NOTES ON THE EKOI 
By p. a. Talbot 
THE Ekoi, of extreme southern 
Nigeria, on the Equator, should 
be, and probably are, among the 
happiest people on earth, for they have 
no taxes to pay, no wearisome restric- 
tions to undergo, and so fruitful is the 
land that a few weeks' labor is enough 
to supply them with food, home, and 
clothes for a whole year. 
The Ekoi are devoted parents, but it 
will take years of patient teaching be- 
fore they grasp the importance of fresh 
air and the simplest sanitary measures 
for the health of their little ones. 
They have curious beliefs as to the 
advent and death of their babes. One 
charming superstition forbids all quar- 
reling in a house where there are little 
children. The latter, so they say, love 
sweet words, kind looks, and gentle 
voices, and if these are not to be found 
in the family into which they have rein- 
carnated, they will close their eyes and 
forsake the earth till a chance offers to 
return again amid less quarrelsome sur- 
roundings. 
At the new year, and on all great 
festivals, the chief "societies" of men, 
women, and children come up to the sta- 
tion to give a series of dances. To the 
Ekoi, dancing is one of the main occu- 
pations of life. With them the dance 
provides an outlet both for the dramatic 
instinct and for religious fervor. In all 
Photos by P. A. Talbot, from the Geographical Journal of L,ondon 
KKOi GiRi, atte;ndant on juju image 
(see page 34) 
TYPE OF EKOI 
