Title Taking in Amasiri
Generally within the period of October, people who want to accord their late father a special burial rite will announce their intention to take up the "Ikwa ozu" title. The declaration for this title is usually done between 10th and 16th October and is done by shooting out the flag of the interested person by gunshot. People will start asking who is shooting and then the celebrant will declare his interest in taking the title (ikwa ozu). Preparations starts for the title taking. The celebrant will host his relatives to a special get together where serious discussions about the title will take place. Ten or fifteen days later, the celebrant will host his age grade member all over Amasiri and the entire village to what is known as Obubu-enwu. By then the celebrant would have bought two or three large hides (animal skin). Members of his age grade from his village will slice the hides to match the number of all of the celebrant’s age grade members in Amasiri. Before this, the celebrant would submit the names of the age grade members that will share the hide, each of them must get a piece of the hide no matter their number.
The following morning, a large group of people will gather to help out with preparations. The celebrant’s family members will prepare fufu or pounded yam with different pots of soup big enough to feed the celebrants age grade members in all of Amasiri. On that fateful day, the celebrant’s compound will be filled with people who have come to celebrate with him. There will be exchange of gifts; guests receive their share of hide and skin and then respond immediately by giving the celebrant any amount of money they have. No amount is too big or too small. After this, the celebrant continues to entertain his guests with food and drink until they are satisfied.
The count-down to the day of the outing starts after the feasting. In the interim, virtually all cultural norms and customs native to Amasiri will be on display. On Nkwo day, you will see what is known as Ujahi ndi no na agba nkwu. They will be coming to collect yams from the title taker. Some would collect one hundred tubers of yam, some two hundred, some three hundred, etc. They will continue collecting yams on that Nkwo day until the day is gone.
The following day, Eke, is the day of what is known as Ulughu. All the Ulughu in Amasiri will come to collect yam in the celebrant’s house. Some sections of Ulughu will collect up to four hundred tubers of yam, while some collects two hundred according to their own ranking. This happens up to the evening of that day. More visitors will keep coming to the celebrant’s house through the eve of the outing.
On the day of the outing, the celebrant may start first with the female group that is escorting him and then leave them to join the male group which is usually accompanied by a masquerade.
The celebrant’s wife and well-wishers accompany him as he moves through the villages announcing that the festivities for the title is over.
If a celebrant seriously intends to go all the way to complete title, he must prepare for the second phase that is known as Nze-Omezue or Omume. Omume lasts for one year, it starts May every year and ends May the following year and each month has its own activity.
To bring the 12 month cycle to a close, the celebrant is expected to field the Ajah dancing group. The female group members that will perform in the Aja dance will lodge at the celebrant’s house for a significant number of days, practicing for the dance. If the celebrant has two children, that means the will take two different songs for each child, etc. The celebrant will take care of the feeding and welfare of members of the dance group.
As soon as a celebrant declares his intention for the Omume title in his compound, he will be held responsible for any misfortune that befalls anyone in that compound. This is done because Amasiri people believe that the area occupied by the celebrant contains a fetish art (a powerful art) and a lot of temptations. The celebrant’s responsibility for any misfortune in his compound is publicly announced before the title-taking rites commence.
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