The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-02-17
NO WORK THERE;
L|FE'S A HEAVEN
Natives of Nigeria Are Happiest
People in the World

Washington II. G.. Feb. with nc
taxes To pay and no wearsomc restric-
tions to undergo, living in land 81
fruitful that a few weeks labor is
enough To supply them with food home
and clothes for whole year the Ekoi,
! natives of extreme southern Nigeria,
on the Equator. should be. and prob
ably are, among the happiest people on
earth, according To u. \. Talbot. Afri-
can explorer, OF London, ENGLAND, i'm Il
communication to the National Geo
graphic society, AT Washington, ID. c.
The Ekoi are devoted parents" he
writes. They have curious beliefs as
to the advent and death of their ba-
bies. one charming superstition for
bids all quarreling in house where
there are little children. The latter, 50
they say. love sweet words. kind looks,
and gentle voices and if these are not
To be found in the family into which
they have been reincarnated, they will
till a chance offers to return again
amid less quarrelsome surroundings
Terpsichore There, Too.
ITO the Ekoi, dancing is one of the
main occupations of life. With them
the dance provides an outlet both for
the dramatic instinct and for religious
ferver. At the new year, and ON all
great festivals, the chief societies Of
men, women and children come up to
the station TO give series of dances
The Ekoi are a polygamous people, but
the chief wife, not the husband. is the |
head of the house. Each wife has con-
troll over her children, who almost in
go with her if she leaves her
husband, and her rights as to property |
are most strictly safeguarded 10y ma
tive law"
Mr.. Talbot recounts one of the many |
Did legends of the country explaining |
he position which woman holds. At
he beginning of things the legend |
'uns, the world was peopled by women
'nly. one day the carthage Awhassi
Nsi happened by accident 10 kill a
Woman. Awbassi sorry for the grief
lc had caused, offered to give them
Inything they should choose out of all
lis possessions. They begged him tn
mention what he had to give, and SAID
hey would all cry Yes" when he
FAMED the thing which they wished to
AVE At length the list was nearly
nded; one thing remained to offer and
hat was man. They shouted Yes"
nd, catching hold of one another
tartcd dancing for joy. They took
nan. therefore. as compensation for
he fellow woman whom they had lost,
nd thus the men became the servants
f women, having to work for them up
D this day.
Religion Taken From Ancients.
The RELIGIOUS obscrvances of the
,koi are altogether FASCINATING
tudN," continues Mr.. Talbot. Be
cath many modern corruptions and
disbursements are to be found traces
f an older purer form of Worship !
races which carry us back to the old
st-known Minoan civilization and q.
nix the belief of the modern Ekoi with =
nat of the ancient Phoenician. the d
Egyptian, the Roman and the Greek !
! some ways, indeed, the Ekoi form /
lay be termed the most ancient of all, :
~ whereas in the oldest known rep ,
of Minoan bird and tree -
orship the tree has become almost f.,
ltirely cunvcntionali2cd into pillar %
lape, and later ON becomes a mere f.,
celestial To support the bird, among tho -
koi it still keeps its original form 49, q
lat of the actual living tree. The :
nallcst town has its iuju tree"