NO HOUSING PROBLEM

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXVIII, Issue 206, 25 August 1932, Page 2

NO HOUSING PROBLEM

THE SIMPLE LIFE NATIVES IN NIGERIA No housing problem, no national debt, no feminist movement, no depression, no motor-cars! Where is this Utopia! Miango is represented by a pencil-point on the map of Nigeria. It is actually fifteen square miles in area, and is populated by 17,000 natives as black as night, few of whom acknowledge any deity but the sun. Miss Effie Varley, who has been attached for nine years to the station of the Sudan Interior Mission there, is on furlough in her native city of Melbourne. “It isn’t really so idyllic” she told the Melbourne “Herald.” The women are thoroughly emancipated, of course. This tribe, the Iregwe, is pagan. It has no marriage ceremony of any kind. If a woman is dissatisfied with her husband, she simply runs off with some other man. When a man has stolen someone else’s wife, it is an occasion for rejoicing. The tribe has a big feast to celebrate the event, and everyone is happy—though, quite likely the woman will return to her first husband' next day.” Miss Varley admits that Christianity has still a long hill to climb, but traditional pagan customs are disappearing. “For instance,” she explained, “it has been their custom for ages to signalise the birth of twins by killing the younger. About two years ago, one of our native Christian women scored a victory over the ancient custom. She gave birth to twins, and when the tribe demanded the life of the younger, she refused to give it up. The old men shook their heads and said evil would come to it. But the twins lived.” The Iregwe live in mud huts, Bft in diameter with 3ft doorways, no chimneys and no win-, dows. And all the cooking is done inside! “These people were never cannibals, and their fondness for headhunting has been stamped out,” continued Miss Varley. “Although only a few of them have forsaken their old god, they are coming to realise that killing is wrong. The Iregwe are splendid hunters. They know nothing of firearms, and on their excursions into the jungles they arm themselves only with spears, bows and arrows and two-foot knives. But they have no fear of wild animals. Death is another event they celebrate with frenzied dancing. It begins with the sacrifice of goats to the sun. Then the death dance starts. It lasts for three nights, and on the fourth afternoon there is a grand finale —a wild affair.”