Festival is a day, period or season of festivity, merry making, celebration, etc. The term festival transcends mere visual sceneries, activities of merriments, music, dancing and cultural displays. It involves a plethora of complex ideas, thoughts, religious, rituals and experiences of human history and activities over a long period of time. Every community has one cultural festival or the other. New yam festival is one of the major festivals in Owa Kingdom. One good thing about festivals is that they portray the richness and variety of the cultural heritage of such community. There is no gainsaying the fact that Owa Festivals and cultural heritage have over the years gained prominence in the traditional life of the people. Food has been the most important necessity of life. At a time, in the evolution of Owa people, hunger became severe as starvation became debilitating. The situation was a pathetic one with famine tormenting the people for many years. It is obvious that Owa people long for food from time to time in their existence. For instance, during and immediately after the Crewe Read’s war which lasted from 9th June to 3rd August 1906, the yams and other crops in Owa farms were wantonly destroyed. Consequently, there was shortage of food and many people who were subjected to hunger became malnourished only to die prematurely. According to Owa myths, when God provides the much needed nourishing food in abundance, Owa people celebrate. Arable farming has been the mainstay of Owa people because of the fertility of the soil and the climatic condition of the territory which they occupy. As a farming community, Owa people accord much respect to yam which is regarded as the king of all crops. In Owa, the popular saying is “giwueze” meaning that yam is the king of crops. This immortalizes the importance of yam production. In the olden days, yam was the main product of Owa farmers. Other crops like cocoyam, plantain, cassava and maize were produced to complement the functions of yam to the body. Yam which is a high carbohydrate energy giving staple food, is a tropical crop found in various sizes. It needs well-drained heavy loamy soil and about 100 to 140 CM of rainfall before July to give a maximum yield. It has many varieties but the main species found in Owa are white yam, yellow yam and water yam. White yam which takes about six months to mature is used for the new yam festival. Traditional new yam festival (iwagi) is one of the sacred religious observances practiced by Owa people. This annual festival combines the best Owa community can offer in traditional religious practices, myth, history and artistic excellence with social merriment. It is enshrined in all aspects of their cultural life and calls for the best that Owa people can produce. It permeates the peoples’ lives, beliefs and practices. Its attendant divinity is still at the core of the people’s life. Historians have asserted that in the olden days, peace was built upon and maintained by festivals where pounded yam with special delicious soup and other gift items were exchanged as mark of love and peaceful coexistence. At that time, subsistence farming was the bedrock of the Owa economy, the household being the unit of production and consumption. The rich, prosperous and affluent big man was one with many lines of tubers of yams stored in the barn to maintain a large family throughout the farming year. Then, new yam festival fostered the spirit of ideal neighbourliness through fraternization, re- enacting probity and enthronement of all human virtues as well as promoting and sustaining social, political and economic cohesion. New yam festival is celebrated at the beginning of new yam harvest season usually between September and October. In the olden days, no Owa indigene, especially the elders, dared eat new yam before the celebration of new yam festival. The people regard it as a very serious disrespect to the gods for the human mortal to enjoy eating new yam without first giving special thanks to God. Like other festivals in Owa, the Obi, the Chiefs, the Elders and the Okagbogbos (Olotus) meet to fix a suitable or acceptable date for the new yam festival which is normally celebrated on either Afor or Eken day. Usually a period of 16 days (Ogen isen) is given. The date is disseminated to the different households through the people in the meeting. Fixing the date of the celebration in advance enables the people to make adequate preparations. The preparation takes the form of sewing of new clothes, rehearsing of cultural dances, getting special palm wine ready, clearing of streets and paths, repairing, renovation and decorating dwelling houses as well as juju and shrine huts among others. During the period of preparation, men who set traps and go on hunting expeditions in the wild bush, pray to be able to provide bush meat especially rabbit, grass-cutter, antelope and bush-pig. The women have to provide firewood, snails, fish and other condiments for the special delicious soup for the day. In fact, enough food stuffs are gathered both from the farms and markets. Apart from individual and family preparations, the people also start preparing for the various roles they have to play. Prior to the day of the new yam festival, the head of the family will select the best tubers of yam and make the wife or wives carry them from the farm. Where the man is married to two or more wives, he shares all that he can provide among the wives. The indigent and less privileged people especially the needy, destitute, widows, extended families and friends who cannot provide enough food for the festival are taken care of by magnanimous relations and philanthropic individuals. Most Owa people believe that new yam festival is a symbol of purification. On the eve of new yam festival, the women who were married by betrothal (nwunye known as umuadan) have to purify the surroundings. This is done with egg shells and very young life chickens tied to pieces of young palm fronds and dragged around the houses, premises and shrines. While doing this, they recite some incantations to remove the spiritual impurities and bad things in the community. Concoctions of “Odon” leaves and native white chalk are sprinkled on the places purified to keep them holy and conducive for good living. Owa people who are spiritually sensitive believe in holy living. They need to purify and develop their faculties for divine fellowship with God. On the new yam festival day, children wake up early to sweep and keep the premises and surroundings clean and tidy. The women prepare mashed yam seasoned with palm oil which is given to the head of the linage to perform certain rituals. He uses the mashed yam (ewuwu) to appease the spirits of the ancestors. He also throws a portion of the mashed yam around the compound especially on the shrines with incantations. The next stage in the celebration is the family eating together in the head of the family’s sitting room. Every member of the household assembles in the sitting room of the head of the family. Each wife presents the special dish she has made before the man who cuts very small portion of the food, dips it into the soup and throws it to the “Offor” sticks with prayers and thanksgiving to the gods for keeping members of the household alive to enjoy the new yam produced in the year. In those days when there were not enough plates, only the senior members ate from the few available ones. The younger children were served on their left palms with big lumps of pounded yam copiously dipped into the soup (isuyenni). When people have eaten their fill, the meat in the soup is collected in a bowl. The head of the household performs another small ritual of prayers by throwing very small pieces of meat at the “Offor” sticks. Then, one of the male children assists the head of the household in sharing the meat according to the number present. The shared meat is chosen by those present according to their age. However, the household head leaves a large chunk for himself to enable him perform the (ikpa-eka-onu). From his share he cuts out sizeable pieces of meat and gives to his favourites. After dinning and winning the very small pieces of meat at the “Offor” sticks are picked and eaten by the children present (iserianu) before the head of the household packs the “Offor” sticks back into their resting places. Most Owa people believe in a natural order occasioned by an invisible supernatural power called God. The new yam festival holds to show profound gratitude and deep appreciation to God through the elders and the ancestors as well as to appease the collective spirits of all dead ancestors to guide and protect the living throughout the farming year. The ancestors are represented with an idol known as “Offor”. Stereotyped activities such as worships, praises, prayers, rites, rituals and sacrifices are made to the ancestors through the “Offor” sticks which are regarded as thrones or pedestals of deity. The festival which lasted for about eight days (Ogen etor) is celebrated with pomp and pageantry; Owa people who are at their best entertain their visitors lavishly. People, especially children and youth with new gorgeous clothes, visit their neighbours to receive gifts. Homages are paid to the Obi, Okparan-Uku, Chiefs and some prominent persons with cultural dances, kola-nuts, good tubers of yam and other items. Every part of the community is agog as every one enjoys himself or herself in one way or the other. At that period, the people are full of life rejoicing joyously because it sends away boredom of farm work for the moment. The annual traditional new yam festival (iwagi) is fast being eroded by imported religion and civilization. Most Owa people, especially Christians who regarded the “Offor” Sticks as forbidden images and do not eat food and meat sacrificed to idols, no longer take part in the household eating together during new yam festivals. They are determined not to fall into the snare of idolatry. With strong faith, they have the resolution of spirit and confidence in God to eat new yam any time of the year. They believe that they can enjoy closer communion with God without the ancestral gods. As yam production and consumption are dwindling and declining and its producers are no longer reckoned with in Owa Kingdom, the new yam festival celebration has lost its pride of place. People can now eat new yam before the new yam festival day without the fear of being punished by the gods of the land. Most families slaughter poultry, goat, sheep and cattle because of shortage of bush meat. As there are more Christians in Owa Kingdom, the waning celebration of traditional new yam festival has been stripped of its pomp and pageantry. In recent times however, a lot of modifications have been introduced into the system to sustain the traditional new yam festival. It is now celebrated in the first two weeks in September when most Christians celebrate their new yam festival. During the modified and refined new yam festival, the display of cultural dances and wearing of new clothes as well as visits for gifts, paying of homage, exchange of food and other gift items are reduced. Nowadays, special emphasis is put on being into the inner sanctuary of God for spiritual rebirth. There is no doubt that human beings, made in the image of God need physical and spiritual food to survive and live a good useful life. Most Owa people have imbibed the idea that man cannot live by physical food alone. They know that every man should work, eat and drink according to the will of God. Humans’ posses a spiritual need that is as fundamental as the need for food. True spiritual fulfilment is an aspect of our spiritual need that is as vital as our physical need for food. Therefore choosing to live by God’s standards elevates our lives and contributes to real peace of mind since we are spared the plague of a guilty conscience. Most Owa people have supreme loyalty to God. Their souls are desperately hungry to improve their relationship with God who is their defender and provider. As they are fascinated by spiritual matter, they are prepared to sing to the tune of divine truth, love, gentleness, godliness, kindness and righteousness. Therefore during festivals, we must continue to improve upon our spiritual potentials and obey God for divine strength, mercies and bountiful blessings as well as renew our faith, enrich our spirit and empower our lives for more genuine intimacy with God. The traditional annual new yam festival (iwagi) offers Owa people the wonderful opportunity to exhibit their hospitality with enough food and drinks. It enables them to enjoy merriment and spiritual rebirth together. It instills the spirit of love, charity, generosity and good will among the people. Its significance lies in the beginning of harvesting of yam to prevent shortage of food. This is because having food in abundance gives hope for survival. Furthermore, new yam festival reminds Owa people of their cultural heritage which promotes personal hygiene and environmental sanitation.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 07:34:07 +0000
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