THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--Oct. 13-20

Oct. 17, 11 am to 1 pm SLT--not on Saminaka, but a friend to Saminaka! AkieM Artistic Abstracts & Sculpture's would like to present "Living In Vivid Hues" a spectacular artshow showcasing the works of Blac Quartz. The artwork displayed will range from Ethnic to Erotic. Show will be held at Club Hypnotic. Dress is casual, music will be provided by DJ Hush Law. Come Live Your Life In Vivid Hues. http://slurl.com/secondlife/CidadeDoMedo/63/117/3002

Ongoing, extended until Oct. 31. Saminaka's great Cantaloupe Treasure Hunt allows you to wear a new calabash on your head, this time loading it with half cantaloupes as you search through the sim for 20 of the fruits. They're all hidden near Nigerian plants, and pile up in your calabash as you find them. All located? Go back to base and touch the giant cantaloupe for a grand prize. All prizes transfer. Any that are gender-specific include both a male and female version. All prizes unique to the hunt, comprising clothing, furniture, art and other goods with an African plant theme. The starting point can be reached from teleporter via Saminaka's infohub tent, or at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/93/66/30

Ongoing indefinitely. Saminaka has a new exhibit about Nigerian plants. This slideshow features information and images of over fifty trees, plants and flowers, native and naturalized. Some of the information is surprising (Nigeria is the third largest supplier of peanuts in the world--outranks U.S.!), some is interesting (Nigerian henna use does not involve elaborate patterning). Enjoy finding out a rubber tree doesn't look at all exotic, soak up some beauty, and get some hints for the treasure hunt above! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/96/65/30

Ongoing indefinitely. Saminaka's MIDDLE PASSAGE EXPERIENCE is up again, in an even more realistic environment! Treet.TV kindly hosted it for months, but London's Kingston University has now generously provided space for a permanent exhibition of the African side of the transatlantic slave trade. It isn't roleplay, but it does allow you to try on the lives of ten individuals from different eras and parts of Africa who were seized and taken to the U.S. See it here (and take the teleporter if you land at the university's hub):Ongoing, extended until Oct. 31.

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--Sept. 29 to Oct. 5

Thursday, Oct. 1. It's Nigerian Independence Day, and Saminaka is kicking off SL's first African Festival! The Cantaloupe Treasure Hunt with fabulous Nigerian plant-related prizes (clothes, jewelry, furniture, more!) will be underway, as will the Nigerian Plant Exhibit, the Nupe Culture Exhibit, the Horse in Africa Exhibit, and three Photo Contests! Not to mention the vendors' stalls....

Thursday, Oct. 1, 5 pm SLT We're kicking off the festival with a DJ'd dance party and loads of music! Also fireworks! And we hear some masquerades may show up....

Friday, Oct. 2, 5 pm slt Oliha Yiwama will be getting out his rl drums and giving an exciting talk and demonstration about African music! Don't miss it--he didn't have an Afro-Cuban dance band for years for nothing! Plus his training in Nigeria.....

Friday, Oct. 3, 6 pm We're inviting all SL equestrians--and even the horses themselves--to come out for a durbar, where horses and riders are decorated to the teeth and prance around to the wonderment of others. And afterwards? Why, a dance party with African music, of course!

Saturday, Oct. 3, 11 am slt Tamsin will trot out the slides and give a talk about African art and its rules--were they meant to be broken? If you've ever been a little puzzled about why African art looks the way it does, come and rev up your knowledge pronto!

Saturday, Oct. 3 noon slt Oh, today is the decorated canoe regatta! How many will there be? One? Two? Dozens? Get yourself down to Saminaka's infohub tent in advance and pick up a canoe box with free mod canoe, some pennants, and a link to a rl Nigerian regatta, and get to decorating! Tam will give you permission to rez your canoe if you arrive 10 mins or so in advance. And there's a prize....

Saturday, Oct. 3 5 pm slt Masqueraders, acrobats, stiltwalkers galore! Put on your costume and join us, or just gawk! And right after the regatta and masqueraders, it's time for another African dance party--pull out the stops!

Sunday, Oct. 4, 11 am-2pm (this will be off-sim, starting at the University of Delaware's SL Headquarters, but there will be a tp at Saminaka to get you there from the infohub tent). The launch of Ananse, academics interested in Africa and the Diaspora in Virtual Worlds, gets underway with a talk by two content persons AND techies: Britain's Khoisan Fisher introduces Bryan Mnemonic, who will discuss Virtual Harlem and the Virtual Age. Afterwards, guided tours of Virtual Africa, The Middle Passage in Africa and the US, and Virtual Harlem.

Sunday, Oct. 4, 5 pm slt Our very own Oliha Yiwama is a man of many caps and crowns--two involve African divination and spiritual traditions, focusing on Nigeria's Edo and Yoruba people. Listen to this priest and diviner talk about African Spiritual Traditions, his American background uniting with 12 years of Nigerian training!

Sunday, Oct. 4, 6 pm slt Masqueraders, acrobats, and stiltwalkers tripping the light fantastic again, as a prelude to you dancing to terrific DJ'ed African music under the stars. A final fireworks display will herald the announcement of the winners of the photo contests AND--will you be the best-dressed African man or woman? Because each of them will get a prize too! Dress up!

FROM THE SUITCASE--Oliha Yiwama

Remembering Our Loved Ones

Africa is composed of many ethnic groups, cultures, languages and religions. Some of my friends have focused on the diversity of Africa, but although Africa is diverse, I have always touted the uniformity of many of African beliefs. One of the most important belief in Africa is ancestral veneration. Africans universally have a great respect for ancestors. Ancestor veneration is at the core of African culture.

In Nigeria, many of the names that refer to ancestors are also used simultaneously with elders. For instance, the Edo people use the word edion to both mean ancestors or elders that are up in age, since they are the repository of ancient wisdom. Many of the moral codes in pre-colonial Nigeria were based upon ancestor veneration, respect for ancestral authority.

According to tradition, food or drinks were poured on the ground in memory of the ancestors. Prayers were directed to the them for help in daily activities or major decisions that affected the family. Ancestral altars are placed in sacred spaces within the home to constantly remind the living of the memory and close ties of the departed.

Yes, the ancestor remains a valuable part of the family, and was constantly consulted. In traditional African societies, the belief that life did not end once a person left the physical realm was paramount. Life continued in the same manner in the spiritual existence, with constant contact between the two spheres. By keeping the ancestors near, moral codes were enforced and family ties were maintained.

The Yoruba are another well-documented group that maintain ancestral veneration. One of the features the Yoruba are best known for is their ancestral masquerade (egungun). The masquerade reinforces the moral codes of that community, and reaffirms the ties between the departed and the remaining souls. In Nigeria, many masquerades represent elaborate stories that reflect moral codes and guidance.

In a sense, the bond between child and parent is never broken in an African society, even after death. In Africa, death was viewed as a transition in a continued cycle of birth and rebirth. In the diaspora, where traditional African customs are maintained in Candomble and Santeria, ancestral veneration also plays a major role. Diaspora shrines have pictures of the departed, as well as ancestral staffs, for remembering the blessings of the departed parents.

The memories that go along with the physical altars are many. For me, it would be unthinkable to not have a place to pay respect and to fondly remember my departed love ones. There are many lessons in life that I can hear spiritually from my granma and granpa. I can remember how it was a healing effect to have finally put the last touches on my ancestral shrine. It is our ancestors and elders that gave us the starting blocks in which to prepare our lives.

In the diaspora, a method of divination that any person can partake in is ancestral divination. The ancestors are the closest bond to our genetic being. It is from their DNA code that we come into existence. It is that code that bonds us to the future generations. One continuous bond.! Those memories feel us with joy and warmth because our sacred ancestors were the first in our genetic line, our caregivers, and confidants.

If you are missing one of your parents, maybe an ancestral shrine is in order to re-establish that healing bond. Come see me.

And come to Saminaka's African Festival Oct. 1-4 and experience the wonderful world of African masquerade! The egungun will be there, as well as other masqueraders, ancestral and otherwise.

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--JULY 6 to JULY 11

JULY 6 THROUGH JULY 19. Saminaka PHOTO CONTEST--Saminaka has some recently updated features--more animals from the treasure hunt, some new trees and plants, two small offshore islands--and a new photo contest is meant to showcase it! Enter any photo taken on Saminaka, whether of nature or a portrait of yourself or another. The contest board is on the near shore side of the Ikorodu market shops. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/121/217/27


Pay an empty square 50L, then have your friends vote for you for 20L. It isn't like the unwinnable big contests--there will only be 24 slots, and everyone will win something. The Grand Prize winner gets 2000L cash, a voucher for FIVE superb free skins at Kiko Life (superb male and female skins available at the main store), a photo shoot at Spirited Images Photography (oh, you will like it!), their choice of two free outfits and two pairs of shoes at Cinnamon Brigade and/or Tropicality, artworks (one each from Seven Cowries, tignon, Pangolin Dreams), and an outdoor umbrella table and chairs from Gidan Magarifi. All other participants will receive a prize currently on sale for over 200L. So exercise your angles and join in! And a big thank you to our sponsors!! Needless to mention, all the photos will be published in this paper, too.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 8 AT 6PM SLT. Inauguration of Egbe Akowe writing group--preliminary meeting. Saminaka is going to host a writing group in a soon-to-be constructed library/bookshop. But what kind of writing shall we focus on? Or should there be several subgroups (general fiction, genre fiction, non-fiction, academic writing)? The group WILL start next week, but come and shape it in its nascent form--and see article above. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/80/224/22

MIDDLE PASSAGE EXPERIENCE ON TELEVISION--HELD OVER THIS WEEK The Middle Passage Experience (now over 120 full participants!) excited some external interest, and tomorrow Designing Worlds of Treet.TV will record a program about it--and Indea Vaher's Safe Haven site. It will be broadcast within SL and on the Internet. Because new viewers might like a look, the Experience has been held over through July 11, and, we hope, may resurface as a permanent exhibit somewhere else. Once it's posted, you'll be the first to know!