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When things fall apart Religion in Igbo culture
Expository essay on how marriage is conducted in igbo land
Culture collision in the igbo people
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Culture refers to beliefs and customs of a particular society. In most cultures the dream of marriage by both young men and women are similar. Whether a marriage is arranged or experiences the different stages of dating to proposal, the end result is companionship.
In the Igbo of Nigeria and Nuer of Sudan there are similarities and differences in marriage practices because values, customs and beliefs that are learned as a society determines various marital practices.
The Igbo people who are sometimes referred to as Ibo are the second largest group of people who live in Southern Nigeria. Igbo people speak Igbo and have a wide range of different dialects. Igbo are yam farmers and it is there staple crop. Each year they have a celebration called the New Yam Festival which celebrated the crops and secures a good harvest for the year. Igbo people are artistic and musically inclined. They are known for art work such as bronze casting and musical instruments as the opi, an instrument similar to a flute. Traditional religion is known as Odinani but today most Igbo’s practice Christianity.
The Igbo society governed themselves without the input of a chief or king. They lived independently and each person had a say on all matters discussed. There were no special privileges because of ancestry. The Igbo have been described in historical and anthropological literature as a ‘‘stateless’’ or ‘‘segmentary’’ society consisting of autonomous village groups (Korieh, 2006 p 14).Victor Uchendu described this lack of a formulized leadership as ‘‘an exercise in direct democracy’’ and ‘‘representative assembly” (Korieh, 2006 p14). After the colonization,interaction with other Nigerians brought about a more distinct Igbo ethnic identity.
The Igbo peop...
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...ropriate for their simple way of living (Evans-Pritchard 1940: 90).
In the practice of marriage amongst the Nuer payment of a bridewealth and certain ceremonial rites are performed to initiate the marriage. The ceremonial rites will not take place until payment for the bride is made, exchange of cattle cannot by themselves bring about the marriage (Evans-Prichard, 1951). These two processes are important and close the establishment of the full union of marriage. In Nuer culture a marriage has many steps which are betrothal, wedding and the consummation. In Nuer culture no marriage is complete without with birth of a child. Although divorce is rare in Nuer society after the birth of the first child, divorce does occur. According to E E Evans-Prichard if divorce does occur and no children have been bore the cattle of the bride must be returned (Evans-Prichard, 1951).
The social and political organization of the Basseri and the Nuer are very much different. The Basseri’s social organization is based upon that of nuclear families; they are also neolocal, meaning that upon marriage a couple starts their own nuclear family in a new tent. After marriage, in order for the couple to begin a new household, the husband usually receives part of his father’s herd and at times, if not given any animals, the husband can work and receive animals as a payment. During the spring, the nomadic tribes can be supported in large numbers in a single camp; while during the winter, camps are setup in smaller groups. The Basseri reckon descent patrilineally where inheritance is usually from father to son. A woman bestows membership rights to her own tribe or her offspring. The Basseri consider themselves one unified tribe because they are all subsumed under the authority of a single leader, the chief of all the Basseri.
To start off, the people of Igbo have Gods they praise in different ways and if they are told to do something from their Gods they will do it not questioning if it’s right or wrong. Worshipping their Gods was normal, it was a display of respect and honor. For example, in the beginning of chapter
The question of civilization is central to the conflict between the Igbo and the British. The idea that the British were responsible for "civilizing" and converting the natives on other continents because they were “savages” (according to the colonizers). Since Igbo societies were structured and functioned differently from societies in Europe, they were deemed as uncivilized. The definition of the civilized is a place or a group of people that have social, cultural, and moral development in their society. By the definition of civilized, the Igbo people are civilized because they have evidence of social, cultural, and moral development in their specific society.
As with most primitive societies, the Igbo was ruled by a few elite, all of which were male. Those able to obtain power in the village are male,
To the Igbo identity was referred to as the formation of an individual or a collective group of people through an association by certain customs, traditions, history, geographic location, and the environment. Race was referred to as an idea that was established by the wealthy and powerful and how they identified people as a result of biological distinctions.
Their is a force in the Ibo tribe called the egwugwu. The egwugwu are seen as a sort of god within the tribe, but are actually masked elders. These elders serve as judges in the tribe and are thought to be the spirits of Umuofian ancestors. The egwugwu represent the spirit of the clan. When an egwugwu spirit is unmasked, the egwugwu dies, which caused distress and confusion among the people. An Ibo tradition has again been broken due to the missionaries. Before this tragic event though, there is a switch in leaders of the missionaries. Mr. Brown, the first leader, was one missionary who cared about the culture of the Ibo. He passes his role on to a Reverend James Smith. Regarding Smith, Achebe writes, “Mr. Brown’s successor was the Reverend James Smith, and he
In African Traditional Religion, marriage is a cherished fecundity and is intended for procreation. Marriage involves not only interpersonal relations but also intercommunity relations. The survival of kinship in the social structure depends on marriage; marriage always establishes very strong bonds between the individuals belonging to different families and clans, especially when children are born.
Nigerian Ibo culture in the village of Umoufia. Like the Ibo, many other nations are strongly rooted to
Religion is something people often use as a way to get through their daily lives because it gives them something to look forward to in an afterlife. The Igbo religion is no different for its people. The religion that the Igbo people practice is very unique and extraordinary to learn about. Although it has many similarities with christianity and Islam, it is also very different from those religions. The traditional thought of the Igbo people is that there is only one god, however that one god has many “forms”. The god is called Chukwu however its other forms have different names such as Ndi Mmadu who is god of the “visible beings” and Úrò who is god of elements and minerals. Traditional Igbo beliefs calls for many celebrations including extravagant
"The history of the world is a chronicle of oppression," declared General Ojukwu, an Igbo leader who fought for Biafran independence during the 1960s to the 1970s. He had to live in Nigeria during this period of oppression, which ultimately resulted in a civil war, known as the Nigeria-Biafran War. Prior to the war, Great Britain turned Nigeria into an artificial colony, consisted up of over 300 ethnic and religious groups who were shoved into one nation. The two largest and most conflicting of these groups were the Igbo and Hausa-Fulani. The Igbo, a Catholic and democratic group of people lived in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. The Hausa-Fulani, a Muslim and feudal group of people dominated the North. When Britain was in power, all of
To start with, the advantages of the Igbo social structure included a balanced society, equality, distribution of labor, a surplus of food, separate huts, a collective society, and some form of government. A centralized society was achieved through the Igbo social structure. This structure served the purpose to impose the same religion upon the people to enforce a common belief. By organizing the society, the people could follow the idea of “unity” to prevent any conflicts or disagreements within the community. Along with a unified society, some kind of equal status came as a result of the social structure that has been established within the clan. Although the social hierarchy did not promote equal status between men and women, it did, to some extent, promote equality within the division of labor among the people. It relieved the pressure of stress, which may have been bestowed up...
To begin, marriages between interracial couples have recently been on the rise within South Africa. According to Jacobson, Cardell, Yaw and Heaton, there are many reasons for the increase in popularity of interracial marriages within South Africa. In their article, Inter-racial Marriages in South Africa, they discuss the many reasons in which they believe this marital trend has been on the rise. To begin, Cardell, Yaw and Heaton look to assimilation, cultural, social and economic preferences as the main reasons for interracial marriage within South Africa. This is interesting because of the fact that these reasons, in a certain context, can have an affect on any relationship despite which race each of its counterparts resides or associates themselves with. Jacobson, Cardell, Yaw and Heaton also examine the barriers that legal and normative social constraints pose upon interracial couples. As mentioned above, this could also affect relationships of people who are the same colour. It is interesting to see that there is still such segregation between races. The authors mention that this stigma towards interracial marriage is more of a significant pattern in the rural parts of South Africa, compared to the urban. This article also examines the differences that
Worldwide, the most common way or mating is done by arrangements, usually by the aid of parent’s relatives or matchmakers who are close to the family. Some families use this method in marriages just due to their historical...
As the English began to colonize the Igbo society, there were few natives who opposed it, they others just felt that the English would come and go, but they were wrong. Soon, the English began to introduce "white man's religion." This new religion was completely the opposite from what the natives were accustomed to. Christianity was rather intriguing to many of the natives and many of them turned away from their families and everything they were to become a member of this new religion. Before this, they natives had been very superstious, but as they new religion flooded over the peoples, their superstiousocity began to lessen and their belief in the many gods they had previously believed in.
Firstly, one must discover the role and effect of the Igbo religion in, Things Fall Apart. Their gods are the manifestations of nature, which is understandable because their society is based on agriculture. They worship the earth goddess out of fear that she might destroy them if they sin against her (39). Everything in their civilization is centered around their religion. This affects their culture greatly. For example, because of his father’s transgression Ikemefuna was made a sacrifice to avoid war between Umuofia and Maino (31-32). This act can explain one of the ways their government works. Another example of this is the egwugwu. They are the elders of Umuofia disgusted as the ancestral spirits. They play the role of both judge and jury of the land. An example of their power is when they burn down the church in retaliation for the murder of one of their fellow ancestral spirits by Enoch (214). The people of Umuofia has a philosophy of vengeance, if they are wronged they expect a price for the action committed this is not the cast for the Christians, however.