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"Horse funeral" ceremony, Amachara village, Afikpo Village-Group, Nigeria

African Art Museum

"Horse funeral" ceremony, Amachara village, Afikpo Village-Group, Nigeria
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Object Details

sova.eepa.2000-007_ref667
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo71cc7c001-83ad-413e-b216-a426840f0a12
Local Numbers
O-180/1951-1953 EEPA 2000-070159
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
Rites and ceremonies -- Africa
Dance
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 2000-007-0159
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, "Second funeral or the memorial, often called 'horse funeral' or 'horse title' at afikpo, Amachara Village. Something a man does in honor of his father, often years later after his death, as in this case. Otelerri is doing it. Ottenberg joined his matrilineal clan at this event. Otelerri and friends coming out into the Amachara Village square from compounds to dance and prance about." [Ottenberg field research notes, O Series, December 1951-March 1953].
"When a mature male dies his eldest son is responsible for burial and the funeral ceremony. The burial is followed by a series of related rituals, which generally continue to express the relative positions of the descent groups. The first is the 'goat funeral'. This ceremony is followed by the ritual of placing a shrine pot for the deceased in his ancestral house. At any later time the deceased's eldest son may perform the 'cow funeral', giving his father's matrikinsmen a cow, and a horse as well if he is rich. The ceremony is optional, and is a prestige ritual to honor the father and display the son's wealth." [Ottenberg, 1968: Double Descent in an African Society; The Afikpo Village-Group, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1968].
Collection Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Other Archival Materials
Simon Ottenberg Papers are located at the National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
EEPA.2000-007_ref667
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo71cc7c001-83ad-413e-b216-a426840f0a12
EEPA.2000-007
EEPA
Record ID
ebl-1536864686513-1536864686732-0

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