3. MARCO TEÓRICO
3.2. CLIMA ESCOLAR
3.2.1. Factores socio-ambientales e interpersonales en el centro escolar (aula de clase)
Who died, and whose children Did not have the money to do
his obsequial rite."
Narrative
When ^w<$nrin of isiiyin died, his three sons could not find the necessary sum of money to cope with the huge expenses that the funeral obsequies entailed. Ardkd, the elder son, when he first saw the corpse, fled. Arhkd, the second son brought the corpse outside and proferred the suggestion for selling it. 26 But he too fled after the suggestion because the deceased was a man of high standing in the society. The
youngest son was left with the corpse. He decided to carry out the suggestion, nevertheless. Ardkd-rojA-mdth as he was called, could not find any one to buy the corpse after plying several markets away from home. He was aggrieved, but he decided not to bring the corpse back home; in utter despair, he threw the corpse into a nearby bush and went his own way.
The eldest son became the head of the family, was appointed Akto his father's post and became the Oldgbin of 6gbin, a posticrx. 26
26. According to tradition, the corpse of poor people were sold in
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which made him the ' Olcfgbo', the Alafin's staff-bearer and rhapsodist. Despite his hump (for they all belonged to a family of hunch-backs), the Alafin gave him a wife, one whose name was ^ y ^ Mi>s4.
For many years the marriage was not blessed with a child.
There was a growing concern especially as Iy/ Mose was becoming old and a successor would be needed in the Afin when 01<fgbin died. Iy^ Mose went out of her way and consulted with Amusan, a native of her own clan at Igborf. Amusan predicted that Iya Mose would certainly have a son. Ol^gbin, the husband himself went out to consult with Ifa, the Oracle. If^ accused him of negligence, said that the reason for his plight was due to his failure to do his deceased father's funeral obse- quies. If^ predicted that he would have a son only after he had completed the funeral obsequies of his late father.
Ifa called for sacrifice and said that, as atonement, he (Ol^gbin) would have to worship the spirit of the dead in the compound. But 01<£gbin pleaded that he could do the sacrifice but could not bring baok home the corpse that had already decomposed with only the skeleton remaining. Besides 27
27
. The Yoruba belief in re-incarnation extends to child bearing.The son usually bora after the death of 'baba', is normally believed to be the deceased who has blessed the family with his presence.
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it was quite unusual to do the funeral obsequies of the head of the compound so long after the usual time had passed.
As the priest could not find him an alternative, he left in disappointment.
^ ^ ' V
/Meanwhile, Iya Mose had taken to heart Amusan' s prediction that she would have a child. She went to the Aak Stream one day to fetch water. There, coming out of the bush suddenly, was 'Ero', a species of the gorilla. The monkey grabbed her
23 n
and succeeded in raping her. Iya lose grew sore afraid of the consequence of this affair, but kept things in her heart.
Soon she discovered that she had become pregnant. As she did not know what to do, and knowing the source of her pregnancy, she left her husband secretly and went back to her clan to live
yf \ \ \
with the Oloponda of Qpqnda. She was taken in and given good care until her child was b o m . When she was delivered, it was discovered that the baby was a hybrid son - half human and half beast. Iy^ Mose was quite ashamed of this 'ijiinere' and could not be persuaded to stay with the Oloponda who, nevertheless, was willing to foster the child. She had a good 28
28. This notion of the Chimpanzee /gorilla/ was common in the olden days. (See Smith in "The Alafin in Exile" Journal of African History, Vol. VI,
1965
, p.64
). He quotes one of the Alafin's wives who was raped as she was drawing water.UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
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8 6
mind to return home to her husband; so she stole away from dponda. While close to 6gb£n, she threw the baby into a bush and returned home, concealing the secret.
But the child did not die in the bush. On the seventh day, he was discovered by A to, the wife of bgogc^, native of Igb<$r:f. She dashed home in amazement and told her husband about the abandoned baby she had seen on a dung-hill in the bush covered up by soldfer-ants. bgog<^ raised an alarm in the community. Iy^ Mose who could no longer control herself told her husband that the abandoned child was, in fact, his son.
The Ologbin was flabbergasted to know that he was the father of the strange child. However, he went to consult with the Oracle once again. The priest said that Ifa was pleased with
the child and that he, as 'Am^ludun', would grow up to make everybody happy. He, however, insisted that Ol^ghin should perform his late father's funerary rite before things could go on well with him.
Ifa suggested -that the funerary rite of resurrecting the deceased father should take place in the bush where the hybrid child had lain abandoned. The rite would take the form of a procession from the bush where the ‘spirit1of the father would materialize as a costumed figure with the hybrid child carried on the back of the impersonator in the masquerade as a good
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800 'eko' (solid pap) and drinks. Everything was got ready in the bush which came to be known as 'Igb<£ Igbale' (the sacred grove). Alaran Ori, Ologbin's kinsman, brought their father's garment (ago bdkdo) for the mummery, "bgkgo was asked to be the impersonator and to carry the resoued hybrid child who would be strapped to his back like the hump which Oldgbin's father carried.
Amusan was asked to wield the whip in case some one became too anxious and curious and wanted to touch the masquerade. Ol^gbin then made a public announcement that he was going to perform the funerary rite of his late father and would bring the deceased home from the bush wherein he had been abandoned a long time ago.
The procession from the bush took place in the night and ended at the 'lie Isknyifn', the secret-chamber of the late
^Iwdnran, Ologbin's father, where the rites were performed.
The next day, there was a grand procession of the 'ghost-mummer' or the materialised costumed-figure of the deceased, through ’
the main streets for all to see. People surged round and seeing the apparition acclaimed:
E wo beegun eni o ti ku ti g&n t(>\
Egungun na gt£n lokt^.
Egungun grin*. Egungun gun'.
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See how the bone3 of the dead have perfected'.
The bones have perfected indedd.
The bones have perfected, the bones have perfected*.
The ghost-mummer went round blessing the people and finally departed into the 'KIk', the secret-chamber in the courtyard where the spirit of the dead was believed to have become 'disembodied* within.
Ato was called upon to continue caring for the mystery child under the name of 'Iy£ Xgan' (mother or foster-mother of Xgan). The name by which the child was oalled were Ol^gblre
^gan. He was confined within the 'K^a' where bg6g<$, Ato’s husband, visited them frequently as 'Baba Mar-iwo' (father who know the secret). He was described as 'Aldgbo w£' (one who heard and came to the rescue); from then on he was hailed a3
'Al^gb^f, baba Mari wo' (Alagb^, father of all who know the secret).
It must be recalled that before the merging of the
ancestral rite into the 'cultus' to become the Egungun Society, ancestor-worship and masquerading were handled by two separate lineages. According to the following account, it seems that
the organization of the cult of the ancestor as the Egungtin Society (embracing two lineages namely, bgbin /5bJ7 and
\gbor^ /t4 ^ » both of which had laid claim to the ownership of the 'masquerade'), came about probably at the instance of
Olt^gber^Agan. This development is narrated in 'Odu 6w<4nrxn 8 8
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Vjerse: Ngo re bgbxn lo re e s'egun.
Ng6 re Igborx, ngc? re e s'awo.
Ngo w& ko ikini i rai w&re-were, Ng<$ re 0y6 re b da.
Adxfi f&i Olugbdrf Tx 6 nsokun ai r'omo bi.
4 i »
Nw<5n wk nda'so b ’orx,
Nw<4n wa nwipe, 'Onxpon d&'?
I will go to Ogbin to create the masquerade Jvaummer^/.
I will go to Igbori to learn the cultus.
I will then collect all my appurtenances, And go to Oyo to build them up.
Thus decreed the Oracle, When Olugbbrx was mourning His lack of a child.
He then entered into a shroud,
Asking about, ’Where is the Onipon’?
The Igborx people could not organise the egungun 'cultus' without the Ol^ponda, who was Olugbere Agan's foster-father. 29
29. This 'Odu' was narrated to me by Chief Orodxjx, the 0<$sa of Iw<5, to whoa I am greatly indebted. (l/2»/68).
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Oliigberef, the hybrid child of Iy£ Mose who was herself the daughter of Oltigborx, grew up among the Igb^rf people where he trained in Ifa worship and medicine. He also became a great dancer and acrobat. But because he was a hybrid, he could never really come out in the open unmasked without people raising an eyebrow. Thus, he lost the opportunity of having a wife and rearing children.
He decided, one day, to go to Olcfgbin, his step-father at bgbin and ask if he could act as a mummer, or a costumed- actor, otherwise called 'L^bala'. In this form his animal features would be covered up and he would have the grand oppor
tunity of putting into practice his training as a dancer and acrobat. He could also play some tricks. 01<^gbin gladly accepted his son's proposition, made him a mask and a costume and sent him on a dancing tour of Oyo. This wa3 a visitation that pleased the king who, consequently, agreed to the
Ol^gbin's proposition that an annual festival be inaugurated during which period every lineage-head could bring his 'ghost- mummer' to a communal gathering. This gathering, like an 'All Souls' festival, became an important cultural event in the Yoruba oalendar. In spite of it being in a sense a festival of mourning for the dead, it became a joyous occasion, "giving a firm assurance that the spirits of the dead are alive and are
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capable of manifesting themselves in the form of Sawngun.
With the egungtin festival inaugurated, OKigbere Igan, who had spent most of his early life in concealment, could afford to walk the streets, at least periodically, as the Oldgbin's masquerade, with his entertaining displays. Oldgbin, was in a very favourable position to use his post and influence at Court as the king's sword-bearer and rhapsodist, to set his actor-son up as a'strolling-player*. This he did, later.
OlrfpQnda agreed with the people of Oldgborx^who sought his permissionyto organise the egdngun worship including the rites of the dead and the annual "all souls" festival into a secret society. When the cultus was organised, it had its own hiera
rchy embracing mainly the people who had taken part in the organization of the funerary rite of Oldgbin's father. Thus, bgbgd, the first impersonator and the custodian of the baby Oldgbfer^ igan, became the 'AlAgbkd, baba Mariwo', ritual head of the cult; Ato, his wife, who was also the baby's minder^was officially recognised as 'ly£ igan', mother-protector of the cult; Amdsan, the whip-wielder, who led the first procession from the bush became the 'At^kun', the whip-man. ''bpl', the call-boy was placed in charge of organising the assembly. The 30
30
30. Lucas, o p . cit.. p. 139*
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Al^ran 6r£ became the costumier. Other offices were added later^including that of the Al^pinni who became the political head, a powerful agent of the king and the representative of
the cult in the king's council. But Oldpond&'s position as the nominal head of the society remained unquestioned.
The following extracts from the lineage-chants of the
* 2-4
Igbiri, narrate the T^pa origin of those who became the important officers of the Egdngdn Society when it was first organised. The chant describes vividly how, living amongst the Yoruba, the ^gb<5rf people statiLized the influence of the egungtin as a social and political arm of the state:
"Eni t'<S b& ki Il4 lgbrfr£ Mqko, T<f bi fi T^ptSi si'*le,
Oko igi i6 lo."
Whoever chants the lineage-poem of Igbdri M6kq,
Who neglects TAp&,
Is beating about the bush.
Qld'ppnda: "Akdwl tV ba k'Obil-rija ^ Tfcf b£ f'01dpond& si 'le; 31
31. I am grateful to Mr. S.4. Babayemi of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan for his ms. Awon Orikl Alfe lid, from which the extracts were made from 'Oriki IgbOri'.
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E pd kd tiln lo kb ' s4 re re . Olbpondl, Kujbnrb.”
4 • a *
Any bard who chants bbh-djl’s praise, Who neglects to mention Qlbpondb,
Tell him to go and learn the art anew. ,2 Olopondh, the live-wire of the cult of the dead.
bgbgo: 1. "bgbg<5 Mbko'.
Omo a kb mb sun brun lgbdr£f. Bx mo bd ku l'darb,
Ng6 sin d’bbgtin l'djd alb