Bonny was a major Atlantic-era port that played significant roles in the transatlantic slave trade and, later, in the palm oil trade, from the 16th to the 19th centuries CE. Early accounts of Bonny’s dugout canoes, recorded by the Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira, highlight their scale and importance in transporting agricultural goods and enslaved people from the hinterland to the coast. In his words, these canoes were “the largest in the Ethiopias of Guinea (coastal West Africa), large enough to hold eighty men.” By the 17th century, these vessels had become central to the social, political, and economic systems of the Ibani and their deltaic neighbors. Today, the knowledge systems surrounding their production are under threat due to the environmental and economic impacts of the region’s crude oil industry. Pollution and shifting occupational patterns have contributed to a steady loss of skilled knowledge holders.
Method
The project combines oral history interviews with canoe carvers and other knowledge holders with detailed visual documentation via still photography and videography. Archival materials tracing the cultural biography of these canoes complement contemporary documentation.
Goals
The project has two primary goals:
- Documentation: To produce a detailed record of Ibani canoe-carving processes by recreating the two main Ibani canoe types: the Omuaru (war canoe) and the gigi (ceremonial canoe).
- Knowledge Transmission: To support the intergenerational transmission of this knowledge system through sustained community engagement.
Looking Ahead
Upon completion of the project, care of the recreated canoes will pass to community stakeholders under the supervision of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). At the Bonny Consulate building, the canoes and their accompanying documentation will form part of a new museum section dedicated to the maritime heritage and naval warfare of the Ibani people, ensuring this knowledge remains accessible to future generations.
We invite you to follow along as this project develops.
PI: A. Omokolade Omigbule
Collaborator: Adria LaViolette
Research Location: Rivers State and Cross River State, Nigeria
Host Institution: University of Virginia
Top Banner Image: Canoe funeral procession for Chief Oko Jumbo. Photo credit: Johnathan Adagogo Green, 1891.