Further Readings
Dagogo, M. J. F. (2006, March 5). Legendary Legacies of
Dappa-Biriye.The Tide Rivers State Newspaper, pp. 3–4.
Nwagbara, J. (2006, June). Efik Monarch Withholds
Blessing for South-South.The Tide Rivers State
Newspaper, pp. 12–15.
EGUNGUN
The Egungun represents the collective spirits of the
ancestors among the Yoruba in Nigeria. Like other
African people, the Yoruba believe that when a
person dies, he or she passes into the world of the
ancestors. These ancestral spirits are within the
Sasa stage of existence (i.e., the arena of the living,
the unborn, and the ancestors) and can assist the
community in carrying out its daily activities.
Thus, according to the Yoruba, it is quite effective
for the community to have the use and assistance
of the ancestors in their ordinary lives. Because the
living-dead, as they are sometimes called, watch
over the society so long as they are remembered
ritually, the Egungun must make an appearance
on Earth to demonstrate this reality.
For the ancestors to be ritually remembered,
they have to appear in the memory of the people.
Once they are no longer in the memory, they cease
to exist for the community. Therefore, the
deceased might appear in a dream state or when
someone is placed in a trance through music and
dance. The ancestors can give advice, instructions,
or rebukes to the living through the dreamer. The
Egungun is the collective spirit of all the ancestors
as they come to provide information about the
conditions and situations confronting the society.
One masked individual may be used to represent
the entire spirit of the Egungun.
In this expression, the Egungun is a masked
individual, always a man, who is an ancestor mak-
ing a temporary reappearance among the living.
Nothing of the person is visible with the Egungun
mask. It covers the entire human body from the
head to the feet, and there should be no visible ele-
ments of the individuality of the human wearing
the mask. Should an unfortunate person wearing
an Egungun mask reveal his identity, the person is
supposed to be put to death because he would have
shown himself to be an imposter of an ancestor.
Indeed, contact with an Egungun could also
bring punishment and death, and the Egungun is
always accompanied by those who have whips
to drive onlookers away from the Egungun. In the
past, if the garment of an Egungun touched a
man, woman, or child, the wearer of the mask and
everyone who was touched by the garment would
be put to death. The Egungun ceremony and festi-
val remains one of the most powerful, misunder-
stood mysteries of Africa.
The wordEgungunis said to mean “skeleton.”
In some respects, the Egungun performer is a man
who has risen from the dead and disguises himself
with a long elaborate robe of cloth and raffia with
a carved wood mask, composed of antlers, skulls,
and anything from contemporary society. A long
train of fabric is used to cover the steps of the
Egungun. In addition to the way the Egungun per-
former looks, he must also change his voice to a
falsetto or low grumbling type voice so that no
one can identify him. This illusion is maintained
because the Egungun as an ancestral relative does
not have the voice of someone living in the village.
His voice is strange and unknown.
There is some belief among the Yoruba that the
Egungun could carry away those troublesome
neighbors or other disgruntled people in the soci-
ety so that they do not disturb the peace of the
community. One might say that the Egungun is a
sort of bogey man who seeks to scare the people
straight. One cannot laugh at the Egungun; one
must be respectful, stay away from him, but be
happy when Egungun does his work.
There is a 7-day annual feast for Egungun in
June of each year, in which solemn appeals are
made on behalf of the recently deceased.
Egungun can also come out after funerals and
parade the streets calling aloud the names of the
Dead. A few days later, the Egungun goes to
the house where the death occurred and informs
the relatives that the Dead has arrived in the
land of the Dead without incident. Food and
drink, usually palm wine and rum, are placed
out for the Egungun. Then the people of the
house retire so they may not see the Egungun
eating because to see the Egungun eating is to
invite death. When the Egungun and those who
accompany him are finished eating, they give
out a loud groan to indicate that he is about to
leave. The family members can then reenter.Egungun 231