Anebira Believe that whenever a child is born, an ancestor returns.
Oyi Ye Ozi simply is a ritual to determine which ancestor in the lineage of the child is reincarnated and to know the reason for
such ancestor’s return.
It is also a process to appease the ancestor who reincarnated to help guide, protect and influence the newborn positively.
Oyi Ye Ozi is usually done during the Eva-Ozi ritual.
On the day the “Eva Ozi” is performed, representatives from the child’s maternal and paternal families are present to serve as witnesses and to know from which of the child’s parents lineage the ancestor is returning from. (Note that every returned ancestor must have an ancestry
connection with the child no matter how distant)
In the course of the divination, names of long gone ancestors are mentioned to know who amongst them returned in the child.
In some cases, the ancestor who returned may choose not to make him/herself known on that day, another day is chosen for the ancestor to “show his/her face” (di eyi tu Ehe).
Upon revealing the returned ancestor, further inquiries are made on why the ancestor chose to return in the child, the reason for the inquiry usually is to help guide the child while growing up to live the legacies of the ancestor (if he/she left good ones) or to appease the ancestor to retrieve his/her mission if such ancestor left a bad legacy (this is very uncommon).
The returning ancestor is further asked to name what can be used to gratify his/her return, such ancestor may chose from but not limited to the following
i. A Cow to be killed
ii. A sheep to be reared
iii. A ram to be killed
iv. He-goat to be killed or reared
V. Egg
Vi. Tortoise
Vii. Pounded yam with egusi soup garnished with dried cat fish to be eaten on his/her behalf
Viii. Beating of the ancestral hollow drum *(agidigbo)* of the child’s family. And so on…
Finally, the ancestor is asked to chose a person from the living relatives present to strap the child on his or her back for the walk home.
The chosen relative automatically assumes the position of the child’s godparent and the person is then dressed in white with
the face marked with ” *Uru* ” (camwood), the child too is dressed in white and a white cover cloth is used to cover the child when he/she is strapped on the godparent’s back.
This process is usually choreographed with praise-songs eulogizing the returned ancestor.
IMPORTANCE OF EVA-OZI AND OYI YE OZI
Anebira believe every child is a reincarnation of a long gone progenitor and to help guide that child through life and sometimes to avert doom, every child should go through the rites of reincarnation to now the particular
ancestor who reincarnated.
The coming of Islam and Christianity have in a way tried to put a stop to this practice, but it should be known that the practice is still being observed by many.
Many children whose parents refused to
observe these rites usually grow up to be adults with turbulent lives, they are usually met with misfortunes in the forms of sickness, retrogression and other ordeals, such people are often times advised by elders to go seek the ancestor reincarnated in them and to appease such ancestor, in most cases when this is done such calamities are countermanded and the is person freed.
The rite of reincarnation is a beautiful part of Ebira Culture that should be explored, it shows the uniqueness of the Ebira.
Credit: Ebira reporters