Ways of the rivers: Arts and environment of the Niger Delta

An intricate maze of rivers and islands cuts across Nigeria´s Niger Delta, serving to separate the many ethnic groups dwelling there but also to provide routes of transmission and trade. The essays in this illustrated volume consider issues of cultural convergence and divergence within this region. They examine and and celebrate the ethos that are present throughout the Delta and explore the influence of its environment on beliefs and material culture.
Contents: Part one - Early history, trade and contact: Lower Niger bronze industries and the archaeology of the Niger Delta; from middlemen to missionaries; bulletproof - exploring the warrior ethos in Ijo culture. Part two - Environment and cultural confluence: from river horses to dancing sharks - canoes and fish in Ijo art and ritual; the Isoko as a delta people; celebrating water spirits - influence, confluence and difference in Ijebu-Yoruba and Delta masquerades; Part three - Arts and identity: everyone to his quarter - ethnic interaction, emulation and change in Itsekiri visual culture; tricks of the trade - a study of Ikakibite (cloth of the tortoise) among the Eastern Ijo; the arts of the Ogoni; fitting farewells - the fine art of Kalabari funerals. Conclusion - reflections - looking back on our journey. Appendix: crosscurrents and confluences - linguistic clues to cultural development