For those unfamiliar with Uratta, it is well to introduce you to the Thanksgiving Celebration known as ONWA ORU Uratta. It is the most 4 festive, annual festival in Uratta. Onwa Oru, known also as ONWA IRIRI, means the occasion for eating, drinking, and making merry. It marks the end of the harvest season, and hence the period of plenty, which often falls around February. “After working for the year, our people relaxed to congratulate themselves on their achievements for the year…. They feasted and dined on [yams], fish and meat [notably goat meat], and sumptuous meals and forgot their cares and worries.” Guests are lavishly entertained. Social and cultural activities, performed at the Orie Uratta central market embellish the celebration.
These include singing and dancing, which are analogous to the Madi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
One of the momentous events is the presentation of first born daughters (Ada) of Uratta at the OBU OZUZU, i. e. the Uratta national flag or agnatic tree at the center of Orie Uratta market. This ceremony/ritual is called Mgboto Uratta ibi ukwu obu, which symbolizes the conferment of special honor, status, and dignity to nwa mboto Uratta (Uratta daughters). Another striking feature is this: In the olden days, women who went to Orie Uratta market without money could dip into the pot (ite/oku) in which individuals had dropped monies (cowries), and take money to buy items in the market. Orie Uratta market, in the period of Onwa Oru, therefore, was popularly known as Orie agbaraka azuo ahia, meaning one without money could still afford to purchase foodstuffs/commodities at the market.
Significance?
(1) Money in the pot(s) reflects Uratta people’s generosity; the spirit of; (2) encapsulates Uratta cultural and social ethos of sharing and hospitality. Finally, Onwa Oru is the period of peace—no quarreling, and no fighting. Nobody would even demand any debt from any debtor. It was a period when “every citizen enjoyed absolute freedom.”