#Ekpo Masquerade Festival and the Culture of Annang Land. #This is SteemAlive
Firstly,
Let's define what is culture.
Culture can be define as a way of life of a group of people, behaviors, beliefs, values and symbols that are generally accepted without thinking about them.
Ekpo masquerade is a Cultural society art form that originates from the efik, ibibio and annang people.
Ekpo is founded on the belief in life after death; and it is regarded as the soul or ghost of ancestors that return to the land of the living in masquerade form to participate with their kinsmen in communal festivals such as farming and rites of passage.
As a secret society, membership is strictly by initiation; hence, every aspect of Ekpo is designed to strike awe, fear and caution among women and non-initiates.In the pre- colonial era, Ekpo served as the government of the entire Akwa Ibom people performing such functions as judicial, administrative and religious duties.
Usoro Ekpo Festival
In remembrance of the ancestors and gods of the land. A full month's celebration, this feast is associated with the annang extraction.
Like other African community, the annang people in Akwa Ibom state place a high expectation on the festival. The ekpo festival was considered as a link between the living and the ancestors.
The symbolism of Ekpo masquerade goes more than a mere celebration, there are the initiators of high quality governance in annang land long time ago.
THE EKPO FESTIVAL AND ITS HISTORY IN ANNANG LAND.
The ekpo was primarily to confirm that smart life was obtainable to all and virtually every child in annang community was forced to be a memeber.
The ekpo group begins to induct youngsters from above age 7 and 8,. The idea of ekpo was to produce high quality governance that excels human being, how ever expected to return from the ancestors and established by the founder of Annang tribe.
Finally, Ekpo culture is predominantly all male affairs, solely the male provided leadership, this brought in some level of patriarchy. The male rule and still offer an area to the ladies in the group.
