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165 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett
ERAN, the upper part of the branch, or petiole, of the palm tree, knotched with a fringe
of the strips of the petiole at the top.
I watched them as they sang and glided about rather than danced, until at last they
rustled away, making a cooing noise like that of the OKKU bird, and vanished in the
direction of the grove sacred to OVIA.
From time to time, until long after midnight, these dancers kept rushing past the shed or
native rest house under which I was encamped, cooing and singing in falsetto.
At times I heard cries coming from the direction of the grove, and wondered what they
were, and felt like getting up to see. But cries in a native town are so common that they
may mean almost anything, from the howl of a punished child to the cry of a man in
grief.
Early next morning I got ahead of my carriers and slipped into the sacred grove. On the
road in front of the entrance to the grove were the twelve dresses arranged on posts in a
line, and the boy's little one in the same line, but apart. IKHIMI trees were planted at the
entrance, while on both sides of the road were lines of Kola trees. Passing the IKHIMI
trees, I entered a kind of lane some fifteen or twenty feet long, and then came to a
and second entrance before I found myself in the grove itself.
fence 80
At the far side of the circle of cleared bush I noticed the OLUKUN tree, against which
was resting the ERAN that had been carried by the little boy the night before. In the
centre of this circular grove was a "calabash" or gourd, a pot, and the ashes of what had
been a small fire and the feathers of a fowl.
About the 15th of March, just after crossing the CISSE or CIVIA river, the Conservator of
Forests, Mr. H. N. Thompson, and myself arrived at a market place in the ITE creek. The
market was in full swing but nearly ending when we got there, and while many of the
Jakri women were seated before their wares under the shade of trees, some were just
pushing off their canoes from the beach with their cargoes of palm oil and kernels. They
were inclined to scamper away on seeing us, but we managed to persuade them to take
no notice of us, and purchased food for ourselves and our boys. After we had
breakfasted someone began to throw the apple-like fruit of a tree growing there into the
river, in the attempt to throw them across. The infection spread, and soon all our
carriers were busy competing. It spread further, and the Conservator and I joined in.
The Conservator succeeded, and I clapped my, hands. This act seems to have been taken
by the boys as a signal for a dance-at any rate, they all set about gathering sticks to serve
as IKWATA, and soon formed themselves into a circle and commenced singing, keeping
time with their feet and by beating their sticks together. Soon one boy danced into the
middle of the circle and commenced spinning himself round; then, still spinning and
inclined towards the centre of the circle at an angle of 45º, he seemed to whirl round
80 These fences are called EGBON or OBA, and are always formed of the sacred plants IKHIMI, UNWETIOTA,
and OTWA
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