Traditional Igbo Culture

The way women and children are treated differed greatly across the world as time passed. In the Ibo Tribe, time caused major changes in the way the women and children were treated. At first, they suffered but soon they gained more rights and better treatment from the rest of the tribe due to influence from the rest of the world.

In the Igbo culture there are many different foods that are staples in their culture but the staples can change or stay the same over time. In the book Things Fall Apart they have several different foods and an abundance of different ways they use foods but the traditions can change or stay the same over time. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about a man who does not like change but likes tradition. White men come into his village and start to change tradition. For example they move away from tradition which means they move away from the traditions that include food but in some ways stay the same. This leads Okonkwo to kill himself. The food staples in the Igbo culture change or stay the same.

Unexpected arrival of the missionaries, which will alter all the lives and traditions of the Igbo

The new religion from the ‘white missionaries,’ was the complete opposite from what the Igbo society was used to. An example would be when the Igbo society was trying to get used to learning about the holy trinity rather than believing in many gods (Achebe, 145). Due to this change, many of the people turned away from their families and their own self to become a part of this new religion. This was a huge problem because before this

The Ibo tribe is one of three ethnic groups in Nigeria, Africa. The treatment of woman and children in this tribe has altered and varied throughout the years. Traditionally, women of the Ibo tribe who were not married or without children were looked down upon. The course of action a man must take to marry an Ibo woman is lengthy and ornate. It usually takes several years. An Ibo man is also allowed to marry more than one woman. Marriage brought more opportunities to an Ibo woman and allowed her to be a part of different groups and the economics and politics of her tribe. The marital status also brought up a social reputation for a woman. Women in the Ibo tribe were expected to follow the traditions of their religion by marrying and reproducing.

A tribe is “a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.” There have been thousands of tribes throughout history, some older than others. The Igbo tribe, located in Nigeria, date back to the fourteenth century. It has been thriving for thousands of years, still continues to prosper today.

Although some evidence potrayed in this work as resources i.e legends,stories by elders,myth and oral tradition seems untrue and complicated.Nevertheless, it has been argued that these evidence are essential in telling some african peoples history including the igbos.moreover the igbo people rely on this phenomenon, placing value and sacredness on it.

Traditions are very important in the Ibo tribe of Nigeria. Death and afterlife play a very important role in their culture. The traditional Ibo people believe in worshipping their gods and spirits. They pray to their ancestors and gods in hope for a better future. They also believe a person has two souls; the eternal ego (the Ibo "Maw") and the life that dies with the body. The eternal soul takes the form of ghost or shadow when a person dies. The Ibo believe in karma and praying to their ancestors before meals. The music of the Ibo is designed from forged iron. They play many melodic instruments including the igba, ichaka, and the opi, an instrument similar to the flute. Another musical form in the Ibo culture is highlife, which

In Igbo culture the cycle of life, death, and rebirth started and ended at one’s ancestors. When a child was conceived a part of an ancestor’s spirit was reincarnated where it was born into the world of humans. In addition, when the person died physically their soul would live on and could only enter the spirit world and rejoin its other half after the proper sacrifices had been made during their burial. Likewise, sacrifices and rituals were made to honor the ancestors in the physical world to ensure that the deceased ancestors would reincarnate into the kin that they had previously been apart of when they were living. However, it should be mentioned that the Igbo people did not actually worship their ancestors, but showed their respect and

In the novel “Things Fall Apart” there was many times social structure came up, and added to the plot. Their social structure contributed in a positive way to the lives of the Igbo people in a way but could also be to blame for the fall off of the clan. The social structure was important in keeping it a one leader society and stopping crime. But like with every social system the Igbo had their ups and downs more advantages were evident though such as keeping a balanced society, having division of labor, providing more than enough food, equality throughout the society, and the development of what we could call a government. “Working together as a team helps build a cohesive organization.”

While it is beneficial to some extent for primitive tribes to become more globalized, I believe we should take a step back and assess if we are doing enough to protect the near extinction of African and other declining global cultures. In Things Fall Apart, The Igbo tribe struggles to maintain it’s identity as its customs and traditions are no longer being valued in a colonized world. Similarly the Igbo people’s unique language and dialect is becoming more and more obsolete as English, due to colonization, becomes the hegemonic language. All these effects of colonization are eradicating a rich and rare culture that the world will never see again. We see this happening currently with Cuba as it starts to become part of the globalized network.

The Igbos form Nigeria’s second largest ethnic group, and therefore they have a major place in Nigeria’s society. The traditional Igbo society is well organized, and both genders have their shares in the functioning of the society. However, the traditional Igbo women play a very active role in the construction and maintaining of the family, in the religious life, as well as in the economic growth. Women therefore make up an essential part of the Igbo society.

The missionaries added a justice system and there the missionaries would try any Igbo people who broke the white man’s laws. As a result of the missionaries coming to Umuofia they changed the way the Igbo people behaved by eliminating their culture. The idea of a culture being

Maybe if I thought about things differently my life would have been better, but sometimes or even most of times things are just what they are – right or wrong. There is an Igbo folklore that I am going to tell you about the tortoise and the birds. Once, there was a feast in the heavens and all the birds were invited, not the tortoise. However, because of the cunning nature of the tortoise, he wanted to go with the birds. But, how was he going to do that? Well, he had to look for a way to fly so he decided to borrow feathers from the birds with the trick that he was going to be their spokesperson. But then, things changed as got they got to heaven. The tortoise told the officials that his name was ‘All-of-you,’ so when all the foods and gifts came, the officials said ‘this is for all of you,’ and the tortoise claimed everything for himself. The birds got so angry they all left him stranded in heaven except for the Parrot. The tortoise sent a message through the Parrot to his family to bring out all the soft things in his house so he could land on them, but the Parrot still enraged told his family otherwise. All the hard things were brought out and the tortoise landed on them, which is the reason why the tortoise has a broken shell today.

The Ibo culture was structured to where men were dominant power seekers, and the women were feeble caretakers for the diligent men and young kin. I, for one, was a part of the Ibo society, but my identity was stripped away from my soul the day I fled my home. A handful of years ago, I was just an ordinary baby that had a father and a mother. My father was a middle class worker, and he was decently respected by the people of his faction. All of the population known the parent figure as Deuhwa, and he was popular for his snuff. The woman who brought me into this devastating world ceased to live before I could reach the age of one. Her name was Yve, and Deuhwa maliciously played the jester’s trumpet to babble her name was a remnant of the