SLC-S25/W2 | Community World Tour : Festivals & Celebrations
I will be talking about Festive ritual of culture. This festive ritual is usually found in the Eastern part of Nigeria and it is common displayed when a traditional person is been buried. Either the person is a pagan, Chief or titled person.
The youths waiting for people going to market
This kind of display is called the "eshe dance display" the person who beat the instrument usually seat on the floor or wooden chair that is very small and they are mostly the elders. They don't seat under a canopy no matter how rich the family that called them for this display is. Their position is usually made of palm fronts and big wood which the igbos call "obi or obiri" and it is been designed with George material to signify tradition. Tradition has it that if they seat in a well designed environment it is an abomination and the children of the deceased will pay heavily to appease the gods.
The "eshe display" is not just like every other dance instrument like we have the Dj, it is been played for a reason. Mostly for pagans who doesn't go to church and people who believed and rooted in tradition. Most times the start the display a week to the burial day because the family have many activities to display such as cooking and taking the food to a forest that has three road branch, the food will be dropped at the center of the road and the deceased first son will tell a brief history about his late father and pour out some drinks and then go home. That kind of display is called the first visit of "ndi eche" the fore fathers. The second visit is "oke okpa elu" which means get a tall poll and tiring a hen on it, any body that shot the hen dead will go with it. And several traditional gun and been shot "egbe ala"
The day of the burial, the grave will be closed half way until the next market day when the deceased daughters will be taking to their market for a display after which the grave will be properly closed. In this kind of display, the deceased daughters use to tie one color of George material round their waist and chest and their body will be rubbed with white chalk while they hold a money tree on their hands and been carried on the shoulders of strong men. The man's first daughter will be at the front wearing her father's cloth and holding a knife and a yam, as they are going to the market she will be cutting the yam and be telling the biography of her late father. And the kinds of food that is been cooked is usually fufu and handsomely made soup. Or oil bean soup and abacha. It's purely native dishes.
In this kind of burial, biographies are not read while standing one place. It is been said orally when the eshe instrument is been played and the way and manner of the how the instrument is been played will motivate the person to start saying the things his late father usually do.
Youth display
Special mention
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