The Art and Material Culture of the Eloyi (Afo) People, 1969/70 A Photographic Essay

Anna Craven all photos by the author, except where otherwise noted a file of supplemental images (Figures A–ZZ) is available at http://international.ucla.edu/media/files/craven-supplement-hz-nzi.pdf

his paper reports on a survey of Eloyi art THE ELOYI (AFO) and material culture carried out in just a few The Eloyi people (also known as Afo, a name given them by months from April to June 1969, and January their Islamic Hausa neighbors) live north of the Benue River and to mid-February 1970, while I was curating east of the -Benue confluence in Nigeria, to the southeast of the Jos Museum and then establishing the new Nasarawa. At the time of this study (1969/70) Nasawara was part Kaduna Museum. Essentially the survey was to of Benue-Plateau State, the capital of which was Jos. It is now in record, photograph, and purchase works of art and material cul- Nasarawa State, to which it has given its name, but the state cap- ture for the national collection at Jos, to note the associated Eloyi ital is Lafia to the east. T 1 terminology and context, and to photograph important immov- The Eloyi belong to the Benue Valley complex mixture of cul- able shrines and figures still utilized by the people. Acquisitions tures (see Berns, Fardon, and Kasfir 2011). Their area is bordered included replaceable items that were gifted by their owners, a few by, or in some areas mixed with, speakers of Alago (to the east), commissioned from the makers, and the rest purchased. Agatu, Bassa, Gwari (Gbari), Hausa, and Egbira. They, like other Since the survey was conducted, the attitude to objects associ- groups, have been adopting Islam and the for ated with the old religions in West Africa as a whole has changed. some years, and knowledge of the Eloyi language (Niger-Congo A huge market has developed and encouraged the local purchase family) is fast disappearing as members of the older generation die. of original works, and the talented reproduction of sculptures for Their society was not centralized or stratified, but a fluid one overseas buyers, especially by artist-craftspeople with a knowl- where each village, made up of several extended family com- edgeable eye for detail from other cultural backgrounds. Some pounds built within distinct sections (agirika), was governed by opportunists have seen that they can make money from the a group of elders (mbakuse) who elected an overall chief (osu) products of previous generations, regardless of ethical concerns from among themselves. The osu was supported by a series of or “cultural copyright.” role-holders who, in age-groups and societies associated with Hopefully, this record of the several communities within the named masquerades (e.g. ngorangorang dance groups and Ekpo Eloyi area between Nasarawa and Loko on the Benue River may ancestor masquerades), moved up the ranks or into other roles as be of use to future generations researching their heritage. It is all their elders aged and died. A chief could be succeeded on death the more essential, now that some of the sculptures photographed by his son (though not inevitably the eldest) or by a respected in 1969/70, which are of considerable cultural significance, have elder whom the others might prefer. Disputes could result in divi- been removed from their context and sold to foreign collectors in sions, and a man might decide to set up an independent agirika Europe and the US. The oral history associated with such items within the village area or to leave and move to a different place tragically rarely travels with them (Figs. 1–2). altogether. It was therefore difficult to draw up a map of locations Anna Craven, now retired, worked in the 1960s and 1970s as an eth- fixed over time in the Eloyi area. Each village and section had its nographer, researcher, and curator of national museums in Africa and own ritual places and shrines with associated paraphernalia and the southwestern Pacific. Also, when based in London, she conducted masquerades, and a religious leader (osu oseshi or eboshi wako) research relating to race relations and for documentary films. She has responsible for the sites and the spirits they represented. maintained connections with all the countries where she previously Eloyi identity overall was the product of conflict and migra- worked, returning to them all since 2003. In 2007 she made a second tion through the centuries and was recorded in their oral history. collection of pottery from the north of Ghana for the University of Gha- Although details varied, Eloyi informants spoke independently of na Department of Archaeology and Museum Studies, forty years after their belief that their origins were bound up with the “Beriberi,” a her first visit in 1964. [email protected] nickname for the Kanuri people to the northeast with whom they

46 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 1 This piece, Onyakeri, with the osu (chief) of the village, is now in an overseas private collection.

2 Detail of Figure 1.

shared a vague history, but not a language. The Kanuri called the Bornu some time in the seventeenth century which dispersed Eloyi “Aho,” a word I was told meant “let us go away and rest.” several cultures. From the shared land “beyond Makurdi,” one The old men spoke of how the Eloyi separated from the Beriberi informant vaguely indicated, the Muslim Beriberi were said to after conflict and fled from a place called Kukawa (also Birnin have moved north, while groups of Eloyi moved west and into Kazargamo or Gazargamu) where the two groups had lived the hills, some via settlements named Kokona (now Gwandara), together. The Eloyi had considered the Beriberi “brothers” (the and Oyini. Beriberi were “sons of the male” while the Eloyi were “sons of the To confirm this former link with the Beriberi or Kanuri, female”), but after the separation, they viewed them as “slaves” one elderly man described his facial marks as being similar (a “joking relationship” which reflects social structure and not to those of the Beriberi (Figs. 3–4), facial scarification which merely an attitude of superiority). Even if these multiple accounts is also exhibited by the Afo maternity figure in the Horniman might be interpreted as a common mythical charter, it is import- Museum (Phillips 1995:368–69). This style of face mark, however, ant that the belief is recorded.2 is also seen on masks and figures from cultural groups south This split with the Beriberi is likely to have occurred before of the Benue (see the Yoruba maternity figure in Trowell and the Fulani jihad of the nineteenth century. By 1835 the Eloyi were Nevermann 1968:123). Temple (1919:1–2) mentions a possible late already in the hills near their present location when Nasarawa nineteenth century migration of a group of “Afao” down river to town was established by the Hausa in the western part of their “Budon” where they became known as Kakanda, and describes area. Considering the oral records of leadership succession, it their identical “tribal marks” as “two deep cuts on each side of the was likely that the separation coincided with the earlier breakup face from the temples to the corners of the mouth; which has lat- of the Kwararafa or “Apa” confederacy (the first term not actu- terly been modified to two deep cuts from the bridge of the nose ally referred to by any informant): There was a “horse” war with to the cheeks, the side marks having been abandoned.”

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 47 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | 3 Osu of Kama: his distinctive but faint face-marks.

4 Onzo, helmet mask, also showing faint verti- cal face-marks; H 52 cm. Akpaku.

GLOSSARY OF ELOYI TERMS Aduwo: cowries, used in the payment of tribute, and also as decoration Agbede: corral for horses in hill settlements Agirika: village section made up of a group of related extended family compounds, but could also include non-relatives who opt to join through friendship Aloda: men’s society; members older than ngoran- gorang youth, cross-cut other male groupings; members danced in line stamping their iron staffs (odagi) with bells attached during ceremonies for the death of one of their members Ashema: greeting or word of praise used to address Odadu; used also by the Jukun and Alago Eboshi wako: religious leader responsible for com- pound or village shrines Ekpo: masquerade that whipped with long sticks any- one it encountered as it ran at speed through the village and surrounding bush According to Alhaji Jibrin Mairiga Idris, late ninth Emir of Nasarawa, himself of Eloyi Mbambu: Lowland Eloyi (Hausa: Afon Kasa) Eloyi Mbeki: Hill Eloyi (Hausa: Afon Dutse) Eloyi descent (hereafter Alhaji Idris), the Eloyi passed through Agba in the kingdom Enga: horns attached to large iron bell (kogbo); bushcow of Apa (now Jukun), possibly as early as the seventeenth century.3 Elaborating on the Epa: divination (“looking into the future”) 4 Eshi: shrines, ritual figures link with the Jukun, he described a dispute over a ritual earth figure in the southern Ezaka: horns attached to smaller iron bell; antelope village of Iga which, during the local wars, had been taken across the Benue by one (harnessed) Iku: crocodile faction, where it was captured by the Agatu. The Eloyi wanted it back. Alhaji Idris, Izu: dog when he was a local councilor, took the figure for identification to , where it Kagingoma/kajingomwa: female figures (“gathering of men and women”; kagi “stool”); Onyakeri/Anyakeri, had first been obtained by the Eloyi. There, he said, it was recognized by its name, it was suggested, referred to village section Keri as although he did not give it. Two new copies were made, and the original was retained place of origin Kogbo (pl. agbo): iron bell carried by ngorangorang by the Aku Uka (king of the Jukun). Eloyi compounds and agirika were, however, members not dependent on the Jukun for their earth shrines but commissioned their own Kokolo: pod used to smooth pot walls Kokpo: piece of wet leather used to smooth pot rim Eloyi specialists to create protective earthen composite figures for the household. Kotyo, kwotyo: metal cap or crest headpiece Alhaji Idris wished to emphasize that the Eloyi5 were only under the ritual, not polit- Kumburukpa: seed pod from the umburukpa tree; voice disguise used by Iyo ical, influence of the Jukun. For instance, the masquerade Odadu (Figs. 33, V), which Kunungwekpo: Ekpo masquerade’s ritual house Kunungweshi: men’s ritual room, base for ngorangorang comes out at the death of important men, is recognized as very ancient, “coming dancers from Wukari,” and among the Eloyi, Jukun, and Alago shares the same gown as well Kwondo: blacksmith Mbakuse: group of male elders as the word of praise “ashema” used to address Odadu. I got a sense that the Eloyi Ngorangorang: junior age-grade of young males, aged linked this masquerade and the protective earth shrines more closely to Jukun tradi- 6–30 or so, who carried iron bells with animal horns attached; also used synonymously for the sound tion, but did not do so for the carved wooden female figures associated with women’s produced by the bells; they danced or processed (and therefore the lineage’s) fertility. during funerals of elderly men, and at eyya ceremo- nies during February and March, the dry season Elders in several villages recounted to me very precisely the number of years each Oba: indigo named osu had headed their community and who had succeeded him, the total some- Oba: large pot drum with monitor lizard-skin membrane Odadu: masquerade associated with blacksmiths that times reaching between 100 and 200 years. They had a historic memory of moving appeared at dry-season funerals; wears the same not as single individuals but as groups of related families or an elder with his adher- gown as the Odadu masquerades of the Jukun and Alago ents, from the area further east, from the hills to lower land, some south across the Odagi: iron dance staff for older men’s aloda society Benue and then back north again, depending on external threats, population pressure, Ofwi: spider’s cocoon; covered hole in the end of a large seed pod used as Iyo’s voice disguise relations between families, potential farmland spotted by roving hunters, and later, Okeshi/meweshi: ritual object or shrine (eshi) colonial influence. One informant wrote that the initial migration southwest or west Ombula: flute Onya: horse was led by Onukpo, who established the first Eloyi settlement in the hills, Kana, where Opepe: woven tray for winnowing, also used in dance by women he found acceptable land. When his fourth son (of five) was made leader on Onukpo’s Orowo: ceremonies for the death of senior elderly men, death, the three older brothers moved out: Ezokpo about seven miles north to found held in the dry season Osu: chief or head of village Onda; Oguma about three miles south to establish Apawu; and Kama west to a spot Osu oseshi: religious leader responsible for compound roughly six miles south of present-day Nasarawa, to establish Ogofa “far off” on a or village shrines Owuru: cotton thread hill. The migrating Eloyi groups took refuge in these rocky hills to avoid the attacks Oya: zither of the nineteenth century Fulani jihads and the Hausa-Fulani slave-raiding horsemen Oyya: wood cap or crest headpiece Reku: smooth stone used for burnishing pot of Keffi and , moving when it was safer down into better agricultural land where Ubu: (“stomach”) widest part of a pot it was also easier to keep their horses (onya), or back into the protected sites as war- Ubu: a type of basket Udaba: entrance to compound ranted. These sites remained identifiable, either by shrines, remains of stone walls, Ukpukperishi: chameleon corrals, or defensive ditches (Figs. A–B). I was told that if a present-day village did not Ulanya: lowland place for keeping horses Ungberi: small pot drum with monitor lizard-skin have a defensive ditch, then it could not be more than 100 years old. membrane

48 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 Of encounters during their migration, informants mentioned meeting only Bassa in the area. The Eloyi became subjects of the Emir of Zaria () and had to pay him tribute, at first in the form of cowries, which can still be found decorating objects. When the Hausa Makama Dogo came south from Zaria, he asked for land from the Eloyi who lived in that area of Kama (also known as Ogapa) and in 1835 he founded the town of Nasarawa, which remained a tributary to Zaria until 1902. The area west of the town had formerly been populated by Bassa, also attacked by the Hausa. The Eloyi then had to pay their tribute to the Emir of Zaria through Makama Dogo and Eloyi men were recruited for his army. The Hausa emirates continued to make war in the area: Men and women were captured and sent north for enslavement in the Zaria emirate, so Eloyi communities fled back into their hill settlements. In the southern parts of the Eloyi area, Hausa attacks forced whole towns to migrate across the Benue River. Alhaji Idris recounted how Akum was founded by a woman, Enaku (ene-aku, “the one who brought them together”) around 1890, with a population of 20–25,000 and some 900 horses. As the largest town in the area

5 Akpula’s double-heddle loom. Onda.

6 Dye-pots of Onda.

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 49 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | and with a defensive ditch, it was a particular challenge to Hausa slavers and the Fulani jihad. After being besieged for three years, the people of Akum decided to cross the river and established a walled town, Akum Keteri (now in Agatu District). Altogether the con- flict in the area lasted over forty years, said Alhaji Idris, but finally the “Hausas” “won the war” in 1893. However, it was not clear whether they crossed the Benue, or whether the Fulani horsemen vanquished the communities on the north side; they certainly did not all convert to Islam. After the British colonial regime took formal control in 1900, the Eloyi were encouraged or forced to leave their hill sanctuaries and move to the lower land, where farming was better and the people more accessible to the administration. In the case of Kana, it was said that the move was at the behest of a certain Captain Moloney, who was later murdered by the Hausa chief Magajin Keffi. Temple (1919) gives a figure for the Eloyi population liv- ing mainly in the Nasarawa District of 9,500. During the 1960s and 1970s, the population numbered around 7,000, whereas in 2000 it was estimated by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (Lewis et al. 2015) to be 25,000, an increase reflected throughout the country.

(counterclockwise from top) 7 Chief’s brass staff (upi); H: 140 cm. Akum.

8 Dancer with iron bell (kogbo); eyya ceremony. Aseyi, Kana.

9 Aloda society dance staffs (odagi). Onda.

50 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 (clockwise from top left) 10 Osu of Udeni in metal hat (kokata), by local man Olebe.

11 Agobi Owelo playing wooden flute (ombula) by Regya of Kama c. 1959; L 30.5 cm.

12 Osayi of Agwargada, binding wet monitor lizard skin onto pot drum (oba). Onda.

Villages of the northern Eloyi Mbeki included Odu, Apawu, Agbada, Ego, Endo, Agyegu, Onda, and Kana (sometimes referred to as Eloyi and where the purest Eloyi was said to be spoken). All these villages were composed of a varying number of named sections, which could be mistaken for discrete inde- pendent villages. The villages of the southern Eloyi Mbambu included Akum, Akewa, Odeni (Udeni), Udeni Ruwa, Udeni Gida, Udegi Nkassa, Usha, Uvo, Ebe, Agbada, Usheni, and Yita. Loko on the Benue was not seen solely as an Eloyi town. It was known from which villages in the north the southern ones had come, though they changed their names as this was not merely a relocation to a fresh site. The people of Akum, for example, came originally from Kana, and then at the time of war migrated across the Benue to Anakpa,6 then to Akpanajja, then back to Akum after the Europeans arrived.

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 51 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | 13 Standing Okeshi by Abeze of Agwada; H: 86 cm. Note asymmetrical cheek marks.

14 Seated Okeshi by Abeze of Agwada; H: 94 cm. Note distinctive shape of stool.

Until the early 1970s, the Eloyi Mbeki had a reputation as the main creative source of ritual carvings and shrines. The Eloyi Mbambu would obtain, though not exclusively, their fertility figures, masks, and earth sculptures from artists farther north, often on commission. The youth of a community might hear of a carver of masks, or see a mask they wanted copied, or find a mask for sale in a market and purchase it for their masquer- ade performances “for play,” or for orowo rituals held after the death of a male elder. Several of the masks recorded were from other cultural groups: For example, one Igala mask, Adagba, was bought in about 1965 in the southern town of Akum (Alakyo), and an Igbo mask, Edakogba, was bought at the end of 1968 by the youths of Kama (a northern village) from a man who had found it in an abandoned house after the Biafran war, when many trail that reached the Benue River at Loko, continuing on to looted Igbo objects were being traded. Ashoma, Oturkpo, and beyond. The southern Eloyi seem to have Figures, on the other hand, were more likely to be acquired by become a more mixed society, where informants were less clear elders. In both cases, the cost would be shared by members of and more diffident about their past history. the society or lineage. Masks and occasionally figures could also be borrowed within and between (probably related) village sec- VILLAGE PRODUCTION tions. However, the source or maker of masks and figures was not The crafts practiced by Eloyi men and women gave villages always known, and there was no living artist whose reputation a certain self-sufficiency in domestic, agricultural, and ritual stood out or whose name was quoted to me on a frequent basis. goods: buildings, cotton cloth, basketry, farming tools, pots, The Eloyi Mbambu, with their own dialect, absorbed much shrines, musical instruments, and masquerade costumes. What more from other language groups around them and across the could not be produced locally would be purchased from Hausa river, sometimes through intermarriage with Agatu, Jukun, traders and markets in Nasarawa and the surrounding area. In and others, sometimes through historic wars and migrations addition to food crops—yams (at least thirty-six named variet- over the Benue and accretions of different peoples as the towns ies), guinea corn, millet, cassava, sweet potatoes, and vegetables grew. Mackay (1964) states they understood the Agatu dialect of for soup—cotton was also grown and processed by men, women, Northern Idoma through their contacts with markets across the and boys into thread and sometimes dyed with indigo. It was said river and Agatu speakers living amongst them. The ancient trade that in all villages each man knew how to weave, on a horizontal route for salt, slaves, and tin from the hills to the northeast (an double-heddle loom (Fig. 5), a narrow strip of local white-and- area now referred to as the Jos Plateau, where individual miners blue cotton thread, each pattern with its own name (Fig. C). still work to extract what they can) had passed through or near While I encountered only scattered older men actually weav- what had become Eloyi land. Once founded, however, Nasarawa ing on a regular basis, the posts for looms and preparing warp sidelined the northern Eloyi villages (e.g., Ita) on this caravan threads remained under the trees on the edge of compounds.

52 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 15 Kajingomwa by Ugo of Uvo (died before 1940); H: 71 cm.

16 Owma by Ebeze of Kana: mid 20th century face-marks (cf. Figure 2); H: 74 cm.

17 Edomo of Onda: face-marks similar to later, mid 20th century figures.

society staffs with bells (odagi) (Fig. 9) were all essential elements in funeral ceremonies for elderly men (orowo) and the ngoran- Eloyi people also wove mats, baskets, small storage boxes, and gorang dances of the youths (Fig. 8)—so named by Hausa, it was winnowing or drying trays also used in dance. Odu was partic- said, for the sound they produced (Leuzinger 1954). One man ularly famous for dry-season basket-making. They were dyers said he had been told that the Beriberi tied such ngorangorang (Fig. 6); potters; carvers of tools, ritual masks, and figures; sculp- bells round the necks of their horses when going into battle. tors in wet earth of house furniture, bas reliefs (Fig. D), ritual These instruments would be handed down from a father, when figures and shrines (Figs. 36, Z–ZZ); and smiths. he could no longer dance, to his son. Some significant brass cast pieces were owned by chiefs or In several villages I photographed composite metal headpieces elders: staffs (Figs. 7, E) similar to the Tiv staff in Berns, Fardon and hats made using a different technique—shaping, cutting, and and Kasfir (2011:189), pipes, and headpieces. However, these possibly hammering pieces of objects of cast brass or a similar were said to have been made by “forefathers,” or in a few cases alloy (Fig. 10). Some were said to have been made by one Hausa attributed to Egbira Kwoto (Fig. 26). There were no longer any smith in particular, Meloko of Loko (Fig. F). The style of hat, how- metal casters, only blacksmiths working iron. The only Eloyi per- ever, was attributed to earlier Eloyi artists. The same technique son mentioned by name was one Olebe of Udeni, who it was said (not forging, as with iron) was also used for similar headpieces could make brass things. Then based in Akum, he used to travel worn by the neighboring Gede masquerades, e.g., Chakotali. for his work, but was now over 60 and retired, and I did not meet Musical instruments—flutes (Figs. 11, G), rattles, drums (Fig. him. Iron bells (Fig. 8), dance staffs (Fig. 9), and other ceremo- G), and pot drums of two different sizes (Figs. 12, 33) were local nial pieces were acquired from itinerant Hausa blacksmiths if products. I also photographed an unusual zither-type reed there was no local smith, although I was told that “all” villages instrument (oya, Fig. H), similar to one on exhibition at the Jos had blacksmiths (Odu was said to have about eight). These Eloyi Museum in 2013, hanging together with other ritual parapher- smiths were described as traders; because the Eloyi area had no nalia associated with a funeral, surrounded by the staffs of aloda local source of iron, the smiths had to procure their material society members. Musical rhythms for masquerades were pro- from outside, either from south of the river or from Hausa mer- duced by pairs of wooden beaters stamped on the ground, played chants in Nasarawa. Apparently railway lines and petrol drums only at night and out of sight of women. provided useful sources of iron. Another informant said all metal Women potters practiced their craft throughout the Eloyi workers were itinerant and that the skill was passed down from area, although no longer in every village, all providing a range of father to son, though in some families the profession had been household pots for cooking, eating, washing, water-storage, and abandoned for farming. I came across two men who were resi- brewing. Oko (Fig. I), a prolific potter in Igo, built up her pots on dent smiths in the villages of Onda and Odu; the brother of one a base of the broken mouth of a water-pot into which she pressed was also a smith and both had learned the trade from their father. a foundation plate of worked clay. She then added rolls of clay to In the Agboshiya section of Odu the blacksmith was second to the sides, shaped against her left hand, squeezing the clay out as the head there, a weaver. Iron bells, single and double, and aloda she shuffled, bent over, around the water-pot mouth, which she

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 53 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | 18 Omoguru, carved before 1950; H: 28.5 cm. Ombi.

19 Meweshi, by Elo of Kana; H: 35.5 cm. Ubbe.

steadied with her feet. The layers were then lightly smoothed and charge of all ritual objects and replaced when he became “too any particles picked out, and as the pot became higher, smoothed old” or died. All such figures, each with its own particular name, more firmly using a piece of wet leather. Oko further smoothed were occasionally brought out during the dry season (“in the the pot walls with a seed-pod and thinned out the interior while seventh month,” it was said). No translation of these names was shaping the rim, which was smoothed still more and shaped with given, but they were linked to the figure’s ritual function. On an a wet rag or leather. With her right hand, she then rolled a rou- appropriate day determined through divination (epa, “looking lette of twisted plant fiber around the shoulder of the pot and into the future”), for which beer had been brewed, gifts were pre- bordered this design with a series of lines incised with a pointed sented to the carving. It was believed that the married women stick around the widest part of the body of the pot, followed by were sure to conceive that same night. a single band of zigzags, another series of lines, and more rou- I recorded in detail seven significant female figures that were letting. After turning the pot upside down, the base was scraped brought outside for me to photograph. Five of them were seated, smooth, particles that would interfere with firing were picked each with two babies (Figs. 2, 14). Two of these held a bowl on out, and the clay burnished with a stone. After allowing them to their head (Fig. 14). One was standing with a bowl on her head dry, Oko would fire her pots in the area outside the village on Igo and two children, and one stood with no children but was still market day. attributed with the same power as the others (Fig. 15). Three of these figures were by an Eloyi Mbeki artist who had died around CARVINGS AND THEIR CREATORS: FIGURES 1948, Abeze (Ebeze) of Agwada (Figs. 13–14). The face marks of Unlike most craftwork, the production of earth shrines and these figures, along with those on Owma7 (Fig. 16), should be wood figures were specialisms. In the outside world, Eloyi artist­ compared with those of Edomo, a married woman of Onda (Fig. carvers became famous (as “Afo”) for female “maternity” figures 17). Abeze was the only person of wider local significance to be (although not all were depicted holding children). These figures mentioned, a carver who was consistent in his style and repre- were usually kept in a ritual room within the compound of the sentations. Jolantha Tschudi (1970) photographed the standing head of shrines (osu oseshi) of the village section. This was not figure with a bowl but gave no provenance; it was, however, one a hereditary role; a man would be chosen by the elders to be in of Abeze’s three carvings I recorded. He also made two figures

54 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 20 Omuguru by Adanu of Ogofa, pre-1920; pos- sibly used as headpiece in the past; H: 67.5 cm.

21 Figure with three children from Onda, cata- logued in Jos Museum. Loaned to first Festival Mondial des Arts Negres, Dakar, 1966. Photo: Bernard Fagg Archive, c. 1952; courtesy of Angela Fagg Rackham

21b Detail of Figure 21.

22 Detail of figure with two children from Jos Museum collection, from Kana; H: 68.5 cm. (See Berns et al., 2011:31).

now in the Jos Museum. A carver still alive in 1969, Ogu of Udeni, whose main work was making ax and hoe handles, had been sent by his father to learn the skill from an older man whose work he copied, the only clear case of apprenticeship I encountered. However, he made only a single figure, as his father, who died the year the carving was made, warned him that if he made another he risked death. The production of significant carvings that became ritu- ally powerful did not appear to be a skill kept within families, handed down father to son, as the story above illustrates. Nor do they seem to have been made by men who had been formally apprenticed to a more experienced carver, as would be the case in other Nigerian cultures. Master carver Abeze of Agwada had five sons and did not teach his skill to any of them. Nor was the main intention of carving to earn an income; rather, carvings were made by men who for some reason became motivated and inspired by sculptures they had seen. Once they had produced an effective ritual object, they were commissioned on an individual basis to make others. Not all of those produced were well made or finely finished. from a Tiv man was regarded as being as effective a fertility carv- Some were smaller than the seated, well-sculpted figures men- ing as the female ones (Fig. N). The rougher figures encountered tioned above, and not all were carved with babies, although they in communities throughout the Eloyi area were considered by the were portrayed as possibly pregnant and still attributed with few people I consulted to be generally inferior to those by artists power over fertility. Examples (Figs. 18–19, J–M) were called who by then were deceased. The one I commissioned was also variously Omoguru or Moguru (in the villages of Ombi, Ushini, insignificant. There was no reference, however, to any specific Ogofa and Ondawayo), Meweshi or Okeshi (in Ubbe and Kana), detail thought to be associated with a particular Eloyi “style.” The and Anyakeri (in Odu) (a name similar to Onyakeri, the name emphasis was on efficacy (for health, wellbeing, and in particular of the maternity figure in Figs. 1–2). A Tiv male figure acquired women’s fertility), and no single carver could claim exclusivity

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 55 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | 23 Jos Museum opening exhibition 1952. Bushcow mask with hunter and birds; wooden “cap” headpiece (oyya); maternity figure Ogbaye, possibly from Onda; female figure with no chil- dren from Afawo (Apawu?); maternity figure with three children from Onda (see Figure 21). Photo: Bernard Fagg Archive; courtesy of Angela Fagg Rackham.

24 Oko of Onda, scarification acquired as an adult: chameleon (ukpukperishi) and crocodile (iku) (drawn by Hausa practitioner).

for his skill. On the other hand, although rough and damaged, for two similar figures in the Horniman Museum, London (cata- the marked chins of Figures 18 and 19 would suggest they were of logue numbers 31.41, and 31.42). They were collected in the early the older style (early twentieth century or before). Along with the twentieth century but possibly carved in the late nineteenth, pre-1920 figure, Omuguru (Fig. 20), these carvings do not dis- and each bears slightly different face marks down the cheeks. play the finesse exhibited in the work of the unnamed creator of Horniman 31.42, unusually carrying three children but in a Onyakeri (Figs. 1–2), which itself probably dates from the turn of very different arrangement from Figure 21, has been featured in the twentieth century, but they do depict contemporary people’s many books on African art. All three were carved with neck or body scarification. The survival of these particular carvings was arm rings, which do not appear on others recorded in the field. arbitrary: In different village communities, there were accounts Leuzinger (1972) shows Horniman 31.41 and labels it Afo-Jukun of fires (some accidental, some deliberate and vindictive) or of but, like Onyakeri (Figs. 1–2) and the less distinguished rough fig- white ants destroying many carvings, shrines, and ritual items ure Meweshi from Ubbe (Fig. 19), its chin is marked. This detail over the years, creating a considerable gap in the artistic record of scarification does not appear in later figures that I observed, over both time and geographical area. nor on any person I encountered. So even the smaller, roughly In comparison with the smaller carvings, five Afo female fig- rendered figures I recorded in the field displayed face-marks ures (not all with children) of greater significance were cataloged that could suggest the era in which they were made (Figs. 18–19). at the Jos Museum in 1951. A comment on one, a seated figure Onyakeri and the Horniman Museum figures differ as well from with a child on her back but no suckling baby in her lap, was later figures. Although also having body decoration consisting of published with photographs by Bernard Fagg (1948). Another comparatively large figure, carved around 1920 and acquired by the museum in 1945, holds a baby on her knee, while long-legged older twins stand behind her (Figs. 21, NN) It was first exhibited in the 1952 opening of Jos Museum (Fig. 23) (Fagg 1952). In 1966 this figure was sent to Dakar for the first Festival Mondial des Arts Negres, as was a figure from the Horniman Museum. A third seated maternity figure from this group of five, similar in style to those I photographed in the field, was exhibited in the Kaduna Museum in 2013 (Fig. 22). This range of figures, although reflect- ing the style of the day where superficial face- and body-marks were concerned, would suggest that they were very individual creations within a tradition that gave scope to variations of detail. Eloyi society, after all, had no “court” patronage demanding strict adherence to precise form. Onyakeri, the one maternity figure of an older style I recorded (Figs. 1–2), is no longer in that village but in a private collection in the US. It was displayed in the Lagos Museum exhibition for Independence in 19608 and is mentioned in the catalogue entry

56 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 incised geometric shapes, some of the mid-twentieth century fig- ures have additional designs on the throat or rib areas featuring crocodiles, lizards, or chameleons. Note the actual scarification on the back of an adult woman, Oko of Onda (Fig. 24). The later form of facial scarification across the cheek (as opposed to down the cheek from temple to mouth), described in Temple (1919) as mentioned above, was correspondingly seen in later carved figures: sometimes only one cheek was marked (Figs. 13, 22). The seated figure with three children features a form of both (Fig. NN). Further changes can be seen in figures that over- lap in time as Eloyi people adopted other designs. The apparent standard for Eloyi people in the 1960s was three radiating lines drawn from both corners of the mouth, variously elaborated according to practitioner. This was echoed in the fertility figures carved mid-century, some of which also had a residual abbrevi- ated temple mark (see Fagg 1948) (Figs. 16, 22). The Horniman figures were earlier attributed to a Yoruba source (Sadler 1953; Underwood 1947), and it is not possible to confirm absolutely an “Afo” provenance, but the older one I recorded in situ does provide a more definite link and was used by art historians last century to argue their Afo origin. However,

(clockwise from top left) 25 Wooden head-piece (oyya), depicting two girls and two frogs; by Ekute of Agwada about 1949.

26 Cast metal alloy head-piece (kwotyo), attributed to Egbira Kwoto; H 21 cm.

27 Abagayidu, helmet mask, by Ogaku of Onda; H: 38 cm. Ita.

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 57 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | 28 Ududuruku, helmet mask by Ewulo Osewa of New Kana; L 156 cm.

29 Ududuruku, helmet mask by Akaji Wona of Agwada; L approx. 122 cm.

I would suggest that one other unique detail that links all Eloyi maternity figures, including the nineteenth century ones, is the shape of the stools on which they sit: a diamond or lozenge shape of varying proportions and height linking seat and base. This feature, however, is also seen in two Idoma Anjenu water spirit figures, one from the Pitt Rivers Museum (Berns, Fardon, and Kasfir 2011:40) and one from the W.B. Fagg collection (Willett (1971:210).

HEADPIECES AND MASKS More common pieces attributed to the Afo in museums9 and private collections outside Nigeria are “cap” or “crest” head- pieces (oyya), usually carved from single pieces of wood. These are worn by the masquerade Ekpejimbareko or Ekpejimbakanga. I photographed several throughout the Eloyi area: One particu- larly good example is shown in Figure 25, made, I was told, along with a second by Ekute of Agwada in about 1949. It was said that Ekute brought them to a village in the Eloyi Mbambu area. His name was not given to me elsewhere as a known carver, and it is possible, given their high quality and origin in Agwada, that they may have instead been made by master carver Abeze. The pre-1920 maternity figure Omuguru by Adanu of Ogofa (Fig. 20) had holes pierced in the base, which might indicate that this also could have been used, unusually, as a headpiece for a masquerade. One cast metal headpiece, termed kotyo or kwotyo rather than oyya, photographed in a southern town was attributed to Egbira Kwoto, beyond the Eloyi area, and predated the then osu’s father (Fig. 26). Two others of similar age are now in the Jos Museum, one of which was exhibited for the opening of the museum in 1952. It was believed to have been made by Agbebu when the village was “up in the hills.” That his name was remembered as an artist who made one of these treasured old pieces was an exception. inexperience of their creators (compare the masks in Picton 1991). The Eloyi were never recognized or renowned outside the What were ornate were Ududuruku bushcow masks—long- country for their face- or helmet-masks (Fig. 27), and it is diffi- snouted helmet masks, often with two pairs of horns somewhat cult to define a distinctive artistic tradition of masks (except for counterbalancing the structure, on top of which were several Ududuruku). In the 1960s and 1970s they were still carving and humans, birds, cocks, and other small figures, some dressed, acquiring masks to be used by the younger age-grades. These some painted in bright colors, attached on metal spikes (Figs. were not finely decorated or ornate, but solid, with some perhaps 28–29). Long helmet masks representing the bushcow, a dan- showing influence from south of the Benue or just revealing the gerous animal, appear in several other Nigerian cultures, but

58 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 the Eloyi form I would suggest is distinct. Most of their creators had already died, but one was named as Akaji Wona of Agwada, who had also made a female figure, Okeshi, of which only the head remained. In Apawu I acquired for the Jos Museum one Ududuruku by Obende and salvaged figures from another such mask. A bushcow mask collected earlier was exhibited at the opening of the Jos Museum in 1952 (see Bernard Fagg’s photo- graph, Figure 23, where a rear view of the mask is visible). The most popular wood used for making masks and other carvings is termed nyumbulo (Eloyi Mbeki), umbombulo (Eloyi Mbambu), and wawan mata (Hausa); it is light but does not split when worked. Onzo (Fig. 4), the helmet mask photographed in Akpaku village, was an exception, being made of urisu wood (Hausa, dunya or dinya). Some masks were sparsely decorated with red abrus seeds, but often these had fallen off. A few masks were painted with white, black, or red commercial paint (Fig. O); the face of one, Ejegenyi, was painted silver with red-tipped stunted horns (Fig. P). I did not ascertain from any of the living carvers the source of the raw material used for any of the contem- porary objects photographed. It was likely that suitable trees were

(counter-clockwise from top left) 30 Kombushe: woman’s hairstyle by Agi Ogelebe; kungbekporo masquerade associated with black- smiths (kwondo). Ondawayo.

31 Adawaji, masquerade of social control, with odula, ritual objects including iron bells. Onda.

32 “Zoko” mask worn by Egyegenyi, made by Adakili c.1960. Udeni.

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 59 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | 33 Odadu figures (associated with blacksmiths) bow to pot drum in orowo ceremony for Ajigo’s death. Ogapa, Onda.

34 Ekpo wearing black cloth (okpayi ugi). Aseyi, Kana.

cut down in the surrounding bush as needed, whenever the carver was commissioned to make an individual mask by young men who had seen their creations elsewhere. This work would be fitted around the seasonal farming tasks. One carver remarked that after creating a figure, he would sacrifice a hen to a particular shrine (eshi), otherwise he would not sleep well but dream of trees.

MASQUERADES The following accounts do not represent an exhaustive picture of Eloyi masks and masquerade spirit characters. Masquerades were performed by men with their bodies disguised partially or completely under specially made netted or woven costumes, fiber skirts, drapes, gowns, or ordinary cloth pieces, with or without face masks, helmet masks, or headpieces, some with their feet and hands showing, and in some cases carrying ceremonial par- aphernalia or sticks for beating people. Some were silent, others (e.g., Iyo) spoke using voice disguises, and they were accompa- nied by attendants and interpreters. All either processed, danced, or sped around a village section; certain characters also rushed aggressively through the surrounding countryside, alone or in groups (Fig. X). They came out mainly during the dry season when there were no farming activities, representing local spir- its associated with the village, for the new year, or to celebrate the deaths of important male elders that had occurred during the preceding year, or occasionally a few years previously. Masks and masquerades were often described by people as being “for play” or “pleasure” (owa), implying that they did not have a seri- ous function, although this could be interpreted as meaning that orowo ceremonies were celebrations, enjoyed by all, for the long lives of old senior men who had achieved the status of elders. Masquerades also came out for the annual renewal of protective shrines (Igya in a netted costume served out ritual food at the renewal of the smallpox shrine, kokpa), and for children’s naming disguises covered a man from their own or a neighboring com- ceremonies. The masquerades that danced, some with leg rattles munity and to be fearful of any masquerade’s actions. Women, (Fig. Q), were accompanied by some form of music and rhythms along with children, were also the main butt of punishment by played on drums, pot drums (singly or one small, one large) (Fig. disciplinary figures, but some ceremonies depended very much 33), flutes, rattles, and song. on the participation and encouragement of mature women, who Women were supposed to be ignorant of the fact that the often waved a flat winnowing tray towards the masked dancer.

60 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 35 Iyo masquerade with “interpreters” at cere- mony for death of elder. Onda.

Women were essential in brewing the requisite large pots of figure, wearing a headpiece of kite and vulture feathers mounted beer that accompanied any funeral. Following the appearance of on a calabash base and carrying ritual objects and bells (Fig. 31). the masquerade Owuna at the renewal ceremony (ogboyya) of A masquerade that did have a face mask on top of a netted cos- kuturu—a protective community shrine (eshi) in Ogapa agirika, tume, with fabric covers to enhance the disguise, was Egyegenyi Onda—a line of kneeling women and girls faced an opposing or Ejigenyi (Fig. 32). This mask, also known as “Zoko,” was made crowd of men and kneeling boys. Accompanied by drums, the around 1960 of nyumbulo wood by Adakili of Akum, who was two groups exchanged good-humored but noisy abuse while still alive in 1969. A kind of joker (although he carried a sword beating the dusty ground with bunches of enna leaves.10 Some with which he threatened the onlookers), Egyegenyi wiped his of the women and girls also held symbolic floor-beaters given nose frequently and threw imaginary snot at the crowd. He to them by older men, which were afterwards thrown into a danced after Igedegbe, the stilt dancer belonging to the ebunga pile along with the leaves, and a dance staff (odagi) stuck in the society (Fig. U). middle. The leaves would be burned later that night, to create a A very different type of masquerade, known as a masquerade smoke that protected all who “took” it from having bad dreams; of blacksmiths, incorporated much more speed of movement. otherwise it would bring sickness and possibly death. Odadu figures, mentioned before by Alhaji Idris when talking Men netted masquerade costumes (Fig. R), for example, those of about Eloyi links with the Jukun, were recognized as part of Jukun Owuna,11 which covered the head but were worn without separate and Alago culture as well and said to have been acquired when masks (Figs. Q, S). Belonging to the ase society (Eloyi Mbambu; “in Bornu,” thus “very old.” They spoke with voice disguises made ashe in Eloyi Mbeki), they come out and dance at orowo cer- of bone, were heightened with sticks held up within the costume emonies for the death of an important elder. Figure 30 shows a by the performer, and wore locally dyed (but not locally woven) masquerade associated with blacksmiths (kwondo), with a wom- bluish or blue-and-white cloth, tied at the top with locally woven an’s hairstyle (kombushe), made by Agi Ogelebe. Miniature netted strips of white cotton cloth (Figs. 33, V), similar to the Alago Iwagu and stuffed costumes dressed as Owuna (Fig. T) were created as masquerade and Ashama masquerade of the Abakwariga (Berns, ritual objects and placed in the entrance to a chief’s compound to Fardon, and Kasfir 2011:107). Several Odadu came out at orowo ensure the wellbeing of the household. dry season ceremonies following the death of an important man: While some masquerades were benign, Adawaji (also known They danced energetically and processed through the village, vis- as Owuna Awande) was a disciplinarian and would beat any ited the compound of the dead man, and then returned to bow wrongdoers, particularly aberrant wives; he also administered a their “heads” onto the pot drum (oba). They were dominant over poison ordeal (from sasswood) until it was outlawed by the colo- other masquerades, Iyo (apparently only about 100 years old, I was nial administration. Running alone, Adawaji was a frightening told) and Agelebe, which would disappear when Odadu came out.

VOL. 51, NO. 1 SPRING 2018 african arts 61 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 | 36 Protective figure or shrine (obaga or kuturu, The association with blacksmiths was not made clear, except that lion) in Ede’s compound entrance. Udeni. Odadu was in “their care.” Blacksmiths were seen as a “source of life,” as they made the hoes on which farmers depended. Ekpo was a similar slender masquerade, but with very different ritual behavior, common to northern Eloyi villages. Ekpo’s dark blue or black cloth with white feathers was tied at the top by a long, thin ribbon of locally woven white cotton (Fig. 34), similar to Odadu. After harvest in February or March (on market day in the case of Kana), several Ekpo ancestor spirits would appear from their ritual house on the hill behind the village, called down by the oboshi (Fig. W). They were part of the new year eyya ritual, which also involved the youth of the village of the ngorangorang age-grade led by their obeze (senior to oboshi). Each young male The other significant masquerade was Iyo, the generic term carried a large iron bell with a pair of animal horns attached. for a large, bulky woven costume of raffia or bamboo leaves in These were horns of the bushcow for bigger youths or of an ante- bands of color (often green, maroon, and neutral). It covered the lope for the smaller boys, who could be as young as six. Their actor from head to toe, cloaked in a red fabric and topped with base was the ritual building (kunungweshe) within a ritual area a red cap bound on by a strip of local white cotton (Fig. 35). In on the edge of the village section. Obeze was the link between the each location the masquerade was known by a different name: dark and threatening Ekpo masquerades, who raced around the Ukpakpaku in Akum (an Eloyi Mbambu area to the south), village sections and into the bush (Fig. X) beating anyone in their where it was the most important ritual figure; Omeku in Iyenu; path, and the ngorangorang group of dancers whom he led. His Owoku in Agwargada agirika, Onda (Eloyi Mbeki); Ideshigo in aim was to capture one of Ekpo’s gowns and to bring it back to Igo; and Edokudu in Udeni. Udegi Nkassa and Agam both had the village section (Fig. Y), but in attempting this he risked being female Iyo, Edomo, and Ogbayi, the latter having the power to severely beaten by Ekpo. If an obeze returned successful, he was interrupt quarrels and stop the parties arguing. (Both costumes, praised enthusiastically by all men and women around. If a vil- however, were worn by men.) Like at least three other masquer- lage had no Ekpo, there would be no beating, but ngorangorang ades, but using a different device, Iyo spoke using a voice disguise members would still dance, supported by women and girls who made from a large seed-pod from the umburukpa tree with holes would otherwise hide from attack. at either end, one covered over with a spider’s cocoon. The figures

62 african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00391 by guest on 24 September 2021 were accompanied and guided by “interpreters” carrying ritual of such heavy and usually friable objects, so they do not appear in paraphernalia, who repeated intelligibly the messages emanating foreign museum collections. It would have been possible to com- from the ponderous masquerade; it did not pursue people. mission a couple of individuals each to create an earth figure on site at the Jos Museum and to interview them during their work RITUAL EARTH FIGURES about the spiritual world and how the powers of shrines to protect Like carvers, builders of earth shrines could also gain a reputa- were acquired or imbued, and how they themselves were “quali- tion and were engaged when the head of a compound felt the need fied” to build them, but unfortunately I did not. for a protective presence to ensure the wellbeing of his extended For a very long time, Eloyi elders were widely reputed to exert family. A shrine (eshi) would be given an annual renewal ceremony influence and power over local spirits in the world around them. at which a hen or goat was sacrificed and dancers might come out. Even with the increasing Islamization of the Eloyi people up to In Kana the masquerade associated with the onzo shrine was no the present, it was said that behind the scenes the rituals and longer brought out because the mask had been sold and had not shrines were still maintained and respected. yet been replaced. The eshi itself might be created in earth in the It is hoped that this account will add to the knowledge, and symbolic shape of an animal, but incorporating parts not associ- enable further analysis, of the art and institutions of the people of ated with the live animal, for example, the horns of an antelope the Benue River Valley. These were publicized by a major exhibi- on the body of a “lion” or “dog” (Figs. 36, Z). It might also be dec- tion mounted at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, which later toured orated with cloth, feathers, cowries, and paint and would have its to Washington DC, Stanford, and finally the Museé Quai Branly, own name, e.g., Adawaji (with vulture and other feathers like the Paris, as well as by its accompanying publication, Central Nigeria masquerade), Agalabe, or Iyo. Ita village had an earthen female Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley (Berns, Fardon, and figure, Moguru-agelebe (Fig. ZZ). There has been no analysis of Kasfir 2011). In their key position in the very center of Nigeria, the this Eloyi ritual form as a cultural feature, or any study of the spe- Eloyi people deserve wider appreciation, more rounded under- cialist sculptors of earthen composite figures and shrines, probably standing, and a reputation greater than that created by just a few because of the difficulties or impossibility of collecting and moving rare and remarkable female figures and headpieces.

Notes 5 The Eloyi were known as Epe to both Jukun and ______. 1972. The Art of Black Africa. p. 16 (N.12). Agatu. London: Studio Vista. All photos by Anna Craven were taken between April 6 According to another informant, the people of 1969 and February 1970. Mackay, Hugh D. 1964. “A Word-list of Eloyi.” Journal Akum came from Ita and first migrated across the river In retrospect, and regrettably far too late, for their of West African Languages 1 (1):5–12. to Akum Keteri in Agatu district. help and support I wish to thank all the Eloyi people 7 Owma may also have been by Abeze, but my Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig who provided me with essential information about their informant suggested that the carver had come from a (eds.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 18th history and culture, in particular the late ninth Emir of different village. ed. Dallas, TX: SIL International. http://www.ethno- Nasarawa, Alhaji Jibrin Mairiga Idris, the late Osu of 8 A.F. Rackham, personal communication, Sep- logue.com/language/afo. Onda and his councillors, and my various advisers and tember 2010. interpreters, most importantly the late Audu Osu Onda. Phillips, T. (ed.). 1995. Africa: the Art of a Continent. 9 For example, the Smithsonian Institution, British I also wish to acknowledge the late Professor Ekpo Eyo, Munich: Prestel. Museum, and Quai Branly, Paris. then Director of the Nigerian Federal Department of 10 Locust bean tree, Parkia Filicoidea; in Hausa Picton, John. 1991. “On Artefact and Identity at the Antiquities, for the opportunity he gave me to work for dorowa. Niger-Benue Confluence.” African Arts 24 (3):34–49. and with Nigerian colleagues to help record the incredi- 11 Also called Obere or Odagyo. bly vibrant variety of cultures in the north of the country. Sadler, M.E. 1935. Arts of West Africa. London: Oxford In addition, my thanks go to the person to whom I was University Press. References cited initially immediately responsible, Senior Ethnographer Temple, Olive. 1919. Notes on the Tribes, Provinces, and Acting Deputy Director of Antiquities, and now Berns, M.C., R. Fardon, and S.L. Kasfir (eds.). 2011. Emirates and States of the Northern Provinces of Nige- Emeritus Professor of African Art, John Picton. My pho- Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River ria, ed. C.L. Temple. Cape Town: Argus Printing and tographs are reproduced here courtesy of the Nigerian Valley. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Publishing. Commission of Museums and Monuments. 1 I use the term “Eloyi” rather than “Afo” as a Fagg, Bernard. 1948. “A Fertility Figure of Unrecorded Tschudi, Jolantha. 1970. “The Social Life of the Afo, matter of respect to the culture, which was subjected to Style from Northern Nigeria.” MAN 48 (Novem- Hill Country of Nasarawa, Nigeria.” African Notes 6 absorption into the dominant Hausa states. ber):125 and Plate K. (1):87–99. 2 Lafia, on the other hand, was never mentioned Fagg, Bernard. 1952. “Nigeria’s New Museum: Interest Trowell, M., and H. Nevermann. 1968. African and as a town in closer proximity to the Eloyi area where Shown by Varied Visitors.” The Times British Colonies Oceanic Art. New York: Abrams. Beriberi traders established themselves as a significant Review, 20. community, unlikely to be associated with a split. Underwood, Leon. 1947. Figures in Wood of West 3 Alhaji Jibrin Mairiga Idris, ninth Emir of Nasar- Leuzinger, Elsy. 1954. Afo, Glockentanz zur Beschworung Africa. London: Tiranti. awa, personal communication, May 11, 1969. der heiligen Buschkuh [Film]. Gottingen: IWF Institut Wissen und Medien. www.filmarchives-online.eu. Willett, Frank. 1971. African Art. London: Thames and 4 The Jukun were known as Akpa to the Eloyi. Hudson.

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