Choices! What will it be? #12

Hi, Steemian

Welcome to yet another edition of the contest “Choices! What Will It Be?” It's the 12th week and the special word for this week is “Basket”.

Not the regular shopping basket you may be familiar with, but the traditional one commonly used by people from the Ibibio tribe of southern Nigeria and known in the Ibibio common parlance as “nkénè”. The Efiks, our sister tribe, call it “akpásà”.

However, for this post, I'll stick to the original Ibibios dialect which is “nkénè”.

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Nkénè, or basket, remains an essential tool among the Ibibios. It is made from raffia palm and serves various purposes.

What is nkénè used for?
It is commonly used to convey farm produce to and fro the farm, store foodstuff items at home, or carry wares to the market square during selected market days.

In a time when civilisation had not reached an advanced stage yet, women and mostly children would have been seen walking briskly on the narrow clay paths with nkénè placed firmly on their heads while they head to their desired destinations.

This tool is crafted skillfully by experienced basket weavers. It serves as the perfect farm tool to transport large tubers of yam and cassava, either to the processing mill or home.

How large is nkénè?

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Most of these baskets could be as large as 28 cm- 35 cm in diameter. And as deep as 25 - 30 cm. Its width and height are determined by its uses.

A basket that is used majorly for carrying crude farm implements like hoes and machetes is most likely to be smaller than that for tubers and wares.

But that's not all.

The Ibibios have different types of baskets for various occasions.

Types of nkénè
There are mostly two types – nkénè and ikád.

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You've probably read enough about nkénè so let me tell you some more about ikád.

Unlike nkénè, ikád is smaller and has its lid (top cover). It is used to store food items like smoked fish, dried meat, etc. Women place it above the local fireplace. It can stay there for days, weeks, months, and even years until there's a need for these dried foodstuffs.

Significance of nkénè
Nkénè signifies abundance and hard work. During traditional marriages, families could choose to present this to the new couple as a gift. This is given alongside other items during the main day. It usually comes with a lot of presents inside. Could be cooking utensils, foodstuffs, farm implements, wrappers, etc.

Nkénè is very durable and light – a toddler of 2 years can pull or drag it when empty.

I found something you might like. The nkene is something similar to the 3rd photo

Fishing was never the occupation of Ibibios, except for the Oros. With this established, you probably understand why I never mentioned nkene being used by fishermen or during fishing activities.

The making of the nkénè demands so much attention and time. It is an age-old craft dominated by women. Though technology has led to major changes, the relevance of baskets still exists until this day.
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