By Muna Chinedu
Ịkpụite (Pottery) has been one of the major crafts that Nkanu people have been known for, for ages and now.
In Nkanu West, it is predominant among Awkunanaw women. For Nkanu people, it’s some sort of a pride.
Back in the days, a woman who was a good potter was seen as a full and talented woman. Mothers then taught their daughters how to do pottery at a young age, while a woman that didn’t know how to do it was looked at like she missed from an essential blessing or gift.
My grandmother once told me how much it took her to learn pottery from her mum.
One community that has stood out in the practice of Ịkpụite is Obuoffia-Awkunanaw in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, Pacesetter’s findings revealed.
Pottery is not just a skill, gift or talent in Obuoffia in particular, it is a celebration. On the day the pots, earthen bowls, earthen plates, and many other varieties are to be heated through fire, as a way to harden it, or say, bring them to the final stage, to get them ready for use, neighbors turn up to wish the potter well, so her pieces will come out of the fire well.
Then the best part; there will be food; abacha, fufu and soup, ihuobe, palm wine and other edibles to celebrate the successful finishing of the pottery. The molding and finishing are always done during the harmattan season, perhaps for the dry breeze the season comes with and how it helps harden the clay pieces.
When my grandma was alive, pottery for her, was pride, and it’s a celebration and still is.