The Crimson Creek of Angarake

The Crimson Creek of Angarake

Deep within Aluchi Akwanga and situated among the scorching, undulating plains of Nasarawa State is an area known as Angarake. Initially, the camera portrays a relatively tranquil congested pathway of the planet-a seasonal pathway through the fine earth. But to those residing in Akwanga this is more than a pathway of flow runoff; it is the history of the birthplace.

The tale of this particular bend in the creek starts long before rainfall in 2026. In the words of the Old People, the water here bears the "Ochre of Ancestors". The milky brown color isn't just dirt, but a metonym of rich ecologies gift to these fields of yam and cassava. When the water is this body of thick, the neighboring earth is sucking in nutrients in order to grow a bumper crop which will carry the village through the months of scarcity.

Gaze upon that massive old stone, stubbornly perched in the stream bed. In Aluchi, that stone is called the"Traveler's Rest." The story goes that many centuries ago, wandering hunter from the old Benue plateau came upon the stream bed and, from the side of a mountain, tracked a golden duiker that had fled there to drink. With hunger weighing him down, and he sat back against the stones, and fell asleep. In his dream, he saw an endless spring that would flow even during the most violently harmattan season the gods could send. Awakening, he pushed his hands and feet into the mud, and fresh water spilled from the ground-permanently nourishing his people.

Angarake now is not only a mythic point of reference. It is the clock of those dwellers. When the water drops until letting appear the roots of mango trees, all children notice the beginning of the fishing festivals. When it is high enough only to lap the edges of the green banks, all farmers know the moment to sharpen their hoes.

This photo is a homage to the subtle grandeur of country Nigeria. It is a testament to the fact that harmonious hues don't always have to be of polished Caribbean pastel, the raw, organic warmth of home is amazing. It is about enduring, struggling, ethnicity and kinship-Nasarawa people with their land.

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