In the Spirit and in the Flesh Women, Masquerades, and the Cross River

Amanda B. Carlson all photos by the author except where otherwise noted

he Cross River, which begins in the Cameroon the case of ritual nudity. Act 2: Caribbean follows the flow of the mountains and rolls west and then south toward transatlantic slave trade to Cuba, where the Abakuá (the Cuban the Nigerian coast, has provided a fertile cli- equivalent of the Leopard Society) reformulates Cross River tra- mate for ritual systems and masquerades that ditions with new gendered meanings within a confraternity of has been amplified in part due to centuries of hypermasculinity and where there is no longer a dual-gendered intense trade in agricultural products, foreign ritual system. Because women in Cuba are noticeably absent from goods, and humans (Fig. 1). Prior to road travel, the Cross River Abakuá ritual, which involves inscription of the silenced female actedT like an umbilical cord connecting hinterland to coastline. body, it was left to noninitiates such as the female printmaker Trade along the river sparked a chain reaction that allowed art Belkis Ayón (1967–1999) to respond to Abakuá through her own forms to leap across ethnic, national, and international boundar- ritual act of reinscribing. Act 3: The Return Ticket considers how ies, feeding ritual associations that defy geographic and ethnic di- the diaspora returns to Africa with the importation of Trinidadian visions. While the male ritual association Ékpè/Mgbè (the Leopard Carnival. In Calabar Carnival, “the biggest street party in Africa,” Society) is the best-known example of this, there is a vast nexus of female performers display elaborate costumes and skin within an performance traditions in which masquerades—including those expanded landscape of pageantry and masquerade. So, from Cross by women—are abundant. In this article, I will consider patterns River to the Caribbean and back again, I will trace rituals that of concealing and revealing the female body in masquerades, rit- invoke flesh and spirit and rely upon either revealing or conceal- uals, and spectacles of pageantry. Through a variety of seemingly ing the female body. different case studies from Cross River and its diaspora, told in In this article, “in the flesh” refers to the physical and symbolic three acts, I will analyze how the gendered body is inscribed with use of the female body/skin within performance traditions that meaning in ritual systems where knowledge and secrecy are highly allow individuals to engage “in the spirit,” or to access resources in valued and authority can be either asserted or transgressed. the less-visible world. In addition to exploring how flesh and spirit Act I: Africa is based upon original research on women’s mas- are significant in “traditional” ritual practice, I also consider the querades that completely conceal the female body, performed layered meanings of flesh and spirit associated with church doc- by the Bakor-Ejagham and their neighbors in the middle Cross trines related to human attempts to achieve divine redemption or River region. I explain these masquerades in light of a spectrum the joining of spirit and flesh in the process of becoming trans- of women’s performance traditions, possibly understood as mas- formed and born again (within increasingly popular charismatic querade, that reveal the female dancer’s identity, or much more in church movements). In light of the many meanings associated with flesh and spirit, I consider how women and masks are used to Amanda B. Carlson is Associate Professor of Art History in the navigate and shape complex systems of power through ritual acts Hartford Art School at University of Hartford. She works in the Cross and bodily knowledge within local and global frameworks. River region and writes about nsibidi, stone monoliths, funerary mon- uments, Calabar Carnival, and contemporary art. Her book chapter ACT I: AFRICA “Conversation and Illustration with Victor Ekpuk: Guided by Nsibidi” recently appeared in Victor Ekpuk: Connecting Lines Across Space The gendered body, whether it is concealed within a masquerade and Time (2018). She also coedited Africa in Florida: Five Hundred costume or adorned and displayed, is an important component of Years of African Presence in the Sunshine State (University Press of Cross River art and ritual. Moreover, there are many instance in Florida, 2014). [email protected] the Cross River region whereby signs (writing) are drawn upon

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521.indb 46 11/20/2018 12:12:42 PM psychologically transformed into young women (prepared for mar- riage) and they dance (Fig. 2). Similarly, postmenopausal women paint over incised lines on the “body” of the Bakor stone monoliths (circa seventeenth century or earlier) before the stones are ritu- ally fed with pounded yam and palm oil at the New Yam Festival (Fig. 3). The act of reinscribing the stone’s surface, like painting the body, is part of a ritual that enables the community to connect with ancestors. Elaborate coiffures and designs also appear upon the faces of skin-covered masks. Considering that skulls, a body part collected long ago by warrior societies, were a likely inspiration for these carved wooden masks covered in animal skin, the body is clearly entwined in many layers of meaning in Cross River art. The relationship between women and masking was the topic of a 1998 special issue of African Arts (edited by Sidney Kasfir and Pamela Franco) that presented a wide-ranging set of arti- cles based in Africa and the diaspora, including an article about Ejagham women’s masquerades that is relevant to my discussion. That issue of African Arts was shaped by several questions: What constitutes a masquerade? How are men’s and women’s masquer- ades different? And what does it mean to conceal or reveal one’s identity within a masquerade? Those essays demonstrated how shifting our focus away from men’s masquerades allows us to ask different types of questions. In that same volume, Pamela Franco (1998) presents a fascinating discussion about the history of female dress in Caribbean Carnival, which inspired me to think about the female body (dressed and undressed) in the Cross River region of Nigeria. While the study of African masquerades has been signifi- cantly shaped by research on male masquerade traditions that in- volve the full concealment of the performer’s identity, coupled with an implied transformation of identity, my analysis is based upon the premise that the concept of masquerade should not be nar- rowly defined and that research on women’s traditions is essential 1 the body —more often than not the female body—or a represen- for a comprehensive understanding of performance in the Cross tation of the body. For example, older women decorate the bodies River region and beyond. of young moninkim—girls who have undergone ritual seclusion In the middle Cross River region, women perform masquerades and circumcision. With beautifully designed skin and elaborate in full-body costumes in addition to other types of masquerades coiffures, they emerge from the “fattening house” physically and with “open face,” states of complete undress, and/or the “full reveal”

1 Today most people utilize road transporta- tion, but fishing and travel by boat are still part of life along the Cross River. Art, ideas, and people have moved up and down this river for centuries. The Afi River, as seen here, extends northward from the Cross River, where it curves toward Cameroon. This area is referred to by scholars as “the middle Cross River region.” Bakor village of Ogomogom, Ikom LGA, Cross River State, 1997.

2a–b As part of a coming-of-age ceremony, moninkim emerge from ritual seclusion with designs painted on their faces. On the left, Victoria Nfam wears her moninkim attire on a market day in the village of Njemetop (Bakor, Nselle clan), 1997. On the right, a moninkim from Ogomogom village (Bakor, Nnam clan) dances for the commu- nity. Unlike moninkim of the past who wore elaborate coiffures, monimkim in recent times are often on break from school where hair must be cropped short.

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521.indb 47 11/20/2018 12:12:45 PM of genitalia. The decision to conceal or reveal the body while danc- of masquerade is brought into being through many acts of naming. ing involves more than a decision about what to wear or not wear. A Nigerian (male) scholar, whose friendship and humor I always Rather, these ritual strategies are part of a broader culture of bodily appreciate, likes to joke around about my research on women’s knowledge in which women are active participants in controlling masquerades as “that woman thing,” insinuating that it exists in the the meaning of the female body. margins. Unsurprisingly, women’s performances are often part of Images of women dancing with pots, metal trunks, feathered a broader gender discourse in academia and beyond. This article is plumes, sculptures, and masks upon their heads throughout the part of an effort to shift that discourse and to write women’s bodies Cross River region are plentiful, but these women’s performances away from the margins. are seldom recognized as “masquerades.” A 1957 Nigeria Magazine Among the Bakor,2 who live between Ikom and Ogoja along article, “Efik Dances,” notes the popularity of women’s dances in the Aya River,3 which connects to the Cross River to the south, Calabar. An elaborate photospread of traditional dances at the women perform Agot masquerades with their bodies completely dawn of independence reflects a popular trope that associates concealed under long, billowing cloth gowns and carved wooden traditional female dances with the nation, which continues into headdresses (Figs. 5–6). These dance groups provide women the present. In one image, a Qua-Ejagham women, whose face with a form of entertainment, camaraderie, and opportunities for is revealed, carries a wooden sculpted headdress that is called a public ritual expression. They are not devoid of spiritual power “dance aid of unknown purpose” (Fig. 4). The article stops short of and should not be written off as “mere” entertainment. Agot mas- calling it a masquerade. querades perform at funerals, New Yam festivals, and other cel- ebrations. Membership may be linked to an age-grade or it may In dances like the Abang, the leading dancer carries a framework on be open to anyone who is deemed socially respectable. In some her head. From this hang several silk scarves and headkerchiefs. In villages you can become a member if your mother was a member; it are planted carved objects and religious or cult symbols. This gives otherwise, you pay an initiation fee. The masquerade includes a her the appearance of a masquerade (“Efik Dances” 1957: 163–64). female character and a male character, both performed by women.4 Carved wooden headdresses, or cap masks, are strapped to the top What differentiates a masquerade from other types of perfor- of the performers’ heads (Fig. 7) with ties that attach to the body. mance depends upon not only the time and place, but more im- The cloth costume covers the face and body with only the women’s portantly on who is making the designation and why. The concept hands and feet showing.

3a–b Women painting a Bakor stone monolith (left) in preparation for the New Yam Festival in the village of Emangebe (Nnam clan, Ikom LGA). Children stand around a painted monolith (right). They are part of the procession bringing yam to “feed” the monoliths and to honor the ancestors during the festival, which occurs in Alok on September 15th every year when families begin to consume the newest crop of yams. Photos: Left: A. Carlson 1994; Right, Ivor Miller 2014

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521.indb 48 11/20/2018 12:12:46 PM 4 Aban women’s masquerade, Calabar. The daughter of the traditional ruler (ntoe) of the Qua-Ejagham performs with a carved headdress in the shape of a pot. Similar to the Ekpa masquer- ades of the Etung-Ejagaham to the north, the female performer balances the headdress with scarves that she holds on to. Photo: “Efik Dances” (1957: 157).

In the Agot performances, attendants carry a metal trunk with agricultural practices is reflected in the names of Agot masquer- the name of the group painted on it, and one masquerader (the ades. Agriculture in this area has a very clear division of labor female character) carries an imported white baby doll (see Fig. 6).5 based upon gender, and Agot masquerades reflect a concern The doll is a unique element because you would never see such over women’s crops. Akpu, which means “fermented cassava,” is a thing in a men’s masquerade, where the dancer might carry a a dance group that celebrates the introduction of cassava, which skull, a machete, or ritual insignia of some sort. In other contexts, revolutionized women’s ability to feed their families. Members women tend to dance with fans and mirrors. The doll may have of the dance association begin with a demonstration that reen- been incorporated early on as a novel element signifying the spe- acts women toiling in the fields, discovering a cassava root, and cialness of this being a woman’s dance. However, there is reason bringing the food product back to the village, which results in the to believe that this element comes from the association between prosperity of the community. Then, the masquerades enter as if to women’s masquerades and Mami Wata, the female water spirit celebrate women’s contributions to the whole of society. who appears throughout Africa and the diaspora (Drewal 2008), In Ebanimbim,7 where there are two Agot groups, the junior but who takes on aspects of preexisting local women’s cults. group is called Ntekonokpo (“big red pepper”), which reflects The Agot group in the village of Alok6 incorporates symbols a crop that was important at the time of this group’s formation. often associated with Mami Wata. They call their group Ano, Pepper is traditionally considered a woman’s crop, but in the 1990s, which means “beauty,” and the attendant to the masquerades car- when the price of pepper skyrocketed, it was transformed into a ries a basket of imported, commercial items that are often associ- men’s crop, which caused a lot of controversy. While women may ated with Mami Wata—powder, a mirror, medicated soap, bleach- not have been able to maintain control of this crop, they had a ing cream, toothbrush and toothpaste, lipstick, and eyeliner. Mami ritual voice to protest the infringement upon established standards Wata even appears on an Agot mask as a beautiful woman with a of gendered realms. fish tail. However, Ute Röschenthaler found that Ejagham women Agot masquerades sometimes include songs that critique in Nigeria and Cameroon who use sculptures and masks with the male behavior. In the verse below8 a chorus of Agot women iconic Mami Wata imagery (a beautiful woman with flowing long sing about men’s roles as fathers and their obligation to provide hair and a snake draped over her shoulders) do not recognize the for their children. image as Mami Wata but rather as an ancestress. Similarly, the Bakor do not see this masquerade or the doll as being in any way Life related to Mami Wata and explained that the doll is an example of Emanuel a healthy child, which results from healthy eating. Emanuel feeds his children The ability to properly feed one’s family through successful Emanuel feeds his children fat

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521.indb 49 11/20/2018 12:12:46 PM 5 Phyllis Galembo Agot Masquerade (2004) Fuji Crystal archive print; 178 cm x 76 cm Photo: courtesy of the artist

Photographer Phyllis Galembo is known for her images of masquerades from many parts of the world. In 2004, she did a photo shoot of masquer- ades from the Cross River region, which included Agot women’s masquerades. The headdress on the far right depicts a woman holding a snake, an iconic image of Mami Wata that is depicted in art forms from many parts of Africa and the diaspora.

Fathers feed your children like Emanuel that the masquerade was purchased from the Ekajuk. She still re- Emanuel feeds his children however from other people’s sweat members how well organized the women were, how exciting it was Emanuel reaps where he has not sown when they performed back then, and speculates that it came about Fathers do not allow your kids to starve because women felt that if men could portray female characters, Fathers do not feed your kids like Emanuel why couldn’t women carry a masquerade?10 That same sense of excitement around these women’s performances continues today. These performances offer women an opportunity to articulate Another factor that may have inspired women to develop a their concerns and to form bonds of solidarity around women’s masquerade in the 1970s was a renewed interest in traditional cul- issues; they are not purely for entertainment. As this example ture. After the Biafran War (1967–1970) had turned peoples’ lives shows, a song can even be used to pass judgment on a particular upside down, masquerades, which had been destroyed or forgot- person in the community. ten during the war, needed to be rebuilt or reinvented. In the pro- The history of how Agot masquerades came into existence offers cess of reunifying the country, masquerades enabled modern iden- clues about why Bakor women were able to access the type of mas- tities that repositioned ethnicity within a new political landscape. querade that is more frequently performed by men. Bakor elders at Government sponsorship in the 1970s, fueled by naira spilling out the end of the twentieth century were adamant that they remem- of oil wells, was also a motivating factor to begin new masquerade bered women’s masquerades that their mothers and grandmothers traditions. There were many regional masquerade competitions had performed, which are no longer danced. These elders may be leading up to the big international event in Lagos, FESTAC ’77. referring to women’s performance traditions that predated the use Around this time, Ibil village11 had sent their women’s masquerade of masks or they could be referring to Ekpa masquerades, which to a similar festival in Calabar and won the competition. Years later will be discussed below. Historian Simon Majuk, who is from the this continues to be a point of pride for the community. Bakor Ekajuk clan, remembers a time in the 1970s when women Agot may also have been influenced by other examples of wom- asked men for the right to wear masquerades, for which they had en’s masquerades in the vicinity. To the west of the Bakor Ekajuk to pay some money. Speculating on how this occurred, Majuk sug- clan, on the other side of the Cross River, is an Igbo ethnic group gested that they may have seen a women’s masquerade somewhere known as Izzi where women had been instructed by their local else or it could have come through a growing awareness of wom- oracle in 1977 to perform the men’s masquerade Ogbodo Enyi en’s potential.9 Similarly, Meg Agibe (a local politician) has many (Weston 1984: 157–59). The close proximity of these two women’s memories of Agot from this same period. She remembers watch- masquerades suggests that one may have influenced the other, but ing Agot perform in the village of Alok (Nnam clan) and recalls it’s difficult to know in which direction the influence flowed.

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521.indb 50 11/20/2018 12:12:47 PM 6 There is a senior and a junior Agot women’s masquerade in this village and these dancers are from the senior group. As is customary, the dancer portraying the female character carries the white doll. Egbong village, Bakor, Ekajuk clan, Obuja LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria, 1994.

While the Bakor women did not directly usurp a preexisting deserves further consideration. masquerade from men like the Izzi, they may have borrowed ele- Another women’s masquerade, Egbede, appears among the ments from mens’ performances. Agot masquerades could belong Boki to the east of the Bakor. Keith Nicklin explains that “Egbege to a group of masquerades that stemmed from the Ikem masquer- played a central role in the affairs of women, and took control of ades with male/female characters documented by Nicklin and the fattening-house girls” (1974: 15). Nicklin, who was interested Salmons (1988). Elsewhere in this issue, Jordan Fenton discusses in mapping stylistic traits in skin-covered masks, remarks that the Okpon-Ibuot masquerade (“Mr. and Mrs. Big Head”), which the cap mask is usually the head of a women with a tall coiffure, is a contemporary version of the male/female couple portrayed as but he does not provide further contextual information. I docu- a satire of husband-and-wife relationships. Since Agot fits within mented an Egbede mask in the Boki village of Nsodop in 2000 the broader genre of masquerades that explore male/female rela- that was similar to Agot in that the women sing songs advising tionships, it’s worth noting that women omit the female stereo- other women to plant cassava to end hunger (Fig. 8).12 The Egbede types that male performances in Calabar rely upon to depict male/ photographed by Nicklin has a gown like an Agot costume, which female relationships. A broader understanding of these “couples” covers the head. In Nsodop, the gown costume went only to the in masquerades throughout the region in connection with warrior neck and the face was covered by a white veil that the dancer dances and their association with skin-covered masks and skulls could peek through. I was told that sometimes they dance it “with

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521.indb 51 11/20/2018 12:12:48 PM 7 A female performer gets ready for an Agot performance. This image illustrates that these are indeed women under the masquerade costumes. The author was permitted to photograph women putting on the headdress, which may have been because of the author’s gender or because ritual restrictions are more relaxed than with other masquerades. Nwang village, Bakor Ekajuk clan, Ogoja LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria, 1997.

bodies are revealed. In nearby Ikom and east into Cameroon, Ekpa Njom performs a masquerade in which the woman’s face is not concealed as in Agot. Instead, a woman dances with an elab- orately carved headdress mask that sits on top of her head, fas- tened with strings and scarves, allowing her face to be seen.14 In Efaya, at Etung-Ejagham village near Ikom, women danced with a mask that includes an image of Mami Wata combined with a box structure (Fig. 9), which was first introduced in the 1940s (Röschenthaler 2008: 280). I was told that the primary function of Ekpa-Njom was to perform at the burial of a chief, and all the female members come from the “royal family” (i.e., their ancestors had not been slaves). However, they also displayed the objects they used for divination. In part of their dance they use walking sticks to portray oars as if they were paddling a canoe across a river to carry a deceased chief home. I assumed that this is a reference to a male Leopard Society ritual, emphasizing the interrelatedness of women’s and men’s ritual activity in a dual-gendered ritual system. While the Bakor do not perform the Ekpa-Njom masquerade, they do practice Ekpa’s nighttime performance, which is charac- terized by singing and dancing naked in the night, divination and the mandatory exclusion of men. Through Ekpa, women gain the power to heal and to foresee the future. Similar associations exist throughout the region.15 While they do not use a costume or a mask, it has been suggested that the guise of night or the transfor- mation associated with the power of the naked female body may open face.” There was another women’s masquerade in that village constitute another form of masquerade (Kasfir 1998). When men called Eruru, which features a Janus mask incorporating both male attempt to interfere with Ekpa business, which men are forbidden and female faces. The female leaders made a point to tell me that to witness, it can be quite dangerous. In isolated cases, women the mask is worn with the female side of facing forward because have been known to lift their wrappers, bend over, and reveal their “man follows woman.” genitals. According to many Ejagham, this can be lethal to men, Ute Röschenthaler regards women’s masquerades among the causing impotency. Or, as described by Talbot (1912), the man’s Boki as a fluke, similar to the Izzi women’s masquerade, which was “vital powers” shrivel up. isolated to one area. She writes, At a ceremony in 1998, I joined the Ekpa women at a spot in front of the Presbyterian Church at Nde Three Corners.16 The Among the Bokyi [Boki] of the Cross River area, Keith Nicklin church may have been built at that location as a way to discourage describes a mask of the Egenghe [sic Egbege] women’s association Ekpa. But these women were undeterred by this or by the village which is danced by a woman whose body and face are completely chief, who politely reminded them to disperse early so as not to veiled in cloth (1975 [sic 1974]: 15). Sometimes, too, women may disturb Sunday services. The nighttime ritual gathered strength create a masked dance in response to a topical event, but it does not with prolonged dancing and drinking around a fire. The women develop into a permanent institution (Röschenthaler 1998: 92). spoke in confusing code. When they say to speak, they mean that everyone should be silent—reminiscent of the theme of speech The assumption that women’s masquerades are not permanent is and silence that reverberates throughout many Cross River rituals. probably wrong. Considering that women continue to dance Agot The night of Ekpa culminated with some women entering a state and Egbede13 today and that these masquerades are at least fifty of possession that continued through to dawn. These were special years old, it’s difficult to think of them as “temporary.” And if you women who had heard the voice of Nlim (a spirit).17 The commu- allow for a more flexible definition of masquerade, the larger pic- nal energy created by all of the women was necessary to enable the ture suggests that these are not isolated events. possession to happen. As other women began to ready the church Along with the numerous examples of women performing for Sunday service, a possessed Ekpa woman ran uncontrollably masquerades in the more conventional manner (bodies fully con- through the church—an awkward moment that highlighted how cealed), women are also performing similar rituals whereby their the two institutions have different perceptions of spirit and flesh!

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521.indb 52 11/20/2018 12:12:48 PM colonial and missionary influence upon women’s realms: the 1925 Nwaobiala movement, the 1929 Aba “women’s war,” the Anlu up- rising of 1958–1959 in Cameroon, among other, smaller protests (see Ekpo 1995, Bastian 2001, Mba 1982, Wipper 1985, Paddock and Falola 2017). These ritual strategies that empower women and extend their ability to mobilize may have contributed to women feeling emboldened to acquire masquerades of their own, to utilize flesh and spirit as they saw best. This regional glimpse into women’s ritual performances that in- volve masks contains details specific to local histories, but it also suggests that scope of women and masking is more complex. And what can we learn about women and masking from the diaspora? How do masks and concepts of gender travel when people from the hinterland area of the Cross River are carried overseas as slaves? In the next section, I look at Cross River culture in Cuba, not to elab- orate on women’s masquerades and ritual performance—there are none—but to ask the question, “Why don’t women’s rituals travel to Cuba?” Sometimes when you travel, what you leave behind is even more important than what you bring.

ACT 2: THE CARIBBEAN Robert Farris Thompson, who did groundbreaking work in both the Cross River and Cuba, explains that women’s associations “did not survive the shock of the Middle Passage” (1983: 236). However, the much better organized male association Ékpè/Mgbè (Leopard Society) not only survived the journey to Cuba but developed into a systematic “orthodoxy” of practice through chants, rituals, and masquerades that continue today in a form that is easily recogniz- able to anyone familiar with the Cross River region (Brown 2003,

8 This woman’s face is partially concealed with a white veil, unlike Bakor Agot masquerades where the costume goes all the way up over the head. Egbede women’s masquerade in the Boki village of Nsodop, Ikom LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria, 2000.

9 The Eruru women’s masquerade wears a carved wooden helmet mask depicting both male and female faces. Boki village of Nsodop, Ikom LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria, 2000.

I understood this to be a transgressive act toward an institution that has historically been at odds with indigenous religious beliefs, gender concepts, women’s spheres of influence, and Ekpa. Other Ekpa performances include clear acts of intervention for the betterment of the community or for women. Around 1985, the women of an Nde village danced for a woman who could not con- ceive a child. She eventually became pregnant and had a healthy baby. In 1996, they danced because someone had prophesied a series of accidents, some of which had already occurred. Around the same time in Calabar, Ekpa came out to protest a proposal to move the location of Watt market. In 1997 in the town of Ikom, Ekpa came out after the controversial murder of the wife of a wealthy businessman; it was rumored that domestic violence may have been involved. In addition to these local acts, there are several well-documented cases during the twentieth century of women organizing and dancing in states of undress as part of a reaction to the pressures of

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521.indb 53 11/20/2018 12:12:50 PM 10 The main dancer carries a sculpted head- dress on top of her head but does not conceal her identity under a costume. Attendants are carrying sticks, which they are using like oars as they dance. Ekpa-Nkim masquerade, Efraya village, Etung-Ejagham Ikom, Cross River State, Nigeria, 2000.

11 The Cuban Abakuá Íreme masquerade is similar to the Ebongó masquerade of the Leopard Society in Nigeria representing the mother of the leopard spirit. This photo was taken at a non-ritual (or folkoric) performance that displayed elements of initiation rites. Havana, Cuba, 2000.

Miller and Bassey 2009). This continuity was supported in Cuba by the practice of keeping slaves of similar ethnicities (or “nations”) together, leading to the eventual formation of cabildos, or mutual aid societies. The Abakuá is a mutual aid society that was created in the 1830s and thrived in the port cities of Havana and Matanzas. Unlike in the Cross River region, where men’s power does not exist without women, in Cuba women’s ritual is not present in relation to the Abakuá. Instead, the symbolic use of the female body and the feminine spirit becomes even more important within the em- bodied nature of ritual knowledge in Cuba. As Abakuá developed in Cuba, it maintained an astonish- ing adherence to titles and masquerades18 that were sustained through slavery and colonialism even as masquerades were re- stricted and forced underground, or rather into courtyards and inner sanctums. Abakuá masquerade are known as Íreme (Figs. 10–11). As in Africa, the masquerade most often publicly

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521.indb 54 11/20/2018 12:12:52 PM displayed is Ebongo, mother of the leopard spirit. It also shares Leopard Society is commonly said to have come when a woman the name of a women’s association in Cameroon in the vicin- went to the river to collect water in her calabash. She accidentally ity of the area considered to be the birth place of the Leopard scooped up a fish that roared like a leopard; she had discovered Society. In this sense, women’s ritual presence travels to Cuba a secret, which was taken away by men. In Cuba, the woman is symbolically even if women’s performances associations did not. known as Sikán. In some myths she is sacrificed and her skin at- The meanings associated with myths of origin for the Leopard tached to a drum, signifying the importance of harnessing female Society and its masquerades in Africa reinforces the idea that their power. Themes of femininity and silence take on new dimensions secret knowledge incorporates women’s power at the same time in Cuba; the drum that was meant to be read and not heard is said it must distance women from that knowledge. The origin of the to be the incarnation of Sikán (Thompson 1983: 237). In Africa, where men’s associations such as the Leopard Society 12 Belkis Ayón Manso (1967–1999) Sin título numero 3 (1996) utilize the symbolic power of the female body, there is a ritual Collograph (26.3” x 36.6”) system where women also have agency over the symbolism asso- The Farber Collection, New York ciated with the female body in ritual performances. The same is Estate of Belkis Ayon, Havana, Cuba Photo: José A. Figueroa courtesy of the Estate of Belkis Ayon, Havana, not true in Cuba. Even though there is no female component of Cuba Abakuá in Cuba, the female artist Belkis Ayón (1967–1999) pro- Belkis Ayón Manso produced many prints based upon the iconog- duced many prints that respond to the iconography of this male raphy of the Abakuá in Cuba. The white figure represents Sikán. institution, which had become increasingly visible in Cuban cul- Ayon emphasizes the relationship between Sikán and the sacred ture.19 Ayón was part of a contemporary generation of female drum of the Abakuá, which is meant to be seen and not heard. Instead, sacred signs are written upon the head of the drum just artists (Ana Mendita, Magdalena Campos-Pons, among others) as they appear upon Sikán’s head in this image. In Cuba, feathered whose work contributed to a broader feminist movement in light plumes adorn the drum, whereas in Africa, feathered plumes adorn the headdresses worn by women in masquerades. Ayón’s of racial politics in Cuba and in the United States. The scale and work is a wonderfully rich exploration of female power in relation scope of her in-depth response to the iconography of Abakuá ritu- to the attempts of men to control that power. While it is deeply als involving bodily forms is astounding given her relatively short entrenched in the ritual language of the Abakuá, her work also speaks to broader themes about the human condition. career, which was cut short by suicide. Her loss was tragic, but she left behind a rich body of graphic work that speaks to so many

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521.indb 55 11/20/2018 12:12:53 PM 13 Fermin Diaz at the Havana Biennale of symbolism. But for Ayón, Sikan was not a martyr—she was a standing in Victor Ekpuk’s installation transgressor, much like the artist herself. And, the artist’s steadfast Meditations on Memory (2015), which incor- porated references to the art and ritual of the study and representation of Abakuá rituals was seen as scandalous Leopard Society in eastern Nigeria in dialogue in that she had “symbolically marched into an Abakuá ceremony” with the Abakuá culture of Cuba. Diaz, who (Lamazares 2010: 114). Lamazares writes, “In Cuba, Abakuá re- worked for the Biennale as an assistant help- ing artists install their work, was drawn to strictions were stricter than in Africa or elsewhere. Inserting her- Ekpuk’s installation because he is a member self into a space that was all male, she assertively, powerfully, and of the Abakuá and has an Íreme masquerade tattoo on his back. Havana, Cuba, 2015 boldly made a statement to the exclusive all-male social and reli- gious sphere” (2010: 115). While she has been accused of revealing issues about gender within the ritual of inscribing and reinscribing the secrets of the Abakuá, this is part of the myth of women who the female body, even identifying with Sikán. Ayón explained, trespass and must be punished. Ayón uses aesthetic strategies to take control of the symbolism associated with the female body and I incorporate into my work personalities like the Leopard Man, a is inherently critical of male behavior. She deeply understood the figure identified with imposing power and aggression—a “macho” need to express bodily knowledge from a female perspective. who sacrificed Sikán, the woman who discovered the secret [of Although outside the scope of this article, there is more to be Abakuá] and dies at the hands of the men at the altar so that the written about inscribing and performing the male body, such as secret would remain among them and not disappear. The secret con- how Abakuá initiates have signs (firmas) drawn on their bodies sisted of a voice, the SACRED VOICE, produced by the Fish dis- as a means of transformation. Tattoos representing an Íreme mas- covered by Sikan coming back from the river. The Fish of the sacred querade (Fig. 13), that leave a permanent mark on the Abakuá voice was finally transmitted to the skin of a goat, a skin which vi- body, deserve further research. Moreover, it’s important to note brated on the sacred drum EKUÉ … The image of Sikan is evident in that the symbolic currency of Abakuá masquerades reaches far all these works because she, like me, lived and lives through me in a beyond the ritual association. There is a long history of appearing restlessness looking insistently for a way out (Ayón 2014: 769). in public festivals in Cuba—Carnival as well as more contempo- rary folkloric performances. In a new twist, these masquerades— In Ayón’s prints, Sikán appears as a white figure with no mouth. which represent a connection to Africa that is no longer part of In Untitled (1996; Fig. 12), Sikán is alive and carrying an initiate, living memory in Cuba—physically returned to Africa in 2005 to surrounded by plumes that are references to women’s masquerades attend Calabar Carnival, where they were dancing along a path, and power in Africa. Where women have been removed from rit- which meant retracing steps that have been inscribed and now re- uals, their bodies have been consumed by the male Abakuá use inscribed within history.

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521.indb 56 11/20/2018 12:12:54 PM ACT 3: THE RETURN TICKET and the Caribbean. Since that time, the Leopard Society has held Calabar Carnival, which began in 2004 and is billed as “the a separate “international” masquerade festival, usually around the biggest street party in Africa,” is unique among the many inter- same time as Calabar Carnival, but does not participate in the offi- national festivals modeled after Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago cial state-sanctioned event.20 (T&T) in that it appears in a city without a Caribbean diaspora or During Carnival a great deal of attention is placed on the female even prior Caribbean influences. I have previously written about body, and local “women’s dances” mix with coordinated group how African-influenced Caribbean culture returns to Africa on a dances fashioned after Carnival in T&T or Brazil. Local mon- “return ticket,” with the first leg of the journey being the trans- inkim-style dances, associated with woman’s ritual seclusion in the atlantic slave trade, when enslaved Africans departed Calabar for “fattening house,” show up at Carnival every year in each of the five the Caribbean, an historic tie integral to the identity of the event major bands that compete. Moninkim-style dance is recognizable (Carlson 2010). While masquerade traditions returned to Africa in because of the distinctive hip movements as well as the designs their Caribbean form, traditional African masquerades have been painted on the dancers’ skin, fancy coiffures, and bared midriffs. absent from Calabar Carnival except for the one-time appearance, While even the traditional-looking costumes have been tailored in 2005, of Nigerian Ékpè masquerade (Ebongo) dancing along- specifically for Carnival (Fig. 14), the dance has merged with hip- side their Cuban visitors, who led the Carnival procession with hop inspired dance forms, featuring significantly more athletic, their Abakuá masquerade (Ebonko). This historic “reunion” was fierce, transgressive women (Fig. 15). orchestrated by Ivor Miller, who discusses this meeting in detail To some extent Carnival places women in the spotlight, where in the epilogue of his book Voice of the Leopard (2009). The re- they are left to navigate multiple images of womanhood: modern, semblances between these two masquerades amazed Nigerian au- traditional, and Christian. In the early years of Calabar Carnival, diences and cemented the connection between Cross River culture the attire of international Carnivals—beads and bikinis—was seldom seen. While Calabar Carnival is still a conservative event 14a–b In 2013, Calabar Carnival had a “Cultural Carnival” the day before the main event. As in prior carnival performances, moninkim style dances were plentiful. The dancer on the left is from Akankpa LGA and the dancer on the right belongs to a group called “Obubura Cultural Display.” “Maiden dances” continue to be the most visible marker of culture. Photo: Jess Durkin for Amanda Carlson

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521.indb 57 11/20/2018 12:12:56 PM 15 Moninkim-style dances at Calabar Carnival in 2013 reflect a new type of “maiden dance” that stems from poplar music and dance culture. On the left, the band Passion Four performed a stunning tribute to Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, whose stage acts famously incorporated female dancers who merged traditional and modern female identities. Above, female dancers from the band Master Blaster (that year’s winner), wear costumes that pay homage to the “maiden dances” of the past with futuristic styling. The choreography reflected influences by Janet Jackson in its athletic and precise style, which is quite different from graceful elegance of maiden dances. Photos: Jess Durkin for Amanda Carlson

compared to other international Carnivals, the female dress code has become more daring with the importation of costumes from abroad (Fig. 16). This has become a widely debated topic that has produced strong responses amplified by social media in the dig- ital age. Part of the annual “coverage” includes risqué (indecent) pictures of women at Calabar Carnival; however, many of the pictures are appropriated via the internet from Carnivals in other parts of the world where individuals can stretch the limits of un- dress far wider than is acceptable in Africa. This war of images reflects conflicting views of Carnival among many religious insti- tutions that are opposed to the event and once cried foul when Carnival fell on a Sunday. It’s already a problem that it draws thousands of people away from the church in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Nonetheless, the Pentecostal penchant for music, spectacle, and combining spirit and flesh in order to be born again could also be said to have primed the environment for Carnival. And, most participants in Carnival are active Christians who see no conflict between their faith and their penchant for taking to the streets to dance.

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521.indb 58 11/20/2018 12:12:57 PM 16 Imported costumes from China are becoming more common at Calabar Carnival reflecting an appropriation of the international Carnival style that is based upon Carnival in Trinidad & Tobago. 2013. Photo: Jess Durkin for Amanda Carlson

Unlike the unique Cuban/Nigerian reunion in 2005 when mas- training camp, which she likens to the ritual seclusion of the mon- querades lead the procession, Calabar Carnival is typically led by inkim tradition, emphasizes how the pageant blends traditional dignitaries such as the state governor and his wife, Nollywood and Pentecostal identities. This blending of world views is noth- celebrities, and the Carnival Queen (Fig. 17),21 who is crowned ing like the tension between Ekpa and the church or the cultural after winning an elaborate beauty pageant in the days leading up to conflicts regarding women’s roles that fueled women’s mass protest Carnival. The Carnival Queen rides atop a float in a formal gown movements of the twentieth century. Gilbert explains, along with the expected trappings of a beauty queen—a beauti- ful smile, precise make-up, a sash, and a crown. The queen is a pageants such as CCQ are not only replacing more “traditional” gen- creation of the Calabar Carnival Queen Pageant (CCQ), which dered initiations marking new life stages but are also sites in which is orchestrated by the First Lady—the governor’s wife. The pag- new Christian subjects can be actively molded outside the church. eant works in dialogue with that umbrella of traditional gender Above all, beauty queens articulate changing ideas of feminine re- spectability in Christian Nigeria, where the creation of a “third symbolism and the importance of traditional dance forms at the femininity” means that “small girls” are able to gain some authority same time that it reflects global attitudes about women’s bodies. in society without (yet) being married … pageantry has become a Contestants perform traditional dances, such as moninkim, before means for Nigerians to counter the insecurities that pervade their trading in waist beads for beaded gowns (Fig. 18). livelihoods: the queen becomes hope for the nation (2015: 517). Anthropologist Juliet Gilbert, who attended the two-week CCQ

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521.indb 59 11/20/2018 12:12:57 PM 17 2013’s Calabar Carnival Queen, wearing gown and crown, riding on a float with a woman in a moninkim-inspired costume, emphasizing the importance of balancing modern and traditional symbols of femininity. In the background is an advertisement for Carnival in Brazil, which has increasing influence upon the event in Calabar. Photo: Jess Durkin for Amanda Carlson

18 Photographers eagerly “snapping” images of the winner of the 2013 Calabar Queen Beauty Pageant, which is the culmination of an elaborate event and formal dinner at Tinapa in Calabar. The Queen will hold this title for one year.

In the spectacle of Carnival, women adapt to a new ritual space where they must navigate complex systems of power as they per- form new subjectivities. While the meaning of the female body remains central in ritual contexts that ultimately maintain male systems of authority, women perform in flesh and in spirit to phys- ically and psychologically transform. From this global journey we can conclude that more travels than just the mask. Regardless of what they are wearing, women are clearly dancing in response to where they are going and not solely where they have been. And to understand this we need a more dynamic view of masquerades.

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521.indb 60 11/20/2018 12:12:58 PM Notes without any explanation beyond style. The caption reads War of 1929.” In P. Chike Kike (ed.), The Women’s Revolt I am grateful to the many individuals who helped bring “Headdress for women’s dance, Southern Etung, Ikom. of 1929, pp. 49–73. Lagos: N.G.A. this article to life; including Sidney Kasfir, Leslie Ellen This is probably an Annang artist from Ikot Abia Osom Jones, Katia Ayon, Ivor Miller, Phyllis Galembo, Carol living in Calabar, and represents the diffusion of the Franco, Pamela R. 1998. “‘Dressing Up and Looking Magee, Jess Durkin, and Meg and Chris Agibe. In honor of Ikem-derived horn coiffure from the Annang area to Good’: Afro-Creole Female Maskers in Trinidad Carni- Agot masquerades I dedicate this article to those women the Middle Cross River area in the context of the tableau val.” African Arts 31 (2): 62–67, 91, 95–96. who think deeply about how best to raise their children, headdress developed in Ibibioland for Ayo and Eyo, cur- Gilbert, Juliet. 2015. “‘Be Graceful, Patient, Ever Prayer- and also to my own lovely Ibeji (Ethan and Emma). rently popular in Cross river ‘maiden dances’” (Nicklin ful’: Negotiating Femininity, Respect and the Religious 1 Nsibidi (or nsibiri) was the focus of my PhD 1988: caption 20). Self in a Nigerian Beauty Pageant.” Africa 85 (3): 501–20. research (see Carlson 2003, 2007). It is the most widely 15 Female ritual associations that are similar to Ekpa recognized system of signs but in actuality it is not a occur among many other nearby ethnic groups: Ukelle Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield, ed. 1988. West African Masks single coherent system. The use of coded signs and (Akpa),Yakurr (Idett), Boki (Baram), Keaka (Nki), and Cultural Systems. Tervuren: Musée Royal d’Afrique symbols by men and women is quite widespread as a Bamungkum (Kefapp) (see Talbot 1926: 119–121, 125, Centrale. technique for maintaining ownership of an association, 792–93), Qua-Ejagham (Oóm) (see Talbot 1912: 225), Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield. 1998. “Elephant Women, Furi- a dance, or more generally of “knowledge.” and various groups in the Calabar and Oban Hills ous and Majestic: Women’s Masquerades in Africa and 2 The Ejagham span both sides of the Nigeria­ regions (Nnimm)(see Thompson 1983, Talbot 1915: 7). the Diaspora.” African Arts 31 (2): 18–27, 92. Cameroon border. The Bakor are a subgroup in the 16 Nde Clan, Ikom LGA. northwestern part of the Ejagham region and are quick 17 Nlim among the Bakor is similar to Nnim among Lamazares, Alexander. 2010. “Unpacking Feminist to recognize their connection to other Ejagham groups, other Ejagham groups of Ndèm among the Efik. All are Consciousness and Racial Politics: Representation and but identify themselves as separate people. Their identity important spirits associated with the spiritual power of the Vanguard in Contemporary Cuban Visual Culture.” is based upon political, economic, and cultural ties that women. Gender 3: 107–22. developed over centuries, but were only formalized in 18 Miller (2009: 193–200) provides a detailed compar- Mba, Nina Emma. 1982. Nigerian Women Mobi- 1963 with the inauguration of the Bakor Union, after ison of masquerades in Cuba and Nigeria. lized: Women’s Political Activity in Southern Nigeria, Nigeria gained independence in 1960. The Bakor com- 19 I was introduced to Belkis by mutual friends in the 1900–1965. Berkeley: Institute of International Studies, prise eight clans: Nta, Nselle, Nde, Abanyum, Nnam, later part of her life. It was transformational knowing University of California. Ekajuk, Nkim, and Nkum. her. Our work was so closely aligned in its exploration 3 Nde clan elders told me the name of the Aya River of symbolism attached to the female body in relation to Miller, Ivor, L., and Bassey E. Bassey. 2009. Voice of the comes from the expression “Aya aya biyo!” (“This is the the rituals that stem from the Cross River region. In her Leopard: African Secret Societies and Cuba. Jackson: biggest water I’ve seen in my life!”). Interview, April 10, work I saw complex concepts at play that I was strug- University Press of Mississippi. 1997. gling to articulate in my academic writing. The work Nicklin, Keith. 1974. “Nigerian Skin-Covered Masks.” 4 In the literature, many authors confusingly describe that she left behind deserves much greater attention, African Arts 7 (3): 8–15, 67–68, 92. a female character as “the female masquerade.” If we which it is beginning to receive. A significant retro- don’t assume that all masquerades are performed by spective exhibition, Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Nicklin, Keith, and Jill Salmons. 1988. “Ikem: The His- men, then we need to differentiate the gender of the Printmaker Belkis Ayón, appeared the Fowler Museum tory of a Masquerade in Southeast Nigeria.” In Sidney performer from the gender of the character that they are at UCLA (Los Angeles, 2016) and El Museum del Barrio Littlefield Kasfir (ed.), West African Masks and Cultural performing. (New York, 2017), curated by Cristina Vives. Systems, pp. 123–45. Tervuren: Musée Royal d’Afrique 5 Robert Brain makes an off-hand reference to dolls 20 This type of “masquerade diplomacy” could add Centrale. used in masquerades but gives no specific examples. He volumes to the theme “how masks travel” that goes writes, “Nothing, from a monkey’s skull to a European beyond the scope of this article. Paddock, Adam, and Toyin Falola. 2017. “Calabar and doll, is unacceptable on a mask …” (1980: 249). 21 In addition to the Carnival Queen there are also the Women’s War of 1929: Expanding Nigerian Resis- 6 Nnam clan, Ikom LGA. Kings and Queens for each of the five competing bands tance Narratives.” In David Imbua, Paul Lovejoy, and 7 Ekajuk clan, Ogoja LGA. or groups. Ivor Miller (eds.), Calabar on the Cross River: Historical 8 Sung by a chorus of Bakor women during an Agot and Cultural Studies, pp. 255–71. Trenton, NJ: Africa masquerade in 1994. Translation from Bakor to English References cited World Press. by Chistopher Ngoro Agibe. Ayón, Belkis. 2014. “Belkis Ayón. Statements by and Röschenthaler, Ute. 1998. “Honoring Ejagham Women.” 9 Interview with Simon Majuk, PhD, UNICAL, July about the Deceased Artist.” Callaloo 37 (4): 768–75. African Arts 31 (28): 38–49, 92–93. 27, 2015. 10 Interview with Magdalene Agibe, July 27, 2005. Bastian, Misty L. 2001. “Dancing Women and Colonial Röschenthaler, Ute. 2011. Purchasing Culture: The 11 Nkum clan, Ogoja LGA. Men: The Nwaobiala of 1925.” In Dorothy L. Hodgson Dissemination of Associations in the Cross River region of 12 I was told that the masquerade came from the and Sheryl A. McCurdy (eds.), “Wicked” Women and Cameroon and Nigeria. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. Efik and that its name means “to do work very well.” the Reconfiguration of Gender in Africa, pp. 109–29. Portsmouth, NH: Heinimann. Röschenthaler, Ute. 2008. “The Ejagham Interpretation Röschenthaler (2011) has pointed out that the influence of a Sculpture of Mami Wata.” In Henry John Drewal of Calabar as a center of trade and modernity created Brain, Robert. 1980. Art and Society in Africa. London: (ed.), Sacred Waters: Arts for Mami Wata and Other many generic explanations that things came from Longman. Divinities in Africa and the Diaspora, pp. 277–91. Calabar. Although there are many women’s performance Bloomington: Indiana University Press. traditions in Calabar that are similar to the hinterland— Brown, David H. 2003. The Light Inside: Abakuá Society women dancing with headcrests or naked—women in Arts and Cuban Cultural History. Washington, DC: Talbot, D. Amaury. 1968. Women’s Mysteries of a Prim- Calabar do not perform fully concealed. Smithsonian Books. itive People: The Ibibios of Southern Nigeria. London: 13 Egbede is the perfect example of how references to Carlson, Amanda B. 2003. Nsibiri, Gender, and Literacy. Frank Cass. Originally published 1915. women’s masquerades are plentiful in the literature but The Art of the Bakor-Ejagham (Cross River State, Nige- Talbot, Percy Amaury. 1912. In the Shadow of the Bush. are often vaguely noted in a footnote rather than a topic ria). PhD diss. Indiana University, Bloomington. London: Heinemann. for serious consideration. For years I looked at the pho- tograph Nicklin published of the Egbede masquerade Carlson, Amanda B. 2007. “Nsibidi: Old and New Talbot, Percy Amaury. 1969. The Peoples of Southern Ni- and was pretty sure it was performed by a woman, but Scripts.” In Christine Mullen Kreamer and Mary Nooter geria, 4 vols. London: Frank Cass. Originally published Nicklin just says that the masquerade “played a central Roberts (eds.), Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic 1926. role in the affairs of women” and does not specifically Systems in African Art, pp. 146–53. New York: National mention that it was performed by a woman. If you see Museum for African Art. Thompson, Robert Farris. 1983. “Emblems of Prowess: this masquerade perform, it’s entirely possible that you Ejagham Art and Writing in Two Worlds.” In Flash of Carlson, Amanda B. 2010. “Calabar Carnival: A Trini- the Spirit, pp. 227–68. New York: Vintage. would not know that the performer is a woman unless dadian Tradition Returns to Africa.” African Arts 43 (4): someone informs you. Given Nicklin’s extensive field- 14–31. Weston, Bonnie E. 1984.”Northeastern Region.” In H.M. work experience, it’s unlikely that he would miss such a Cole and C.C. Aniakor, eds., Igbo Arts: Community and critical feature. I have no reason to believe that this was Drewal, Henry John, ed. 2008. Sacred Waters: Arts for Cosmos, pp. 145–61. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural performed by men in the 1970s and later transferred to Mami Wata and Other Divinities in Africa and the Dias- History, University of California, Los Angeles. women. So, it seems that Nicklin either didn’t know it pora. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. was a woman performing a masquerade or didn’t feel Wipper, Audrey. 1985. Riot and Rebellion Among African “Efik Dances.” 1957. Nigeria Magazine 53: 150–69. that it was important enough to mention. Women: Three Examples of Women’s Political Clout. 14 Nicklin documented a similar mask among Etung Ekpo, V.I. 1995. “Traditional Symbolism of the Women’s Women in International Development, Working Paper 108. East Lansing: Michigan State University.

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