The Iria Ceremony dates back to the 16th century; coming of age is something that is universal, but what is one communities’ idea of the celebration of feminism is another’s idea of gender discrimination. We are going to take a look into the different worlds that we all live in. In the Nigerian Delta tribes are scattered around. In some of these tribes the Iria ceremony is practiced. Some of the groups that practice the ritual include the Iyankpo group, the Ijimkorobo group, the Alagbariye group from Ebeni, and the Saugeye group.
The Iria ceremony is practiced differently in different places around the country of Nigeria- some forms of the ritual being a bit harsher while others are less demanding. The three main forms of the ceremony are the Kala egeribite, Opu egeribite/egeribite, and Bibite.
In Many communities the Iria ceremony is thought to be the celebration of womanhood, But due to Globalization and Christianity most women view the practice to be outdated, embarrassing or diabolic.
This is a picture of a woman guarding the fattening rooms.
Only women are allowed access to these rooms.
-Courtesy of HypeScience posted by Miguel Kramer
The girls involved in the ritual usually range from the age of 14-17 (girls that are preparing themselves for marriage.) In some places the ritual begins with the girls appearing bare breasted in front of the crowd for “inspection.” The purpose of appearing in front of the community like this is for the community to make sure that the girl’s virginity is intact. If the girl refuses to show her breasts or “fails” the inspection they experience public outcry and scorn. That is not a problem for most women being that most enjoy this ritual and see it as an honor. This opinion that many of the women have is the polar opposite of many women outside of these tight-knit communities.
This part of the ritual is mainly practiced for Waikiriki women.
The next stage of the ritual begins immediately after the first. In this stage the girls enter “fattening rooms” where they are held for a month with rich local foods. In other communities the women are shackled down decreasing their movement. They can be held in these fattening rooms for as long as 6 months. The girls cooped up in these rooms do have things to do though; while the girls are in the fattening rooms they learn traditional songs and dances from the elders in the village. Only females are allowed to enter the fattening rooms.
The purpose of the fattening rooms is to allow the girls to become plump and ready for marriage. This is the exact opposite to the society most people are accustomed to, where women prepare themselves for their wedding by losing weight.
In many tribes they believe that all young girls form
romantic attachments with the water spirits
-Courtesy of National Geographic, posted by, Brian Pegg
The belief in these Nigerian tribes is that all the young women of the village form romantic attachments with water spirits. For them to be able to marry and have children they must detach themselves from the spirits. Through their time in the fattening rooms the young Iriabo make many trips to the town’s river at dawn. At the river the girls practice the songs they learned in the fattening rooms. On the last day all the girls gather at the river and sing their songs all together.
This is the day that the water spirits are believe to come and capture the girls. For the girl’s safety and fertility to be ensured the Osokolo, or the senior male member of the Owuper society whacks them with a stick.
This part of the ritual varies throughout the tribes. In some tribes the spirits are hit out of them before the fattening rooms and in others many of the men from the village gather around and whack the women with the stick instead of the one Osokolo. Depending on the tribe or village the women may or may not be bare breasted whilst this takes place.
When it is time for the women to exit the fattening rooms a party is thrown in celebration of her becoming a new woman.
The members of the community decorate the square or a space within the Iriabo’s father’s house. When the Iriabo is finally released from the room, which she has been contained in for around a month. As you can imagine this is an extremely important part for any woman participating in this ritual.
As she exits the room the members of the community greet her with song and music played on their drums.
Throughout the party the women dance and enjoy becoming a new woman. If by any chance the Iriabo get tired she takes her place in booth that was made for her and observes the celebration.
There are many different characteristics that make the Iria ceremony one of a kind. Some of them include the arts, which is the different dances, songs, and music within the ceremony and the party that follows. Throughout the process of this rite of passage the women chant and sing to the water spirits showing religious devotion. Another characteristic is the pageantry that appears within the whole ritual. Pageantry can be seen in the beginning of the ritual where they parade around bare breasted to when the women finally exit the fattening room and are paraded around the square.
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