CULTURE:WHO STOLE MY CALABASH?

 Walking out of my granny’s room, I realized that a lot of cultural values and heritage have been lost, perhaps to what could be unarguably be referred to as higher civilization. One lost treasure kept recurring and wouldn’t give me peace. My calabash! Oh my calabash which served my ancestors well – from vegetables to storage pots to lighters to utensils to decorators and female hand bags – has now been totally forgotten and allowed to ebb away from shores. This beautiful and priceless evergreen vine that once adorned our tropical rain forests and swamps is now seen as weed farmlands. Plastics and metals have replaced it all. A little reflection on what it used to be would teach us, and help us decide if we could have them in museums for the coming generation to see, and learn or leave it oblivion.

According to Wikipedia, Lagenaria Siceraria, opo squash, bottle gourd or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as vegetable, harvested mature, dried and used as a bottle utensil, or pipe. Hence they are mostly called calabash gourds. It is reportedly one of the earliest cultivated plants grown primarily for its use as a water container. Grandma told me that in Ogoni, it was planted yearly among other crops (what we now call mixed farming) like yam, okra, pumpkin, etc. as it had no interference with the growth of those staple foods. Not everyone could plant it well so some favoured children were usually employed plant it. Superstition? Hmmm!

As the vine grows on, the tender leaves can be harvested and used to prepare soup and it is known to be very medicinal. Also, as the fruits begin to develop, different plans are made for it, all depending on the intended usage and need. Grandma also said that there were different types (species) at that time too. The narrow slim ones when harvested young were used as spoons, other shapes as cups and plates. The young ones were usually supported with mounds. This helps to shape the calabash as they mature. In some countries, they are put in expandable moulds with decorations. The catch point is when the various species mature and are dried. The more round ones are used as bowls. Larger ones were used as vessels for fetching and storing water, especially drinking water which was kept cool in water pots. When palm oil became scarce, they were used to store oil for up to three years and they’d still remain fresh. Palm wine was, and still is stored and kept fresh in such vessels. Seeds for the next farming season – melon, maize, okra seed, etc. - were stored in calabashes and placed on kitchens barns. In some other places, even today, they are painted and used as both interior and exterior decorations. Grandma said that young maidens used to attach slings to round calabashes and hung them to the market to buy fish.

In our age, herbal medical practitioners know its potentials. This ornamental plant is also used to produce musical instruments. So why mystify my beloved calabash and hide form generations to come?

We can surely learn from this plant that is no longer grown because a better alternative has been found for almost all its uses. The next generation must see it, and learn to live as a community like the oil storage calabash of old made them live then – sharing light to all. How? They were useless after storing palm oil for so long as the oil seeped into its pores. Those useless pots were broken but not thrown away. They were used to light fire from distant compounds and also kept as lampstands in homes. The oil in them burn. As we watch our heritages burn slowly, let us bring mind the fact that not everything about it is bad. Just like the old calabash, our culture may be broken, but please don’t throw them away!
By Akpe Tombari (social and environmental activist)