Capoeira

Igbo African ethnic group
African American Culture: Historical and Aesthetic Roots
(AFS 2010 sec.04)

Destiney D. Mohammed
Instructor: Dr. Kefentse Chike
January 25, 2013

Destiney D. Mohammed
Professor Dr. Kefentse Chike
AFS 2010
25 January 2013
Igbo African ethnic group
"Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten" Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. A brief interpretation of the quote is saying, the community is just as important as the food that they need to live on. This promotes the agricultural nature of Igbo society. In this essay I will explain to you the customs of the African ethnic group known as the Igbo. I’ll explain the traditional life of the Igbo people in depths as such part as social organization, language, religion, traditions, economy and government. I hope through these incites of the Igbo ethnic group you will grow more to learn about their culture. Family structure in the Igbo African ethnic group is based around the practice of polygamy. The reasons for the Igbo men to practice polygamy were for profitable reasons. More wives mean more children to produce which means a larger family. Larger family means more help on their farm. Since colonization the Igbo family structure has changed and turned into civil marriages and traditional Christian marriages between only two unions. The Igbo group had an effect on western customs for marriages such as weddings. And, due to western influences the Igbo group turned monogamous relationships. Titles played a key part of Igbo society. Title was determined by social status and social status was determined by the scale of payments. The system acted as a form of social security. Those who acquired titles paid a particular fee and then were entitled to share in the payments of those who later developed titles. Intense rituals helped you gain a title also which is a symbol of character. Religious restrictions controlled a “title man’s” life. Some states did indeed have a king. The kings were often overruled by titled men. Kingdom ship was unused in majority of Igbos. If you are an Igbo your native tongue is Ibo, it was essential for you to read, speak and write in Igbo. The reason why is because, the language of the people is the most important heritage to the Igbo group. The language continues the legacy and culture of the Igbos as well as the being of the heritage rest on the use of it from the Igbo people. The language tracked back to the 9th century. Originally, the Igbos used pictographs. The pictographs perished around the 1500s. More modern Igbo language was formed around a more Latin-language alphabet which was conceived during the British colonialism. Traditional Igbos chose the religion of Odinani. Odinani is a pantheistic religion, “which holds that the divine is synonymous with the universe.” Odinani is described as a mythology. Igbo people look at it as faith, a way of living life in hopes of pursuing an eternal heaven sheltered after-life. Religion played the biggest role in Igbo people’s lives because, they inspired to “live by their religion” as all religious people do. Igbo people are a very religious society of West Afrikaners. Odinani faith is based around the ideologies and mortalities of everything spring from a deity called Chukwu. Although, now Igbo religion in the modern world is based around the more “common” religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Roman Catholics Igbo people’s origins of religion sparks from its traditional roots of Odinani. The traditional burials are one of the Igbo people’s rituals that are held as sacred to their culture. Today is much different then back when but, I’ll take you into an insight of what a traditional burial will consist of. Traditionally, the burial is based upon the deceased person’s gender, age, societal status. Burial is preformed after 24 hours after death. A member of society is placed on a stool in a somewhat sitting position and wares the deceased person’s best clothing. In some cases animal sacrifices are offered. Stated before depending on the factor of age, gender and status determines the way the deceased person is buried. Most are buried in their origins of birth or in front of their last residing residence. Perhaps the most compelling deaths are the deaths of children. The burial remained most times hidden in the early mornings or late nights. The economic system for the Igbo people was very traditional farming for profit. The most famous produced good/crop is the yam. The harvest of the yam leaves great celebration. Yams are proficiently grown that that’s enough for exporting to neighbors. The assistance of migrants labor help in the harvest helps affectively to produce the palm tree which converts into palm oil which they export to Europe. Women also contributed pottery and cloth weaving. Wood carving of men assisted in the “flow of money” in society. As you can see the Igbo people’s lively-hood surrounds a vast amount of dedication to the labor of farming in means to create profit to support them. Not accustom to the systems of the out lookers, Igbo people’s leadership relied on the deciding from the village council which were head of lineages, elders, and men who play important roles in society (important figures) among the Igbo. Kingdom ships were not immediate law/power in the Igbo’s society. In spite of the Igbo’s numerous divisions occurring from topographical differences. The prime basic unit of Igbo’s life was more so towards the “village groupness”. Its universal institution was of the role of the “family head”. Which was the man of a household consumed the position of settlements of family disputes. Reasons were because he controlled channel-communications with ancestors. We’ve voyaged through the lives of the Igbo people. As you can already she these people were among one of the greatest people of early societies. Still today the heritage of the Igbo people is still present in the new generation of Igbo people. The Igbo culture/society is not one that’s decaying. It’s being rebuilt. The beliefs and traditions are still rooted in heritage today and is undying over the years it has changed in some areas it has still stayed grounded to tradition. This was a glimpse of what the world looks like through the experiences of the Igbo African ethnic group.

. Igbo people. . January 25,2013 . Wikipedia. Igbo Lanuage. . January 24,2013 .

. Igbo Information. . January 24,2013 .

. Igbo Economy. . January 25,2013 .

. Government and Social Structure. . January 25,2013 .