Epie-Atissa people

The Epie and Atissa are two Nations that live along Epie Creek, northeast of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Together, they are commonly known at the Epie-Atissa. This people was established by migrants both from Ijaw Nations to the south and from the Engenni to the north. The Engenni people are considered to be an offshoot of the Edo people. As a result, the Epie-Atissa share cultural aspects of both the Ijaw and the Engenni.

Epie-Atissa settlements include: Onopa, Igbogene, Kpansia, Ogu, Edepie, Yenaka, Opolo, Swali, Ikolo, Ekenfa, Yenagoa, and Biogbolo.

They speak the Epie language.

The Epie and Atissa remain two separate Nations. The Epie have villages that run from Igbogene to Amarata; namely, Igbogene, Yenegwe, Akenfa, Agudama Epie, Akenpai, Edepie, Okutukutu, Opolo, Biogbolo, Yenizue Gene, Kpansia, Yenizue Epie, Okaka, Ekeki, Azikoro and Amarata. The Atissa have villages that run from Onopa to Ikolo to Ogu to Agbura namely Onopa, Ovom, Yenagoa, Bebelibiri, Yenaka, Ikolo, Famgbe, Obogoro, Akaba, Ogu, Swali, and Agbura.The Epie language is recorded sometime in the 1970s to have had about 12000 speakers spread from Igbogene to Amarata, but within the last 30 years the numbers of living speakers have greatly reduced. Though there is no current record of the numbers of speakers, the Epie language is not spared from the global epidemic that has befallen most of the world's little languages. The forces that have contributed greatly to the decline in the numbers of speakers are not new. Urbanisation and westernisation are factors, but another major problem that has contributed to the decline is the absence of certain cultural norms that one would usually find in other Nigerian ethnic groups. For example, the traditional chiefs and elders of council are very young men and women, some of them in their 20s. These young people have lost touch of the basic cultural heritage and are hence not capable of transferring it to the younger generations. Many cultural aspects of the Epie-Atissa people have been lost, mainly due to the loss of traditional culture in favor of Western ideals. The Epie-Atissa kingdom has been the eye-base of business in Bayelsa state. The largest public local market, situated at Swali in the Atissa clan, has been very resourceful to the people of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

...
Wikipedia