Equiano gives the first recorded description of the ichi (igbu ichi), a forehead scarification cut into the skin and drawn toward the eyebrows to form a raised weal. In his Narrative the elders, judges and “senators” of his country bore it, his father had it and a brother received it; Equiano says he was destined for it. His word embrenche for the bearers corresponds, according to Acholonu, to mgburichi.
Dorothy Ukaegbu’s chapter on status in Korieh (2009) challenges the idea, put forward by Carretta, that an ichi-bearer was the Igbo equivalent of a British “gentleman” of leisure. That reading, she shows, derives from Captain John Adams’s account of 1822, which glossed the term “Breeche” as “gentleman”. Igbo society valued work, and idleness (efulefu, in Achebe’s phrase) was mocked. She proposes two Igbo ideas instead.
<em>Dimkpa</em> or <em>dike</em>
The strong, brave and hard-working person, a quality of youth and achievement, not necessarily of wealth. The word is gendered male but is occasionally used for exceptional women (dimkpa nwanyị).
<em>Ogaranya</em>
The rich person, an adult status based on wealth, expressed through feasts, titles and generosity.
<em>Ichi</em> and <em>ozo</em>
A ladder of recognition ran from ichi through the ozo title, the nzu (white chalk) rite and membership of the elders (ndị ichie) to the traditional head. Titles were costly: goats, yams and palm wine had to be provided.
<em>Ikenga</em>
The carved right-hand shrine that expresses a man’s personal achievement, next to his personal chi.
Ukaegbu’s conclusion is that Equiano, as a younger son in a society where the eldest son inherited, was an aspiring dimkpa, and that the English word “gentleman” is a misleading translation for what his family held. In today’s Isseke he is remembered with pride as both dimkpa and ogaranya.
Sources for this article
- Korieh (ed.) 2009, ch. 4 (Ukaegbu), pp. 93–116