the boody head Is missing

ii. It is thc head of a blind man

iii. It Is the head of an infznt

iv. It is the head of a, nei2hbour. 7 The sn, accord inc to Olmf is peal I e , do not show enouch '\\ mark of bravery. A successL"u1 ::asi:ior rrith an enemyt s head

16 duly Iionourccl hy tl~cS.'.oro. !he il oro calls on the vlatnrs to come ,and cllspl.ay thcLr trophies. It showers praf.scs on the great co~nrnnn?.tyand. the war heroes; It also chall enps the warriors to come forr~arti.

Kmmba, Kwa isi - For every &istant town,

a head

IC\da rnba, Kwa olcpokoro - For every distant town,

a slcull Nwoke teghe te - Nlne men! (in one) Dimbpa ukwu - Great man P4 8 Ijikwa is%? - Have, a head?

I&JUdo nofia - Did you klll and keep fn 1 +he bush

or did you kill and bring

back home? 9

'I1he wnrrlor stops out and toes hto x dance drama, demonstrating how he snl>ducd hcs opronent and cut his head. He sho~c~so Tf his trophy m',d.st checrs from the home crowd

(fie. 4). IhIle the wm ml~slcis supplied by membrane dnms in Ohafia, smaller sl i:t druns lmo~rnas mu ikoro (children of ikoro) are used by TJmunze am1 &,uata areas. Umu ikoro 10 include -oke (male) nwunye (remale) and ota a.gba (jaw consumer), Its music begins with a hl::.h so~~nciln~;/fasttempo beat from the male. It Is joined by the female and the 'jaw consumer1 which have deeper and ever sl olicr movements, When not in use, these drums are desplayed in front of the mother ilcoro & -ikoro) whlch is a talktn~dm, These smaller slit drums do not have any decorntiona on their bodies except the ota agba

(jaw connumcr) which 11;1nn cxl.vc(l. lmnd projectfnc from one of its sides (~rawin~sof the set-tin:; of mother ikoro and her children are shown in f lpres 5 and 6) . Ilcoro is also used extensively during special festivals of the particular community that owns it, but the most widely celebrated of these festivals Is the new yam (1fe jioku), It is not surl~r5singthnt such rcv(?rence is given to yam because it is the most staple Food of the Igbo. It is not right for any individual to harvest it wl~nn 4 t- 5:: not ripe. The new yam

fcs 1i val , therefore, ' s t-1~l~cif~otl whon peop1.e have tho first blt-e of the yam they pl:m-td for the year. It also marks the end of the fanning season md the be~innrngof a new one. In

Umunze, thc ikoro declni-(2s LIE new yam festival open with the follow in^ words:

Onye guumbe - Tet nl! dig up (grams) Onye gwurulx - Tct all dlg u? (yams)

In Ohnfia, the i:;oro l:cci,s sounding while the people go to the farm and dig u~'yams. On their way back, people

wLth very good harvcst rccievc ahcers for successful farminy while poor harvests are booed. Tn Arochukwu, new yam

festival 'is called ikeji. To mark tilo bee;inninc of this yam

festlval ikoro sounds first at Lgbape amda. Ikoro signals

the end of new yam festival. st Igbachi awada after fourteen

days. Igbachi awada is also knorrn as Idula nwaekpe. During Idula nwaekpe, yeople sing dons with this masquarade to I Ibom, a place where the ikoro of Arochukwu is sited. T'hore, Ikoro

sounds for the last time to h&rk the end of ikeji.

Ikoro is also used in saying farewell to an old year and

to welcome the new one (aro ofuu). In Uburu it iu cal.l.ed ichu afa (chasing the year away). By the last month of the year it is assumed that al.1 farmers have harvested their yams.

On that fateful day tn Umunze, there Is usually a might market which drags1 till. 10.OOp.m. or around mid-night when the ikoro is sounded. The people respond with very loud ovation, wo o o o! It is a bit dlf ferent in Ubum where all malC children of the land are allowed to beat the ikoro during ichu afa. Since every bfg family owns an ikoro, the ikoro new year messwe fills the aIr with:

Dry parts of palm trees are soaked In oil and lit. Each person breaks into a run, r.ravinr; the flame around his head?

M.th the shout ajo af o anaa (the bad year is gone), the lighted materials are dropped on the roads where they burn off. With the ritual, the new year Is heralded. After this celebration, every one can en-tcr my ramland and collect any forgotten yams wttliout molestation. This is known as ikpa ji. mat time, the poor, the women and the children alike 40

are able to benefit from the *elds of the last seasons fanning.

0 they f catlval r: whcve i1;oro is extensively used include the Ekpe festival in Ohafia and feasts to the deities that own iltoro. Amuzu pcople in P'lbaise area believe that in addition to the main thh~for which ikoro is ,made, iltorb is dcmce. This s, ecid i1:oro dance is known as emorie Amuzu in honour of Oric Markct Deity. It is the only ikoro dance 5n d1Sc11 both men and women take part. In

4rh2 s dance, men show of:f masculinity, women feminine beauty; and the rich affluence. A lot of na~ri.aceceremonies take

partners during this celebration.

Ikoro also announces the death of an accomplished man.

This is another common pmctlce by dl comm~mitiesthat o~m iltoro in I&ol and. To quallfy for this honour the deceased. must have been of a ripe age ax1 must have died a natural death." In Ohuhu (in IJmualLa) such n man, %n addition, must have been peace-loving. TLtlc ta12.n~5s part of the qualifica- tion. for this honour in :?nn;%nl U1nn1, Ap Ukwu, Awka, hanuke and its environ. lr'rtor to the announcement of the death of a , person, some cifts or consultntlon fee of drinks are given to the elders and the people thzt play the drums. \hen they consider the deceased elLp;',hlc lkoro announcement the drummer starts playing the drum. Re starts with a headline:

Ihe Ukue melu - A great thing has happened The ukwu rnelu - A great thing has happened 12 Obodu gbazue - Tat the community assemble. Next, 'it calls the nanc of the vi llaze before mentioning the name of the dead man. The inants praise names are beaten on the drums, so also are hf s explolts when he was living. In

Ohafia and in most parts of Igboland such announcmenets are done in the early houro of the There am also sporadic

canon shots to herald the begining of a burial. In Uburu,

the'ikoro Is transported to tho house of the deceased and kept there until the funeral ceremony i s completed. 4\( &fout;h the ceremony there is abund,mt supply of wine for the drummer.

Wen: ikoro is not callin2 out for war, dictating the

pace in a festival or venerat;'.n: a ade:d hero, .tllen f t is

announcing an emergency. TI119 include s fire outbreak, when

a danprous animal. enters the vill.a;;e, and when suspected

kidnappers sneak into the villxe., Ilcoro was sounded in Okposf in Ohaozara are::, in 1963 when their salt water was o~erflooded.'~Ikoro orten sounded to announce the death of an evil doer sup:$osedl.y killed by ani deity in

Mgbagbu Ow. During a train disaster in Ibeku (~muahia)the ikoro in Mbom Villa,;c was aolmdcd to ~mnolmceK.

In other words once tho unexl~ectcdhaypens ikoro is sounded.

Because of the importance 01 the ikoro to the community it Is stratcgical.ly sited in the village square.

The village square is the most important area in the village.

It is a meeting poLnt; a market place and a playground.,

It also contains the 'Wb vf.lla~feshrlne. This space therefore controls the spatial layout of the village settlement. In the nqunl-c itscl f', tlle ilioro 4.0 plnacci, not In -LIE center but at the side from where it faces the people. Viewing the ikoro from t11e back j 3 uncomnion ~uldtiln l. L :: why the moat interest- ing embellishmer~tson the ikoro al'pear in front and at the sides. Such ernhellishmen 1s include reptll es and mammals, includ ing human figures. There are a3 so linear incisions and re1ief s of non living thinzs. Ceside s decorations, these motifs are sta-Lements showin: :.who o:.m the drums and what they stand for. !kls vro-d.ci be descussed in detail in chaliters three and five.

In th! s chapI, er , we have seen vlir~tf lcoro i s and how it Is llscd In di f l'rrent parto of I&olnnd. M~ateverthe differences on the use of Zkoro, among var;ous communities might be, one thl ng i. s VCY~clcm - ilcoro is a communityt s symbol of unity and acli.',evement. NOTES-----

1. He actually waylald a b~o~~pof lseople going to the market and cut of'[ their heads.

2. Ur;l~ual,wai3 a vll1a:;c Ln Uinuchu lnom for her inexcine and divination. Their assistance is almys oon[ht durinc wars.

3. Urnunze example

4. Umuchu example ti

5 Ohaf i a example

6. Okwara Idilca was a renomed warrior in Ohafia.

7. Onwuka Kalu, '?l:oro" Sunday Statesmw (9) 286, 1986.

8 . C.C. hialcor 'Tkoro: IIeroic drums of I~hoPeople 'I I'aper presented during the seminar on I'Igbo JLCC and Cnlture' , Nsuklca, 1983.

9. Ohafia example.

10. In Urnunze the jaw of an!/ victim Is presented to the ota agba (jaw cons~uner) while the remaining part of the hcad goc:s to the mother ilcoro which is the main Ikoro 11. To dle a natural death a ncm should not dle prematurely. Ife should no t df e as, a result of mlcLtle or mmdcr. He should not d; c of sliollen stomach.

13. Ikoro sound travels better. Sn the nlght and early mornlng. 1ml;ort;wz I; mlo~mccrnent, wh5ch are not emergencies, are announced in early momlngs.

14. The sajd river 1ia.s the on1 y surce of salt for the community durlns the ITigerian Clvil liar It was a big dlsas.l.er to Olcposl Community that t11S.s rlver overflooded and diluted the once concentrated salg deposit. ------cwm THRE3.3

IKORO DRUN TYPES

The simplest form of an i1:oro drum Is a big slit drum from a cylindrical tree -I;ml:. Except for its huge size and monumental importance attahhed 'to it there exists not much dif fercncc between it aid other sllt clmm typcs in Igbol.and.

Some areas around Umuahia (1ll:e 0huliu) have examples of such ikoro drums laking extra projections or relieved designs on their bodies. This type, howevcr, does not really heap us much In understandins the ikoro because it is in the minority.

The iltoro drums ~5thextra lwoj ectlons and body decorations, repre cent in their simplest forms L visml lmagery of a male his fi-re lyiq onhbac!c (fig. 7). The abstrzct cylindrical maub of tho drum Poma kllc rn:~in body. It is on thLa cylindrical. mass that a cavity is oymicd to proiluce the ilroro sound. The in thc om of mouth of this cavity is f two rectangular shapes joined 1 by a narrow slit. (l.8) . Tlic feet of the lytng marf are shown sticking out at one end of the drum while the head protrudes from the other.

VOID In several Igbo comnml t:cs, projections on ikoro show

human heads on either side or the dm* Suchhead~ran~efrom

near naturalism to pure abs lraction.2 By the hairdo on the

fim1.e:: wc un~lerntmdt11n.t both mn1.c and remale figures &re

often del~ictcdon tllc::c ~~rojcctlons.Very many of them have

both hands behind their lrnd~.~Thin is true of the flguces

at one end of the driirn nr,l tin-ee .female heads on the other

end. Their faces are quite cx~lsc:?slve. The precision wlth

whlch the llne s showing these eqressions were rendered

portrays -the carver as a ;;cnlus of hls tlme (Figs 9, 10 and 11). ., d., The hands behind their heads xrem al.so gLven 8 selective

detailing.

1l:oro Ogbudu In Ururo VLllage (~n~munze) is more

abstract. On either end of the dnun, the carver showed the

'han3behlnd the head1 ss a hcad on a rectangular wooden

block (FL~. 12).

Some Ikoro drums bear a l~ead,each projecting from.both

sides of the dm. T112s is true of some dmsat Awlca (~ig.13),

Eziagu Mgbagbu, and Ubum anoii~others.

In Ohafia some of these l-leads do r,ot lhok skyward.

Instead , their exl~rcssicnlc::~faces turn to the village square where ' the action ist . There could just be one head at one side (as Ln Ilcoro Eke Elu Ogo in E3em Ohafia) or two as in Ikoro in Elu Oh~ffa.

In so~r~cother exarwlr?s fn Urntune, projections are shown in fom of a man hold in^ a victims head. In his outstretched

hands, he pips and holc!s ull 'Lhc severed head as a trophy. 6, lkoro Udo In Ubaha VLllac-e (~munze),5 t appears on either srde and facing different dimctlons (PI;.. 14) while on Ilcoro Izo and Ikoro Ngel e Ojii (~munze),it pears on one side of the dm. In Ikoro Ngele Ojii t-hc manta back is attatched to the dmend and he stands on a p~:ojcctin~pedestral (~lg.15).

Re hnr~a ocarificd .face (ichl) holdn a head whicll also hao ichi marlcs. 4

In Umuchu and AchLna areas of Agvsta there exists an

example of a standins fi;;inre on a projcc'ting pedestal and holding a matchet in the right had mil a victims head on

the' left hnntl. in the manncr reminiscent of ikenG$ figure. A

similar example of a m with a match~tIs seen on ikoro drum

in AchL. 5

Bamples from OhaCSa rtnd dfikpo areas show a recurrence of a seated male fibwe at one end of the drum holding a knife in the rfght hand, and at the other end, a seated Fhw& , f.i.lgn-a bcn.rin2 n cl~i3d.on lxr Xrql. A mow! rocont, but sLdl,zr example from huzu in 14baise show 8 man in trousers and shirt ebnd standing on a pedestal at one end, and a seated woman breastfeeding a baby at the other end. The woman also ties a wrapper (FIG. I 6) . me uee of an:n~al notirs as Frojections on drum eks is \, not very cornmon. In Urnunzp 5-1; nrpcars only at one end of ilcoro

Ngele Oji in the form of n dccoratcd anima.1 head with.a smaller I mmml (probably a cat) swnm~iustin~7:5.h (PIC, 17) On the body

ikaro drums ho~~evcr,animal motif^ are extensively used. I

Xn fifl1-23, animal forms used addition to hurm othar include ! tho sacred python, coato, ram, crocodile (or lizard), tortoise, 1 / j / ~c~ppi~nand birds. Of all the animals, the python is the most 1 l commonly used, esycc2.d 1y in Aptam It could be seen on ikoro \ \ Nwle Ojiiand Ikoro Udo r.111en.e it 2 s swallowing an animai. It I,

L is also shown alon~sideother mo-tifa on the bodies of fkoro

Umuehu, Ikoro Ezira, Ilcoro ilj clla (in ~ziap). In Amueu (5.n llbaise) it Is often conhined with crocodile. and tortoise motzf-

I

' I.. _-.- - - .. - (~i~.171 . In Enue;~m-Ul~~v2.112 idazi Bn~diwuthe ilcoro body is decorated with the spottcd python and crocodile.

Other dcsfD matnrl::ls ~dilchncld visual texture to tlnirr~:~incl uclc h\:-~vcnly llo(l ' (!:-J lilrc lllc nun, tho moon aucl s-trtrr: .

They are cormonly used in IIbai se area. Enear and geometric shn~~cnarc also zccn on clrim liodlcs. A rcndy examylc of such ilcoro L:; tlie smll om at Ormx: Ezukala. In addi-klon to a ', seatctl €lpw st onc o C i tu cnds it 1in.a sornc bol-dly inceoed

1 lincs on the chest ol' the drum. (&zr ' 101: o 9) I I A11 in all , r~hatevcr rno i-l7s that aypcar on ikoro dun, I 1 tlic human representatioil seeus to be mom persl stent - elther as .liead (wh:ch arc sornc..tll:~os a?:r,m:,d In rows as 'in Ikoro Ezi b at ~wlca) or as full fi:,cl.,-cs, Coth tllc male 2nd fcmole fi,"urcs arc cvcr prc::cnt m(i are poai Lloned in varioun ways,bhile some are seated others arc eltlwr o-Lmcllnl; or Ijr'Ln,- horizontally,

Their activities vary as 1rel.1.

Some drum have projcctlo~~sfor the drurnmer to sit or quart on while rlrurnr,iinz. !hch c3rv.m~ arc quite high and it is impossible for thc dmncr 'to reach its slit from the ground. Sornc cxarnplcz Inclulle Ikoro ~bkbiaku,Ilcoro Izo, Ikoro Ogbudu, Ikoro Uniucliu, and 1l:oro Ajala, In addition,

Ikoro Izo has a woodcn ladder behlncl thc drum to help the drummcr ascend without d5lficulty.

It Is the cu:qtori~ to cover I;llc =I i t on tho ilcoro with a woodcn slate that rn:: tchc~~Lllc cuvc of the drum body, Such - covers were seen on Ikoro Ofiunl:a, J.!:o~o Ajala and Ikoro

Ogbuiiu, All tl~c::~.dru~ils are locaked ;n Agua-ta area. In this sarnc area the Ikoro set tln:; is not cornplctc ~~lthoutthe inclusion of the lkoro ' cliildrcnl . This is a set of smaller s11t dnims for ilcoro muslc. YTley are normsl1.y positioned in frdnt of the mother Ikoro. ,

lkere am so many i1:oro drums Ln Icboland. They arc products of various artis ls t!i:~.t llnd thelr trainings from different masters, and so .l-hey IEIT bound to produce things that are relatively dlf' t'e~cnt. Lben vrlien the theme, iltoro, is the same, the interpretation vary from place to place, and from artist to art1s.t. The motifs ac3.dcd to the drum body are

noine s:tcred ctntomenta vrlif cl~liavc rncminp. In dcIit?~llthey general I y add vlsual textln-cs to the drums. Also1 the size of adrum, settin~mildecorrztio~~sonitsbodyhelptodefine

and dlstin&sh it Prom others. Mo two ilcoro drums are alike. I The dmhas provision for two notes, demarcated by the slit.

Some heads are elaborately carved wi,th great' details while sonc are ~:hotmas a headf on a rectancular projection. Some heads are also shovm as undeflned projecting poles.

Some communities where such ikoro feature abound include Umunze, Umuchu, Ogbunka, Ezira, Eziagu, AchLna, Adazi-Bnukwu, Enugwu-Ukwu , and several Ohafia CommunZtles.

Ichi facial scarification is associated with Nri civilizakion. It is not suprising that communities around it infuse the culture into the Lr carvings. The scarLf f cations are also seen on nlcwu ancestral figures.

Achi is in Oji-lliver Local Government Area.

This ikoro according to Basden (1321) was dedicated to the f aous abala shrlne and is located in the move. In this project ikoro ~m-oc1v.ctlon is treated in two ways - the production of the drum aid the production of sound from the drum. The drum construction involves the carvers, their tools, thelr carving techniques and the installation md consecration of the dmn. The drummers, and their ilcoro sound production teclmfque is also part of this chapter.

IKORO CONSTAUCTLON:

Ikoro ilurms aro w,o:cl;s 01 311~cla:l.is.t.sin the art 0% carving. Each one is done by a camer, or sometimes, by a team of carvers. l'he cnwinc o.i Ikoro I.tscI.f,is a monumental. examp1.0 of patience anti inchr:.:try. 1.1; 2s a1.m a, rinlcy busineso.

Firstly, no community would take l.;Lndly to any mistake that would spoil. the masslve ~iroodbl.ock. Sccond.1-y, some carvers would never live to finlsh tile ar;slznmcnt. Accqrding to

Okeke Met and 0nuboe-u of Umucliu, a carver might be commissioned to work on a part.',cula~drum only to be killed and sacrl frcd to tho rlrurn at -the near completion of the drur~~.Another carver Ls com~ni:;sioned -Lo comp1.ete the 1 carving. The reason for this action is to prevent a highly kifted canrer from repenllng the came drum type for another comrnumity. Sometimes stil.1, a cmcr is al.lowed to finish

the job before he Is killed. A story was told by G.T. Basden on how a skilled carver from Amawbia was ICred to carve the monumental ilcoro Obibialm for Umunze Comrnmity. IIe was promised a very large fee on condition that he produced a

larger dmthan any possessed by other tobms in the district.

At the end of the exercise, he was paid and allowed to

leave. Horrors! Ile FIaS waylaid on his way home and led back

to .t,hc mnrlcet oquare. rPhero, he ma aacrificod to tho ilcoro 2 drum which his hands produced. For security reasons, therefore,

some gifted carvers shy atmy from m~chmonumental assimments.

However, s good number, still., are able to wrestle with this

challenge of lkoro carving.

Material s - Wood:

Among the communities that otrn ilroro both the wood and

the site for ikoro construction Is believed to be chosen by th~deity that owno t-Ilc Il:oro, or by the governing bodies

of communities where Ikoro Is not atta.brched to any deity.

Ws choice is made throui;ll a dlviner. The wood should, howcver, satisfy the f ol.lor.Lng conditions:

a) It [nust be rela1;lvely bi~to be able to

bring forth a big dm'hidden in it1;

b) It must be straight;

c) It must be se,moned; and

d) It should not be very far away from the intended site of the Ilroro .

In Ohafia, -C~~~\WOO~13 very popular for ikoro construc-

tion. IIowever, if a communf ty wants a soft drum that could

be beaten with clentclied fist she gocs for a softer wood.

In Umunze area, only iroko (chlorophora exelsa) i s

used for ikoro carving. Irolco is also used in all parts of

Igbolamd for ikoro constructlon. The high demand for tEs

wood is attributed to its masslve, tough and durable nature.

Its ability to take a E~hpollsh, the compactness of the

grains and its beautrful broitrn colour are other positive

qualities of this wood. Iroko tree, to an Igbo man, is the

king of all.trees. A mature one is so blg that very few prof'eonional climbcl-s can a-L l-crr111.t-to gc-1; to its top. It is reflected %n Igbo adage which says 'Onye riri oji kpara. ya nku ntihi na anaghi art oji kvn uboclii (Any one who succeeds in climbing the irolco tree s11oul.d collect some firewood from it because iroko c.xmbing is not a daily affair). Iroko tree is also believed to contain some powerful spirits, and

therefore ldeal for maklnz extra-ordinary sculptures.

Somc iroko trees in exls Lexe today are big but the ones

whose trunks were used for some ancfent ikoro drums, lfke

Ikoro Obfblaku and the earllcr Ilcoro 120, all in Umunze must have been intimidatingly larze. For example, the diameter

of the trunk for maltin[; tllc Ilcoro Obibia,ku could have been

over 27Ocm and the lenght up to 390cm. This dmwhich Basdcn

in 1921 described as 'qd-te old md showing signs of age and

still stands on the spot rrhere the villagers mounted

it, the effects of wei~thcr hazards notwithstanding. This

goes to affirm that wood selection is metfculously done. It common f s a1 so not L to have Lkoro drums re~~lscedfrequently. It

is replaced vhen the wood deteriorates so much that the drum

cannot be used wain. The present Ilcoro 1x0, at Eke Izo Ummzc is a replacernerr~t of' kllc one bwnt down by the British

Colonial Government. 4

Too1.o For Carving Ikoro Dnuns:

Tools for carving ikoro drums are the same as the ones used by other Igbo traditional carvers, except for some modlfi-

cations on some of them, Another obsema-Lion is that ikoro

carving tools are often big~crversions of the normal carving

tools.

'The Igbo traditional. set of carving tools consists of

myuike (am) , (matchok) , mmumn (dm) , & (scrapper), -oldka (c~selsand gowes) aid -oflli or ntintl (mallet) (~i~,18). There are various sizes of these tools,

The axe and big matcllet are used in falling the tree

and cutting the required >art of the trunk for the exercise, The same .tools together ~5ththe blg adzes are used in blocking out the rough form of the ikoro, Smaller and

narrower adzes are for carvin~It almost to a finished state,

Chlsels and gouges, which are of two basic types (the U and V

shalt s), are the tools for making special incurslons into

oelactcd areas of the dml. This Is made possible by pressure comhg Erom tlic mallet. Smaller mallets known as kpok~o5 are used for even finer detalls. Ngwu (digger') is a principal tool for openin@ the cavity on the drum body (e18 . It is a si cclallsed f om of gouge and chisel. made from highly ternpered steel. Its slzes range from 50 to 9Ocm long, and have wider and thlcker blades. Most often they do not come wLth woo8en butts. %Q Y we qu2 te heavy and actual1y relf es on tho+ heavy wel,nht.for effectiveness during carving.' Wen using ngwu, malilet is not of ten needed.

(scrnppcr) i.~a mootl~onlng (1ovir:o fo~fininl-iing.

Carving Process :

Prior to the carvinc of an ikoro, the services of a I \ powerful diviner 1s so~u-jit to Imow if the gods are in support , of the project. Sometimes, thro~cha d5viner still, it is a I particular delty that says that 2-1; vmi-l-s an ikoro for the i community. Such deity w5shln~to materialize into being as drum de5.t~usml-ly reveals the particular wood out of which the drum is to be carved. 'Ilie rnasslvc log is then, by communal labour, rolled to the carvlng site which, in most cases, is the village communal square. In the case of very ponderous ikoro drums a-t hp,,mi;a area, this spot is its permanent position. 'Illis log 13 then fenced off from public glare. n Before thcsc tll-;n::n nra coml)lctcd n gifted carver is

~o~~htfor. l'r~3iti011~~11;., tl. tlclc;;a~l-~oi~led by a chief pricnt, meets the carver In his houx with s consultation token consisting of not leas i;!irwr tvo ke&a of palm wtne and el&t 6 kola nuts (0ji of o di nlca) . Elcst, tl~ccsrvcr t-alcca these items to his of o di nl:a shrinc and mnl:es it aware of what thc

& peop1.e wait hlm to do aid nnl:s .for iks ~~cnrllssion.In some cases, he also consults the dlviner to know if anything negat5ve is going to come out of the assi&mment which he fs about to undertake. IIe lcriob~n that worklng for a deity could be dangerous as it is possible for a deity to ' take him' ,7 while he is carving. If the result from the oracle is necativo he tells the dele~atesthat thc said deity does not want to rnanffent throu~hhis (the cnrvcrs) If the Evination 11 e result 13 however po si Eve L$.ns]:ccto thn wood and spells out his pice. The size of the 102 and the amount of ornmmental embel.lishmen-t 01-1 t!le drum determines the cost of production.

Vith the prTce sett-1-ed, he sets off to see the already cx;'atin@drixrns to avoid d~~plicationand al-so to aspire to do a better one, Truly, an impressively wrouc;ht ikoro drum is a source of pride to the owning cornrnunit:r.

Just before the carvcr commences v~orlcin the enclosed syace, a cle

?lie first cnrvlng n'l.n,.yc 19 tllc rcrnoval or the hark and 4 sap from the log vrith the ald. I-f a big and wtde adze. For the ikoro that Is to lmvc a Inman lied. cach at either end of the drum, the rowh form or" thc head is blocked out of the main log at both ends with a combined efforts of the adze and axe (F~E;.19) , With that cstabllshed, the carver moves to the body of the drum with the adzes and gouefes. The hollowing

out of the cavity is the laat s-tqye. \Lth the narrow adze niizo .uld 1 o~l;;. sou;.o:i 1r1o L'CC.L;:L~:;~IILLI: 01)011ing3 uru ~nadc. Tllo cavity created merges as me insStie the drum body. To yet achieve pcatcr dept thc q;wu (digger) is used. At this stage the narrow slit that would connect the two rectangular opening is not done. It takes mothcr major sacrifice9 to open it. Mcnndl;lc, c1Loola and go~v;cn aro usod in finishing and decorating the 'liberaicd fo1nst. The production of other ilcoro drums follow b:~slcn1l.y the same pattern delendin~ on the type of forrna that is shorn at the dmends (F;&. 20).

IIowever, the s-t$li s tic l~nndlingof tlie drums vary, according to the relative skills of tlie master carvers. Some of the forms represell tcd are in abs 1;rac-k l11L:I.e some arc naturalistic. Some I of the fornis are bold stat-cmmts while some are meticulous1.y detailed. In sorne dr~xms, such as the Ikoro Ohibialnr at Umunze, I forms were adzed with directness adprecision. The degree of technical control of forms, their exprcsslve character and fine detailing of the faclal fcatxes are enough indications that the carver of that Lkoro was a genius of his tlme. The dnun,in addLtion to the fo-ms on Its cylindrical body,has three male fimres by the left thrce fema1.c f'ipxes by the right.

The carver used their halrdo to distin;;.uish the sexes. The femal cs hairdo rcrnintlr; onc of tli~aze I.ong feminine hair stylr shown next to tl.2 t: tle lq;e on 13asden1s "Among the

Ibos of Nigeria (1921) (:"iL'. 21). A version of this hair also styleLappears on Agboghonu.luo hcd. dress. For the male, the carver used the heads w11i.cll aypcar on the images of male deities. The clean I.ines which brought out the facial

L expressiono ,and the ;'rip of bllc hands behind the heads, are lines of a potential draughtman. 13ut It Is interesting that the tr;~clltionalc'zrver docs not vrorl-, from any sketch or maquette. All ideas are 211 his brain. IIe must not make a

single mistake, or the wood would be spoiled; and -.: 'he is bo 10 kind to the wood to condenln and replace It.

The ikoro carvers schedule for each day ends by evenIng.

At that tlme the carvers1 tools are elthcr ritually cleansed

or deposited at the $hviw to avo',d. blunting. Natives take

the responsibility of feedrng Krn in turn but sometimes it

is the sole responsibility of the priest. Such dishes are made extra-ordinarily dellclous, ao as to sustain the carveer1s

patience. htrery now and then, lie recrcvcs rifts of cloth, fowl, &oat :and money from well wiullc~s, Some communities could be so overwhelmed by the carver' s product that they might 11 decide to give him a gift of a wire.

The carving of an ilcoro lasts for several weeks and the tlme for completion depends on the speed of the particular carver -For the sake of smedy production of an ikoro a team of carvers.mlcht be invol-ved in ikoro carving. These are elther members'of the same ~C1.dor those who have varlous areas of specializatfon, For example, some people are better in the use of adzes than gouccn and vfLce versa, Sometlmcs, it is for security reasons that carvers work in groups. Ikoro

Ajah in Eziw was carved by l~:zcanochie, Okorf e Orie, Nwafor 12 Onuigwe, IJlebedum and Olcoronlwo. It took them about four weeks to complete it, They also calved %g [email protected] Eri~,

Among the comnunit5es that dlsplay the smaller sllt drums (mu i1:orol together w',th the mothcr ikoro (nne ikoro) these smal.ler drurns are carved after 611e mother ikoro is finfshed, or ~imult~mouslyff a group of carvers are working together. On the completion of the carvinc, the carver is paid o:ff after a feast 1.rl.l.11 the rncmbel:s of the inner . . caucust . It is also at this mini celebration that he is instructed not to repeat the sane ikoro for any other community. A shelter is then constructed to protect the ikoro from rain and sun. In kuatrt area, it is a thatch house on a square or rectcm~xlarfloor plan.

Nounting and Dedication: L

All through the construction process of ikoro, it is not sounded. To sound it-, the necessary human sacrifice must be performed. Thenumber of heads for this exercise ranges between one and seven and the ri-l;ual. Is done in the night.

This sanctification ritual Is lnom as iwa obi (openkg the chest of) ikoro . With the ritual complevted ,the ikoro could be sounded to tell the conrnw~lty.that their new ikoro has materialized.

Ikoro drum 5s not just dropped in the ground. In

Umunze area it t& mounted on a bed of stones for two reasons: to ax~roveits sound and to control termite attacks.

In Amuzu, the ilcoro is nio~m-tedIn a house wlth a pit dug below the ikoro to act as the reson?,tor. The early

Ohafia way of mounting the ikoro 9s similar to that of Amuzu.

First, a yit Is duz and filled with bl~stones then there is layer of raffia palm sterns bcfore the flnal layer of earth on tori which is the drum (~53.22).

For continued strengthening of thc drum and improvhg its sound quality, occasional. human sacriff ces are made.

In Ol~nfin,I)c!l'oro -the at'lvon I; of cl~l.',:;tln~iitymd modernity,

it was usual to sce a man run In wit11 a, liwnan head still

drlppling wLth fresh.,blood. Ile s%ands at his gate where members of his age grade meet hln and inspect the head before

they all move to the flcoro for ICm -to be saluted. !Phis

practice is extinct now.

nE DRUMMER AND IKORO SO'iTD PRODUCTION :

hhen ilcoro is heard in a villn,:e, the conversation

among people contains such expressions as ikoro dara has been beaten). This ikoro infor~~iatlonis actually plaxed by the corn~nunitydrummer. Ikoro docs not sound itself but when it does owing to spiritual influence/intervention, it is believed to be a warnbg from the gods. The immediate response to this event is a visit to a diviner to ftnd out the true position of things aid also find the solution to the problem. The sanctity sorrouniiln~some ikoro drums does not allow a non-achiever touch it, md worse still, when it is a wornan. In the past tho culprll pnX n heavy fine which could be a death ocntenco. 1l:oro ms theroforc seriously protected, not only from non-initiates but also from crafty rnen from rival villages who nlc1l.l; c.tca3 into the vill~csqm~:c at night to beat . some derroptory notes on the . ikoro.

Such escapede was tho her',,.;ht of humfliation to the owners

of a drum. For this reason, no other person except those ~'th proven character and skilled in drum communication are allowed

to touch the ikoro. A person who bcnts the ikoro is known as

ezk ikoro (ikoro chief). In Ohafio,, the person in addition

to having kimble fingersv must have washed his hands in 'human blood1. This Is bcca~me "Lk is only the great

hands that can confidently touch =eat things".

In places where EIg failles own ikoro, the head of

the family beats it if 11c is nklllcd. If not he appoints

another f,mily member -to do it for him. Among commun$ties

in Ohaozara area, the most gifted drummer drums the ikoro, 3Q which is often in his c0stddy. There, it is the traditionr%r -, -, the drummer's son to replace the father when he dies. It is,

however, not automatic, but sLnce such fam5ly ikoro drums

bear the name of thc fcmily or $.to drurnrner each drummer

does everything possible to make 172s off spring master the

art. This is actually done info1ml.1.y and the chfld 1ea.m~

by immitation.

In Ohafia, potentfa1 ikoro drummers are discovered

when they drum for their a::e pades du$inc festivals and

' outings. On the membrane druns (1gba or -nlcwa) the boys immitate oome of the sound pl.ayed bn ikoro slit drums.

Such peop1.e are i.ntroducec1 to the i1,:oro when they come of

age and when older drummers die or become weaker. A

candidate presents wine to the elders to.indicate his

willlntyeos to serve the con!muni tyl tlirou~.hikoro. The chief, the elders and the cmdldn.ie vislt the ikoro site where

they pour libation to the gods, ancestral founders of the village, renouned warriors and pest drummers. They ask for

continued guidance of the young drunmer, to open up his reflexes,

clear 11isvision and r.1os.l- of dl, ~jrotccthim from evil. spirits.

After thc rituals thc nev drurmcr is warned an the dangers of

talkhe the unnecessary1 \6-th thc ikoro. I.F, th this completed,

he bccornon n r.oco;;niacd dr~~lnrnor. IJc a3 oo enjoys all the benefit::

and entltlcrnents of thc ikoro dru~merwhich include among t11in~;s

things, a share of anytlCng 'dona.l.cdt to the ikoro during .

f estlval s and burial corenor~ies.

Ikoro drum s ntratcg5cnl I y mounted in the villa:^ square

(llie. 23). From its posi-k9on the dnumncr can clearly see any

person entering or leavin$ tho ~quam. The setting also all-ows

the people to resyond bct'cer to ihc calls from the ikoro. In

Umun.ze area whcre some ilroro ilnims are quite big, the great 4 height gives the drumrncr Gome via~~ladvantage late 1). The

height also malcea the drum noumd ~T'ELVCI1.onger dlstance 8. To

get to the drum slit, -the dnxnmcr in UmunzelOgbunkalor Eze-

uses a ladder and finally squarto 1 comfortably1 on a projection

.\so\ behind the drum. h'rom thcre he ' thunders outf the great m&sal;.es of the ikoro. r13~~z~words arc direct representa- tion o.f the dialect sl;ol:cn by -the ljnrticular community that own the ikoro. Ikoro dmca1:tnres peoplesf interest becau~eto some of them, esllecially forelmers to the Igbo world, It seems Impbssible that the drums actually talk.

Natives, however, have no di.rficulty in understanding the ideas comrnunlcated. Where some do not, they lnteract with o l;hcr rnem1,crn to hclll cl car Lhdr conruaion (Pic. 24) . Ilcoro ia bea1;en with sort but touqli skicks. In Ohafia they pound the ikoro with clenched flsts or wl th soft pods called (plates 2 and 3). Osu is dark green in colour and has two major advantages:

a) it Is soft aid cm yrod.uce clear sounds; and

b) it Is durabl-e.

\bile beating the il:oro, the Ohnfia drummer gives out a high pitched war cry.

The slit on the dm1 divldes the sound from the drum into two' - the highcr ljitci~(:ilrcmalc ~lounclmd the lower pitched male sound. I-Iowever , creative drummers can achieve .. Plate 3: Ikaro dmunrnor in ,Abiriba - : hl{;hly tonal. Tone) jlcceni; snd s'wess (frequency) fowl the three or the ~$lcC jno$hoiis ern;jloycd 5n speech, and based on thic, manj symbolic llroro vocabulary bave Iden built up from the sourds, Drun ll i;cmt'u;-e is associated with words

the lanpn::.e thn drqnrncy heavl1.y on the two notes in ikoro dnw, the accept and stress to communicate as i shown below.

-Motes

1. C. C. Aniakor, II!:oro: 'lke Iicrolc Dms of 10ole d payer ?resented during the Serninar on II&o f5Ce and Cul.turel N suZd:a, 1983.

4. C, c, Aniakor, 1783 ??a

5. The name is derived Tram the sound made by the small mallet 41en Ln us.

6. Ofo nka Is the c-u1.t associated trith carvers. Each carver, 4Wn5 - m ofo di nka albr bn his corn:ound.

7. Kill him.

0. Z'he deity cloco not; !\rant thc cLuvl:I- to carve the ilmro drwn.

9. This form of srtcrll'lce Ls perforrncd with one or more hwnm bein~s. 10, Mbonu Ojike, Ply Africa (hndon: Elandford 1ress, 1955) p. 164.

12. Ajala Shrine Irlcc-t, Alachc'oe OlrorLe in an oral intervicu , 1988. The meaning and the oriYLn 01the word Ikoro/~kolo remains a problem.' SOIXPCO:JIC in trykg to find it1s meaning do so by us2.n~it as n profix to ilcorobia, ikolobia, ol;orobia, ancl o!;olobin, kl:e abort form of which

tone markincs. In efTect,Lt nclrlressca the masculinity of a man. ~korobia/~kol.ol~lameans a fine 2:-ecimen If manhood.

IIis finely developed physical. chsra,cterLstics qualify him

to do whatever is requircil or a full fl-edged man. He brings

rawt cner,yy to bcnr on his c::;cl.oi is to the extent of, some-

times, overeaching him self 19-e -he traeic hero, Olconkwo

in Y"lngs Fall Apart", IIovr.:vcr, he rclf es on his ability

and agil ity io ovcrcornc any .tr;ir.:n;:. sl tuations. Igbo elders know this and so they say .l.!~.t wl~nieverphysical

challenges that came to a man when he was at hls prime

came at the rizht time - IIhc bLara nwoke ntil:olobia biara ya na mmat . This period is also referred to as when the mant s body is stfll mlm - n:'r)e o'ozrn nwoke na anu olcu.

They go to wars, pcrtnl:~In wrc:;t-I in;. contcst-s and engace

in physically taskin2 xct:vi l-Lcs. It- makc9 sense when one

begins to link ilcoro drum IL tk thc word ikorobia because

it is Bhcoc youthful and cn?r;o'Lic ~OLUI:; man that prove

their worth by cuttln; ii11r1~1 hcnd$ cn: ecially dur;nz.wars

and presenting them to L!lc lkoro - XI event- that explains L the mafn function of ilroro. Sur! rlsingly, owncrs of ikoro

would not want- to subscrrlsc .to this idea of ilcoro origlna-

ting from ikorobia. Many arcn:: In Isboland refer to a

cavity bored into a material as &koro. It shares- the same

tone rnarkinc with ikoro drum. me people of Uburu who

actually call t!:eir comrnunf. t-y drum ulcoro, call a cavity bored

I, into wood or other mnter.',nls ylmrobo. IIovever, they would

not tmnt to link it to t-lwi r 111:oro. IhlrLng my f Ccld trill

to various Igbo commnitles, they rcferred me to 0hafia/ 2 Arochukwu area to find what- Ilcoro ntmdffor. Thts Is where

Ikoro myths ricorded by klakor3, becomes very relevant. One

of the myths comes from Ohaffa while the other comes from

Umunze who is of Arochulcm 4ncestry. In Ohafia the orLyLn oC l!:o~o drums is associated wtth a legendry woman called Inc Ubi (mother of farmland). One day, lJne Ubi vent to the frzml:.md. to collect some f irewoad from a particular wood knovn as i!:tril:o, 4 it produced some interesting sound frorn its .cavity. She m.s so fascinated by this that she tool: It to thc vS11a::e and, shoved. it to the village womenfolk. Elc new soon spread all around the village. Mazi ~lu,' a giT.1-cd n~tisiused two sticks to beat out sounds from the log. T~cmm were 11i~;lily impressed and they deslred to acqulre it. Wiey gavc the womenfolk a gf ft of a goat =and subsequently conml::r,loned Nazi Elu to carve a drum based on the prototyl!e acqulred frorn the women. Men the assi[;mnen t was cornpl.c~!;ecl~i t remaked the cuttln~fthe

slit which sex~eratesthe mn3.e and .the female sounds. They were a:fcaid to do this becn;:r;e tl~eydid not lmoV the intentions (which , of-Len .l-ended to calwlcious) of

tho deity bclicvcd to b(? -t~!::'rl;'l.~:; Z.r) I;l~cdrum. To avoid

the wrath of t11e deity l-hcy cons:ill-cd a diviner to find out

the deityt s mind. True to t'.-elr fears, the deity demanded human sacri P-;ce beforc thc dmm coil lcl be sounded. Displeased by thls demand, they 013-LcCi to glvc as may cows as would

please the deity but it rc.:'usec?. Some rnen were then sent to

a dist,mt market to buy seven slaves who were subsequently

on it. The drum hencefo~thl.~r:ca~ne llcoro the ezter of human

Ilocd u - -il;o~,o o LLL :lsi . A1 :I OVL!,I' :Cgl~oI.;u~(l, cwry f lmro constructed after thl s ol~nemeclthis rlt-ual of human sacrLflce

as part of lkoro consecrn.LLoii bcfo~eit is sounded.

The other myth from Umunze is martial.. According

to oral- trariitton collcc-l-cd by hiakor, Nze , t!le legendry

founder of Umunze desired. to be marttally superior to the

people around him and therefore went on to trah all his

chi l.dren (both male and. fcrnnle) in the art of warfare. To

teat them hc? f:',.rnt senk ou.t tho fcmn,l.os on a rnLd on

neigl .libourin(; comrr~unlty. 'ille women were vic$oriou? as they cmie

back with seven heads. IIo~rcver, they crled as they came back

because they could not bear the si:;ht of blood. Nze was

diopl onnod by t11.I. :: nl .Ll lo,, I; ;1.1 11c ;.L~I;I:~~~:C~-I;l~c::: r coyrn.(;e . Hc! .Sc?l:t he could not entrust the co~:ll'il~ml-ty~s martial responsibility

in theLr hands. He thei-efox sent out the men who returned '. with only one head but say: and j~fi~lla-lcdas they came 1)sck.

This pleased Nze, and to commcmoraLe It he comn-Lssioned a

carver to carve an ikoro +~hicl~became Inom as Llcoro the war leader - ikoro ochl a,~ha.

Wat the two myl-11s s!io~r clearly is that llcoro was flrst

and foremost connected 11: th vjarfare and head hunting. The

function and physlcal cllsractcrl s-tlcs o.C ilcoro drum explains

this claim. On very lay ;e numbcr of' Ikoro drurns are carved

human heads, or a man holtlfn,:. a, ln~m,ul had, or a man holdkg I

a matchet in his right. 11and rtnd a sevsrcd head in the left

hand, or moat recontly rnm holclin~a (pm. Sornctimea the lrlari

holding a human head wears a scarLfied face so also does the

severed head. Actual 1 y, tlLs i;Ocs on to su,r:c:est Llic7,t both

men are grcat but tho victor Is peat-cr than the vanquishecl.

It also Goes on to reafflrm the I&o saying that when two

great palm trees stmd t-oiyether, thelr leaves touch,and

when their leaves touch the tall-cr (Greater) one 5; identified.

To communities which own ikoro, only such victorious men are

'2 . fine specimens of manhood. Ile is believed to possess extra-

powers (both physical and ysycllf~c) to be able to dare what the , . 1 I ' ,. 2 '. . 5 4' " . , I r

'I ,11' I' ordinary m,m cannot. Tile c:'L'cct of such extra fbrces 5s more evident in tine of mr or similar challenges or when the intoxicatin~W:LL' music is ~~Iayed.Once that haplvns, non-achievers go for cover as they arc the targets of the heroes. In some areas like Ajalll, such non-achLevers used to he very few bccauce it VKLS %lie pr:~ctlce for a per:;on who cou1.d not get a human hcd durins a crucial war not to go back to 11is people. It was ncvcr zood for one to be alive and gct srnelllng like a gl~ost.' The fact was that a person went to war to kill or eet 1531 cd axl when non of the -hfo happcncd, the yerson went to sornevl~ercelse to resettle,

IIc could not stand tlie 11urnl:l lablon by his mates back hbrne. '

IIe also had very sllm clmce of get tin^ a 'nlce wife'.

An exom~~leof what a war hcro col:ld do on hearlng a tradi.tiona1 martial music was re!loc tcd .ln lAl.or h y Ugonwaf or, Oyelca.

Durin~;a burial cerclnony of a one Erne war hero, one of his

contemporaries (then old) exhib5. ted sow dance (drama) steps

describing how he ovcrpotrerd 115s olil.onent. Next he ran to a

cistern, stood on the decayhe sterns of palm fronds used in

covering it and danced the dda n~~sicm.',dst shouts of fright and disbelief from the s~~cctal-o.-s,sol'ie OF whom took to their heelsO7 No sooner had he jumpcrl of1 the covering the entire assemblage col laysed into the ditch . He was believed to have psychically preVcntcd tl?e decayed wood from caving In.

This parallels what happens during ikoro dance in Aguata. In

Uga a person was pushed do~mby a hero for attempting to dance to the iltoro and he dfed t~!o dzy3 later. The natives attributed the death to fl:oro anger. The ilcoro had eaten hLs head. In Uburu the behavlor OF a hero on hearinc ikpa music 8 is dramatic. IIe lcaps several times lnto the air and in a flash, dashes into the bush or any othcr dl~ectloriand does

s-trensht in the hero (ike df n1odogwu). In the past, he either came back with n lil~nianllcad or the body of a stronlj; anlmal 'Ilke the leopard. !alum the later ha1 llend, he became the killer of l.eopard/tiycr (ocl~uqw). He could become oghu if ka agul or lome ka a+pl&e l:lll.cd his opponents in a cat-like manner9 In Bhafia, almost everything about the ikoro is tension packed - The cirunii!rer never ceased to give out a war cry whenever he beat out ilie notes frorn the ilcoro drum. The heroes themsel.ves in response danced .to the beats in full d.ltary regaliac consisting of :~.lrlccdiEoincloth and strf p sd hat

(:kpu a,eu) to match the lnintcd face. Ire also has a knife or a bow and arrows, and the mane of a ram (ma ebunu) tied to the left hand wliicll somctlmes carrled a human head.

Ws was the tr11e picture of a cornrnunity hero. It was thls achicverncnt that was opiholized in the physica,l form of the iltoro.

Ikoro is a secio-pol%tical symbol of village unlty.

Itts ability to carry this symbollsrn derives from its mon~nnental lty in wliS cl I .-;.u thus 1)otll ~ll~yoicnland conceptual. L As the communityt s collectlvc voice It Is greater than any individual voice and 4 to 1.roclairnat-2011s are mandatory. It is reflected in Igbo ada:;e which says that Lf one man cooks for the community it would. flniah it' 'out r,111en the community cooks for one man he gets stuck in the food (0tu onye siera ora o risle ma. ora s~~otuonye o. to. na nri) . Ik~rostands for k a comrnuni tyt s ability to speak riith one voice \ihich ,expressed fs h ksafin6 tho t "group is strencth (1me bu ike) . The community vo5ce is therefore obeyed without question or delay

, , I05

As a communityt s symbol of ]:ride, ilroro drcm lies at a

{ conspicous site at the villa~esquzre vhere it could be

seen and admlred by all . T111:; accounts for the ener,yy and

money that go into ikoro i;roduction. In Aguata area

es~ecidly ITmunze, Ezia.:u, Uga, hjal.1.l tmd Ogbunka, the

fkoro as a monumental fom Is ccle!)rn-Led today more that the

function

Though many of these drms are not in use for sometime now

due to religious reasons, no inr1l;;cne vou1.d treat kindly any

person that tries to destroy or 3-Lcal. an ikoro. In Ohafla,

Abiribn and Arochulcm~rtmn:: 11:01:0 dmms ax loolrcd up in

huts and mr? not aecr~cnni1.y as In A~'uatamd some other

i parts of Igboland. They ax not as bPg as those in Awata

area but they are stil.1 very much in use. The emphasis

here is more on function than form. They are functionally

' monumental.

In addition to the use of h~mmhead carvings on drum

to show heroism in warfare and head hunting, there are

other symbols which address other vital aspects of llfe (see fic 25). The nxtlv.u.z sec tll.cm as mere decorntlona on drum bodies. TIC3 Is n rzsult of Ignorance largely people so that they will thereBore hoca~~snof t,hc wr!n tcm 1.~1::::.o~~n jnr111cnc:c on the L

went to ! be seen as paEnns. 11 good number of '-nativesg cam not even remember then their ikoro drum was last used.

T-Iowever, using the dualistic viev of the cosmos by the

Igbo peo$le, one can best descrl1,e the recurrence of both

1 male and female forms on ikoro as a representation of thls duali m in exi atence . 'Ihc I~,ybo~!~mbelievc s that things are in twos (ihe rli aha-abm). Just as there is day and night, good and bad, spirit md humcan worl-d, up and down,

left and right, there Is mm and woman, kthout woman

there can be no man (and vicc versa). Therefore on most

ikoro drums the nunibcr of male T~G'ILI~~on one end of the 10 drum equals the number of i'crnnle fli;v.res at the other end.

The presence of male md female figures also suggests procreation - somethln~very precious in the

Igbo world. Every man prrtyr, for continued existence of the

family through procrcatlon as In such Igbo names as Obiechina

(may thc linca;;~ not comc to a close), haechina (may the compound not close down) , fiamefpa (may my name not get lost) . Nothing gives the I&o person n ocnse of asnurmcc more

than the fact that he still 11:s a l~lzceto vislt and stay when he dies and beco~:lcsan anccstor.ll He, therefore, wou1.d not wmt a fall. in the number of chlldren12 in the

compound as illustrrz tod in tl~cnmc I~Indml:onobi h he Obi never lacks people) wEch in short 5s called +onobi* or

,~adualco.'~ In I~bofamlly thcrcfore, when a man fails to

get ma1.e children throug-h his ,wife he takes another one

with tho hope of cc tiin: rmlc cl~ilclrcnto. ennure continued L

illustrates the above Iden. I1:oro Umuchu has a pregnant

woman interacting with another fic~~rewhi I e Iltoro Ogbudu,

Ikoro Ogbunka and even Il~oroObiblalcu has a man and a

Voman on the drum body.

There are some mcmlngs attacl-ied to the r:tual animals

wEch appear on ikoro dmbodies. The snake, the lizard

(crocodile) and tortoisc are zacred animals in many comrndtles

and are often not killed. They are also believed to be the

primodial animals as told in folklore and myths. Many Igbo

, folk talea which touc;~ on~r.:l;.ln~and he~innlngsof life usually start wtth Long Ion,- tltne ago, before the begh- in,- of time, itself, ~11cllthc llzr~rdamoved in twos and threes, and when the python moved ~OIJGthe pathways ~5th royal p!t . . .l4 \h',lc T;llbot thid:s that tlm tortoise shell symbolizes dea th so!ne lndlgenes (01conlo~oNkala,

Rev. Pr. Arazu etc) think .l;ha.I; the tortoise represents the tyyical character of ,m Igbornan. A3 I its tricks, successes and failures paint a typical plctu;e of Igho wisdom.

It Is said in local circles that vhatever story told without -'mhet (tortoise) is tas-l-clcnn. As shown on some ikoro drums, e311ec:s7 I y :n Arnuzu and TTgm areas,thc tortoise 13 shown in constant relationship with the hevenly bodles (the moon and star) and also with other prlmodial beings - the python and the lizard (crocodile). The ~iyt-hon,as a messenger of the deity that owns the dnun represents that deity, so says

Okorle Alachebe of Edw. In the sllrlne of Ajala, the deity that owns Ikoro Ajala, the same python was carefully sculpted in clay as it went round the Ajala figures, and attending to It. By appcariu~011 Ilcoro AJala, Alachebe says the mmiTestation of Ajala in 1I:oro is complete. !The use

of python as a motif jn .:l:oro dr1u.l hody is wide spread in ' . Igbolcmd rmd it show3 the mount of imjortance attached to

as a oacred (animal. Ibr this ren.r,on it is hard1y killed

rnany Igbo communi.l;ies and if one is 1dll.ed by mistake it

given a burial tl.1:~-t slmozt- equals that given to a human

being. On an ilcoro a python is sornc tines doun swal lowing

another antma1 , meaning a mca-bc.r commtmf -ty symbolically

swallowing a weaker cornrnwl-ty. 1-1; ts in line with the Igbo

proverb whlch says that many itnimals exist in the forest but there exists the python who oms the forest o nu juru n1olLa ma a nweriri eke nwe ohia) . It is the lincnr incisions (a1;il;a) on the ikoro that

cou1.d be termed exclusively decora.tlve. For example on ikoro

in Umudloka, Awka, obllque lines serve as background for

figures on the drurn whlle on Ilcoro IJgele Oju the lines are

used to decorate the forms on the drum.

Bt is true thzt the relief representations of forms

on ikoro dms are statements which help to explah what the

ikoro stands for-. It .is also clear that ikoro is the cmmuni ty' s collective voice . ,for making monumental pronauncements which concern all. vital aspects of the

I comniuni tkt s ].if o, but rcltrc:;en La l;lon of a man holding a head in his outstretched Ilmds, a man hol.dlng a matchet and a head, human heads on -l;lle drum, 'I;lle myths bn ilcoro, the war cry g::ven out by the dnmncr wLi1.e beating the ikoro and the lanpage of Lkoro all,mose ~L~iflcantly,point to the fact the ikoro was fisst and .Toremost a martial d&.

It was the martial success and quest for more successes

that the first ikoro dnun synholized.

1 Man with a head IIeacI

IIead

3. Triangles (malt&?) Nale figure

4. Male Head f Ie ?d

5. Male head IIe ad

6. Ma1 e IIead Femal e figure

He ad

' 8. Seated man r'roj ection

Ile ad

10. , Head htl ~Ltha head

l ython nwal3 lng an 'animal.

Nan with a head

Femnl e head

14. Female Head Noon or s~m?

15. Projections Na1.e Figure .. * 16. Horned Animal Head 1"Iale figure

17. Leopard? ' Moon or sun?

18. %legged animal- Penia,l.e f i pe

19. Snake He ad

20. Mm wi.th a head 1,rojcction (~ead?) 'I t7 41 to 43 Female flwre 91. Female head 44. Python 92 - 95. Head 45 & 46 Head 96 Seated male figure 47. Prnject.ion (Head?)

48 & 49 Female He& 98. Seated female fifpre

50. l'ython

51 & 52 Head 100. Head wcth a cap

53 & 54 Fema.1e Head?

56. Man with cap

57, python

Tortai se

62 Wo preoant figures , 108. Crescent moon

64. Man with knife arid head

65. ClrcIe w~tha cross 111. TLzard or crocodile

66. Nal e head 11 2. Tortoise

67. Male head 113.

68. Two heads 114. Nan with a p?

115.

116. Li zard or crocodile Star

Crescent moon

I'ython

Woman nursing a. baby

\~lon~uinu SS ng a baby

Charging Te opard

Ezard or crococlile

Framed heads

&atcd flgU1-c

1 ython

F'r~mcd he ad n

Se:l.l;cd Tem:~lc Ci;;llrc

Engl e The Communl tyt s war dnun Is Inown as Ikorolc among t!x Ibibio tribe.

Malogun con tents thnt tllc~chas been a long stand- ing relationship be trseen Arochukwu and Ohafia peolle. Ohafia warriors were always around to give martlal assistance to Aroc1~ul:m \hen ever the need arose. Arochukw Ltself is a mixture of Igbo mrrioi-s and those from neighbouring tribes.

Chike Ahiakor, Ikoro IIerof c dnuns of the Igbo 1eolllct . Paper presented during the semlnrtr on "Igbo Life and Culture" Nsulzka, 1983.

Ikirilco is also the nmc of Ijo war drum.

Elu is also the narne of one of the Communities in Ohafla arcs. It is hrghly respected in ilroro circles.

In other words it 13 bet tcr for one to be recomised- by Ills co;ornunlty Lnsted of hiding in pheme becaxso he is a non-achlever.

Abia music is a traditional war dance of some communities in North hn'tral Igbo area. The membrane drums for Lhts music is made of human skin. Ikpa is a martial. music of Ohaocora peop1.e and cornrmni ti e s around Udi . Ogbu Ka agu- (kills like a leopard) ./0me ka w (behaves like a leopard.

Anialcor, 1983 1). 19

'Innc 1c;bomm even In deal11 is 3-1;111 a member of fa~nily. IEs spirit enters the carved okposi folm dnrlng Es second burial. The 01:posi S. s kept In the family altar and consul tcil at every prayer.

Especial ly male children.

Akonobi (not 1.acld.n:; $11 -the obi) . Naduako (not 1,zcl::n:: 1111m,mbe in::^) .

, Chinua Achebe, Bevare Soul 13rother (-hem: i:e , 197 3) . ------CONCLUSION

A number of lessons have been learnt from the study of ikoro as a consplcuo~~aoc:~~ll~.tural mon~uncnt of some sections of Igbo comrnunlt.',es. b!e have seen, in ,ikoro, the dynamism in momentall ty. Ikoro Is physically monumental.

It i a conc,e~~t~~al.l~/syrnn~~olicnlly monumental . It i 8 also I functional.ly monumcntal., Ilcoro slit drum, which had its orfginal function as a. martial drum, has a religious under- tone. It is a communlcation devlce for rally5ng the community together in the spirt of single purpose. It is a manhood initiation symbol and therefore a status symbol.

Also, as a festivity symbol whlcli invol.vea theatre, ikoro is a dance.

'It is quite evldcnt that many

Igbo communities dld peat thin,-;.s 16th the ikoro drums l when the pathway was under the bread fruit treet, (ka ezi di nlukwu ukwa) . Regre tably, it has suffered a lot of setbacks. It was clear to the colonial govemnent that lkoro represented the indigenous people's ideals, and to get them under thelr fold fold. they cleverly, thro~qjiindigenous collaborators used' the ikoro to deceive the villagers. Wen such deceitful

collaborations did not work out, the drums \Ere considered

a threat ant? subsequently cle strayed.' Frank Hives recounted

how the whiteman with some indigenous collaborators used

the ikoro drum in Nbwa to summon the villagers to the

villwe square to make peace. It used the following words, . . "Come to the market square without fear; the whiteman is here

and wants to talk to you. !here is no palaver; cometf.* It

worked because after some mlnutes the villagers came to the $*' ', . market square unarmed. Crd~dl;~,whlteman got hold of the

peoplest conscience and \{ea!cened their reslstance. As people

turned to the new christ5an religion wlth new zeal and vieour

ikoro became a 'heathent practlce to a good number of the

people. The drums wllfcll :;urvlvcd destruction In the hands of

the whitemen we1.e left uncel-ebrated and uncared for, As a resul-t

,I ' of rain, heat and other na turn1 hazards they started decaying,

When they did, some were ncvcr repl.aced. However, it is

1. A ' L ? 4 , ,I interesting to no tie that in the areas where ikoro drums are

\ abandoned, the so cal lecl arlhercnts to the new christim faith to it. Among communi Kcs whose lkoro traditions is still active,3 in order not to .let go the old ikoro tradition, people have adapted ways of containln~the cultural changes

swee~~ingaaross the Igbo region . ,. For example,

have become alternative status requ3.remen-l;~in contemporary ikoro festivities. In TTg~rn arca there 1x1s also been a cadual trandormation of i1:oro performance to suit the present time. As contkned In Arnanhlor1 s research on theatre in ikoro among the Npra Cmunlty, ikoro dance v,as origkmlly a victory dance which Included presentzt-ion of a human head to the drum deity, and dornonohx,-Ling how the victim was out - classed. It al so ir~volvcdtouchin;. the drum and having a dialogue with it. \her1 -the whi tcm.m' o influence tried to undewine an original mode or usinz the ilcoro for social control (wh:ch waa Iorcio:; thc culprlt to swear by tlie ikoro to prove his innocence or even sacri.ricIri~him to the ikoro if he was indeed guilty) the Ngwa people deviced another means of punishing such a person. They usually brought him into the square and loclred him up In a room fllled with hbt pepper and oil. palm husk fumcn ~mtil1m confessedi his guilt.

, So instead of sacriflcin,- lLm to -31e ilcoro, he was tortured and re-integrated into the communS-ty. This mode of justice was made to parallel the brut-alities meted on natives by

the pollce and soldiers sent by the oolonial. government.

later, these actions wcw consclo~~slymirnfclced in ikoro

dance drama. It was first Initiated by Chief Njoku Njinngwa

in 191 during an ilcoro lestlvzl. Today, the theatfe has

even assumed a wider dimension. The activity is staged in

the comrnuni.tyt s school foot73al I. fleld to accommodate more

people whS ch include non-intli~cnes. The ikoro musical

instruments are placed In thc center while the actors, which

Incl.ude spectators, sorromld thern.The cast include any concievable character - policemen, soldiers, district officer,

magistrate s, lawyers, court messengers, pri soners awai tlng

trial, Landlod s , tenm.l;s, governor general, General Officer

Conimur~dur (C .O .C .) , Cl1i.o Tu o I' 2LaI.r, I:inc, Quoen, llo[:c:.cr,

Traders, ITausa men, Yoruba men etc. In thelr costumes, whlch

include ma sk s ,they mtmick the characters in they repre sent.

?Inis ha~pensin everj part ol' t-lic arena in the spirit of I the Igbo notion of total. thca'trc. Ia5

Besides the ilroro pex-forrnnulce, tie retention of the ikoro sculptural form Is st511 a pro1:lem. Naturally, wood

decays wLth time and It therefore has the problem of durabrlfty

Since few communities are keen on foll.o~?in~.the old tradition

of replacinc a decayed ilcoro ad since a lot of communities

do not use their ikoro drums a~ain,a great number of such

c'lmuns would bo lou I; to woa thcr linzardn.

I thlnk it would be foolhandy to allow the ikoro monumental concept to die. If the original ritual aspects

of the drum are de-emphas5aed ,the 5kol.o would survive - even

in the present time . Ikoro dr~~mr;could be carved on treated

wood which might not really be iroko, but tougher and longer

lasting wood. The housiri ; of lkoro could be greatly im!droved

to protect and project the i?:oro better as a-l-tempted by Adazl

Nnuktm community (See Table 4)s.. Perhaps, a more amhi-tlous my of presemring the ilcoro

monument is to have m archi tect-L~ralcomy~lexto be lmown .as

u3o ikoro (ikoro house) wlilch ~~ouldsene as a hall of fame.

It would contain a library to house all written researches on

ikoro, a museum to house survlvlng trclditionally wrought ikoro Plate 4: Ikoro drum overlooki the arena and pavillion in Ad az i-bJnulwu drums from different reg5ons and some other contemporary iltoro ideas. It should aho have conference rooms for workshops .on ikoro awl, a1.l.lc.d. 'topics, 2nd restaurants for tradl -tlonal dishes. 11112 ou-l;doors should have a sculpture garden for ikoro outdoo-r scul.ptlircs, md a, play~roundwith pavill!.n for oukdoor pcrforr:~ancer,. By so doiw we would have saved the ikoro from beinyno more.

I can imagine myself ait%in; on the ikoro pavillion and listeninz to the rlnunmor bcn.ttng out tlle funeral oratlon red at l'ro Yessor l:cnnetl~ 0ntml:a. J)ilcet s grave side by Chilta Pcmesia on Saturday, 19 Novembe2, 1983, Thls is because it evokes the aurrtl/verba.l powr of the ikoro drum. 1 30 Dlke -Lhc valiant,

bri sc ,

For \;e lmve arrived

Oke mmonwu, .spirit-mask,

Noni te,

N1 ubosi tthulu For L!IC dawn 13 upon 11s

Oke osisi ji an:, To: mlng tree preservine the I.nnd,

Meghalia, T~jes-Llr,

Na ndi otu-i no nlebea Illor your comrades are here

Kwrnlte oto, Stalcl erect,

N un'o n1emorut)e For bl~c c tl-uct-ure is tremhl ing

Okenya no n' ,mi ': creel t-ivc elder,

Fu ife di nso no ote, Seatcd but seeine things near ,and far,

Orabialuij e n1ekene- Your long-travelled mests sal-ute you Eze akuko anl, Fox-cmost hf storian oE the land,

Ndi akuko ant ibe-i ,Your re 11ow-hi storians are around n1okwl ya

Okasi malu akwukwo, Superb m,m of I.carn',nc,

Oto ntoanL okputolokpu llomdr:r of everlasting instltu tions,

Ndi gi na Ca di wee to ya Your fcllow-founders

Nokwo n1 echc -i -ZTF: in at lcndmce

Onye ndu n1onye nkuzi

1razi'l.u uuu-ukwu-i Arc you l.cav9n~;your discip1.es

Ka fa mee gini?

Ochi obodo n'ohi oma nludo, Ihmznc md peaceful ruler of the land,

Za ndl otu-i OAT IIarlkcn to t1.e call of your collew~es

Ochie dike ejl eje mba, Doycn of the brave reputed abroad,

Ndi oh-i je-i akwadebego The caravan is set . , ./ Ewo ! Oraobodo Awka , b ;allrl~~~onu-o Alas! Citizens of Awka, come, ; '/". *, Na ch2 ewelu ofifie jfa For darkness has eclipsed

Ntani Igbo Il7;boland at noontide

4' '

I Ndibeanyi ,

Nekw onu-o

Na mmmili atabidolmo Mai jlria

.I . W-Wwa , cba takwonu oso-o ITnaten hfther, 0 people of eve1.y lcmcl, . .. ..

'li , Na odezulu uwa 'Ilx world-renowned luminary '..

' Anaa mmoo Has departed to spirltland

Faye you well.,

IE storyiking

" . Ktemesia, ; s< Until then,

Eze-akwukwo . Lord of learning

Che takwo nwunye-l Remember your wife,

gbo.:ail ',.,' . ' .. . - Lovf ng husband , ; , .. 13'

Che talmo mu-i , Rcmernb er your children,

Ezlmo nna hf fectionate father

1 Che t alcwo ilcwu nn'ib e-i Remember your kith and kin,

Ezicbo mmadu Xohle Soul

Che t ahlo mu-ukwu-i Rernen~beryour dlsciples,

Ezi(;bo onyenkwuzi Greate '; teacher

Chetakwo obodo anyi, Remember our codrry,

Eze om Master of all

Umu-ibe , Our cood peopJe, I Olnm ebee It is flnished

Oraob odo, Great compatriots,

Mmoo anaa 'Ille it is departed.. J . N . Amankulor, ale Concept and I ractice of the TcaditLonal ILfrlcnn Pe stival Theatre lJh.D. Jkkertntion, Unrverai ty of CalLfornla,

Frank Hives and Cascol:ne. Juju and JustLce in NIceria ond don : John :=me, The Bodley Head Limited , 1930) p. 112.

Ohaf La, Abriba, Arochulcvu, Cende , Okigwe, Mbai se and Npa areas stLl1 celebrate Ikoro very well every year.

An aGe grade in Adazl Unulam, In the mid 1970' s commissioned a new ilcoro for the community and housed it in a roofed storey bulldhg, overlooking the arena and spectators pavilllon. The architecture is qulte modern. Also see the photograph in the next Achebe, Chinua, Beware Sold Crother (~nu~w:Nwamife, 1973) .

Afigbo, A. E. Ropes of Smd: StuiEes in Igbo History and Cul ture (1~sul:lia: Unlvers: ty of Ni~erialJre ss 1 982) .

Amanlmlor, N. A. "The concept and llr,zct:.ce of 'ka@itional African T11ca.t rc 'I, 1'11.1). Diocrtation , University of Cn~sl!fotil:~,, 1 o:: :A.n;;.olo:;, 1377.

Anialcor, ChLke, "The Igbo I j ele ~.1ask" African Arts Vol. 21 , No. 4 (1 377) PI{. 42-47

------'lStructurall sm of Iltenga - An e tho-aesthe tic Approach" Ilcen,~a Journal of African Studies Vol. 2, No. 1, 1974.

-____I__'Tkoro: IIeroTc Dmns of the Igbo l1 A paper presented durln,~-the seminar on Igbo Life and Culture, Rsukka, 1903.

Basden, G. T. Nicer Ibos ondo don: .b'rml; Ca..:s and Co. Ltd., 1966).

_1_--_3_Among the Ibos of Nigeria (Ibadan: Unf versity l'ublishlng Company, 1921) . Boston, J ohn Ilcensz lPit-yycs hnonr. the North-Vest Igbo and the I@a (1~1:erla md -iondon: 1977)

Brain, Robert Art mii Society 2n ?)l.ack Africa (hndon and New York : Longman, 1980)

Cole, H. M. and Aniakor, C.C. 1,ybo Arts: Community and Cosmos (Lo8 An::el.es: 1JnivercS.ty of Callfomla, 1984) .

Cole, K. M. "Art as a Verb in I~bolc~d"African Arts 3(1) 34-41

Creighton, Thomas. Archltec'h~reof Tlonments

Elsen, A1 bert , Nodern Ehropem Sculptures (1 918-1 945) (~ewYork : Beor;;c lh~~zil.lex, 1 979)

Ehejue, I). N. "Igbo Ykndltlonal Sculupture" (B .A. ?Onesis, Universit-y of Higeria, Nsukka 1973).

Fagg , 11. J3 . NlgerZ an Irna~es o on don : I'ercg Ibmphry ivld Col Ltd. I 970) .

---.----.---.-- Miniature ilood Carvfnp of Afrlca (~ewYork, Adms and Dart, 1970) .

Finnegan , Ruth. .Oral 12.tera-Lure in Lfri ca (~ai-r~obi:Oxford University iress, 1970) Hives, Frank and Lumley, Gascolgne Juju and Justice in Nigeria ondo don : John Tam The Badley Read Limited, 1930).

Ischei, Elizabeth, A History- of the Igbb People ondo don : ?hc liaanll lan 1'1:ess I td, 1976) .

Zeuuinc;er, Elsy, The Art or Illac!: Africa ondo don : Studf o Vista, 1372) .

Obiefuna, D. E. tlTrdi~tlonsl'.;or!:s of Art As An Expressive Culture in linmnzc " (E .A. 'IhcsT s, Universlty of Nityeria., M,~ulcI:a. 1973).

Ogbal.u, B.C. Towns md--- VSll.ayc:: Ln Irno and Anambra. States (hitshs: Unf vcrsl.-by I ubll&lng Company, 1992)

------Igbo 1nntitui;ion- and Custorns (0ni t sha Universlty l ub llshlng Company, 1972)

Ojike, Mbonu, My Afr:ca (Iondon : Blmdf ord l'rcss , 1'755) .

Okaf or, Ephrah, "Tradi t;ional 111stirw1ic.11-t s of Communication '' (NCX Thesis, hnr,~bbraState College of Education, Awb, 1987). Onwudiwe, Kal-u. lIl;orol Sunday Statemm (9) 286 1986.

Onwuegeogbh, Angulu. An I@o- Clvilizntion: Nri Kingdom pdIIcgemony (i3cnln Clty: Et-hiopc l ub li shers, 1980)

Price, Christine Madc in !Ic.:t Africa o on don: Casscl and ~olEr,Nacmf llan, 1975) .

Ihne &cje Clifford l'Psdltional Carvers in UgalI , (B .A. Thesis, Unlvernlty of Nigeria, Nsukka. 1985)

Mllet, i."rca.nlc. Africtm - ond don : ?nnams md iiudson, 1 97 1) . Location

Alacheb e Okori e

I &"re Chulmudike

Joseph Ofor

Pc stus Nwanlcwo llr. Inca Tlr . IQworbia Mr. Idilca

C. 0. Ezeon$iwalu

Olcclrc Obiagha

Omenks Of odumogu

Crncnka Ojukwu Ezcde1)c~c

Mr. Uzoi~we

Okoro Eze J . N. C. Agbata Mr. L. 0. OnwudioFu