Associated with the Yoruba ethnic group is a ceremony called "egungun," involving the return of the spirits of ancestors (The Houston Chronicle 25 Oct. 1997). The literal translation of the word egungun is "the walking dead" (Clark 1997). Sources refer to egungun masks worn by dancers at egungun festivals (Shwimmer 1995; McClelland 1982, 38; Lawson 1984, 56; Eades 1980, 123; Clark 1997; The Baobob Project n.d.; Theweek 21 Sept. 1998; The Houston Chronicle 25 Oct. 1997; Isokan Yoruba Magazine Summer 1997). Some sources refer to these dancers as a "cult" or a "secret society" (ibid.; Eades 1980, 124; McClelland 1982, 35).

Masqueraded dancers appear at ceremonies that are either funeral rites or festivals in which the ancestors visit their descendants (Gbadegesin 1991, 89; The Baobob Project n.d.; Clark 1997; The Houston Chronicle 25 Oct. 1997). What follows are descriptions of these celebrations.

According to The Baobob Project, a Harvard University-based project on African visual culture:

In the Oyo area of Yorubaland, Odun Egungun festivals are held in communities to commemorate the ancestors. Egungun masks are performed during these annual or biennial ceremonies as well as during specific funeral rites throughout the year. The masquerade is a multifaceted ceremony which includes the making of offerings as well as the honoring of ancestors for past and future aid.

Egungun performances organized for funerary purposes mark the death of important individuals. In this context, the masks reflect a creative response to death as a time of crisis involving mourning and loss. Elaborate performances serve to commemorate the dead through the remembrance of their past life while simultaneously reinforcing the relationship between the living and the recently deceased ancestor.

Among the broad range of themes incorporated in the Egungun masks are representations of numerous societal and cultural stereotypes as well as acrobatic images in which dancers turn their clothing inside out, in part to suggest the power and distance of the ancestral world. Entertaining satirical masks depicting animals and humans are performed during the masquerade and often serve as a social commentary on the life of the community. ...

Egungun masks are brightly painted and in the context of the masquerade, the bodies of the dancers are covered with multiple layers of sumptuous cloth. Each year, the owner of an Egungun mask will add new cloth to the layers and the number of levels of cloth serves to represent the number of years a mask has actively been performed. The use of expensive cloth and bright, imported paints suggests the sumptuousness of the world of the ancestors (n.d.).

Clark writes that

The dead come back to visit the living during Egungun festivals. Egungun masks represent the spirit of egungun rather than spirit of a dead person. A single, or group of egungun spirits can impersonate a verity of dead people (1997).

In commenting about the relation of cultural images (including masks) to spiritual images, Clark adds:

We produce African spiritual sculpture to serve the same capacity that the image of Jesus on the cross serves in Christianity and nothing more than that. Crucifix is a human security blanket, or calling place while you do what ever it is you are suppose to do. If you are required to read scriptures, pray, or meditate then the cultural Crucifix will help your mind and spirit focus on a task at hand.

The Christian Bible speaks of animal sacrifices to be met, but Euro-Christians never practice them. The last sacraments at the beginning of each month is a symbolic representation of a sacrifice that many Euroes practice (ibid).

In a similar vein, and during an interview on Yoruba religion published in Isokam Yoruba Magazine, Wole Soyinka commented on the representative function of the egungun dancers, relating it to Christianity, and how the wafer and wine represent Christ's flesh and blood (Summer 1997).

In a section on "personality and ancestors" Eades writes:

Representing the ancestors, but assuming a role which cuts across descent-group boundaries, are the egungun masqueraders. They are dressed from head to foot in elaborate costumes, and their faces are obscured by nets through which they can see. There are several types of egungun. The omo egungun, "children of egungun" or "junior egungun", have costumes made out of brightly covered strips of cloth and leather which swirl out as their wearers dance round. The agba egungun, "senior egungun", have costumes made out of dirty rags and masses of clay with animal skulls and charms embedded in them. Egungun masks are inherited within the descent group, and the agba masks can only be worn by men who have learned the necessary rites to counteract their power. The Egungun cult, like Oro, emphasises the separation between men and women. The masks are only worn by men, and apart from a woman official called the Iya Agan and her deputies who help the men dress, women are not supposed to know the identities of the wearers. It is dangerous for women to touch the masks, and some of the agba egungun are believed to be able to identify witches, who in Yoruba culture are almost always women.

Egungun appear in two contexts during funeral ceremonies. In some areas it is customary for an egungun to emerge from the room of the dead man some time after the burial, and to imitate him while he brings greetings from the dead to the other members of the compound. Secondly, during the celebrations which follow the death of an elderly person, the relatives may pay the members of the cult to come and dance for them.

The dual significance of the Egungun cult as a commemoration of individual ancestors and as a representation of the collective dead acting on behalf of the community as a whole comes out clearly in Morton-Williams' account of the festival in Egbado (1956). After the vigil with which the festival starts, there is a procession of agba egungun together with the members of their descent group and drummers, demonstrating the solidarity of the groups that own the masks. On subsequent days of the festival there is less emphasis on kinship, and the other types of egungun join in (1980, 123-125).

In a brief reference Gbadegesin writes that:

Sacrifices are made to the ancestors from time to time and at a special season of the year. The latter is usually a colorful ceremony in each Yoruba community. The most widespread is probably the egúngún festival when it is believed that the ancestors come down in spirit to participate in and receive the sacrifices offered to them, and to assure their descendants of their continued protection (1991, 89).

Lawson writes:

The egungun are masked dancers who perform at festivals and other important ritual occasions. They wear nets over their faces to prevent identification, wear long and colorful robes, and are regarded as the representatives of the ancestors. The masks they wear are handed down from generation to generation and are seen by the Yoruba as possessing great power. Special rites must be performed by the men who wear them, and they are believed to be particularly dangerous to women. But there is only one women who is permitted contact with them; she is known as the iya agan, and it is her function to supervise the dressing of the egungun ... (1984, 56-57)

There are two classes of ancestors, family ancestors and "deified" ancestors. ... The most important quality in a family ancestor is having lived a good life ... The next important quality is the attainment of a ripe old age, for this is a good indication that one has fulfilled one's destiny. Yet another quality is the possession of dutiful descendants who remember the ancestor with appreciation and are willing to continue to perform the ceremonies in his honor.

Such ancestors will be venerated or worshiped by their descendants and will be represented by the egungun, the Yoruba believe that the ancestors are virtually present in these masked dancers. Such ritual practitioners become conduits for messages from and to the ancestors and, in fact, assume the role of mediators between the family and the departed loved ones. On special occasions, for example at a festival, all the ancestors will be brought back and represented by the many egungun. In many regions of Yorubaland such festivals are eagerly awaited and provide a focus for community celebrations ... (ibid., 62-63)

On special occasions ... the ancestors are represented by the egungun ... One such occasion is the death of an important family member. After such a death the egungun will emerge from the house of the deceased, imitate this newly departed person, and convey messages of consolation from him to the living members of the family (ibid., 64).

Another description is provided by McClelland, writing in 1982:

Another secret society devoted to the worship of the spirits, in this case those of the dead, is the Egúngún. It s belief is that the spirit of a dead man can be evoked and caused to inhabit, temporarily, the body of a masked cult member and so communicate with his living relatives. The Ifá priest will have a mask made and hire from Àgbgágúngún an Egúngún to wear it, so providing a host body for the deceased man's spirit to use, and arranging a last contact between the living and the dead. The spirit is said to take possession of the Egúngún and speak through him. His voice is shrill and unearthly. ...

So the Egúngún usually wears enormous masks, cumbersome structures of varying materials such as bones, feathers, and shells mounted on cloth with coarse net over their faces. Their garments are similarly bulky and voluminous, made of rough cloth with bits of other patterns appliquéd on, together with charms, mirrors, bits of leather or straw.

There are several kinds of Egúngún and their masquerades take several forms. There are those who dance round the town during their festivals accompanied by followers with whips to keep off any people who try to get too close. They are feared by all. There are entertainers also, who have the reputation for being wild and unrestrained. The head of the cult is called Àgbgágúngún. ...

One particularly notorious Egúngún called Jamujama lived near Old Oyo. He delighted in terrifying old people and would dance in an abandoned fashion all round the town in the middle of the night, giving the children nightmares. There is a spell against him in one verse (1982, 36-38).

McClelland commented on the importance of hiding the identities of those who wear the egungun mask and stated that the penalty to the wearer for becoming exposed has been death (ibid., 36). However, he noted an historical example in which the identities of the dancers were revealed during a cyclone and, rather than being put to death, the dancers were banished (ibid.). Soyinka also stated that he knows of colleagues who have been egungun dancers: "I was never frightened by the Egungun. I was fascinated by them. Of course, I talked to some of my colleagues, like Osiki who donned the masquerade himself, from time to time" (Isokan Yoruba Magazine Summer 1997).

Soyinka also made references to the fears of children concerning the egungun (ibid.). He stated that as a child he was warned about playing with other children whose father was believed to be an egungun and his realization that there was nothing "evil" about the egungun:

I realized quite early on, that there was a man in the Egungun mask, that did not mean that a great act of evil was being committed - any more than saying that Father Christmas was evil. ...

The Igbale was nothing sinister to me: it signified to me a mystery, a place of transformation. You went into Igbale to put on your masquerade. Then when the Egungun came out, it seemed that all they did was blessing the community and beg a little bit for alms here and there. Occasionally there were disciplinary outings: they terrorized everybody and we ran away from them but then, some distance away you stopped and regathered ... maybe my dramatic bent saw this right from the beginning as part of the drama of life. ...

According to a priest of the Institute of African Religion and Ifa-Orisa Cultural Center in Houston "from October through December, the egungun, the spirits of the ancestors, return to the land of the living to bring blessings" (The Houston Chronicle 25 Oct. 1997). Describing the celebration in Houston of the egungun, "Babalawo (Chief Priest) Adeyemi Ogunde" stated

"Everything negative we pray against ... We pray for those doing drugs to stop. The good spirits are with us. They will protect the New Year and protect everyone."

The egungun's return, according to tradition, also gives Ogunde prophetic power through the religion's god, Olodumare (Almighty). During the festival, Ogunde told the community that the king of the sea was angry and would destroy many people. The same day, the community went to the bank of the San Jacinto River to appease Yemoja, the river goddess, through prayers and offerings of fruit. ...

In the egungun ritual, the dancer is completely costumed so he cannot be seen or identified. He becomes the conduit for the returning spirits. The Yoruba religion remains an integral part of Nigeria today, Rasmussen [University of Houston anthropology professor] said (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

The Baobob Project (Department of Fine Arts, Harvard University). n.d. "Egungun: A Creative Response to Death." http://baobab.harvard.edu/narratives/yoruba/egungun.html [Accessed 7 Apr. 2000]

Clark, Claude L. 1997. "Yorúba Images: Egungun Mask." http://www.africanmetropolis.com/announce/art_sale_anouncement.htm [Accessed 7 Apr. 2000]

Eades, J.S. 1980. The Yoruba Today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gbadegesin, Segun. 1991. African Philosophy: Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities. New York: Peter Lang.

The Houston Chronicle. 25 October 1997. Richard Vara. "African Religion; Teaching Spirituality to the Next Generation." (NEXIS)

Isokan Yoruba Magazine [Washington D.C.]. Summer 1997. Vol. III, No. II. "Wole Soyinka on Yoruba Religion." http://www.yoruba.org/Magazine/Summer97/File3.htm [Accessed 3 Mar. 2000]

Lawson, E. Thomas. 1984. Religions of Africa: Traditions in Transformation. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

McClelland, E.M. 1982. The Cult of Ifá Among the Yoruba. London: Ethnographica.

Schwimmer, Brian. 1995. "Yoruba Egungun Mask." http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/fundamentals [Accessed 7 Apr. 2000]

Theweek. 21 September 1998. Babs Bello. "A Functional Blend." (NEXIS)

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Post Express [Lagos].