Onyile (art history and graphic design, Georgia Southern U.) examines the art history and history of Ekpu ancestral figures of the Oron people. He aims to reconstruct this history, as it exists
mostly in oral accounts. Onyile grew up in the culture and also uses interviews with those in the community to make his argument. He describes the Oron people and the importance of the Ekpu
figure in their society, its meaning and definition, analysis of their physical attributes, styles of carving, and visual symbolism. He also explores the roles of secret and political
institutions in relation to Ekpu history, including the all-male Ekpe Association, the Inam institution, and the nka age. Oron religious and cultural values were taken over by the Primitive
Methodist mission, he notes, and discusses the transformation of Ekpu ancestral figures from Oron ritual object to museum object to an icon of national unity. B&w photos are included.
Annotation 穢2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
