In this Issue

Profuse apologies from the Compass publisher--Tamsin Barzane had nearly a week without the Internet, completely unanticipated. We hope you will forgive us this unintentional lapse.

The Compass will publish on Tuesdays rather than Mondays for the coming nine months due to a change in the editor's schedule.

This week?

**A feature on Nigerian canoe regattas and the upcoming Saminaka African Festival

**A column about the new exhibit space at Irie Vibes

**A column about African spirituality

Plus business and events news on Saminaka, virtual Nigeria!

Nigerian Regattas and Saminaka's African Festival!!!

Saminaka’s September is going to be rife with preparations, for October 1 is Nigerian National Day! And as we are a Virtual Nigeria, it’s celebration time! We’re planning all kinds of exciting activities for our upcoming first annual African Festival!!! In the upcoming weeks the Compass will feature stories about some of our featured activities, which begin the evening of Oct. 1 and conclude Oct. 4.

What do you think of when you hear the word “regatta”? Yachts with sails ballooning? Power boats full of laughing passengers, chugging in a line up the river? Well, abandon all those thoughts and paint yourself a new regatta! Nigeria’s riverine peoples have a tradition of decorating their canoes for exciting displays of color, dance and rhythmic paddle slapping.

West African canoes are dugouts, made from single hollowed tree trunks. In many countries—Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Benin Republic, Togo—they are painted or otherwise ornamented with carved segments. Beach visitors are struck by their picturesque qualities, and Flickr is full of tourist shots of these attractive boats--but a flotilla of canoes with even more elaborate embellishments seems to be exclusively Nigerian.

While many canoes are small, meant for individual transport and fishing, the dugouts used for regattas are usually larger. In the days before other transport, huge canoes were used for long-distance trade or war parties. They could hold up to 30 people, or be loaded with foodstuffs, cloth and other goods. Regattas developed as a social version of the cavalcades of soldiers and merchants, with paddlers dressed alike, their canoes decorated with awnings, pennants, and dancers on attached platforms.

Stanley noted a display of war canoes in 19th century Uganda: "The largest canoe seen by me in this fleet measured 72 feet in length, 7 feet three inches in breadth...There were probably over a hundred canoes between 50 and 70 feet in length, and about 50 between 30 and 50 feet long...The largest class--100 in number--would require on an average fifty men each to man them." The various Nigerian fleets were comparable

The Ijo, Itsekiri, riverine Yoruba and Nupe take part in regattas for special occasions—distinguished visitors, holidays, coronation anniversaries and more. They have a competitive element, each vying to inject more eye-catching displays that the next, with prizes awarded to the winners. The sight of a graceful canoe riding low in the water, paddlers slapping a percussive salvo on the waves in perfect unison, would be glorious enough, but some are rigged with revolving elevated sections, women dancing aloft for visibility. At other times, a dancer will take to the prow, vigorously performing in a precarious location. Dance in riverine areas is extremely graceful, inspired by the balance developed by canoe use. It often employs a position bent at the waist, and when performed in a canoe requires a delicate set of calculations to ensure neither the canoe nor the dancer are overset.

Regattas and festivals are a natural fit, so we want to have one for our African Festival! Through the kindness of Carricre Wind, we have a supply of modifiable simple dugouts. It is up to you, dear readers, to transform them from serviceable crafts to things of beauty, to staff them with similarly dressed friends and dancers or man them alone. Paint them, deck them with fluttering cloths, do what you will. They are available in a box at Saminaka’s infohub throughout September, so ready yourself! When the Festival event times are finalized, come and participate or watch, and be in the running for some splendid prizes!

Get a look at the real thing with this short video from the Ijo city-state of Nembe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASWikKDouIQ

And pick up your canoe, ready for growth, painting and decoration at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/57/157/22

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CALLING ALL AFRICAN MERCHANTS! Saminaka will be holding SL’s first African Festival from the evening of Oct. 1 through Oct. 4. Its many events will include appearances by masqueraders, stiltwalkers and acrobats, as well as a decorated canoe regatta, a durbar with a display of finely attired horses, an African fashion show, two djed parties, a live musical performance, cultural lectures, readings, displays about Nupe culture, the horse in Africa, and Nigerian plants, a sim-wide treasure hunt and more! During our last treasure hunt, our numbers were in the thousands. And what’s a festival without a special festival market? The big boat is coming down, and in its place we will have festival stalls, ready for stocking with African merchandise. Do you sell African clothes? Jewelry? Drums? Hair? Skins? Come and take a booth and sit back for a willing audience of strollers! Our prices are low because we really want your participation to add to the atmosphere: 125L a day for 25 prims worth of display, or 300L for the three and a half day period. Contact Tamsin Barzane for details; there will be a limited number of spots available.

Under the Mango Tree--Tamsin Barzane

When I first traipsed around SL, I did it in solitary glory--gorgeous sims never seemed to have anyone on them. When I became more sociable, one of the first places I flung my limbs around was Irie Vibes, a reggae site that always had great music, plenty of companionship, and a funky vibe. Irie is still going strong, now on more elegant terms, but still with friendship and generosity to offer.

Besides the many freebies, shops and the reggae, soca and dancehall dj's, the sim's mastermind Irie Iwish/Irie Tsure has put up some elegant 3D sculptures, from the Ethiopian lion to a monument to Nanna of the Maroons. He's had an interest in culture all along, but it's blossomed now in a new direction.

By creating a substantial building devoted to diaspora culture (Irie is quite a builder, and has even written some handbooks on maneuvering within SL at http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/TitlesList/30285/Second_Life.htm), he has given a great gift to SL. Irie and his gallery curator, Keno Beardmore, have set aside space for invited artists and exhibitors, and allowed them plenty of prims and free rein for an indefinite time--as well as the opportunity to change their displays at their own pace.

Numerous artists are participating, with paintings by Indea Vaher (in a lovely space that recreates her Louisiana/South Carolina site), Aruba DeCuir, Ivory Rexen, Tears Indigo, Parris Galli and more. Winn Wellman, curator of SL's Museum of the African-American Experience has an exhibit on Benjamin Banneker, while Keno Beardmore features dancer Katherine Dunham.

And Saminaka? Still setting up a Nupe display that will include buildings, furnishings, clothes, a slideshow and more from this exciting culture. And that's just for now--with the space and prims at hand, I promise to have changing exhibitions of traditional African compounds from all over the continent.

Support Irie. This is a terrific gesture--we don't all know him personally, he's hosting us for the love of culture and being terrifically generous. Show your One Love! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Irie/191/50/27

OCHL ENTERPRISES

Read the blog at http://www.fatimaochl.net/, get an introductory copy of OCHL's GUIDE TO MUSIC AND DANCE IN SL at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deminis/133/206/30

Ads! We have an initial special offer for you, whether you are shopkeepers or classified customers! Remember you can advertise your shop, feature an item, or try to sell a transferable item. If your ad has a photo, it costs more. There are discounts for extended runs of the same ad, and lesser discounts if you have constant ads, but they vary from week to week. YOU CAN ALSO USE THIS VENUE TO ADVERTISE RL OBJECTS AND SERVICES; LIST YOUR EBAY OR OTHER SITE AND REACH OUR CUSTOMERS (Tamsin Barzane will never reveal your rl identity to readers). All ad payments are in-world and in lindens. Ads for the coming week should be submitted by noon SLT Sunday.

Single ad, no photo, one week. maximum 5 Blogger lines: 50L
Single ad, photo, one week. Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 100L
Single ad recurring, no photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 175L
Single ad recurring, photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 325L
Single ad changing week-to-week, no photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines. 180L
Single ad changing week-to-week, photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines. 425L

If you want longer text, more than one photo, or a longer ad run, prices will be adjusted. Contact Tamsin Barzane through inworld notecard or at tbarzane@gmail.com

These are introductory prices--no telling if they'll last more than a month! Get em while you can! This is our TWELFTH ISSUE, and we're up to 1056 readers! That's well over a hundred more than last week-- and our readers come from all over the world. WE GROW DAILY!!

From the Suitcase--Oliha Yiwama

SAMINAKA'S SPIRIT

Traditional African spirituality or religion involves the acknowledgement of all the realms of creation into everyday life. The first and foremost force of creation is God Almighty. God Almighty is known by many names and appellations by the different ethnic groups of Africa. In Nigeria, He is called Olodumare by the Ife Yoruba, Osanobua by Benin's Edo, Chukwu by the Igbo, etc.

Whatever name is applied, God Almighty is recognized as the Supreme Being. Beneath God Almighty is a recognition of the forces that compose creation, both negative and positive. For instance, in traditionl African Medicine, the native doctors acknowledge that medicine has a dual role. It can be used to heal as well as to harm.

Traditional African Medicine also acknowledges the many realms of creation, and possibilities that may affect the client. It is the total person who is healed; the spiritual, mystical, psychological, emotional and physical parts are brought into alignment with divine will.

The total environment of the African plays a major role in the treatment of illness. The role of tropical plants as natural remedies to life’s many obstacles is fundamental to African spirituality. In tradition, the African believes that the cure to all his aliments lays close to his abode.

Saminaka’s lush plant life contains the cures to virtual humankind's many perplexities. Its many healing waters also provide cures for barrenness, poverty, loneliness and miscarriages. Bathe in the waters of Olokun, Osun and Yemanya. Experience the herbal cures from the lush gardens of Saminaka. I invite you to come and enjoy our sim's healing environment, a place of refuge and deep insight into the wonders of creation and the mysteries of life!

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Hawking in the Market

***Last week Tamsin had no Internet, which meant a delay in everything--the publication of the Compass, the erection of the new shrine, the revamping of Adire into a fully orisha products store, etc. But it's back! So look for changes by the weekend!

***Oliha has returned from Nigeria, raring to go! His office on Saminaka will be accessible directly from the beachside, beside the new shrine, or through the Adire store. Be on the lookout!

***VENDORS! See the ad above for news of temporary stalls for your African goods on Saminaka during the African Festival, Oct. 1-4.

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WETIN BE DAT? Pidgin English phrase of the week

E get as e bi.

There's something strange going on.

MY PEOPLE SAY--NIGERIAN PROVERB OF THE WEEK

"A woman whose husband has decided to hate her cannot solve the problem by cooking tastier soup." Igbo proverb

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--Sept. 1-6

Tues., Aug. 18, 6 pm SLT. Weekly meeting of Egbe Akowe Writers Group at the new Slates, Scrolls & Sticks, Saminaka's library cum bookstore. Join the group and receive its missives by hitting the Subscribe-o-Matic (it doesn't add to group count) at the meeting location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/174/194/30 or the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint on Tarkwa Beach.