Secrets of the Tribe TV series

FILM REVIEW 

Title: Secrets of the Tribe 

Year: 2010 

Running time: 60 minutes   

Country: USA 

Plot summary:

Explorer Mark Anstice and language and religion expert Ben Protheroe travel to Benin, West Africa to immerse themselves in the culture of local tribes. In each episode, they experience a different tradition.

Episode 1: Initiation. Hosts Mark and Ben travel to the West African country of Benin, where a local tribe teaches them about the voodoo rituals they practice and also invites them to stay and participate in a special mass circumcision ceremony.

Episode 2: Scarred. Explorer Mark Anstice and World Religions expert Ben Protheroe travel to the Somba tribe in Benin in West Africa to try to witness their ceremony of infant scarification.

Parures de Tête

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Parures de Tête (Hairstyles and headdresses)

Author: Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau and Iris Hahner

Year of publication: 2003

Paperback: 400 pages

Language: French and English

Synopsis:

In Africa, the art of arranging one's hair, of ornamenting and glorifying one's head, has given rise to the creation of incomparable coiffures. The Pharaohs and priests of Ancient Egypt, the nomads of the Sudan, the kings and diviners of the great Bantu civilisations, the spokesmen of Yoruba deities and the initiates of the powerful brotherhoods in West and Central Africa can all be identified by their hairstyles and headdresses. The repository of collective memory, coiffures have been transposed by sculptors onto masks and figures. Taken from the Dapper Collection, from leading museums and from private collections, the hundred or so objects we have reproduced reveal the astonishing diversity of hair arrangements and headgear - as well as the accessories that go with them. Among the diaspora in the United States or the Caribbean, following in the wake of Angela Davis or Bob Marley, many people have turned their hair into a sign of protest, in order to assert their identity and their difference, thereby influencing others throughout the world.

©Text and image: Éditions Dapper

Waist african pendant

ARTIFACTS AND OBJECTS 

Name: Waist african pendant 

Origin: Benin (Edo people) (Africa) 

Museum: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas (USA) 

Material: ivory 

Reference code: 1994.201.McD 

Age: 18th century 

Comments: 

The central figure on this rare carved ivory pendant is distinguished by his placement, his slightly larger size and the large bead at the center of his chest. He is the hereditary king, or oba, of Benin and wears the bead of kingship-an imported red coral, jasper, or agate bead. This bead, a significant emblem of his rank, and the textured bars on the figure's helmet and collar represent the oba's netted red coral and agate garment. Panels on either side of his tunic are shaped like mudfish with filaments hanging from their mouths.

Around his waist, three pendants with heads of Portuguese soldiers or officials demonstrate how the pendant was worn. The oba, legs adorned with coral beads, stands on a human head with mudfish issuing from its nostrils. Two high priests, Osa and Osuan, each wearing a waist pendant depicting crocodiles and standing on a frog, flank the oba. These priests, as well as other court officials or sons of the oba, traditionally support the oba during his coronation and ceremonies of importance. This grouping of the triad recalls an eyewitness account of Oba Overami's appearance when he surrendered to the British on August 5, 1897: "He was supported in the usual way by chosen men holding him up by each arm." The pendant's rich and complex iconography can be interpreted from Edo oral tradition, recorded history in European sources, and kingship practice that endures today.

The gesture of support, for example, is not meant to suggest the king is infirm, but symbolizes the delicate balance that must be maintained between the oba's authority and the Edo peoples' willingness to submit to his authority. The mudfish and the frogs are associated with the realm of Olokun, the god of wealth and all waters (streams, rivers, seas, oceans, and the divine) and a source of the oba's supernatural powers. The initial source of Benin's great wealth came from the sea: the first group of Portuguese explorers and traders must have seemed to emerge from Olokun's realm.

An ancient belief asserts the oba's legs were so heavily charged that damp soil would lose fertility if touched by his feet. Thus, the oba's power is also manifested in his legs and feet, which are sometimes depicted as mudfish in art. Mudfish are liminal creatures that can survive on land as well as in water. While some varieties are benign and considered a delicacy, and therefore symbolize feasting and prosperity, others are dangerous and can electrocute their adversaries. Benin artists do not differentiate the various types of mudfish in visual art. Frogs are considered mysterious creatures because they seem to change species from tadpole to frog. These creatures present a paradox like the oba, who commands and must keep two worlds, that of the sea and the land, in harmony. The Emobo ceremony, an extant kingship ritual that commemorates the establishment of Benin as the capital of the kingdom, requires an oba to wear waist pendants. According to oral tradition, Esigie, a sixteenth-century prince and founder of the present dynasty, competed with his half-brother Arhuanran, who ruled the province of Udo and was heir apparent to the throne. After the death of their father, Esigie challenged Arhuanran's ascent. He succeeded with the help of Edo chiefs, Portuguese allies, and most importantly, his mother Idia. Defeated, Arhuanran cursed the bead of kingship. Oba Esigie subsequently went insane when he wore the bead. The story, however, has a happy ending: Idia used her incredible spiritual powers to break the curse and thereby restore her son's sanity. Today he is considered one of Benin's most successful rulers. The Emobo ceremony also expels negative spirits from the capital city. According to some accounts, those negative spirits have been sent to Udo.

This rare ivory pendant is one of five that were taken by Private William Kelland of the British Royal Marines as souvenirs of the British Punitive Expedition in 1897. The other pendant plaques are in the collections of the Buffalo Museum of Science, the Nigerian National Museum, Lagos, and the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

© Photos and text: Dallas Museum of Art 

Ibeji of the Yoruba

Title: Encyclopedia of the Ibeji

Author: Fausto Polo

Year of publication: 2010

Paperback: 660 pages

Language: English, French, German or Italian

Price: 180 USD, 140 EUR

Buy at: www.ibejiart.com

Comments:

Hardcover binding

12½  x  9½  x 2 inches

660 coated paper pages

510  full-page Ibeji singles or pairs plates in color

19  full-page plates with Ibeji details photos

17 full-page maps in color

Published & distributed by Ibeji Art

About the Yoruba Ibjei:

In the Yoruba language ibeji literally means "twins". Carved wooden figures made to house the soul of a dead twin are also called ibeji. These wooden figures, six to ten inches high and carved with the family mask, are often well tended. The Yoruba people believe that this care and tending helps ensure the survival of the other twin.

Traditionally, when twins were born, the parents would visit a Babalawo, meaning, "father of mysteries", to find out their wishes. The first of the twins to be born is traditionally named Taiyewo or Tayewo, (which means 'the first to taste the world'); this is often shortened to Taiwo, Taiye, or Taye. Kehinde, "the last to come", is the name of the last-born twin. These are what could be called "celestial" Yoruba names; names due to birth circumstances. The child after the twins is called "Idowu" regardless of the sex, a boy or a girl. "Alaba" is the one after Idowu, either a boy or a girl, which is usually followed by Oni and Ola or "Idogbe", etc.

It is said that Kehinde sends Taiyewo to check out what life is like on earth and to tell him (or her) whether it is good. Therefore, Taiyewo goes as sent by Kehinde, and becomes the first child to be born. He then communicates to Kehinde spiritually (believed to be from the way he cries) whether life is going to be good or not. The reply determines if Kehinde will be born alive or stillborn. Both return to where they came from if the reply from Taiyewo is not good enough for both of them.

The Yoruba traditionally say that Kehinde is the true elder of the twins despite being the last to be born, because he sent Taiyewo on an errand, a prerogative of one's elders in Yorubaland. Kehinde is therefore referred to as Omokehindegbegbon (which means, 'the child that came last becomes the elder'). However, the first-born twin is also sometimes referred to as Taiyelolu or Tayelolu, which is short for Omotaiyelolu and means, 'the child that came to taste life excels'.

Since in Yoruba tradition, each person is one soul in the long line of ancestral souls, twins are complex, sharing the same soul - but one of the two is thought to have the spiritual half of the soul while the other has the mortal half. Since there is no way to determine which has the mortal soul and which the spiritual soul, if one twin should die, a carving is commissioned to represent the deceased child. Only the sex and the lineal facial scarifications (if the child had any) are specified and are faithfully recreated in the carved figure. Taiyewo is believed to be mostly the quiet, calmer, and introverted of the twins, while Kehinde is mostly believed to be the extroverted one.

As stated above, the Yoruba believe that both twins share one soul, so if one twin dies at a young age, the balance of the soul is thrown off or disturbed. The death rate of children is very high in Africa, and on account of this, a ritual is carried out to put the twins’ soul back into balance. The Ifá priest chooses a well-established carver to create a small figure that symbolizes the dead child. The carver is free to create a figure of the twin in his own image of what he felt about the twin. If both twins die, then two figures are made. The soul is then spiritually transported into the figures. These figures are called ere ibeji. Ibi means born, eji means two, and ere means sacred image. The figure remains as respected and as powerful as the person it represents. The children’s parents must treat the statue as if it were real, so it is bathed, fed, and clothed just as it would be in life. The figure is particularly special to the mother, who keeps the figure close to her bed. She rubs the figure with red wood powder to maintain the look of slickness, and she caresses the figure in a loving manner. Rituals and prayers are performed for the child’s birthday and other celebrations or festivals.

The head of the figure is associated with the child’s destiny, which measures the success or failure of the child. The size of the head is one-third the size of the body because the head is where the spirit resides. The head must be big in proportion to the rest of the body. The figure is very detailed, but it is only a symbol of the child and is not intended to be a realistic likeness but rather a resemblance of a human. The child is shown as an adult, which is common in African sculpture. The features of the child are more mature, including scarifications on the face, and full-sized breasts on female figures. The surface of the figure is very smooth. The figure is motionless to represent discipline, serenity, and confidence. The figure is sometimes made to hold symbolic items. Shells or beads may invoke certain gods or indicate wealth.

© Text: Wikipedia

The Oral Heritage of Gelede

The Gelede is performed by the Yoruba-Nago community that is spread over Benin, Nigeria and Togo. For more than a century, this ceremony has been performed to pay tribute to the primordial mother Iyà Nlà and to the role women play in the process of social organization and development of Yoruba society.

The Gelede takes place every year after the harvests, at important events and during drought or epidemics and is characterized by carved masks, dances and chants, sung in the Yoruba language and retracing the history and myths of the Yoruba-Nago people. The ceremony usually takes place at night on a public square and the dancers prepare in a nearby house. The singers and the drummers are the first to appear. They are accompanied by an orchestra and followed by the masked dancers wearing splendid costumes. There is a great deal of preparatory craftwork involved, especially mask carving and costume making. The performances convey an oral heritage that blends epic and lyric verses, which employ a good deal of irony and mockery, supported by satirical masks. Figures of animals are often used, such as the serpent, a symbol of power, or the bird, the messenger of the “mothers”. The community is divided into groups of men and women led by a male and a female head. It is the only known masked society, which is also governed by women. Although the Gelede has nowadays adapted to a more patriarchal society, the oral heritage and dances can be considered as a testimony of the former matriarchal order.

Technical development is resulting in a gradual loss of traditional know-how, and tourism is jeopardizing the Gelede by turning it into a folklore product. Nevertheless, the Gelede community shows great awareness of the value of their intangible heritage, which is reflected in the efforts put into the preparation work and in the growing number of participants.

Inscribed in 2008 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (originally proclaimed in 2001)

© Text and images: UNESCO