THE WAY WE WERE

Ichori ndi ukabi is an act in which an individual or individuals search an abandoned farm field looking for yams forgotten in the soil by the farmers during the harvest season. Such yams are only found when they sprout. Ndi ukabi belongs to whoever found it.

 

Ikpata-aki is the process of searching a palm plantation looking for fallen palm fruits, from anyone’s plantation. The searchers gather and keep the palm nuts or kernels.

 

Ichori Oji is the method or act of searching under or around Oji tree, while picking up fallen Oji seeds. The founder of the fallen seeds keeps them.

 

Every act in our tradition is a continuation of teaching and learning. In our tradition all of the above-mentioned activities serve the same purpose. They also have identical meanings and teach equal cultural values. These activities are used in our culture to teach our youngsters the rights and limits of ownership. Each of these activities are seasonal hobbies for teenagers and those who wish to participate in them. Our tradition mandates that seeds or fruits, picked up under any tree bearing fruits or any fruits gathered by the searcher from under the trees in any plantation, become a personal possession of the person who picked them up from the ground. The labor of the searcher in gathering the fruits gave him a distinct right to own what he gathered. In our tradition his activities are not viewed as encroachment of property. Instead, he is seen as a person who gathers and removes neglected fruits which otherwise have been left to waste, rot, or be consumed by rodents and other wild beasts. His activity is a remedy to his needs and wants.

 

There are laws governing each practice. However, there is only one rule for Ichori ndi ukabi: that an individual must only engage in his search for ndi ukabi in an abandoned farm field. The laws and rules covering the act of Ikpata-aki, Ichori oji and other tree-bearing fruits are similar. There are rules of behavior for any individual engaging in this practice. These rules forbid an individual who is engaged in the search and gathering of fruits from shaking, climbing or inducing fruit to fall off a tree. Such an act will be termed illegal harvesting of fruit, an encroachment of property. The searcher is liable and must be punished according to our traditional mandates.

 

Our tradition also prohibits individuals who engaged in the act of searching and collecting fallen fruits from harvesting fallen trees, which may have fallen due to natural disasters such as heavy rain and wind, or thunderstorms. In such a case the searcher has an obligation to inform the owner of the tree about its condition. However, if heavy wind, rain or thunder blew off fruits from a tree, the searcher has every right to collect, gather and keep his bounty.

 

In summary, it is appropriate to say that Ichori ndi ukabi, Ikpata-aki, I chori oji and other related searching of fallen fruits is a system that sets a condition for temporary suspension of the rights of ownership, while restraining or limiting the public from absolute usage of the owner’s property or properties.

 

Property ownership is a carefully detailed and defined subject in our tradition, from the land in which we live and bury the dead, the farmland that we cultivate, the plantation which we own and the streams that we use. What is meant by property in our culture, how is personal and permanent property acquired and what are the limits of ownership? Our tradition defines personal property as any tangible assets earned through labor, that which is duly owned and cared for by one person. Property belonging to an individual is that which is not worked for by the community, owned, maintained nor shared by the public. This property can be that which was inherited from ancestors, or it may be a self-initiated property, such as the conversion of acres of land into a special plantation. Another method of acquiring permanent property in our tradition is known as the first property right. This interesting cultural practice of Alayi people states that a newborn is an eligible citizen and a member of the community who must be given a share of property by his parents. This is how it is done: When a child’s umbilical cord is detached from its navel attachment, our tradition requires that it must be buried and a tree planted over the site. The planting of these trees must be based on the gender of the child. For males, plantain trees are planted and for females, banana trees are planted. Although other trees may be substituted, plantains and banana trees are the most commonly used. The burial of a child’s umbilical cord under any tree or in some cases in the plantation, gives the child the rightful ownership of the plant or plants.

 

This is the first property ownership right in our tradition. Although other gifts of properties, including that of livestock, may be given to a child by close family friends and Ogbo [namesake], the first property right is a permanent gift.

 

One important fact is that buying and selling of land is very rare, if not unheard of. This is because land [the principal means of production] was inherited from our ancestors. It is more common to lease farmland or land, than to sell or purchase them. Buying farmland does not guarantee a buyer permanent ownership of the land, because our tradition guarantees any member of the selling family and even those yet unborn the right to reacquire any of its family’s land that is sold.

 

However, personal property becomes generalized when the owner no longer cares nor tends to his property, for instance, when the owner lacks the ability to harvest a tree bearing fruit and/ or the fruits of his planting [trees] rot and perish without gathering. This property, regardless of his claims, becomes a general property and can be used by anyone. A person can search around the tree and collect the fallen fruits and in some cases harvest the tree, but have no legal title to claim the tree as his own. The harvesting of a tree whose owner no longer cares for or simply abandons, is not considered an act of stealing, nor is it an infringement of property law.