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The Umundri tradition of originM. D. W. Jeffreys aa Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology , University of the WitwatersrandPublished online: 19 Jan 2007.

To cite this article: M. D. W. Jeffreys (1956) The Umundri tradition of origin, African Studies, 15:3, 119-131, DOI:10.1080/00020185608706990

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THE UMUNDRI TRADITION OF ORIGIN

M. D. W. JEFFREYS *

SYNOPSIS

The Umundri are an Ibo group living in the Onitsha Province, Southern Nigeria. Their tradition of originstates that a man, Eri, and his wife came to earth from the sky. Except for the anthill on which they alightedthe earth was a morass. An Awka blacksmith with his equipment was sent to dry up the earth. During Eri'slifetime his people were fed from the sky. When he died this food ceased. Chuku, the sky god, told Ndri, Eri'seldest son, to kill and bury his son and daughter. From their graves sprouted the yam and the kokoyam res-pectively. Upon eating this food Ndri and his people slept for the first time, because till then the sun didnot set. The four days of the week then were given the names of skybeings. Ndri became the first kingand his coronation ritual is still followed. Titles and ranking ensued and the carving of the sun-cult symbolson the faces of this group. Food was then distributed to all mankind. Similar traditions are found elsewhere,pointing to a common source for them all somewhere in the east.

In 1930 the Nigerian Government commissionedme to investigate the magico-religious beliefs ofthe Ibo in the environs of Awka, the headquartersof the Awka Division in the Onitsha Province.Near Awka was Aguku, the centre of the cult ofthe divine Umundri king and thus I was able toobtain my information from the/on* et origo of thiscult.

The origin of the Umundri group is foreshadow-ed in their tradition. As narrated more or lessverbatim, many of the points in this legendaryhistory can be confirmed, or corroborated, fromother narratives. The information was obtainedfrom the source, from those whose duty it was toknow about Such matters, and not from "the manin the street".

So essential is it to go to the source for accurateinformation, that a few remarks upon this aspect

* Dr. M. D. W. Jeffreys retired at the end of 1955,after ten years as Senior Lecturer in Social Anthro-pology in the University of the Witwatersrand, but has

of obtaining anthropological information is neces-sary.

In many books, written about the customs andpractices of nations and peoples of Africa andelsewhere, it is found that information has beenobtained from the "average citizen", "the man inthe street", from any native, provided he couldnot speak English. Yet a moment's thoughtshows, that if "the average man in the street",in London, were asked, e.g. what he knew of"The Thirty Nine Articles", practically no re-liable or accurate information would be obtained.If "the average man in the street", had his witsabout him, he would suggest that the inquirerasked a clergyman, or better still the Archbishopof Canterbury. It is not "the man in the street's"duty to know about such matters, he realizes thatthere are officials whose duty it is to know these

been reappointed in a temporary capacity for 1956.He was formerly for many years a District Officer inNigeria and the Cameroons.

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things. In the same way; the native also realizesthis truth and will say so, yet many investigatorsdo not take the trouble to find out those whoseduties it is to possess such knowledge. Thus,among the Yoruba, there are the Arokins or tribalhistorians, whose duty it is to keep tell of Yorubahistory and traditions.

The necessity for asking those whose businessit is to know the subject on which information issought, and not the first native that is met, isclearly shown in the following extract, where aboy from Bonny is being asked what happened tohim after death, replies:

"Anemea, how should I know. I be poor boy.'Go ask gentleman'. I thought I would ask agentleman or chief, who coolly replied that theJu-ju man (priest) knew everything and that A;was not a Ju-ju man, a fact he knew I was wellacquainted with." •

This same truth, that only specialized personsare in possession of the religious and culturalwisdom of a tribe, is exhibited in the followingextract: "Whenever the (Indian) villagers arequestioned about their creed, says Sir WilliamHunter, the same answer is invariably given.The common people have no idea of religion butto do right (ceremonially) and to worship the.village God." *

Dr. Meek makes practically the same observa-tion. "I do not pretend to have any profoundacquaintance with Jukun religion, for there is nosubject on which the Jukun, who are always a reti-cent people, are more pledged to silence than thatof their religion in general, and the religiousposition of the king in particular. Moreover, thefull ritual surrounding the person of the king isnot merely a secret from all strangers b*ut is un-known to most Jukun themselves." 3

Dr. Farrow writes of the Voruba to the sameeffect. "The higher knowledge of the SupremeBeing seems to be restricted to, and jealouslyguarded by, the few." * There is a Yoruba proverbwhich neatly sums up the whole matter.

1 Smith J. The Gulf of Guinei. p. 26. London 1851.1 Allan G. The Evolution tf the Idea of God. p. 23.

London 1932.* Meek C. K. A Sudanese Kingdom p. 120. I^ondon

1931.

"No one should ask the fish what is done in thefarm, nor should the rat be asked what takesplace in the water." 5

It may seem odd that so much stress should belaid upon so simple a matter, yet how necessarythis caution becomes, may be seen, when it isrealized that one of the claims to an efficient reporton a tribe or group of people, is a remark to theeffect that every town has been visited.

This fact, that tribal knowledge was not widelydisseminated, became apparent when investigatingthe details of the Umundri religion. In Aguku thepriestly family, Adama and the royal familiesfrom which the divine king came, had all suppliedinformation readily. A visit.was then paid toAguleri, an Umundri town, some forty milesaway, and said to be the place where Chuku sentdown Eri, the human founder of the Umundri.When the elders of this town were asked questionsabout their religion, the reply that was given was :"You must ask the people of Aguku, it is theirbusiness to know about such things-it is not ours,and we do not know. We are fisherfolk, and cantell you about fishing."

The town of Aguku Consists of four wards orgroups; namely, Aguku itself, where are the royalfamilies, i.e. from among whom the divine kingmay be selected of the gods; Uru Ovulo, which itis agreed is but a branch of Aguku; Diodo; andAdama: the latter is a priestly family and suppliesattendants to royalty.

Versions of the tradition were obtained fromseveral elders and priests in the different wards.The Aguku version, which is the fullest, will begiven first. It runs as follows:

"The name of our founder is Ndri, one of thesons of Eri and Namaku his wife. Now Eri andNamaku came from the sky, but in the start ofsuch things the head (origin) will never be found.(The Informant implied that the statement thatEri came from the sky is as far back as the storythey know carries them, but that they believe

• Farrow S. S. Faith, Fancies and Fetish, p. 31.London 1926.

* Tucker Miss. Abbeokuta or Sunrise within theTropics, p. 278. London 1856.

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there is more to tell, only it has now been for-gotten.)

"Eri and Namaku were sent down by Chuku,a sky-god. They had the following children in theorder of seniority as given herewith.

NdriAguleriAgbariam or OnugoAmanuke or Olin Odudu

"Eri had another wife, and from her cameIdah. (Now an Igilla town on the right bank of theNiger.) He was the only child of his mother,and when Eri died she, fearing lest his four half-brothers by the wife, Namaku, would destroy him,advised him to separate from them and make aplace for himself. She made magic with a roundstone which she placed on Idah's head, and senthim across the Niger and told him to walk withthe stone on his head and not to touch it with hishands. He was to settle where the stone fell. Hedid so and that is how the town of Idah started.1

Idah is the head of all the towns round about,and they are known as Igala towns.

"Onojo Obori was the eldest son of Idah. Hewas born where Idah now is. This man was a

1 Frobenius L. The Voice of Africa. Vol. II. pp. 542-543. London 1913. —

This account of Idah founding his town around astone has a parallel in the legend told of Kisra in thevicinity of Bida. An Allendjenu (Djinn) called ShrandeliDan Sherbo lived in a stone. King Kisra was constantlybeing defeated in battle. He decided to build his cityround about this stone. "There upon the city of Kisrawas builded round about that stone. Three monthsafterwards Anabi Nuhu (his enemy) came again andfought against King Kisra. Yet King Kisra and hisfighting men were once more vanquished by AnabiNuhu. Then Kisra, the King, went to the stone andspoke these words: 'O stone ! we have built our cityhere. I beseech thee ! I beseech thee ! I beseech thee !Let it not come to pass that Anabi Nuhu again obtainvictory ! N'ow Allendjenu Shrandeli was in that stone.'!t was arranged that a sacrifice demanded by Shrandelishould be made by King Kisra.

"Kisra the king made sacrifice on the stone : redcock, red he-goat, red bull, red stallion, red man,red robe and red cloth. Kisra poured the victims'blood over the stone. He bound the cloth round thestone. Then he built a house over it." (After that hewas victorious. M. J.)

! Burton R. Abeokuta and the Cameroon! MountainsVol. 1. p. 192. London 1863.—

The Yoruba have a tradition of a warlike giant."The people (of Abeokuta) have a tradition that in theolden time a six-fingered giant dwelt at the Egba townof Igbehi. When summoned to swear by Orulcako,

giant and a great warrior.2 He uprooted a cotton-tree with his hands, and stuck it upside down inthe ground.3 Aguleri, the second son of Eri, re-mained in the home settlement. (This action of thesecond son is against the practice found through-out Igbo-land. The Okpala, or eldest son, remainsin his father's compound and inherits it and thefamily Obu or lodgehouse.) Ndri, Omegu and partof Amanuke left Aguleri and founded their ownsettlements. Ndri went to Afondri, now deserted.He did not like the place, so he moved on aftera short while to a site near the present town ofEnugu, but after the assassination by the Enuguof an eze Ndri the town was moved to its presentsite.4 Part of Olin Odudu accompanied Ndri, andtheir descendants now form the Diodo group. Atthe time of Ndri's arrival in this part of the world,there were no other towns in the immediatevicinity, nothing but open country, and so thesettlement was called Aguku, meaning, the greatfield.

Agu •= open-plain; prairie, veld.Uku — great, large, big.5

"These other towns that came and settledaround us are not colonies of Ndri but subjects of

at Irawo (a town in Western Yoruba) he waxed wroth,slew the priests, and carried off ten of the sacred (iron)bars, for which reason no'native of Igbehi is allowed toenter Irawo."

* Meek C. K. A Sudanese Kingdom, p. 47. London1931. (See also page 19.) — This legendary account ofa son of an Idah king uprooting trees and plantingthem upside down has a jukun parallel. Ajiku, a Ju-kun's eldest son went off hunting against the wishes ofhis father. While Ajiku was away the old king handedover the royal insignia to his younger sons and thendied. On Ajiku's return from the hunt he endeavouredto regain the royal insignia and pursued after his youngerbrothers. "Ajiku continued the pursuit, but the dungof his brothers' horses turned into a marsh and theirwater into a river, so that Ajiku was compelled to giveup the chase, haying finally thrown at the fugitives ashea-tree which landed on the ground upside down andis to be seen growing in that position to-day."

* As Eri had been succeeded by numerous ezeNdri before the move of the town after the assassinationof an ese Ndri, the narrator has been nodding a littlein his account.

'Thomas N. W. Report-Ibo Speaking Peoples.Part I. p. 55. London 1913.—When these investiga-tions were made it was assumed that Aguku meant"Big leopard" as it is customary in many places soto address priest-chiefs and as' Northcote Thomasexpressly says it does so mean. It came as a surpriseto be told by the elders of Aguku that the namehad no connection with "leopard" but that the town

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Ndri.1 They were not in the beginning of Umundristock. However part of Enugu (Awka) and Aka-mpesi say all this great field is theirs.*

"AH the first things happened at Aguleri.There the land was made dry and food given tothe world. Ndri and the rest of En's childrenwere born there. Ndri is the ancestor of thepresent family of Odanulu in Aguleri; and thesite of Ndri's old Obu (lodge or reception house)is still indicated by that family. The eze Ndrifrom Aguku when he arrives in Aguleri to get theOdudu (sacred lump of clay) makes a sacrifice atObuga in the umunna of Eziagulu Obuga.

"The Umundri started thus-wise at Aguleri.Eri and Namaku were sent down by Chuku fromthe sky but not Ndri his son.3 When Eri came downfrom the sky he had to stand on an antheap asall the land was then a morass. He complainedbitterly to Chuku, who thereupon sent him anAwka man with bellows, charcoal and fire to dryup the land and he did so.4

"While Eri was alive he and his dependantswere fed by Chuku and their food was azu igtce(back of the sky: sky-substance).* Those who ateit never slept. When Eri died this food supplyceased and Ndri at Aguleri complained to Chukuthat there was no food. Chuku replied that ifNdri did as he was told he could obtain food.

Ndri asked what it was he had to do, and Chukutold him that he was to kill and bury his eldestson and daughter. Ndri said that this commandwas too hard a thing for him to do, and he wouldnot do it. So Chuku mentioned the name of Diokato Ndri. Now Dioka is the eponymous founder ofthe guild that cuts the ichi facial cicatrisation marksfor all titled men. His descendants continue theart to-day and are represented by the town ofUmudioka near Oreri. * Chuku said he wouldsend from the sky, Dioka to carve the ichi markson the faces of these two children. Then Ndri wasto cut their throats and to bury their bodies inseparate graves.7

"This killing of the eldest son and daughterwas carried out, and the bodies buried in separategraves. Three native weeks later, shoots appearedout of the graves of these children. From thegrave of his son, Ndri dug up a yam, cooked andate it and found it so pleasing and satisfying thathe fell into so deep a sleep that his family thoughthim to be dead. When- he awoke and rubbed hiseyes his family were astonished and remarkedthat they thought he had died. He explained tothem what he had done, and they also ate of theyam, liked it, and also fell asleep.

"The next day Ndri dug up koko yams from hisdaughter's grave, ate them and likewise slept again.For this reason the yam is called the son of Ndri

was so called because of the large open (i.e. treeless)stretch of country round about the present town.It appears that this word supplies a good instance ofthe meaning varying not with the sound but with thetone, thus Ago =» reincarnation. Ago — farm. Ago =leopard. Ago *- hunger. Ago = kite. Agu •= mesh.Agu — desire. Agu •-= garden. Agu = Mischievoussprite (a). With such a variety of meanings to selectfrom it seemed advisable to accept the statement ofthe elders of Aguku that the word meant, large, openfarm-land.

(a) The Ibo-Speaking Peoples, p. vars. Part II.London 1913.

1 Johnson O. The History of the Yorubas. p. 17.London 1921. —The Yoruha have the same story con-cerning the Kgba community. "All the principal fami-lies of the Kgbas trace their origin from Oyo (theroyal city), hence the common saying 'Rgbas who havenot their root in Oyo arc slaves', i.e. belong to the con-quered aboriginal population."

! There was a land dispute on at the time in whichthese parties were involved and it was necessary tohead off my informant from this topic.

* Burton R. Abenkuui ami the Cameroon Mountains.Vol. I. p. 186. London 1863. —Cfr. The Yoruba

legend of a sky origin for their people. Burton speakingof Abeokuta writes: "Obatala created the first manOkikiski-so called from Okiki, fame, or Obalofuthe lord of speech, equivalent to the Adam of theHebrews; and the first woman was his wife lye, orlife, from 'ye' to live; in sound and idea curiously re-sembling Hawwa or Eve. They came from Heaven,an idea also found in the book of Genesis."

4 Thomas N. W. Report-Ibo Speaking Peoples.Pait 1. p. 138. London 1913. — "Cuku first made anantheap and sent the Ezenri to sit on it; then he tookOton, ofo and alo, and put them on the antheap:when the king sat on the antheap there was no dry-ground, so Chuku sent a blacksmith who blew hisbellows and made the ground strong."

* Cfr. Ife gbalu azu igwe, which means "light atback of sky".

* Basden G. T. Among the Ibos of Xigeria. p. 79.London 1921. — "The men of Umu-di-Awka journeyfrom place to place practising the art of cicatrization,they being recognized experts in the cutting of ichior tribal marks."

* Ivor-Evans A. N. Journal of the Roval Anthropo-logical Institute Vol. XLIII. 1913. p. "478.—Thereare instances throughout the world of the slaying,

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THE UMUNDRI TRADITION OF ORIGIN 123

,and the koko yam the daughter of Ndri.1 When aman takes up a post of eze Ndri he does not haveto kill his first born son and daughter, though bothare still marked with ichi marks in remembrance ofthis time. This killing of the children was doneonly once by the first eze Ndri who therebybrought food amongst men. 2"

At Oreri, which is an Umundri town with adivine king and which seceded from Aguku, I wasinformed that Ndri planted the first banana andplantain.

"Ndri also had a male and female slave killedand buried and in three native weeks there sprangfrom the grave of the male slave an oil-palm,' andfrom the grave of the female slave, a bread-fruittree. Ndri then told Chuku about the new foodsupply and how he liked it. Whereupon Chukuordered him to distribute this new food to allpeople, but Ndri said he could never do so, be-cause this food was obtained by the death of his

dismembering and burial of the parts of a human beingto ensure fertility of the crops. Thus there is the ins-tance of Halfan the BIack,(of Norway whose body washacked up and parts of it buried throughout the king-dom. I know of no other instance in Africa where afirst-born child of the reigning family is sacrificed toproduce food. There is, however, a very similar legendfrom British North Borneo. In this legend Kenha-ringan, the chief god, and Munumundok his wifeand the chief goddess, created between them theearth and the sky, the sun, moon, stars and the Dusun,(the people who tell the legend). These two beings hadone son and he and his wife "killed their girl child andcut it up and from the different portions of its bodygrew all things good to eat: its head gave rise tothe coco-nut, you can see the marks of its eyes andmouth on the coconut to this day; from its armbones arose sugar cane; its fingers became bananasand its blood padi".

1 Meek C. K. A Sudanese Kingdom, p. 129. Oxford1931. — This identification of the food supply with theoffspring of the first eze Ndri finds a similar expressionamong the Jukun where each divine king is actuallyidentified with the crops. "He is identified with thecrops and is addressed as Azaiwo (our Guinea-corn),Afyewo (our Ground-nuts) or Asoiwo (our Beans)just as in ancient Egypt the Pharoah was addressed bythe title of "our Crop' and 'our Harvest'."

1 Frobenius L. The Voice of Africa. Vol. II. p. 582.London 1913. — Another instance, where the lives of acommunity were saved by the sacrifice of the king'seldest son and daughter, occurs in a story told of theNupe king, Edsuzado, when hard pressed by the forcesof Osman Saki. Edsuzado had sought the help of thepeople of Kanshi on the Niger. The elders asked thatEdsuzado's eldest son and daughter be offered upin sacrifice over a great fire. This was done. Theirskins were made the tympanums of two drums, andtheir ashes into a magical concoction, and attached to

own children.4 Chuku insisted that this food begiven to the world, and therefore there would beno need for any other towns to kill their first-bornboy and girl. As a reward for distributing food tothe other towns Ndri would have the right ofcleansing every town of an abomination (nso) orbreach of tabu committed in it, of crowning theeze at Aguleri, and of tying on the ngwulu (ankle-cords) when a man took the title of ozo. Also heand his successors would have the privilege ofmaking the oguji, or yam-medicine, each year forensuring a plentiful supply of yams in all sur-rounding towns, or in towns that subjected them-selves to the eze Ndri. For this medicine all thesurrounding towns would come in and pay tribute,and Umundri people then could travel unarmedthrough the world and no one would attack orharm them. So Ndri distributed yams and koko-yams, and that is how the world got its food.6

"Thus Eri and Akaw and Dioka have all* come

the drums. At the sound of these drums the wholeNupe nation rose and defeated Osman Saki's forces.

• From the oil-palm an intoxicating wine used inworship is made.

• Thomas N. W. Report - lbo Speaking Peoples.Part I. p. 137. London 1913. — Thomas gives the fol-lowing account of this legend: "Another myth saysthat no one could sleep at first, but one day a child-king went to Cuku's place for firewood. Cuku took apiece of yam and gave it to the child and when it gothome it lay down and slept. Its parents thought it wasdead and lamented, but when it woke it explainedmatters to its father; the child was sent for more yams ;he brought some home and the king and his wife bothate. The king then resolved to go and fetch the yamsfrom Cuku; Cuku then made a bargain with the kingthat he was to mark his son with the ici marks and cutoff the heads of both his son and his daughter and thenbury them in his garden ; a male slave was also to bekilled and a female slave and gardens were to be madewith their heads. He was to wait twelve days and thengo and look and in twelve days yams had sprung fromthe heads of the men and koko yams from the women ;from the elder son had sprung palm and coconut andall big trees, and from the daughter corn and all plants."

(In this version the coconut and maize are mentionedas springing from the graves of the three human sacri-fices. The coconut is known to have been introducedby the Portuguese, and in Igbo is called the whiteman'snut (eku beke). Maize under various names such asabahpa (Ibibio) akpakpa (Igbo) appears to be linkedwith the Jukun who are known as the Akpa in manyplaces. Maize, like the coconut, is not indigenous toWest Africa and both are late introductions. Theywere not mentioned when the Aguku legend of originwas narrated to me and their appearance in the accountgiven by Northcote Thomas appears to be an innova-tion by the Umundri narrator. M. J.)

• Thomas N. W. Report - lbo Speaking Peoples

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from the sky, sent down by Chuku, but it wasEri who obtained food from Chuku."

Aguleri, and then only a part of it, has butonce been to Aguku for oguji (the yam fertilitymedicine) and Idah never.

When an eze of Idah is crowned it was statedthat an Ndri man has to be there to put the crownon his head. Nnalua, Jacob, Ongwure, are Ndrimen alive to-day who have done this. They werenot available for cross-examination, and in viewof the Atta of Adah's claim to bestow nobility uponthe Igbo towns around Idah it is unlikely that to-day he dons his crown only in the presence of anUmundri man. The people of Aguku also claimthat they have the right to crown the eze of Aguleri,and remarked that the present eze was not validlyand properly crowned, for no Ndri man attendedhis coronation. Nwankbo, an Ndri man now deadand buried in Aguku, is said to have crownedEkwue of the ward of Enugu in Aguleri as eze.

"Ndri was the first man to take a title and tointroduce the idea of titles among us. He becameeze Ndri, and others became eze ozo, after him,and in memory of him. The eze Ndri is thereforethe senior titled man of all titled men. He wasfirst to tie the rjgtmilu (ankle-cords) on the anklesof other titled men, and so to-day the right oftying ygioulu on to the ankles of those men wholake ozo title belongs to the descendants of Ndri,and for this service the ozo man pays a fee to hisNdri sponsor. The descendants of Ndri obtainedthis right because their ancestor, Ndri, killed hisson and daughter to get food, which was distri-buted to Aguleri, Igbariam, / manuke and Idah."

Whether Ndri is a proper name, or a commonname, or was originally a title, cannot now beascertained. To-day it appears to be a title. AnAguku native with some education was asked his

Part I. p. 138. London 1913. — Thomas reportedmuch the same story. "Then people planted yams andate and all slept; all countries came to beg the kingfor yams but he said he could not sell, they had to bringseven fowls, a pot, chalk, and goats. The king mademedicine with it and they took it to their lands andsacrificed to Evejioko; the king told them he couldn'tsell but only give yams for they were his children;they on the other hand were to give yams to Nri menwhen they saw them; if people refuse to do this theNri man puts down Oton and takes it away and theyams follow him; to get yams.again the man must

opinion on the meaning of Ndri, and he replied:"The king at Agugku is called Ndri. He alone hasthe privilege of being called by this name. It isreally a title of address just as in Egypt the kingwas called the Pharoah and in Persia, Xerxes. Youmay say eze Ndri, if you like, but Ndri is thecorrect title by which to address him and he alonemay be thus addressed."

It should be noticed that the idea of takingtitle, (i.e. of going through the ennobling or coro-nation ceremony whereby a man loses his humanstatus and becomes a form or representativeof, or identified with, a god), was introduced byNdri, a son of Eri. As Eri came from the skythere was no need to ennoble him, but becauseNdri was earth-born the necessity for him totake title, to assume ceremonially the status ofhis ancestor becomes apparent. It is also impor-tant to notice that each succeeding eze is identi-fied with Ndri, aa.eze in Aguku or in Oreri,in each case his title is eze Ndri.

The Aguku elder continued: "In the beginning,the days of the week had no names, for there wasno way of counting the days because the sun wasalways shining and no one slept.1 Then fourstrangers arrived at Aguleri with four baskets.Ndri asked Chuku where they came from. Chukurefused to say, but said he would send a personwho would divulge their names and tell wherethey came from. A wise person (Okpeta) wassent to Ndri. Okpeta brought a rat (oke) withhim. At night he tied a string round the rat'smiddle and told the rat to enter the first basket :the rat did so and made a noise therein. One ofthese unknown visitors (ndi amorafafa) shookthe owner of this basket and said 'Eke Eke'and told him that something was making a noisein his basket. When Eke was about to get up to

bring fowls etc., to the king."1 Talbot P. A. The Peoples of Southern Nigeria.

Vol. II. p. 194. Oxford 1926. — In this matter of therebeing perpetual daylight the following piece of reported

.magic is of legendary interest: "The Alagba priests(of the Yoruba) of the society (Egungun) are creditedwith the power not only of making rain fall on anyparticular place, but, when going on a journey in thedark, of making the sunlight follow them as long asthey like. They cannot perform this latter marvel often,however, without shortening their lives."

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find out the cause of the noise, Okpeta pulledthe rat away. So when Eke looked in he sawnothing to cause the noise. Eke went to sleep.Okpeta noted the name, Eke, and sent the ratinto another basket to make a noise thereinand the next man woke up and called to theowner of the basket saying 'Oye, Oye, somethingis in your basket' Okpeta did as before, and so 0.1for the other two baskets and secured the names Afoand Ngkwo. He then knew the names of the fourstrangers who had come. These four men foundedfour maikets, and that is how the Igbo got theirfour-day week. These four strangers were sentby Chuku, and their baskets contained fish andthey traded in fish."1

At this point the story of the tradition endsand a more historical narrative continues therecord. This narrative contains the names ofpredeceased eze. It is now necessary to make afew comments.on this tradition for which evi-dence has already been adduced to suggest thatit is an Igala one.

The tradition refers to Idah as being foundedby a younger son of Eri and that therefore theUrhundri and the Igala should be of one stockas the tradition maintains. The tradition is thatan Ndri man must crown the Attah of Idah.On the other hand the story in Idah is that theAttah bestows titles on the neighbouring Igbo sothat there is definitely recognized a mutual relation-ship if not a common Igala origin. This mutualrelationship is corroborated by the fact that theAguku legend of the giant Onojo Obori is paral-lelled by a similar legend told in Idah. ThusMr. Seton in 1928 wrote: "Legends of Onojo

1 Thomas N. W. Report-Ibo Speaking Peoples.Part I. p. 138. London 1913. — Thomas reports thenaming of the Igbo week days as follows : "Cuku sentthe days of the week ; four things like women carriedbaskets and came to the king's house, neither king nordoctors knew what they were, but they said that if theking did not sleep he would see at night; a rat cameout and went inside the basket, calling Eke, Eke, whatis inside your basket and so on for the other days:the king remembered the four names and when the fourthings stood in a row he called them by their names."

* Meek C. K. An Ethnological Report of the Peoplesof the Nsuhka Division. Onitsha Province, o. 4. Lagos1931. — Mi. Meek considers that this giant was anhistorical person. Writing of the Ibo in the NsukkaDivision he remarks : "Though there is little traditional

Obori . . . He is said to have been a giant inheight and to have had six fingers and toes.His personal prowess was such that a wholevillage would flee on seeing him approach alone."*

Further information was given concerninglegendary Attahs of Idah and of practices atIdah connected with the death of such kings.This information was as follows : After sevenyears the Attah of Idah was strangled by hisenraged eunuchs, enraged at being castratedwhen adult men. There is also the account of howan unpopular eze of Idah was removed by hispeople. The story as told in Aguku, ran asfollows: A deep pit was dug. The eze of Idahwas called and a man was appointed to show itto him. Both fell into the pit together, where-upon his subjects promptly filled it in and sorid themselves of their eat.

These two accounts, the castration of fullgrown males and the death of an eze in a pitshould be compared with the following extracttaken from an account of the installation of theAttah of Idah. Describing .the duties performedby the Attah on the first day after completing hisinstallation, Mr. Seton, District Officer, writes :"On this day also a new eunuch was made(probably more than o n e ) . . . "

Describing one of the legendary Attahs, Oboniby name, Mr. Seton writes that at Oguruggruthis Attah, after having failed in his attempt ata war on heaven, decided to make war onthose under the earth.3 "Here he said he wasdetermined to fight the people under-ground,and set an army of men to dig a long deep holesloping into the earth. It is supposed to havereached a length of eight miles. Into this heevidence of direct contact with Idah it is admitted thatmost of the Nsukka Division was at one time (howlong ago cannot now be determined) overrun by anIgala raider known as Onu (chief) Ojo Ogbonyi. Thisperson is reputed to have been the son of the Ata ofIdah . . . He is said to have been a giant with six fingersand toes, and to have died at Ogurugu."

• Farrow S. S. Faith, Fancies and Fetish, p. 18.London 1926.—The occurrence of similar stories in

• both the Yoruba and Jukun tradition suggests a com-mon origin. The Yoruba legend is : "Lishabi'sRock is a cliff on the bank of the river Ogun, aboutmidway between Lagos and Abeokuta, where Lishabi,a great hunter and warrior and the reputed founderof Abeokuta, is said to have descended into the earthafter suffering defeat at the hands of the Dahomians."

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first sent 500 okute bearers, and 1,000 drummers.After which he himself rode in on horsebackand bade his nobles follow: 'He wishes us allto die with him. We will not follow him. Let usfill in the hole before he can get out.' This theydid with rocks, tree-trunks, stones and earth.The place is said to be haunted, and at nightthe sound of drums and kakaMya can be heardthere."1

Such narratives in Aguku and in Idah con-cerning the death of legendary Attahs is corro-boration of the assertion that if the Umundriare not of actual Igala extraction, then the Umu-ndri and the Igala have a common origin.

In most of the other versions the ancestor ofthe group is claimed to be Ndri, and not Eriwho is never mentioned. The general characteris-tic of these other versions is that they are poorerboth in detail and in incident. The account givenby one Okeke who comes from the family of thelast eze Ndri runs as follows : "Ndri was theoriginal man sent by Chuku who also sent anAwka man to dry the land with bellows, fire andcharcoal. An ofo was given to Awka by Ndrito confirm him in the work of a blacksmith whichhe was to perform when travelling about. Whenfood became scarce Chuku instructed Ndri tokill his eldest son.and eldest daughter. He didso and buried them and so procured yams andkoko yams. He also killed and buried a maleand female slave. Their skulls were buried sepa-rately from their bodies, and after three nativeweeks out of the burial place of the male skullgrew an oil-palm, and out of the female grewa bread-fruit tree. In this way Ndri and hisfamily were supplied with food. Chuku orderedthat this food should be distributed among thesurrounding peoples. Ndri demurred but wasover-ruled by Chuku. Ndri then said he wouldmake a charge for distributing the yams, and that

1 Seton R. S. Journal of the Royal AnthropologicalInstitute. Vol. LVIII. 1928. pp. 266-267.

• Hocart A. M. The Progress of Man. p. 278. London1933. — In support of the suggestion that Eri was,e.g. the leader of a migratory expedition which containedartisans, the following questions are relevant. Cfr."Archeology is accumulating evidence that extensivecommercial expeditions were carried out at a veryearly period."

Glanville S. R. K. The Egyptians..p. 49. London

is why, even to this day, surrounding townsstill pay tribute to Ndri's descendants." Thelegend accounts for the sky origin of the follow-ing persons, Ndri, who introduced the ideaof the kingship and of the nobility, i.e. the takingof titles through the use of the ofo or sacredbundle ; Awka, (Oka) who was a blacksmith ;Umudioka who cut the first ichi marks on thefirst born son and daughter of Ndri, preparatoryto their being sacrificed to produce food. Thesepeople, with the root "oka" in their names, arecharacterized by one common feature, viz., alltheir work can be described as handcraft. Now,the present Igbo word for a hand is aka. Theroot of the verb, "to carve marks with a knife",is -ka. Any craftsman, e.g. a carpenter or apainter is to-day called oka. In all these wordsthere is the root idea of "work with the hands",i.e. handcraft. It seems not' unreasonable tosuggest that the word "Awka" (Oka) is really adescriptive term for the craftsmen who accompa-nied Eri from the skyworld, and that the settle-ments are represented to-day by the towns ofAwka (artisans) and of Umudioka, (Umu-children of, di~ sign of the plural, oka- artisans).It was no uncommon thing for a communityto migrate as a complete unit; and it is just possiblethat the legend describes such an actual migra-tion and its final settlement in a strange landamong strange people, who were half ape andhalf man, and lived like animals in the bush.*Because Ndri supplied to all people, his des-cendants are allowed free access to all Igbotowns.

This traditional account of how food came tomen on earth from Chuku on high is daily broughtbefore the notice of all ozo titled men. Thesemen whenever they salute the sky-beings, do soby raising their ngtvu agiliga (ozo sacred spears)to the sky, and then bringing them smartly down,

1933. — "But in the ancient world for many centuriesthe exchange of goods between ordinary folk of diffe-rent countries seems to have been carried on by guildsof craftsmen who exported themselves rather thantheir wares. In other words, they split up into groupsand moved in caravans from one country to another.There they settled for a varying length of time andfollowed their particular calling . . . Sometimes thesecraftsmen settled for good in the foreign country towhich they came."

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thereby driving the spears into the ground.While lifting the spears to the heavens, such menwill say: "Chuku, via riani wetalum ife: ife tint,naife nine", which being interpreted means :"Chuku, come to earth, bring me something,food, and all other things."

Some comments are necessary on the tradition.Thus, Northcote Thomas states that when he re-corded this tradition he was informed that untilChuku presented yams to the human race, yamswere unknown. Yams were at that time "un-known to man, for human beings walked in thebush like animals".

Who were these beings who lived like animalsin the bush until Chuku sent yams ? Were thesebeings the indigenous Igbo or were they theUmundri themselves. Is this statement an his-torical truth or an oral dramatization of ritual ?This statement about human beings living likeanimals in the bush, i.e. as food-gatherers untilyams were sent by Chuku, if true history, couldrefer to the Igbo indigenous inhabitants and wouldthen fit in with the other part of. the tradition,namely, that after Chuku gave yams these weredistributed to the rest of the world by the Umu-ndri.

As history it would also fit in with the factthat the Umundri are not Igbo. In a prayerheard at Aguku, occurred the sentence, "ofo mnyiji eli Igbo" (ofo sacred emblem) with which we eatthe Igbo).1 These words indicate that the Igbowere in existence when the Umundri invadersarrived who subdued or "ate" them throughthe power of the ofo.

Outside confirmation of the idea that the Igbowere food-gatherers, living like animals in amorass (i.e. on uncultivated land), until the sky-god sent Eri and others to make the land habi-table, is found in the story of the founding ofthe Yoruba nation. "There is evidence at Ife to-day which suggests that the place had been in-habited for sometime before the Yorubas arrived,

1 Meek C. K. A Sudanese Kingdom, p. 25. London1931. — This same idea of conquering a race by eatingit is recorded by Mr. Meek. "It is stated that the chiefof Kororofa came to attack Kano, and that the peopleof Kano left the city and went to Daura. The invaderscon sequently ate up the whole country."

but there are no stories as to what became of theinhabitants. These original people are nowcalled 'Igbos' and Ife town is sometimes called'Ife Oye Lagbo i.e. the town of the people whonever died*. The first inhabitants were said to behalf man and half ape."1

This assertion that these first inhabitants werehalf man and half ape agrees with what wastold to Northcote Thomas at Aguku, that originallymen were like animals wandering in the bush.The fact that the Yoruba refer to these originalpeople as Igbo, and that the Umundri refer to all.their surrounding people as Igbo who are there-fore not of Umundri stock, is an argument thatthese areas were inhabited by a food-gatheringtype of person when both the Yoruba and theUmundri ancestors arrived. The word Igboappears to come from a root whose primarymeaning is "people of the bush or forest,3 andlater to have acquired the derived, or secondarymeaning of serf".

Against accepting this statement about men andanimals being true history is the fact that thestory ought to be told by the Igbo themselves,of themselves, narrating how sky-beings ap-peared among them and how yams came to betheir food. But the Igbo do not tell this story.It is told only by the royal Umundri familiesin Aguku and not elsewhere. This fact, that thestory, the myth, the word is the sole propertyof a number of royal families in one town pointsto the conclusion that it is not Igbo history.

As an historical event there would be no objectin the Umundri invaders embodying within thetexture of their legend of origin an account ofhow their sudden irruption into the land of theIgbo must have appeared to the Igbo. Such anevent, as an invasion by the Umundri forefathers,could not have been anything unusual or of suffi-cient significance to be incorporated in theirtradition. Again, the statement refers to whatmen were like in the beginning. The Igbo could

• Ward-Price H. L. Land Tenure in the YorubaProvince, p. 1. Lagos 1933. ,

• Among the Yoruba; Igbo-forest. Compare theEnglish word Heathen which merely means people ofthe heath: so that Igbo may have meant originally, peopleof the bush or forest.

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not hare been the first people to experience theshock of the type of culture introduced among themby the Umundri.

Can the statement then be Umundri history ?Reasons will be given to show that the statementmost likely refers to a ritual process and is accor-dingly part of the historical record of their ritual.In other words, the statement is an oral dramati-zation of a ritual step and as such is Umundriritual history. That some such explanationaccounts for the historical accuracy of the state-ment, that until Chuku sent yams men livedlike animals, may be gathered from the followingremarks. Those who first came from Chuku werefed by him. When they died or disappeared theheavenly supply of food ceased or was cutoff. Thedescendants suffered hunger and were famishedun il Chuku sent them the gifts of yams and otherfood.

It is difficult to believe that this statement isa record of actual fact. Here were, human beingswho had a high degree of culture, so high thatits origin was ascribed to the sky and yet wereunaware of the planting of crops. As a record ofactual fact it is difficult to accept, as a record ofa ritual step in a ceremony it is acceptable and italso offers an explanation for an obscure part ofthe present coronation ceremony.

It will be noticed that in the tradition this timeof hunger, of living like animals in the bush,occurs after the death of the first sky-being tocome to earth.

.If now it is realized that the fertility of man'scrops depends on the divine king then the storyof this famine, this period of living like animalsin the bush, becomes explicable. If the king isnot the actual food crop, and among the Jukunhe is thus definitely identified with the crops,yet the king and the crops are intimately con-nected or interrelated, so much so that if thereis no king the fertility of the earth is gone ; it isfutile to plant and there are crops. There canbe no new crops until a new king comes andbrings the gift of food and fertility with him.During this interregnum the people have to make

1 Meek C. K. A Sudanese Kingdom, p. 177. London1931.

what shift they can for sustenance and mayhave to live like animals in the bush on whatthey can find there. Men would thus be thrownupon their own resources, be forced to hunt forsuch food as they could find in the bush till anew king came.

Among the Jukun some such idea exists, forwhen there is no king, certain food restrictionsare imposed. "During the interregnum nopounding of corn in mortars is allowed ; the cornhas to be beaten with sticks, and it is said that thepeople suffer considerable discomfort owing tothis rough method of preparing the flour. Theconception underlying this practice would seemto be that the late king, who has now become anOsiris, has gone away with the Corn, and thatthe people are left destitute until the new kingarrives from the skies to play the part of Horns.That year's harvest is regarded as belonging tothe dead king, so that the new king may be said,like Horus, to 'reap the barley of his father'."'

This explanation accounts for that ritualstep which in the coronation ceremony requiredthe divine king to live for a time in booths. He isgoing through the process of living like an animaltill he, as a new king, is. crowned, and bringsback fertility to the land, and crops to men'sfarms.

So far only incidents in the tradition havebeen discussed : e.g. the introduction of foodfrom Chuku : the living like animals in the bush.Taken separately, each item can be made to applyto the indigenous Igbo as statements of historicalfact but the tradition cannot thus be treatedpiecemeal. It must be dealt with as a whole.As a whole it fulfils the essential ritual of themyth in the ceremony : as a whole it is foundnarrated only in Aguku and as a whole it formspart of the Umundri culture. These considera-tions lead to the conclusion that the mythis an oral dramatization of the ritual and providesthe purpose for performing the ritual, namely,to ensure the fertility of the land ; rather thanthat the myth is an historical description of thesudden and startling arrival among a food-gathering community of a king cult with itssacred emblem the ofo, and a high degree of

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civilization which included a knowledge of agri-culture and of metal working.

That the Igbo were already in occupation ofthe land when the Umundri arrived is undoub-tedly correct, but that this invasion is chronicledin the Umundri legend cannot, I think, beaccepted.

It is thus clear that like many agriculturaltribes, e.g. in the United States, the Umundritradition shows a belief in creators who were inthe sky and from whom they obtained all theirculture. They make no claim for originalitythemselves. The fundamentals of their cultureare ascribed to sky-beings ; it was by them thatthey were created and taught.1

Another version ascribes all the legendaryhappenings to have taken place at the presentAguku but the history of this town shows thatits present site is recent. This version runs asfollows : "Adama, the group whose duty it isto attend to the divine king, the eze Ndri, andhis wants, were here first. It was then all swamp.Ndri came down from the sky and met Adamahere and said: 'So you are here already?' 'Yes',replied Adama. Ndri said the land was very bad,too wet and too soft, unhealthy and withoutfood. So the two of them together asked Chukuand Anyangwu to send Awka to them with fireand bellows and charcoal to dry the land. Chukusent Awka who with charcoal, fire and bellowsdried the land and that is how Awka came intoexistence.

"Until Awka had dried up the land therewere no otonsi."* It was Awka who made thefirst otonsi and enabled us to go travelling toclear abominations."

Another version obtained in the obtoe of Diodofrom one Obu Mmo ran as follows : "Ndrinamokewas the first eze Ndri. He came down from thesky and found Adama already here. The landwas a morass, so Adama was sent to Awka andreturned with four blacksmiths who broughtfire, bellows and charcoal. They fixed theirbellows round about the land, made fires and

1 Perry W. J. Gods and Men. pp. 15-16. London 1927.* Sacred spears carried by the people of Ndri both

male and female. The spear carried by the male is

dried up the earth. Ndri's son was sent to Chukuto get fire and found Chuku eating cooked yam,whereupon Chuku gave him a piece of yam.He ate a piece and brought a piece back to hisfather. His father liked the taste of it and sosent his son back again to Chuku to get some more.His son on arriving found Chuku eating cookedkoko-yam. Chuku gave him some and the sonate some and took the rest to his father. Hisfather also liked the taste of the koko-yam and wentto Chuku himself to obtain supplies of boththese foods. Chuku told him to kill his eldestson and daughter and to bury their skulls sepa-rately and that in three native weeks what ap-peared in the graves should be dug up and wouldbe found to be yam and koko-yam.

"Ndrinamoke returned and took a male anda female slave and killed them instead, andburied their skulls. After three native weeksnothing had appeared, so he returned to Chukuand complained that he had done as directed butthat nothing had appeared from the two graves.Chuku pointed out that Ndrinamoke had notkilled his eldest son and eldest daughter and thatif he had done so he would now be in possessionof yam and koko-yam. Ndrinamoke returnedand taking two dogs, gave one to the mother ofhis eldest son and told her to go from Eke marketto market throughout the land. The other dog hegave to the mother of his eldest daughter and toldher likewise to go from Oye market to Oye market.

"In this way, in the absence of the mothersof these children, he was able to lay hands upon,them and kill them. He cut the bodies intopieces and buried them in separate graves andafter three native weeks there grew from themyams and koko-yams as predicted. Ndrinamokedug up the food and ate of it and told Chukuthat he could not share his flesh and blood withother towns. Chuku ordered him to distribute thefood for tribute rand that no son of Ndrinamokewas to pay for food when visiting a town. Suchdescendants were to be paid eight yams onvisiting a town, while all tribute paid was to be

long, that by the female, short. They are used in purg-ing towns and persons of the effect of a breach of nso'

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; AFRICAN STUDIES Vol. 15-No. 3-1956

divided into two parts of which Adama wasto have a half share."

This narrative of the tradition by Obu Mmoleaves out a great deal and appears to mix upincidents. He was found to be the least satis-factory informant when it came to recountinghistorical events of which corroborative evidencewas available. The story by him of the killing ofthe male and female slave to deceive Chuku wasgreeted with scorn by the others. It was pointedout by them that Chuku could not be deceivedand was not deceived.

The oral tradition as it is learnt by the headsof the royal families in Aguku, has now beengiven. Variations are noticed in these versionswhich, however, are fundamentally the same ineach instance. This tradition is part of the para-phernalia of the royal cult. It is the duty of theseniors in these royal families to learn the traditionand to hand it on. If the families die out, both tra-dition and cult disappear for ever. It cannot beinvented or created again. Some of these sacredemblems, and parts of the more striking featuresof the ritual of the cult, have become widelyimitated and would persist, but in a gradually,degenerating form. In surrounding towns some-thing is known of this tradition. To give a few ofthese versions will emphasize the point made atthe beginning, namely, the necessity for applyingto the source for accurate information. Thus, atXimo, which is not an Umundri settlement, it wasdeclared that the first man was created at Nri, i.e.at Aguku, and the first woman at Enugu. AtIgbariam, an Umundri settlement, it was statedthat the Ndri people were considered to havebeen the first Igbo, and Enugu the eldest son,i.e. Okpala Ndri.

This same principle of applying to the sourcefor the correct version of the tradition, applieswith equal force in ascertaining the correct useof the sacred and ceremonial objects. Moreespecially is this practice important when as-certaining the use, to which, e.g. the qfo (a sacredemblem), is put. In towns away from directUmundri influence, the qfo appears to become

1 Meek. C. K. Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria.Vol. I. p. 535. London 1931. —"The fact that black-

confused with ancestral stakes, and possibly,at times, identified with the ancestors. In Umu-ndri use, the qfo is a sacred bundle and as such,it remains throughout the ritual for gainingimmortality by taking title. Amongst the Umundriit never becomes either an ancestral stake, oridentified with the ancestors. The mysteries ofNdichie are different according as the informationconcerning its meaning and use are ascertainedfrom the Umundri priests, or from the Igbo oftowns which have accepted and imitated Umundriculture.

In the tradition the names Eri, Ndri and Ndri-namoke are given as the alleged'founders of theUmundri group. There appear to be severalexplanations that will account for these differentnames. One suggestion is, that one influx of cul-ture brought with it the name of one of thesefounders, that later on, another influx of the sameculture arrived with a slightly different title forthe original sky-being. This suggestion has thesupport of local belief, for, in discussing in Agukuthis matter of the various names for the founder,one old man remarked, that Ndri had founded,what is to-day called, in Aguku, the Diodo group,and that Diodo was really a title name of thefounder which title. he gave to one of his sons.This suggestion fits in with the fact recorded byBasden, that when an ozo man takes his title,he adds four more names to his original name.

The Adama group claim that they were onearth before the first eze arrived, and saw Ndrihimself come down from the sky. In otherversions, it is stated that the Adama groupwere also sent by Chuku.

The Umundri tradition that it was a black-smith who cleared the earth and thus madeagriculture possible, finds a parallel in the Mam-bila tradition, which says that until blacksmithscame amongst them, their arrows were wooden-pointed, and their agriculture was conductedwith a digging-stick. This account of the tradi-tional state of the Mambila, describes the con-dition of a people just emerging from the food-gathering stage.1

smiths have preserved their own language wouldindicate that their immigration is of recent date and

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Though the evidence shows an Igala originfor the Yoruba tradition and people, yet it mustnot be thought that Igala is the ultimate fons etorigo. This type of culture is wide-spread, andseems to have entered Nigeria from the east.The Umundri culture is very similar to thatof the Yoruba. Both ascribe their origin to sky-beings, but the Umundri no longer connectthese sky-beings with a place of origin lyingsomewhere in the east; whereas, among theYoruba, where this type of culture is betterpreserved, its origin is placed in the east.1 The

Jukun civilization, which is of the same pattern,lies east both of Yoruba and of Igala land. It isconceivable that the forerunners of both theYoruba and of the Igala, and consequently of'theUmundri, were of Jukun stock, or of the foundersof the Jukun culture. Even if the Jukun arefathered with the Umundri culture, Dr. Meekhas shown that the Jukun arrived at their presentsite from the east.1 For the* present the probableorigin of the Umundri culture must be left atthis point.

this is borne out by the Mambila tradition that formerlythe Mambila had no iron weapons, their arrows being.wooden pointed, and their agricultural work beingcarried out by means of digging sticks."

1 Burton R. Abeokuta and the Cameroon Mountains.p. 231. — Burton in 1863 noted that the Yoruba re-ferred/ their origin to the eastwards. ''It is remarkablethat al! these legends derive the population of Yorubafrom-the East, and-even the fables which nativestell concerning their origin most frequently show a

modicum of truth - we are so far justified in believingthat from early times, a race of pagans, upshed forwardby the stream of immigration from the lands nearerArabia, occupied the thinly populated countries southoftheKwora."

* Meek C. K. A Sudanese Kingdom, p. 22. London1931.—"The Jukun, though they state that theyhave been told that their forefathers came from theEast, from Birnin Masr, Mecca or East of Mecca,have no knowledge of the Kisra tradition."

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