Paper short abstract:

This chapter takes a critical look at the various conceptions of water spirits among the diverse cultures of the Nigeria Niger Delta and makes the case for the abundant visual cultures inherent in ritual veneration.

Paper long abstract:

The mobility of wealth is intricately tied to water commerce, this was the phenomenon that many cultures exploited within the rubric of water spirit veneration. Not only that it is correct to adduce such dynamic, but it remains the most viable of the ways that communities even nations thrived in the past and today. Therefore, this chapter takes a critical look at the various conceptions of water spirits among the diverse cultures of the Nigeria Niger Delta. At the instance of the Portuguese appearing at the coasts of western Africa, many cultures assumed that such pale skinned humans must have been their returning ancestors who have come to fulfill the promises that their forbears were expecting. Not only that the boats and vessels that accompanied these early Europeans were filled with assorted exotic goods, but such coming kickstarted what will become the fortification of empires. Kongo and Benin were some of the oldest kingdoms that validated this claim, as they matched with sophistication in their wars of conquests. Water spirit veneration within this region took various nomenclature, but the idea that permeated them were similar. While the Benin people made huge reference to Olokun, other cultures of the Niger Delta alluded to names such as; Onoku (delta, Igbo); Ejoramen (among the Urhobo); berikrukru and odede-oru (the Ijaw); Ndem (Efik and Ibibio).

By analyzing the visual cultures of the conceptions of water spirit, we hope to articulate their importance in the life and culture of the culturally diverse Niger Delta.