The pre-1940s history, indigenous culture, and heritage of the Ìgbò and their neighbours.
Enwe Imoka, the mona, Porto-Novo, Benin. Photo: Okouneva Olga via Wikimedia Commons.
Okoli Ijeoma was a 19th-century merchant warlord of the Aro settlement of Ndikelionwu in today’s Anambra State. He was notorious for his recruitment of the militaristic Ada people of the Cross River area for wars against his enemies or for the services of those who paid him. He was the grandson of Ikelionwu who founded Ndikelionwu in the 18th century.
"Achetefu(?) young man." … "Hairdressing (Ibo) Man of Awka". Northcote Thomas, c. 1911. MAA Cambridge.
Ọ̀gbọ agha. A war demonstration by men whose names do not appear to have been noted, photographed by Northcote Thomas, c. 1910-11. The men have swords/machetes, shields made from either wood or the 'midrib of oil palms', and war hats. The location is given as Awka. Colourised Ụ́kpụ́rụ́ 2019. MAA Cambridge.
Original.
An Igbo lady from Öka (Awka) with pearl buttons in her hair. Photographed by Northcote Thomas, c. 1910-11.
[Published photo.]
Another Igbo tower or two-storey earth building photographed by Northcote Thomas. Öka (Awka), c. 1910-11. MAA Cambridge.
'Stereoscopic' gif made from two photos taken in succession of an Igbo man from Öka by Northcote Thomas c. 1910-11.
In Onicha Olona, a western Igbo town, two individuals in the courtyard of a house with what seems to be blacksmithing tools (tongs and hammers). Photographed by Northcote Thomas, 1912. MAA Cambridge.
Awka, ... is famous for its smithing skills. ... In fact, the men of one section of the town, Agulu, were Awka's principal blacksmiths. ... As itinerant journeymen, Agulu smiths ... [worked] in northern provinces of Igala and Idoma and over a broad belt of southern Nigeria, from Yoruba settlements in the west to the Cross River in the east. The orbit of Awka (Agulu) peregrinations was vast, limited only by the existence of rival smithing groups, such as the Hausa to the north of the Benue, and by the necessity to return to Awka annually. ...
Smiths of three Agulu villages worked the western side of the Niger, supplying iron hoes, machetes, spears, cooking stands and other useful items to Western Igbo, Urhobo, Isoko, Itsekiri and Ijo communities. They also used the lost-wax method in making bronze ofo for Western Igbo patrons.
– Nancy C. Neaher (1976). "Igbo Metalsmiths among the Southern Edo."
Son of the late Eze Nri at Oreri, wearing Benin-style bronze pectoral mask. Photo: Thurstan Shaw, 1960.
Awka smiths working on the eastern side of the Niger among the Igala were known not only to copy but also to make outright purchases of bronze goods from local casters. These bronzes were sold to northern Igbo who used them in title-taking activities. Extrapolating from this experience, it is quite possible that Awka smiths exploited their particular sensitivity to metal goods and facilitated the distribution of these and other bronzes among Delta peoples. The programmed movements of Awka men, therefore, may well have influenced the flow of divergent bronze styles throughout the Delta.
– Nancy C. Neaher (1976). "Igbo Metalsmiths among the Southern Edo."
An Igbo elder who seems to have been photographed in Öka (Awka) with "wooden head dress, set with pearl buttons" [isi ojongo?]. From the photo album of Northcote Thomas, photographed c. 1910-11. MAA Cambridge.
The elder seems to be titled as she's seen here on what seems to be an oche mpata, a stool for titled people, particularly Ọzọ.
An Igbo elder of Öka (Awka) wearing an okpu agha, or "war hat" as noted here by Northcote Thomas, 1910-11. Northcote Thomas' album, MAA Cambridge.
As a defence against ... weapons the Ibo had devised fibre 'crash' helmets or okpu agha. Those ... are entirely plaited out of the coarse fibre in the stems of Colocasia antiquorum. Dalziel remarks: 'The Ibos use caps or helmets and a kind of armour woven from the fibre got from the petioles.'
– M. D. W. Jeffreys (1956). "Ibo Warfare." Man, Vol. 56 (June, 1956). p. 78.
A woman of Öka (Awka) photographed by British colonial government anthropologist Northcote Thomas, 1910-1911. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.
A blacksmith, ọkpụ ụzụ, and his nwa ụzụ, an apprentice blacksmith. The first job given to a young Igbo blacksmith was to attend to the eko, bellows (pictured) and to do menial tasks like fetching fuel, all while watching and learning from the master blacksmith, the nna ụzụ at work. The nna ụzụ was truly like an nna (father) to the boy whose well-being he was responsible for, including ensuring the upkeep of the boys spiritual care and making prayers and sacrifices to the boys chi when taking trips. Parents kept a watchful eye on the treatment of their apprentice child and could withdraw or transfer their child at any time if there were any concerns over their treatment (or mistreatment).
After they gain some experience, the first work an apprentice got with working with metal was making small chains from brass and other scrap metal; the experienced blacksmiths of the past smithed and produced igwe aga, pig-iron, from iron ore, nne igwe, obtained locally. In Alaigbo (Igbo land), the best known smithing centres were at Awka, Nkwere, and Abiriba; Awka dominated blacksmithing in north-central Alaigbo and Akwa smiths were said to have spent most of their time abroad for work which included areas far outside of Alaigbo [as J. S. Boston (1964) noted, Awka blacksmiths dominated smithing at Igala land, for instance], their work and trading times were scheduled by seasons.
Awka people were generally skilled artisans and long-distance traders (especially of ivory, they had many ivory hunting groups) hence their name, Ọ́ká, meaning artisan or skilled one; they were also well known for being dibia as well as for crafting amulets and making other religious paraphernalia, sometimes even erecting shrines. Awka dominated in wood carving, particularly of wooden screens and the mgbo ezi, the wooden gate once used as the main entrance to a family compound in old times found in museums around the world today, and other items like titled mens stools. The Agulu village-group of Awka, in order to get a competitive edge, had developed the ivu aba private language used by Awka smiths which flipped Igbo words and developed new terms all together. In Awka, nwa ụzụ were usually Awka boys in their early teens who were strong enough for the tasking work at hand; the boys were related to the ọkpụ ụzụ, rarely were non-Awka boys taken under apprenticeship, since the late 20th century, however, this has changed and non-Awka can now enter smithing guilds. Awka blacksmiths were often part of an otu ụzụ, a blacksmithing guild headed by an nna ụzụ (in Awka it is said that the master blacksmith may actually be referred to as nnẹ ụzụ) who led and managed the smiths in workshops, acting as a counsellor who settled tensions and disputes. A workshop was usually a section of a guild and they were small, including less than a dozen workers. Blacksmiths could also travel to work for themselves to supplement their income.
By the 1950s interest in apprenticeships in blacksmithing started to decline, today blacksmithing at Awka is underfunded and under the threat of disappearing, older blacksmiths say that the trade in no longer attractive to young people since it has become less of an economically viable trade.
Photo: “A blacksmith at work” by G. T. Basden, early 20th century, coloured by Ụ́kpụ́rụ́ 2017.
when a daughter marries, the father puts out such a character that appears in the picture outside his house.“Location: Oka, Alaigbo | Date: 1930-31 | Credit: Gustaf Bolinder
Young men of the ogbolo age-grade, with uli and fine hairstyles, Achalla Awka, north central-Igbo area, Nigeria. Photo: K. C. Murray, 1939.
MAN OF AWKA, ABOUT 40 YEARS OF AGE [more like 50].
Her scanty toilet has been completed, apparently to her entire satisfaction, and the gladiatorial headdress represents the dernier cri of in the fashion world of Awka. The crest of wood, ornamented with large pearl buttons, is tightly secured on the top of her head.
