Saturday, December 6, 2014

Basic Guide To The Igbo Culture

By Claudine Hodges


There is not much centralized unions tribes, hereditary aristocracy, monarchy; The exceptions are the kingdom as NRI, Agbor and Onitsha. This political system has changed significantly after the arrival of British colonizers in XIX century; Power of king (Az) was introduced in most of local tribes. Chinua Achebe wrote the book "Different things, " in which he described the changes in culture and customs of colonial period (Igbo culture).

Most Igbos groups lived, like their neighbors in egalitarian, largely democratic social structures: in autonomous settlements without a central authority, each extended family for himself as an independent unit under the leadership of one or a family elders. The affairs of village community were decided by a council of elders, composed of both men and women.

Most Igbos are Christians. In traditional religion of "Lord of Earth" has the highest religious prestige. He secures a priest of earth goddess Ala fertility of land. The earth goddess stands as her consort the God of Heaven Chi aside. In addition there are numerous divine addition to powers and spirits. Particularly significant is among Igbos of ancestor worship. Funerals and festivals occur masked dancers, who are grouped together in special secret societies. A few thousand Igbos also consider themselves to be Jews.

It has been argued that the ancestors of Igbos the majority of their neighbors belonging to a group of proto-qua, came from the area of African Great Lakes and Mountains of Moon in East and Central Africa, through the savannah, the site of which is now dominated by the Sahara. Desertification has forced people to migrate further south and north to confluence of Niger and Benue, where Nok culture developed.

As a food source was the cultivation of yams and cassava, which was often supplemented by extensive fishing. Igbos their neighbors had to suffer until the 19th century greatly from the slave traders. By 1900, continued in whole area of British colonial administration through. Today Igbos Yoruba and Hausa, in addition to one of state-supporting groups in Nigeria after her attempt to create a State failed after years of bloody fighting against the Nigerian central government. (Biafran War 1967-70).

Traditional clothing: men - over a shirt wide spacious cape, women wear jackets and skirt is a piece of cloth around the hips. Distributed as Western-style clothes, especially in urban areas. The main food plant - yams, cassava, corn (porridge, stew), various vegetables. Eating fish also. Cooking oil used oil palm, spicy seasonings. There are still many Igbos folklore festivals, and almost all genres of folklore. Arts and Crafts presents a variety of masks (abstract, anthropomorphic, masks helmets), totem poles ikeng, clay and wood sculpture.

Speak the language of Igbos -volt Niger family. The most common dialects Onitsha and Owerri. On the basis of Onitsha developing literary language - the "standard Igbos ", there is also a "united Igbos ", created in 1915 by missionaries based dialects Onitsha, Owerri, Bonnie, and ingvana arochuku. Many other dialects have their own written tradition. Writing based on Latin graphics.

The most important tuber crops in Africa places of residence of Igbos is yam; celebration in honor of harvest yams are held annually. Other essential crops are cassava and taro. Prior to British colonization Igbos were politically fragmented groups. There were changes in culture, for example, in artistic styles, clothes and religious practice. Subgroups of Igbos formed by belonging to clans leave, to any village or linguistic criteria, such as dialect.




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