History
Oral tradition has it that the people of Tarakiri came from their ancestor named Tara or Tarakiriowei. He, along with his brother the ancestors of Kolokuma and the Opokuma with their father Ijo in Benin but were forced to leave because the Oba seized private land and levied high taxes. There the big dispersal came and there Ijo have to come easterwards. He Tarakiri and others came to the River Niger some where south of Asaba. During that time, it was flood and there saw a big tree floating which there followed or swarm with it to Aboh. He settled for a while in Abo. Abo was not suitable to him so he migrated to Obiama. Problems later arose (that is between Tarakiri, Bowa and others) which lead to further dispersal from Obiama out of the villages, Anyama was the first to come out from the winter lands of Aguobiri to the main River Nun. Obololi the eldest son of Tarakiri remains in the creek. The name of the first village there settled is called Anyama. Between River Nun and Ekoli creek, dispersal begin to occur as a result of one problem after another.
In ancient times, the people did business with the British. One of those business is palm oil and palm kernel. The Britons sometimes gave them gun and gun powder in exchange for palm oil and kernel. This business brought a lot of enlightenment to the people as there were introduced to some civilized ways of living. It also brought economic prosperity to those doing the business.
Other occupation there engaged in are fishing, farming, production of local gin, carving of canoe and petty tradings. The towns of Tarakiri includes Anyama, Iyeibiri, Obololi, Oweikorogha and Ozezebiri and lost of other satellites communities scattered in central Tarakiri. Other villages in central Ekeremor include Sampou, Anyamasa, Agbidama, Igbemo-Angalabiri, Tumu and other satellite communities.
Colonial Rule
When the white man first came in with Lord Lugard leading them, there saw the presence of traditional governments in place. In other to administered justice, they established Native Authorities (NA’s) on clan basis. Tarakiri was one of the native authorities established in those days. The colonial masters, after one consultation with the traditional rulers and chiefs of various communities appointed one chief as a representative of the center. He hails from Obololi. The practice of appointing representative for the native authorities of a particular clan became the pace setting for the existence of the clan head. Prior to that time, it was the juju priest that usually head the kingdom of Tarakiri.
Spread of Christianity
The people of Tarakiri kingdom out rightly rejected the introduction of Christianity in the first instance. They looked at it as a foreign religion and that it was brought to weaken the existing traditional religion. Because of the firm belief on superstitions things, it was difficult to accept it but gradually it began sinking into their heart and people began accepting it. Today, there is practically no community where you will not find a Christian in the kingdom.
Culture
Religion - The people have firm belief that the God of the heavens and earth as their creator even before the introduction of Christianity. The name of the creator in the local dialect is Tameara meaning the creator. He is popularly as Woyin “our mother”.
Traditionally, the chief god of Tarakiri’s is called Tarakiri Egbesu otherwise known as Tarakiriowei meaning the man of Tarakiri. As their traditional national god, it is believed that he protects them against external invaders fight for them in war front, direct them in time of distress; oral tradition as it that prosperity also comes from Egbesu. It does not need human head or blood or sacrifice. Another traditional recognized god that are revealed in the kingdom is the Tarakiri Zibe. She is the woman god which is worshiped by the Tarakiri. It is believed that Zibe is also a protector. She is said to be ever present whenever her servant come when in danger. As a natural mother attends to the need of her children, that is how she answer the calls of her children she also gives children ,prosperity and other good things in life to her children . Egbesu and Zibe are ancestral gods traditionally, there are other bush spirits which are collectively called Bouyi. These are spirit that can take the form of man woman that reside in the forest. There is also the water spirits. Beni-oru is one of the water god that is worshiped by some people in the kingdom. It is believed that to you. Some of them are amphibious gods that also reside in the water. Orieperame of Igeibiri is an example of an amphibious god. It is believed that this god protect her servants from harm. Anomo is also one of the water gods that is represented by the African python. In times past, it usually attributed it to Anomo. The people use spirits, biscuits, coconuts etc to entertain her. She does not take alcohol.
Tarakiris’ have masking traditions powerful animals and fishes mostly carnivorous were carved and used as mask and the people put on these masks and dance as a form of entertainment to the public. Some of these mask include the image of crocodile (Egere, Leopard, Konowei). One interesting thing about Konowei according to oral tradition is whenever he sees the people of Tarakiri, it does not kill them, no matter the circumstances. The people of Tarakiri also don ‘t kill the leopard. Pere do not eat it. When he is killed, he being given the full burial rites of a chief. Buffalo (Ogori) is another mask that were carved for the sake of entertaining people. The water masquerades include Oyubiri, Offoromu, Angalapele. All of them are for entertaining the public.
On festivals, there is no festivals that are celebrated collectively as a kingdom but in times past, there use to be. Oral tradition has it that one of the festival that was celebrated was the Anyamazibe festival. During the festival, it was the custom that no woman breaks firewood. Kernels can’t be cracked at night. Any defaulter was dealt with. But those festival is gradually fading away.
The people also have other traditionally religious belief, one of them is cosmology. It is believed that every human being have a star, and therefore when a shooting star is seen, it is said that an important person is dead. There also believed that smaller gods control the seasons of the year. Other religious belief include Divinities, after life, the spirit of the ancestors etc.
Marriage - Two types of marriage is recognized in the clan. One of them is the Ikie marriage otherwise known as the small dowry. The second type of marriage is Bere, that is big dowry.
Burial - In Tarakiri tradition, when a person dies, the people usually consult the spirit of the dead to ascertain whether he or she is a wizard or witch or not. If he/she is found to be a wizard/witch, the person will be thrown away into the evil forest. But if not, he/she is buried the next day. After three days of burial, if the dead is a man, the hair of his children along with family members that are younger to the dead man is shaved. It is believed that the hair of the children and relatives are the money that will be spent in the spirit world. So the more the hair, the more money the dead person will have in the spirit world. The night preceding the shaving of the hair, there will be a grand wake keeping. After the final burial, then the family of the dead man will gather for the next stage called Dudie. That is the sharing of the property of the dead. It usually occur before the first anniversary of the dead.
On inheritance, it depends on the type of marriage that is been contracted between the dead man and his wife. If the marriage is the Bere type, then, everything that belongs to the dead man belong to the children and his family members. But if it is the Ikie type, then the maternal side of the dead man has it but due recognitions also given to the children.
Leadership - The kingdom of Tarakiri has its traditional form of government which see to the peaceful co-existence of its subjects. At the helms of the traditional rulership is the clan head. He is called the Ibenanowei. He is the custodian of the culture of his people. He ensures that there is a peace in his kingdom. He has his council of chiefs kingdom. Next on the ladder is the Amananowei. That is the village head. As a member of the council of chiefs, the Amananowei make sure that his village or town is living in harmony with the aims and goals of the kingdom. He oversees all the traditional activities of his village and makes decision accordingly. Other leaders include the Berinanowei, that is the compound head. He is almost always the eldest in the compound. The Polonanowei which is the family head is the least among the leaders. All forms of laders are elected into office.
Previous leaders who have contributed their quarter after the native authority include the following
- George Dienkuro of Igiebiri
- Koruowei Bidein of Oweikorogha
- Augustine A. Taribi of Oweikorogha
- Silas Dodo of Obololi
All these were clan head.