Central African rock python: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:31, 10 September 2024

Revision as of 18:00, 17 September 2024

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=== In culture ===

[[Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania|Luo people]] of [[Kenya]] living mainly in the area near [[Lake Victoria]] generally consider snakes to be evil and believe that [[wikt:jajuok|sorcerers]] make them harm people.<ref name="jhs2006">{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=James H.|year=2006|jstor=24047925|title=Snake-driven development: Culture, nature and religious conflict in neoliberal Kenya|journal=Ethnography|volume=7|number=4|pages=423&ndash;59|doi=10.1177/1466138106073144|s2cid=220725054}}</ref> They express a different attitude towards pythons - such as making them appear in play songs and even worshiping them. The Luo call the Central African rock python {{Lang|luo|[[wikt:ng'ielo|ng'ielo]]}} in [[Luo dialect|their language]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kokwaro|first1=John O.|last2=Johns|first2=Timothy|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vUC4yJgPtXoC&q=+|title=Luo Biological Dictionary|page=257|___location=Nairobi and Kampala and Dar es Salaam|publisher=East African Educational Publishers|isbn=9966-46-841-2}}</ref> and with the songs containing a phrase {{lang|luo|ng'ielo jadhogre}} “python the coiling”, children make a line and imitate a python's motion.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Miruka|first=Okumba|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CxZ3g0VVTg0C&q=jadhogre|title=Oral Literature of the Luo|___location=Nairobi and Kampala and Dar es Salaam|publisher=East African Educational Publishers|isbn=9966-25-086-7}}</ref><ref>Miya, Florence N. (2007). "Using African Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Early Childhood Music Education." In Katharine Smithrim and Rena Upitis (eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=1suCBAAAQBAJ&q=jadhogre ''Listen to Their Voices: Research and Practice in Early Childhood Music''], pp. 161&ndash;180. Waterloo, Canada: Canadian Music Educators' Association. {{ISBN|978-0-920630-13-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Owen|first=J. W.|year=1959|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=svg5AAAAMAAJ&q=jadhogre|title=Tribal games and dances in African schools|journal=Physical Education|volume=51|pages=16&ndash;20}}</ref> When the Luo worship a python, they call her Omieri (or Omweri) a returning python-spirit. The python is then seen as a reincarnation of Omieri, Goddess of Harvest and linked with rain and fertility.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.okayafrica.com/kenya-omieri-snake-return-home-kisumu-county-luo-people/ |title=Kenyans Rejoice as the Remains of Omieri, the Legendary Snake and Goddess of Harvest, Return Home |last=Durosomo |first=Damola |date=August 3, 2018 |access-date=April 13, 2022}}</ref><ref name="jhs2006" /> One which appeared in 2003 raised international controversy over how she should be treated, with coverage from [[BBC News]] through the ''[[Daily Nation]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2840033.stm|title=Kenyans charmed by snake|work=BBC News|date=11 March 2003|access-date=1 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3033769.stm|title=Kenya python tightens its grip|work=BBC News|date=15 May 2003|access-date=1 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="jhs2006" />

In some parts of eastern Nigeria, particularly in the towns of Idemili in Anambra, the python is revered as a sacred symbol of the deity Eke Idemili. Similarly, in [[Njaba]], the Eke Njaba, a harmless snake regarded as the deity's property, is also held in high esteem. This reverence is so deeply ingrained culturally that even [[Christians]] in these areas have not fully renounced the sacredness of the snake, and any harm to the Eke Njaba requires ritual cleansing via a proper burial to avoid the deity's wrath.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Department of History and International Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria |date=2013 |title=The Role of Festivals in Awo-Omamma-Amiri Relations, since 1970 |url=https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Role-of-Festivals-in-Awo-Omamma-Amiri-since-Ubaku/88831e620a4e1338b3a9ed37c4da7e2028fbc6a1 |journal=IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science |volume=14 |pages=01–08 |doi=10.9790/1959-1450108}}</ref>

==References==