Rituals

“The festival is part of an ancient fertility ritual that the local Kebbawa people consider the most important aspect of the occasion” 

(Su: Argungu Fishing Festival, 297-98). 

Traditionally, on the evening before the festival the Homa, the Chief of the Fishermen, who is the priest of the ancient ritual, goes down to the Sokoto river. With him are Sarkin Ruwa (Chief of the River) and Jirgi (Chief of the Ferrymen). They go to the river in the dark in secret. They go to a deep pool that never dries up, one chosen by traditional ceremony. At the pool the Homa makes a sacrifice of a mixture of honey and rice flour balls (Su, 1957). He also adds a red she-goat or a couple of hens. If hens are used, one must be red and one must be black. He must also give onions, pawpaw, watermelon, and white kola nuts, with a little milk. These he throws into the river while he prays to the gods and the ancestral spirits of the Kebbawa people to send peace, health, progress, and fortune during the coming year. The rituals are also performed to prevent all the fishes in the area from migrating to neighboring waters (Su, 1957).

  Everywhere, an important feature of traditional culture is the annual sacrifice bound up with the welfare of the people and usually connected with their primary occupation. It is calculated to enhance the prosperity of the worshippers and is usually linked with old fertility rituals. It may also reflect an inherited, instinctive regard for the main source of protein in their diet (Su, 1957).

Bibliography

Su: Argungu Fishing Festival” Nigeria Magazine 55 (1957): 312.