Calabari (people)

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The Kalabari are a people in Nigeria also called Ijo , Eastern Ijaw or Ijaw . Around 325,000 Kalabari live in Nigeria and around 32,000 in Ghana.

The Kalabari belong together with the Kirike to the Ibani-Okrika-Kalabari ethnic group. They speak the Kalabari , an Ijo language from the family of ijoid languages .

The central element of the traditional Kalabari culture is the ekine men's society, whose rituals include games and the use of masks to worship the water spirits. These are presented as natural forces and, in traditional beliefs with heroes and ancestors, belong to the otherworldly powers that exert a protective or damaging influence on the community.

literature

  • Joanne B. Eicher, Tonye V. Erekosima: Kalabari Funerals: Celebration and Display. In: African Arts, Vol. 21, No. 1, November 1987, pp. 38-45, 87f
  • Robin Horton: The Kalabari “Ekine” Society: A Borderland of Religion and Art. In: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 33, No. 2, April 1963, pp. 94-114
  • Fritz W. Kramer : The red Fez. About obsession and art in Africa. Athenaeum, Frankfurt 1987, pp. 168-176

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