Amasiri 12 Calendar Month System
Amasiri people have a twelve calendar month system. In respect of this system, they break firewood into pieces and tie them in bundles; each bundle has a name and signifies a particular period of the year for the twelve calendar months. Their twelve Calendar Month is full of activities.
Their Calendar Year starts every May each year, May 12th or 14th Ezeke will shoot up wrestling competition to control it and every other community joins in the feast (wrestling).
After the wrestling feast comes the Omoha Feast. The Imoha feast takes place between May 14 and 22 or up to 24.
Amasiri Inter community Wrestling Competition comes up after the Imoha feast. On July 16, the Isakaogu will shoot another wrestling competition called Ikpo. This lasts for more than a month, and is held around the same time that inter-village wrestling competition will be going on. Ihie competes with Ezeke and Ohechara, whereas Ezeke competes with Ndukwe and among themselves while Ohechara competes with Poperi to keep the time going.
Towards the end of the month of August, Ndukwe, like Eleri in Ehugbo, will perform what is called Ime Elom. The period Elom is a highly expected one, especially for under-aged children because of what is known as Egbe-Akpoto. To make Egbe Akpoto, you cut a bamboo and open both ends, then look for a stick that can penetrate the centre. Plantain or banana starch is squeezed into the opening with the aid of a stick and it produces a sound like a gun.
If Elom is declared on Nkwo day, the following Nkwo day (four days later) will be the declaration of Okike Aho. It means that the yams are ready for consumption and that everybody should go and harvest theirs. When Okike Aho is announced, all the traditional elders from the five villages will go to a place called Amuro to celebrate it. Amuro will prepare food for everybody to eat and be satisfied and the elders will give them a token donation.
From the Nkwo day when the Okike Aho is declared, eight more days will be allowed to pass before people will go to harvest their yams. The yams are not eaten that day. The night of the Nkwo day when the new yams are harvested, Amasiri people perform what is called Ochuchu Aho or Ichu Aho, saying goodbye to the old year and ushering in the New Year.
The Ichu Aho starts at about 8:30pm and goes round Amasiri. When the Ichu Aho train (consisting of men and women carrying lighted torches and singing) is passing by, people will be banging on their doors, shouting and asking the old year to go with its bad sides and ushering in the New Year with its good sides. Young men not yet initiated will follow up. They will prepare what is called Arodo. Female adults that are about to marry will prepare Arodo in the form of a lizard or similar animal. They will prepare it and carry it to a central burial ground the following morning before 5:30am and dump it there. The young men will tie palm shafts to a stick and set it on fire. They then move round the villages till they get to the burial ground and finally pin it there.
In the morning of the New Yam festival proper, Eke day, everybody in Amasiri will be very happy and busy to prepare Nkamalu, which is offering sacrifice to their ancestors. That very morning there will be cleaning of the whole compound and kitchen utensils. The females will gather at their toilet area to play a game called Akpo. It is a game where two people hold both ends of a rope and swing the rope while one person jumps in between both ends as they are singing. The male counterpart has their own type of game called Obelele. The whole day is characterized by a lot of eating and drinking.
After that day comes Ikukwe.
The people of Amasiri have a special way of spending their night time. In the night the gather for "Otutu-ilu" or "Itu ilu" - telling of fairy tales. During night hours each household will gather outside and sit together and the elderly ones will start telling the younger ones fairy tales that has one or two moral lessons to be learned. Itu ilu is a night affair; it is not done during the day. If someone tells fairy tales during the day, it is not called Itu ilu; rather it is called Akpamakpa, that is story telling. The purpose of Akpamakpa is just to cause laughter and keep people busy.
Afterwards comes a period of counting the days to determine the actual date for Mbe feast begins. Ujambe is always declared by Ohechara. It means notifying people that Okpaa (masquerade) is ready to come out. This feast marks the beginning of dry season in Amasiri. Mbe feast is another happy period that no one in Amasiri will like to be left out in watching the masquerade called Okpaa.
Okpaa is a friend to all but particularly women and children. The night before the Mbe feast, the uninitiated males will go to receive Okpaa in the Obu (common resting hall built near the Ogo - village square). They will keep themselves busy singing for the Okpaa-abali. Okpaa abali will be coming to pay them homage and collecting gift items like groundnut, orange, cigarettes and yams. There will be singing throughout the night.
In the morning, any Okpaa that feels that he is a good dancer will prepare himself for a bout of dancing within the villages. The women will be shouting and singing for the Okpaa as he runs around dancing and collecting gifts. A lot of women will be singing behind him as he dances ahead. They will keep themselves busy and happy playing with the Okpaa till late in the day and it will continue that way until izu esaa then there will be some changes.
After the Mbe festival comes the Obubo Ogo, which is "clearing of playground". On the subsequent Eke, the boys that were initiated will be done with their initiation. It happens at Ohechara first, then Ezeke and then Poperi, Ihie and Okue. It is called Ikpa-Ama.
And villages may show interest in having a masquerade day. On that day, the masquerade will be going from one village to the other. Starting from Ohechara to Ezeke. Taking turns to have masquerade days is done partly out of necessity. If all the villages hold their masquerade feast same day, the materials required for the masquerade will not serve all of them; therefore each village gives others a chance to have their masquerade day, then they borrow materials for their own masquerades from the villages that had already performed.
A village can decide to perform a special type of masquerade show called Okumkpo. To prepare, the performers start by investigating people who have done things considered to be condemnable in the society. Then they compose lyrics satirizing these people. The lyrics are then combined with the beating of drums to create music for the show. They will continue practicing until around February, then they will announce a date for the show. The villagers come out in mass to watch the Okumkpo display. The performers are free to call the names of people believed to have misbehaved in the community.
Sometimes a village may decide to field a special type of masquerade called Ochenkwa or Akpoha-Ngodo or Okenkwa. It takes a long time to perfect the performance of this masquerade. The performers will continue practicing until they get it right before coming on stage to perform. When the Ochenkwa is displaying, if you are a careful listener, you will notice that the drumbeats are speaking the original language of Amasiri. The drummers are using their instrument to mimic the original language of Amasiri as they beat their drums. It is known and called Enya-Ochenkwa.
Immediately after Christmas, somebody from Amuro will announce that the year is over for the people to get ready for the next farming season. It is called Opupa- eje oha. Then it will be until May of the next year before ceremonies start again from Ezeke.
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