One of the most valuable resources we have come across while doing our work at Okwu ID is the Re Entanglements blog. It has become a consistent reference point for us, offering clear and well-researched documentation from the early colonial period. It focuses on material collected by British anthropologists in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, and presents it in a way that is both thoughtful and accessible.
We often return to the blog when researching aspects of Igbo cultural life. It gives structure and historical grounding to things that might otherwise go unrecorded.
String games across Nigeria
One entry that stood out recently focused on traditional Nigerian string games. These are games where players use loops of thread to form patterns between their fingers. In English, they are often called cat’s cradle. But in Nigeria, they were more than a pastime. They were played by children and adults alike, with figures that reflected everyday ideas, humour, and belief.
Recorded History
During his 1911 anthropological tour in southern Nigeria, Northcote Thomas photographed people in Agukwu Nri and Ebenebe making string figures. He recorded the names of several of them in Igbo. Examples include:
- Ọnya onye ori (trap to catch a thief)
- Nnukwu ibe ji (big piece of yam)
- Nkata mmụọ ji ebu mmadụ (basket spirits use to carry person)
These photographs are some of the earliest known images of African string games. The names and patterns reveal how these activities reflected both daily life and spiritual ideas. Some of the same figures have been recorded in other African countries too, suggesting shared or parallel traditions.
Igbo names for the game
Thomas recorded the general name for string games as akpụkpa, meaning to make something by hand. Other Igbo names include:
- ikpo ubo
- gadas
- atụmankasa
Some of these may refer to specific designs or regional variants of the game.
Why it stood out to us
At Okwu ID, part of our work involves tracing cultural memory and making it visible in new ways. For many of us, string games were part of childhood. Seeing them recorded in early twentieth century Igboland reminded us that these activities have a longer history than we imagined. What seemed like simple fun is actually part of a deeper cultural pattern. It is one small way people created, connected, and shared knowledge across generations.
Read more
You can view the original photos and full article on the Re Entanglements blog:
https://re-entanglements.net/nigerian-string-games/
Header image: ‘Big piece of yam’ string figure, photographed by Northcote Thomas in Agukwu Nri, Southern Nigeria, 1911. (NWT 2838a; RAI 400.16252)