Initiation societies in Africa
Initiation represents one of the most significant phenomena in the history of humanity. Coined from the Latin word initiare, to begin or beginning, âinitiationâ means to âenter uponâ, âto introduceâ or âset goingâ.1 It means to admit with necessary introductory rites or forms into some society or observance. Initiation exists in one form or the other in almost every culture and religion. It features in different and diversified forms, which aims, in the religious sense, to bring the individual (the initiate) in contact with the sacred. Initiation in its common usage refers to rituals of admission into secret societies, as well as those which mark the passage between childhood and maturity. The process of initiation concerns undergoing a fundamental set of rites to start a new phase or beginning in life.2 It marks the passing from one phase in life to the next. Initiation has to do with transformation and has remained a central theme within African indigenous cultures. According to Mircea Eliade, initiation is seen as birth, death and rebirth. According to him,
The term initiation in the most general sense denotes a body of rites and oral teachings whose purpose is to produce a decisive alteration in the religious and social status of the person to be initiated. In philosophical terms, initiation is equivalent to a basic change in existential condition, the novice emerges from his ordeal endowed with a different being from that which he possessed before his initiation: he becomes another.3
Nonetheless, initiation cannot be simply defined as admission to groups, whether secret or not. La Fontaine observes that the conferment of adult status may involve membership of no social unit, and these according to him are precisely the rites which have been referred to as initiation by anthropologists.4 To exclude them would go against common usage of the term and limit comparison to particular societies, such as the Ogo society among the Amasiri, where adult status entails membership of the Ogo society.
A brief historical origin and location of Amasiri
Amasiri is the traditional name of the autonomous village groups, which include Ezeke, Ndukwe, Ohechara, Poperi and Ihie.5 The nineteenth-century missionaries and colonial administrators misspelt the clanâs name as âAmaseriâ instead of Amasiri.6 It is also called âEkuma Ubaghalaâ, meaning âstrength in the use of machete, both in farm work and warsâ. The name âEkuma Ubaghalaâ draws attention to the departure point (Ikun Ugbagala â âfrom waterâ) of the earliest settlers in Amasiri.
Amasiri has a history that seems to demonstrate a fragmentary account in which different groups migrated at various times to settle there. Any attempt to establish seniority based on the emergence of the component villages has always proved unsuccessful, but one fact is generally acknowledged â that of the Aro (Eru) antecedents of the villages.7 The approximate date of their departure and arrival is estimated to be between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.8
According to oral history, around that time, Igiri-Ator, Utom Okolu, Obia Okpa Enunu, Ubaghala and Isakaogu, who were great warriors, left Aro for a more peaceful location. They made a brief stopover at Ikwini in Cross River State but could not remain there due to a âwhisperingâ notice about the invasion of the white man and his agents, as well as the unfavourable topography.9 Thus they moved in different directions. Ubaghala led a group in the company of Oko Ali Ocha, an elderly man noted for observing a taboo of not sitting on bare ground and so traditionally moved along with his seat (Ekweke). It was believed that when Oko Ali Ocha sat on the ground, it meant that the party had to remain in that particular location, and until he did, his party kept moving.10 They met a group at the present-day Eri and wanted to settle there, but their attempts were met with hostility. They therefore moved further down the hill called âUgwu Okaziâ, and there again met Aja Iberekwu, who also resisted their attempts to settle. They finally moved westward to the present Amaekuma compound at the Amasiri.
Another group led by Utom Okolu migrated through present day Edda with âgreat fightsâ and finally settled at the present location of Ohaechara. Utom Okolu first settled at Amangwu, the name being taken from the âNguru treeâ which used to grow there. Utom Okolu had two sons who in the usual process split up to form two separate quarters. Obia Okpa Enunu, who was gifted in indigenous medicine, led his group via Ikwini to the present Ihie village. The next group was led by Igiri-Ator through Mgbom village at Afikpo to the present Poperi. The Ndukwe group was led by Akpurida. They migrated through Udumeze-Ohafia to their present location. As highlighted earlier, each of these five villages was autonomous, but according to Oko, they later united in order to increase their fortification against invading enemies.11 Amasiri is united by kinship and descent, which is defined by an actual or perceived descent from a common ancestor. Although the different villages recognise and appropriate their specific ancestors, the clan, as a symbol of unity, recognises Ekuma Ubaghala as its ancestor; thus the clan is also called âAmasiri Ekuma Ubaghalaâ.
Religious landscape of Amasiri
When many Western missionaries first encountered ancestor veneration among Amasiri, they dismissed it as mere superstition without understanding the complexity of the clanâs cosmologies. Ancestors are deceased members of their families, villages or clan who are still communicated with through an array of rites, rituals and dreams. They are the âdead-among-the-livingâ and hold considerable power over moral actions and social order, so much that it can be argued that spiritually âthe living exist under the shadow of the deadâ.12
Ancestors are believed to be the disembodied spirits of people who lived upright lives on earth, died âgoodâ and natural deaths of old age, and received the acknowledged funeral rites. They are normally males, although Amasiri descent is matrilineal. According to an interviewee, Omezue Akwuba, males can only be ancestors because they are permanent members of their fatherâs compound, unlike females who are often in transit.13 Women among the Amasiri are often married outside their fathersâ compounds and therefore are not permanent residents like the men. This reasoning is ambiguous, as there are some cases where women are married within their parentsâ compounds, but Akwuba insists that does not make any difference. The religious attention paid to ancestors is of great importance to the Amasiriâs understanding of the world.
Belief in ancestors underscores certain social ideals: the vibrant reality of the spiritual world, the continuity of life and human relationships beyond death, the unbroken bond of obligations and the seamless web of community.14 Thus the life of individuals is a participatory one within a community, which includes the born, the unborn and the ancestors who constantly conserve and enhance it.15 Ancestors are present at the indigenous rites of passage and are honoured regularly through rituals and sacrifices, and thus they are not simply experienced as a memory.16 This belief occupies a central place in the understanding of the role of religious rituals in inculcating the ideal of harmonious living among the clan. Ancestors are believed to play prominent roles in the stability of family and village lives, and they are the intermediaries between humanity and supreme deities, agents of destiny and guardians of moral values, family affairs and traditions.17
Ancestors are held to be the closest link the living have with the Alamo (spirit world), and they are believed to be bilingual â they speak the language of the people with whom they lived until their transition, and they also speak the language of the spirit and of the gods. Ancestors are felt to be present, watching over their household, directly concerned in all the affairs of the family and property, and giving abundant harvests and fertility. Thus ancestors hold the power that sustains earthly endeavours.18 In an interview, Egwu Nwosi notes that success in life, including the gifts of children, wealth and prosperity, is believed to be a blessing from the gods and the ancestors.19
Such gifts accrue to people who work hard and who strictly adhere to the customs and norms of the clan, people who uphold community ideals of harmonious living. Only such persons can entertain a real hope of achieving the highly esteemed status of ancestors in the hereafter. It should be pointed out that as much as the clan relies on ancestors, ancestors also rely on the clan to keep them âaliveâ and are thus part of a reciprocal universe.20 Furthermore, ancestors are thought to give quick and severe punishment to people who disregard the traditions of the community, or infringe taboos and norms of acceptable behaviour in the clan. They are seen as dispensing both favours and misfortune: thus ancestors could be accused of being capricious and of failing in their responsibilities. Their actions are often related to possible lapses on the part of the living and are seen as legitimately punitive.
This traditional understanding of the Amasiri and its world appears to follow Ămile Durkheimâs conceptualisations of functionalist-structuralist social order, which assumes the primacy of society over the individual.21 Religion, according to Durkheim, serves the interest of social cohesion, and this plays out in the relationship between the Amasiri and its ancestors. This functional role of religion further seems to agree with the view that religion is indispensable to society due to its social functions of conveying moral conduct which results in social unity.22 Durkheim further suggests that ritual and participation are essential to religionâs unifying role. In his view, religion was not only normal but socially healthy and desirable.23 Abel Ugba describes Durkheimâs interpretation of religion as âuni-focal and ultimately inadequate tool because it overemphasises the role and use of rituals to the detriment of religious contents and the role of social actor.â24
It seems that Durkheimâs functional approach to religion does recognise the importance of religious actors. He notes the importance of the âexpressions and formulae which can be pronounced only by the mouth of the consecrated personâ which make objects sacred.25 Belief in ancestors thus acts as a form of social control by which the conduct of individuals is regulated. The constant reminder of the good deeds and the presence of ancestors act as a spur to good conduct on the part of the living, and the belief that the dead can punish those who violate traditionally sanctioned mores acts as a deterrent.
Belief in ancestors, therefore, represents a powerful source of moral sanction because they affirm the values upon which society is based. Ancestors are thus held as models to be copied in an effort to strictly adhere, preserve and transmit the traditions and norms of the clan. As the benevolent spiritual guardians of their families and villages, ancestors are believed to reincarnate as newborn babies among the clan. Many children are often named after their family or village ancestors that are believed to have been reincarnated. Special attention and favour are often bestowed on such a child as a mark of respect to the ancestor. Among the Amasiri clan child-naming is regarded as very important; thus names are not supposed to be randomly selected, but thoughtfully chosen through divination. It is believed that given names are so profound, meaningful and powerful that the names which children bear can influence their entire life cycle, integrity and profession. A name provides a personâs identity and a window on oneâs culture and self. It links individuals and families to their past and their ancesto...
