Janiform bush spirit shrine figure
Description
wood, black paint, white pigment, nails, male half figure, crowned by quadruped, holding club and sword, eyes originally cast with glass, rep. (breakage at the shoulder fixed with metal clamps), rep. (head of a quadruped, wrists of the figure), missing parts through insect caused damage, cracks, abrasion of paint, base with rotary disc;
the white colouring on this figure may denote his status as a titled member of the “peri” warrior society. The animals surmounting the figure may be leopards. Men earned warrior titles by killing powerful animals as well as by taking human lives. Alternatively the animals could be dogs, for dogs sometimes acted as guides for spirits and were associated with hunting.
Many Ijaw shrines are dedicated to the warriors in the “ozidi” narrative, which is performed throughout the Central and Western Delta. In avenging his fathers murder, “ozidi” confronts a series of bad bush spirits. Their names were among others “oguaran” of the “Twenty Fingers and Twenty Toes”, “azezabife” or the “Skeleton Man” or “tebesonoma”, or “Seven Heads”. Finally “ozidi” won, when he decapitated “tebesonoma”. All the shrines “ozidi” created supported him in battle, making him such a fearsome foe that no one would fight him. Like “ozidi”, the Ijaw count on enshrined bush spirits to support their followers in everything from wrestling competitions to war, and to protect them from both human and superhuman threats.