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here to return to the Ohafia Home Page
This website
was created by:
John C. McCall
Department
of Anthropology
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
A child whose father is a dibia
("Dibia" is an
Igbo term used to refer to traditional healers.)
(© 1989 John C.
McCall)
Children are crucial actors in rituals honoring of
ancestors.
(Note the small plastic watch worn by the wooden
ancestor figure.)
(© 1989 John C. McCall)
A children's Ekpe masquerade performs in December.
This should not be confused with the
masquerade of the Ekpe society which originated in regions south of
Ohafia. (Ekpe means leopard in the Efik language.) Ohafia's Ekpe is
pronounced with a low tone on the first syllable. The Ekpe society,
which is also present in Ohafia, is pronounced with a high tone on the
first syllable.
(©
1990 John C. McCall)
A young boy during his dibia initiation
(©
1989 John C. McCall)
Dancing Histories: Heuristic Ethnography with the Ohafia Igbo.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 2000.