Object Details
- Local Numbers
- O-244/1951-1953 EEPA 2000-070215
- General
- Title source: Dr. Simon Ottenberg, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
- Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Collection Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Place
- Africa
- Nigeria
- Topic
- Cultural landscapes
- Religious buildings
- Shrines
- Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Culture
- Igbo (African people)
- See more items in
- Simon Ottenberg photographs
- Extent
- 1 Slide (col.)
- Date
- 1951-1953
- Custodial History
- Donated by Simon Ottenberg, 2000.
- Archival Repository
- Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
- Identifier
- EEPA.2000-007, Item EEPA 2000-007-0215
- Type
- Archival materials
- Slides
- Color slides
- Collection Rights
- Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
- Genre/Form
- Color slides
- Scope and Contents
- This photograph was taken by Dr. Simon Ottenberg while conducting field research at Afikpo village-group, southeastern Nigeria, from December 1951 to March 1953.
- Original title reads, "Reconstruction of the ancestral rest house (obu) in Ezi Akputa compound, Mgbom Village. Nnale breaking stones for use in the obu construction." [Ottenberg field research notes, O Series,December 1951-March 1953].
- "A short distance inside the compound entrance is the ancestral shrine of the lineage founder, Mma obu (ancestor-rest house), which also serves as a rest house and meeting place for the lineage elders, and near which is a small cleared area used for meetings and feasts. The founder's house is believed to have been located where the shrine stands and his body to be buried beneath it, and the spirits of the male ancestors of the major patrilineage, Nde mma (people-ancestors or spirits), are said to reside in the shrine. The uke ekpe grade, the executive arm of the lineage elders, is responsible for rebuilding the ancestral shrine house, the fashion nowdays is to use cement blocks and galvanized iron roofs, but only after receiving assurances from a diviner that the ancestral spirits will not be offended by this bit of modernity. The uke ekpe sees that the necessary communal work is carried out, that any contractor involved is paid, and that sacrifices to the appropriate shrines are performed so that the ancestral spirits will not be upset by the rebuilding." [Ottenberg S., 1968: Double Descent in an African Society; the Afikpo Village-Group. University of Washington Press].
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
- Record ID
- ebl-1536864686513-1536864686742-1
