Background
Hook was given conflicting accounts of Tuomo history on two visits in 1929 and 1930. According to one version, the eponymous ancestor came from “up river— and lived in the Ahoh area for a while. Tuomo then moved south for fear of sla•.e raiders- He first settled at the site of Isampo (Tarakiri), but finally çte:senz site of Tuomo town, then called Toru-Aghoro after Okun-Aghoro (Aghoro-on-the-sea) of the Iduwini.
The second version stated that Tuomo had been born at the Urhobo town of Afene or Effurun. He left Efurun because of trouble with the Urhobo, and died at the settlement on the site of Isampo. The present settlement of Tuomo being founded by his son Osuku. This earlier account was discounted on the second occasion by the explanation that the founder of Efurun, Afene, was the second son of Tuomo, born at the Isampo site with an Urhobo slave wife. The mother took him away to her home on Tuomo’s death, and Afene then founded Efurun.
Both versions retain the connection with Efurun, and the “up river” of one version probably meant Efurun. A recent version also states that Esuku (Osuku), father of both Tuomo and Efurun, lived at the town of Efurun, and that Esuku and Tuomo left for the delta site. These traditions are clearly related to the migrations from the Central Delta, related by the Gbaramatu of the Western Delta Limit, the Esuku/Osuku of the Tuomo being the Usaku of the Gbaramatu. According to the Gbaramatu, Usaku and the ancestor of the Efurun had both come from Gbaraun in the Central Delta.
Summary And Chronology
The Tuomo are a small compact ibe all of whose towns are situated close together on the Bomadi Creek. The town of Tuomo is recognized as the senior settlement, with the shrine of the national god standing taller than all other houses in the town.
The traditions of origin indicate relationship with both Efurun and the Gbaramatu, and Tuomo migrations seem to have brought them into contact with many other peoples in the Western Delta and the immediate hinterland. The passage through Tarakiri (Isampo) is said to have been accomplished before the Tarakiri arrived on the scene. But the name Toru-Aghoro (Aghoro-on-the river), originally applied to Tuomo town implies the prior existence of Aghoro of the Iduwini (known as OkunAghoro, Aghoro by the sea), since the founders had to qualify the name in order to distinguish it.
The genealogy obtained by Hook in 1930 traced the ancestry of the Amaokosowei of Torugbene town through seven generations to Tuomo, and the rulers of Tubegbe and Tamiegbe five generations. These figures suggest a date in the mid-eighteenth century for the earliest events remembered in Tuomo tradition.
Etymology
The etymology of the word Tuomo (Tuama) means ‘grass town’ and was the name accorded to the town due to it high level of grasses during the time of settlement.