Coiffures and wigs

Yesterday DHL rolled up to the door with a long-awaited package from Benin--some gifts for our upcoming exhibition. Inside were two wigs, a bit sad from the shipping process, but quickly returned to a happier state. The wigs are a shortcut to the okuku style, the coiffure the queens (iloi) wear every day in the palace, with their natural hair. The Oba permits favored chiefs to allow their wives to wear the style, too, and Benin brides often wear it on their traditional wedding day. For brides and chiefs' wives, the style is a rare one--special occasions only.

Stylists come to the house and create a beehive over padding, adding curving braids and coral beads. It's hard to sleep on, so women often get up very early in the day so the hairdresser can perfect the okuku. Some women find wigs an easier alternative, and fake coral is certainly more economical--though any Benin woman can spot even a good fake and dismiss it for the sham it is.

My wigs are replete with the fakes, but they're pretty impressive, for they have the white veins and pocking of real coral. I wonder where the plastic factory that makes them is located--in Nigeria? China? Are they sold anywhere else? Changing specialized markets fascinate me--China is now competing with Switzerland and Austria for the Nigerian "lace" market, but India still rules the "george" market.

Ezoti

In the late 15th century, the Benin Prince Ezoti grew up with a body slave. Body slaves were of the same sex and just a little older than the person they served, and trailed around after them like mini-nannies, wiping their bottoms and making sure they were dusted off when they fell. By all rights, they should have been close. But Ezoti is remembered as having been selfish. He didn't want to share anything as he and his slave grew older. Even if something was a discard, it was his property.

One day the cooks were preparing Ezoti's meal, and the slave had been given no food. He knew it was too much to expect Ezoti would allow him to feed on the leftovers, so he eyed the garbage. The prince would be dining on pounded yam, and the cooks were careless with their peeling. Some of the yam still clung to the bark. The slave took it, but Ezoti entered, saw him, and beat him. "MY yam peel!" The slave's spirit turned.

It was Ezoti's time to take the throne, and he had begun the ceremonies that would confirm his as Oba. While he walked in procession, an arrow flew through the air and struck him in the forehead. The guards quickly caught the slave, and officials bandaged the wound, covering it with beads so the people wouldn't be alarmed. It seemed a shallow wound, but the arrow had been poisoned, and after a few days Ezoti died.

The makeshift bandage cover became the udahae, the beaded headband chiefs wear with certain outfits. One long strand of beads falls from the headband, representing Ezoti's blood. It is at once a piece of chiefly regalia, but also a reminder to treat those around you fairly, and to be generous when you live in plenty.