Eleme people

The Eleme are one of the various groups of indigenous peoples that inhabit the Niger Delta region of southeast Nigeria.

Habitat

The Eleme live in ten village-clusters situated in Eleme Local Government Area (ELGA), Rivers State, around 20km east of Port Harcourt. The total territory occupied by the Eleme people expands across approximately 140 square kilometres.

Ethnics

Linguistically and ethnographically the Eleme are closely related to the Ogoni people, and ELGA is usually considered to be part of Ogoniland (the socio-political home of the Ogoni people). However, relatively few Elemes are members of MOSOP (a political organisation founded to protect the rights of the Ogonis) and the Eleme leadership have not signed the Ogoni Bill of Rights.

Society

The Eleme are traditionally an agricultural society, with workers travelling out to farms situated around the villages. Crops include yams, cassava, oil palm fruit, fluted pumpkin, and bitter-leaf. Crops are primarily used to sustain each family (a system of agriculture known as subsistence farming) , but each family also typically trades their excess crops at one of the town markets. Even where family members are employed outside of agriculture, they still farm their own land as a supplementary income. Farm workers are usually women.

Eleme has two clans, the Odido and the Nchia, each with their own "accent".^[1]

Religion

Christianity is the dominant major-religion in South-Eastern Nigeria and is widespread in Eleme. Traditional animist beliefs are also upheld by the majority of the population, including those who identify themselves as Christians. Marriages are traditionally polygamous and commonly exogamous with both other Ogoni and non-Ogoni groups across the Niger Delta. While the introduction of Christianity has undoubtedly led to a greater number of monogamous marriages in the region, polygamy and Christianity do not appear to be mutually exclusive in some families.

Language

The Eleme language is endangered.[1]

Notes

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