“Yay? What’s that? Do you imply Igbo?
The primary time I heard these questions was when a lady I met in highschool requested me what my tribe was. We had bonded over our mutual inexperienced and white heritage, however the confused look she gave me after I informed her I used to be Ijaw could be mirrored by each Nigerian youth I met in subsequent years.
Little jokes have been made about how “unknown” my tribe was and whether or not I used to be positive I wasn't complicated it with Igbo. Though I laughed via it, always treating it as if my ethnic id was nothing greater than a verbal blunder turned irritating.
The three 12 months 9 Geography classes dedicated to Nigeria solely briefly scratched the floor of the nation's huge tradition and historical past, failing to say the existence of ethnic teams apart from the three most populous. I then realized that in Britain the Ijaw existed within the shadow of the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa.
Britain is dwelling to a Nigerian diaspora of about 200,000 folks, the second largest after that in the USA. In London, the place I stay, 'Nigerian tradition' is sort of at all times synonymous with that of the Igbo or Yoruba.
Their affect in locations like Peckham in South London, dubbed Britain's 'little Lagos', has made numerous Nigerian migrants of all tribes really feel snug, together with my household. However via no fault of their very own, their larger numbers have additionally created a bubble of invisibility over many smaller tribes. Though the Ijaw are the fourth largest tribe in Nigeria, I really feel just like the odd one out amongst Nigerian youth in Britain.
However my tribe, wealthy in tradition and a part of a rustic as soon as below British colonial rule, deserves a spot in geography books and within the minds of British Nigerians.
Entry to Ijaw tradition
The Ijaw folks, also referred to as Izon or Ijo, inhabit the Niger Delta area of southern Nigeria and are outlined by their relationship with water and the Niger River.
Within the oil-rich delta, battle, authorities neglect and the Ijaw folks's historic dependence on oral historical past, versus written data, have contributed to the erosion of Ijaw presence and tradition in Nigeria – and to the obscurity within the West.
I emigrated from Nigeria to Britain on the age of two and accessing my tradition has by no means been simple. As communal because the Nigerian inhabitants in London is, I depend on my mom to inform me about our tradition, to prepare dinner Ijaw dishes corresponding to kekefiyai (a novel stew just like plantain porridge), or to name my prolonged household to study extra about my tribe.
My experiences with different Africans are just like these with fellow countrymen.
“What’s Ijaw? “I believed there have been solely three tribes in Nigeria,” finally turned so frequent that I began to dread speaking about my tribe.
All through my teenage years, my Ijaw identify, Ayibaemi, was the goal of ridicule for white kids, in addition to for some black kids.
Whereas I can attribute plenty of that to infantile ignorance, I’m now in school and consciousness concerning the Ijaw remains to be missing. I proceed to make use of Ayis, the shortened, 'simpler' model of my full identify, however it’s not a topic of worry. When it turned nearly meaningless to name myself “Nigerian,” I started to brazenly determine extra with my tribe.
Folks of the water
Though the origins of the Ijaw are unclear, it’s extensively believed that the Ijaws have been the primary settlers of the Niger Delta area. Water is on the core of Ijaw livelihoods and the Niger River serves not solely our lifeline but in addition that of the Isoko, Itsekiri, Urhobo and plenty of different tribes within the area.
The Ijaw are recognized not just for their fishing, but in addition for his or her textiles and humanities. The perfect recognized instance is the carved water spirit masks utilized in conventional non secular practices of the Ijaw. The masks, lots of which have each human and animal options, embody the water spirits central to conventional Ijaw religions, and honor the swamp and river animals native to the delta.
Conventional Ijaw clothes consists of uniquely printed wraps across the waist, in addition to handmade beaded coral caps, hats and strolling sticks. I grew up admiring the gorgeous, conventional sequined clothes that my mom introduced together with her when she emigrated and that she wears to church on Sundays.
My mom spent most of her life in Yenagoa, the capital of the southern coastal state of Bayelsa, the place I used to be born. “Being Ijaw means being a water bearer,” my mom says.
She has at all times seen her relationship with the water as what outlined her upbringing as an Ijaw little one via actions corresponding to fishing together with her siblings, gathering seafood on the riverside markets or swimming within the river with the opposite native kids . After a protracted day in school, she seemed ahead to coming dwelling to eat kiri-igina (a wealthy fish soup made utilizing the warmth of a mortar and pestle as an alternative of cooking with fireplace) with eba, a staple meals made out of cassava.
She speaks Atissa, a dialect of Ijaw, which is so unique to Yenagoa residents that she solely speaks it to her sisters on the telephone as soon as each two weeks. As a result of she nearly by no means encounters fellow Ijaws in London, I hear many extra English phrases in these conversations than I used to.
Though my father was born in Ghana (additionally dwelling to Ijaws), he grew up within the small village of Otuan, additionally in Bayelsa. His space was poverty-stricken, however communal. His father was an area fisherman and river dealer, traditionally the livelihood of most Ijaws.
His mom had a novel tribal mark etched on her abdomen with a knife, resembling a solar, whereas different ladies had brow marks to differentiate themselves as Ijaw. The follow of scarification remains to be generally finished immediately by many tribes, mostly the Yoruba, however it’s now uncommon to search out an Ijaw with tribal traits. My father's earliest reminiscences of his mom have been listening to her narrate dō (conventional Ijaw folktales) each morning as he ready to go fishing or journey the Niger Delta on his household's boat. He not remembers these people tales.
He described the Ijaw folks in the easiest way he might and as soon as mentioned to me: “Ijaw individuals are very truthful. The which means of the phrase Izon is definitely fact.”
Authorities violence
In October 2020, Nigerians took to the streets with the EndSARS motion to protest towards police brutality and corruption. On October 20, within the capital Lagos, the place the protests have been concentrated, the Nigerian military opened fireplace and killed peaceable demonstrators on the Lekki toll gate. Ijaws in Bayelsa additionally took to the streets and confirmed solidarity with the motion – in any case, Ijaws in Nigeria know all too properly what violence and abuse by the federal government looks like.
Regardless of the Ijaw and different tribes dwelling on a few of the nation's oil-rich lands, communities in Africa's primary oil-producing area face marginalization and poverty, and the surroundings is polluted by oil spills. In 1998, Ijaw youth activists adopted the Kaiama Declaration, which outlines Ijaw rights to lands which were the goal of eco-violence and exploitation by transnational oil corporations and the federal authorities for many years. The protests proceed immediately to reclaim this homeland.
In 1992, the formation of the Motion For The Survival of The Ijaw Ethnic Nationalities within the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), which aimed to revive an Ijawland within the Niger Delta and problem the oppression of the Ijaw folks, made us existence was fading. The Ijaw folks belong to the Niger Delta tribes who’ve launched a motion aimed toward holding their ethnicity and homeland intact.
Preservation of Ijaw tradition
Language is usually seen as one of many threads that maintain a tradition collectively, however the greater than ten Ijaw languages are susceptible to extinction. The dominant Ijaw language, often called Ijaw or Izon, has solely a handful of tutorial language books, corresponding to Izon Fie (Converse Izon). It’s the first ever Ijaw language e-book for self-study and was launched in 2013 by the Bayelsa State Authorities.
Initiating a broader dialogue on Ijaw tribal eradication and preserving ethnic cultures is step one in shifting us out of an endangered cultural zone, however these conversations amongst Ijaws within the diaspora are few and much between. Within the US, teams such because the Ijaw Girls of America present a protected house for girls and promote equality for Ijaws inside and outdoors Nigeria. Many Ijaw Fb teams in Britain and neighboring nations have been inactive for a while.
Clubhouse, the social media app for networking and dialog, is filled with Nigerian golf equipment and teams for sure tribes, such because the Yoruba or Igbo. Establishing Ijaw teams is a strategy to join our tribe world wide and lift consciousness of who we’re – and the problems we face.
My dad and mom taught me the significance of my tribe and helped me embrace my tradition. As we speak when I’m requested concerning the Ijaw and whether or not I imply Igbo, I not really feel uncomfortable informing folks about who we’re.
Gaining recognition for an ethnic id whose existence has been erased within the Nigerian diaspora can’t be solved in a flash, however with a joint effort by Nigerians and British Nigerians like me, I consider it may be finished.
