African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 198
man fell from an oil palm tree and suffered grave injury as punishment for delaying his
father’s funeral beyond three years. Each iman forbids its members to eat the meat of a
particular animal; this creature, according to legend, aided the founder of the village
group in some manner and was thus honored. One song alleged that a man killed and ate
a squirrel, sacred to the Anang, which, in the past, would have led to his trial and
execution if found guilty. Although the songs alluded to here were brief, some contained
over a hundred words.
A final word must be said about the dialogues of actors, which are characterized by
the use of archaic words and punning. Many of the puns were based on the tonal nature of
the Ibibio language. One such pun in a play centers on an aggressive demand for a gift of
a uniform (a soldier’s or conductor’s coat) made by a domineering wife to her husband, a
chief. She wielded a machete which she frequently shook in his face; he wore a mask
carved and painted to portray anguish. “So you want an enyen ket?” was his response,
which prompted an even more vehement demand on her part. With this, he chased her
about the square, trying to gouge out her eye with a long wooden thumb attached to his
own: Depending on how “enyen ket” is uttered tonally, it can mean “uniform” or “one
eye”!
References
Graham-White, Anthony. 1974. The Drama of Black Africa. New York: Samuel French, Inc.
Jeffreys, M.D.W. 1951. The Ekon Players. Eastern Anthropologist V: 41–7.
Messenger, John C. 1962. Anang Art, Drama, and Social Control. In Arts, Human Behavior, and
Africa, ed. Alan P.Merriam. New York: African Studies Association.
——. 1971. Ibibio Drama. Africa XLI: 208–22.
JOHN C.MESSENGER
See also Performance; Puppetry; Theater
DRAUGHTS (JEU DE DAMES;
CHECKERS)
The first variation of the game draughts dates from around 1500 CE and became popular
in Great Britain, France, and central Europe. The British continued to play this variation
into the twentieth century. Their game is now referred to as Anglo-Saxon draughts, or
checkers, as it is known in the United States. The game is characterized by its sixty-four
black and white squares with twelve white and twelve black draughtsmen, or checkers,
on the board. In France, the Anglo-Saxon game was replaced by “Polish” draughts in the
eighteenth century, a game that had developed in the Netherlands in the seventeenth
century. The playing board counted one hundred black and white squares with twenty
pieces on each side. This game of Polish (or continental) draughts would compete with
Anglo-Saxon draughts as the European powers gained colonies throughout the world.