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Notes on the Osu System among the Ibo of Owerri Province, Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2012

S. Leith-Ross
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Extract

The Ibo of Owerri Province form a compact mass living in what are perhaps best termed village-areas, straggling ‘garden cities’ covering a large area of ground, and where huts either stand in little unprotected bunches or in walled compounds with farmlands and forest between. The few towns, in the European sense of the word, that exist are semi-artificial and date from after the British occupation. Schools and churches are multiplying quickly, but the bulk of the dense population is still pagan and illiterate. It is composed almost exclusively of farmers who, in certain districts, are also oil-nut gatherers. These Ibo are intensely democratic, recognizing no central tribal authority and though coming apparently from the same stock and speaking the same language (although with strong dialectical differences) are curiously individualistic. Their compatriots, living in another village-area only a few miles away but unrelated by ties of kinship, are considered as ‘foreigners’', all bearers of the worst possible characters and capable of the darkest crimes. Daily habits, methods of farming, methods of building, taboos, religious conceptions, vary bewilderingly so that the investigator finds, after months of work, that he has still nothing but bits and pieces that form no coherent whole. All he can do is to pick out a few of the pieces which seem to him significant and describe them to the best of his admittedly limited knowledge in the hope that others may find the links between them.

Résumé

LE SYSTÉME OSU CHEZ LE PEUPLE IBO DU NIGERIA

Quand on étudie les indigènes de la province d'Owerri, membres de l'importante tribu Ibo, tôt ou tard on entend parler, quoique toujours avec contrainte, de gens appelés Osu, les ‘esclaves des dieux’. Quoique les Osu sont de race Ibo et ne portent aucun signe extérieur d'infériorité, ils sont considérés comme des gens à part et traités avec le plus profond mépris, mélangé d'effroi. Ce mépris se porte non seulement sur l'homme (ou la femme) qui a été ‘acheté’ par un individu, victime de la colère d'un dieu, pour être dédié à ce dieu afin d'apaiser son courroux, mais sur tous ses descendants. Aucun homme libre n'épouserait une femme Osu, ni permettrait à sa fille d'épouser un homme Osu, quoique le mariage avec les descendants d'esdaves autres que les ‘esclaves des dieux’ est permis. En plus, les Osu doivant vivre à part et n'ont pour ainsi dire aucune part dans la vie commune.

Pourtant les quelques renseignements que l'on peut obtenir sur leur origine, certains détails de la cérémonie de consécration, et ce que disent les Osu euxmêmes font croire qu'au début leur position était tout autre qu'elle n'est aujourd'hui. La raison de cette déchéance est encore à chercher, ainsi que la raison de ce mélange de haine, de peur, et de dédain qui les poursuit encore, même aujourd'hui et, ce qui est le plus frappant, même dans les milieux chrétiens et instruits.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , April 1937 , pp. 206 - 220
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1937

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References

page 207 note 1 I have fallen back on the use of the word ‘juju’ through inability to decide on a better one, ‘god’ or ‘spirit’ being equally unsatisfactory.

page 207 note 2 This is probably only true of descendants of Osu. An individual who had been purchased for dedication would be the joint property of the donor and the juju and therefore would have to be replaced by whoever had caused his death.

page 208 note 1 I do not think there is any mention of the Osu in any of Mr. Amaury Talbot's books, and in Archdeacon , Basden'sAmong the Ibos of NigeriaGoogle Scholar I can find only a brief reference to the fact that slaves were occasionally given to the jujus.

page 209 note 1 Presumably immediately after they have been weaned.

page 210 note 1 Aro or Aro Chuku is in Calabar Province, not far from the eastern boundary of Owerri Province. The Long Juju, through its oracle, had immense influence throughout the country until destroyed by the British during the Aro Expedition of 1901.

page 215 note 1 The head Osu was the senior of the Osu consecrated to any particular juju. He stood in the relationship of father to a male Osu and to such female ones as he did not wish to marry, and of a husband to other female ones. In olden days, the Osu worked for the senior Osu, till the time came when they were made to work for their purchasers.

page 216 note 1 A ‘mbari house’ is a form of temporary shrine apparently confined to the Owerri district. Its erection and decoration demand a considerable number of workers, men and women, who are said to be chosen by the juju through the intermediary of a diviner.