IDNO

P.71748.GIJ

Description

A photograph of part of Ngusu Ada village. The photograph shows the environment and landscape of the village. In the photo are trees and vegetation and a road or path in the centre. In the upper right corner, up the hill is a cluster of rectangular shaped mud and thatched houses.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; Cross River; ?Northern Bende division; Ngusu Ada

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Ada

Named Person

Photographer

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Collector / Expedition

Date

circa 1930 - 1939

Collection Name

Jones collection

Source

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.71728.GIJ to P.71831.GIJ were kept in box 14, now numbered C300/.
P.71728.GIJ to P.71748.GIJ were found wrapped in paper, now numbered C300/1/.

Context: G.I. Jones was a District Officer in eastern Nigeria in 1930s and he photographed and documented the peoples and culture at this time. He has written about his interest in photography and the experiences he encountered while in Nigeria.
(Jones, 1955). Jones and Forde defined the Afikpo as an Igbo subgroup called Ada or Edda (Forde and Jones, 1950, pp.51-56).

Context: The masks, sculpture, and culture of this area are described in detail by Ottenberg. He writes that, “ the Afikpo belong to an Igbo subgroup called Ada or Edda (Forde and Jones 1950, pp.51-56), which includes the Okpoha, Edda, Amaseri, and Unwana village-groups, all of which border on the Afikpo, Nkporo and Akaeze, both short distances away. The Ada have many common features in their history and cul. They have past associations with the famous slave-trading Igbo of Aro Chuku, some forty miles to the south, and their population includes other immigrant groups from various Igbo areas, as well as residue of ancient non-Igbo peoples having Cross-River cultures (the earliest in the Ada area). The Ada are known for the prevalence of double unilineal descent, for well developed age grade organizations, for their military and head-taking activities in the past, and for their characteristic forms of art and rituals. These features differentiate them from other Igbo and from the Cross River groups” (Ottenberg, 1975, p.3)

Bibliographical Reference:
Forde and Jones. 1950. “The Ibo and Ibibio Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria”. International African Instititue, Ethnographic Survey of Africa, Western Africa, Part III) (London)
Jones, G.I. 1955 “A Memoir of Early Field Photography”, African Arts, XVIII, no. 4, pp. 64-67.
Ottenberg, S. 1975. Masked Rituals of Afikpo. (University of Washington Press)

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 27/11/2007]