RELIGION OF THE IGBO PEOPLE

Today, the majority of the Igbo people are Christian, well over half of whom are Roman Catholics. There are small populations of Igbo Jews. The ancient Igbo religion and traditions are known as Odinani. In Igbo mythology, which is part of their ancient religion, the supreme God is called Chukwu ("great spirit"); Chukwu created the world and everything in it and is associated with all things on Earth. Chukwu is a solar deity. To the ancient Igbo, the Cosmos was divided into four complex parts: creation, known as Okike; supernatural forces or deities called Alusi; Mmuo, which are spirits; and Uwa, the world.

Chukwu is the supreme deity in Odinani as he is the creator in their pantheon and the Igbo people believe that all things come from him and that everything on earth, heaven and the rest of the spiritual world is under his control.Linguistic studies of the Igbo language suggests the name Chukwu is a portmanteau of the Igbo words: Chi (spiritual being) and Ukwu (great in size). Alusi, alternatively known as Arusi or Arushi (depending on dialect), are minor deities that are worshiped and served in Odinani. There are lists of many different Alusi and each has its own purpose. When an individual deity is no longer needed, or becomes too violent, it is discarded.

The Igbo believe in reincarnation. People are believed to reincarnate into families that they were part of while alive. Before a relative dies, it is said that the soon to be deceased relative sometimes give clues of who they will reincarnate as in the family. Once a child is born, he or she is believed to give signs of who they have reincarnated from. This can be through behavior, physical traits and statements by the child. A diviner can help in detecting who the child has reincarnated from. It is considered an insult if a male is said to have reincarnated as a female.

 Children are not allowed to call elders by their names without using an honorific (as this is considered disrespectful). Children are required to greet elders when seeing them for the first time in the day as a sign of respect. Children usually add the Igbo honorifics Mazi or Dede before an elder's name when addressing them.

BURIALS IN IGBO LAND

After a death, the body of a prominent member of society is placed on a stool in a sitting posture and is clothed in the deceased's finest garments. Animal sacrifices may be offered to them and they can be well perfumed. Burial usually follows within 24 hours of death. The head of a home is usually buried beneath the floor of his house. Different types of deaths warrant different types of burials. This is affected by an individual's age, gender and status in society. For example, children are buried in hiding and out of sight; their burials usually take place in the early mornings and late nights. A simple untitled man is buried in front of his house and a simple mother is buried in her place of origin in a garden or a farm-area that belonged to her father. Presently, a majority of the Igbo bury their dead in the western way, although it is not uncommon for burials to be practiced in the traditional Igbo ways.

FESTIVALS IN IGBO CULTURE

 

The New Yam festival of the Igbo (Igbo: Iwa ji) is an annual harvest festival by the Igbo people held at the end of the rainy season in early August. The celebration is a very culturally based occasion, tying individual Igbo communities together as essentially agrarian and dependent on yam. Yams are the first crop to be harvested, and are the most important crop of the region. The evening prior to the day of the festival, all old yams (from the previous year's crop) are consumed or discarded. The next day, only dishes of yam are served, as the festival is symbolic of the abundance of the produce.

Traditionally, the role of eating the first yam is performed by the oldest man in the community or the king (igwe). This man also offers the yams to god, deities and ancestors. It is believed that their position bestows the privilege of being intermediaries between their communities and the gods of the land. The rituals are meant to express the gratitude of the community to the gods for making the harvest possible, and they are widely followed despite more modern changes due to the influence of Christianity in the area.

The day is symbolic of enjoyment after the cultivation season, and the plenty is shared with friends and well-wishers. A variety of festivities mark the eating of new yam. Folk dances, masquerades, parades, and parties create an experience that some participants characterize as "art"; the colorful festival is a spectacle of exhibited joy, thanks, and community display. Palm oil (mmanu nri) is used to eat the yam. Iwa ji also shares some similarities with the Asian Mid-Autumn Festival, as both are based on the cycles of the moon and are essentially community harvest festivals. Igboland holds many festivities and cultural performances, most notably the masquerades and the new Yam festivals.

Masquerades (Mmanwu) are held in accordance with the community native calendars during festivals, annual festivities, burial rites and other social gatherings. The masquerades are geared in colourful robes and masks made of wood or fabric. Some masks appear only at one festival, but the majority appears at many or all. Masquerades are associated with spiritual elements, as according to Igbo belief, they represent images of deities or sometimes even dead relatives. The identity of the masquerade is a well-kept secret and performed exclusively by men.

In the past, masquerades were regarded as the means for maintaining peace and order and were primarily used as law enforcement agents. The whole village would come out for the ceremony of the colourful masquerades. While entertaining through dances and exhibiting extra-human feats, the masquerades would walk up to certain individuals and loudly expose any bad habits, crimes or misbehavior of that person. As people would always take corrections from these exposures, the masquerades were effective in keeping up with traditional norms and values in the communities.

MARRIAGES IN IGBO LAND

Polygamy in Nigeria

The process of marrying usually involves asking the young woman's consent, introducing the woman to the man's family and the same for the man to the woman's family, testing the bride's character, checking the woman's family background and paying the brides wealth. Sometimes marriages had been arranged from birth through negotiation of the two families.

A modern Igbo wedding, Nnewi, Nigeria;

In the past, many Igbo men practiced polygamy. The polygamous family is made up of a man and his wives and all their children. Men sometimes married multiple wives for economic reasons so as to have more people in the family, including children, to help on farms. Christian and civil marriages have changed the Igbo family since colonization. Igbo people now tend to enter monogamous courtships and create nuclear families, mainly because of Western influence. Sometimes Western marriage customs, such as wedding in church, is adopted after 

ATTIRE

 

Traditionally, the attire of the Igbo generally consisted of little clothing as the purpose of clothing originally was to conceal private parts, although elders were fully clothed. Children were usually nude from birth until they reach puberty status (the time when they were considered to have something to hide) but sometimes ornaments such as beads were worn around the waist for spiritual reasons. Uli body art was used to decorate both men and women in the form of lines forming patterns and shapes on the body. Men wearing the modern Isiagu with traditional Igbo men's hat Okpu Agwu

Women traditionally carry their babies on their backs with a strip of clothing binding the two with a knot at her chest, a practice used by many ethnic groups across Africa. This method has been modernized in the form of the child carrier. In most cases Igbo women did not cover their breast areas. Maidens usually wore a short wrapper with beads around their waist and other ornaments such as necklaces and beads. Both men and women wore wrappers.[139][140] Men would wear loin cloths that wrapped round their waist and between their legs to be fastened at their back, the type of clothing appropriate for the intense heat as well as jobs such as farming.

  In Olaudah Equiano's narrative, Equiano describes fragrances that were used by the Igbo in the community of Essaka; Our principal luxury is in perfumes; one sort of these is an odoriferous wood of delicious fragrance: the other a kind of earth; a small portion of which thrown into the fire diffuses a most powerful odor. We beat this wood into powder, and mix it with palm oil; with which both men and women perfume themselves.

  In the same era as the rise of colonial forces in Nigeria, the way the Igbo dressed changed. Clothing worn before colonialism became "traditional" and worn on special occasions. Modern Igbo traditional attire, for men, is generally made up of the Isiagu top which resembles the Dashiki worn by other African groups. Isiagu (or Ishi agu) is usually patterned with lions heads embroidered over the clothing and can be a plain color. It is worn with trousers and can be worn with either a traditional title holder’s hat or with the traditional Igbo striped men's hat known as Okpu Agwu. For women, a puffed sleeve blouse along with two wrappers and a head tie are worn.

IGBO CUISINE

The yam is very important to the Igbo as it is their staple crop. There are celebrations such as the New yam festival (Igbo: Iwaji) which are held for the harvesting of the yam. During the festival yam is eaten throughout the communities as celebration. Yam tubers are shown off by individuals as a sign of success and wealth. Rice has replaced yam for ceremonial occasions. Other foods include cassava, garri, maize and plantains. Soups or stews are included in a typical meal, prepared with a vegetable (such as okra, of which the word derives from the Igbo language, Okwuru) to which pieces of fish, chicken, beef, or goat meats are added. Jollof rice is popular throughout West Africa. Palm wine is a popular alcoholic beverage among the Igbo.