Ilisan’s rival Orò groves

ape

Source term: bullroarer (ape)

ape: Remo name for the bullroarer (probably apẹ́). Orò: the executive spirit or symbol of the ancestors that speaks through it. igbórò: an Orò grove. Liworu: the Orò association of Ilisan’s Iworu quarter. Olófin: title of the king of Ilisan. Òsùgbó: the council of elders.

In the Remo towns, Orò was the voice of the ancestors: a thin slat of wood whirled on a string, called ape, played only by members who knew its secret, in groves outside town. At Ilisan the people of the Iworu quarter once owned the only grove. When a later king built a rival one, its consecration needed two human victims, and the Iworu men stole the first pair. Today, when a new king reaches Iworu during his installation, his robe is taken off and sent back, and the quarter’s Orò leaders keep their heads covered before him. At neighbouring Iperu in 1878 the ruler welcomed a missionary and offered him land, but the elders threatened Orò’s revenge and the visitors left; when the ruler died in 1882, Orò drove the town’s converts out. Women may never set eyes on Orò, yet an outing went well only if none of them refused to feed and bless its singers.

Thus women hold the key to Orò’s success.

Insa Nolte, Obafemi Awolowo and the Making of Remo (2009), p. 48

Particulars

Object

A thin piece of wood whirled through the air on a string to make a whining noise.

Function

Voice of Orò, the spirit of the ancestors: played in groves outside the town open only to members, for purification, the prevention of catastrophe and the honouring of ancestors; Orò had custody of unnatural deaths, executed the elders’ will even against rulers, and its rival Ilisan groves are re-enacted at each king’s installation.