The Igbo culture is respected and praised widely because of their eccentric style, art, cuisine, but their religious beliefs are what draws the most attention to them. It wasn’t until the mid 20th century that the people involved in this multi-ethnic group developed a strong passion for their culture and began to live and practice collectively as one (Brittanica, 2). Ibo culture is a sublime heritage, where the act of marriage is a sacred celebration to the Igbo people, where tradition must reside.īefore European colonization, the people of Ibo culture did not live in unison but they lived in self-governing environments. Igbo people are unique for not only their language but also for their traditional religious beliefs and values. Igbo is a language originating off of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family (Brittanica, 1), and is the principal native language of the Ibo people. The Ibo people are known to speak a distinctive language known as Igbo. The chief mode of communication is always through the physical placement, by the messenger, of the symbols of office in the hands of the dreamer, and in many cases this act is reinforced by a voice telling the dreamer that he has been chosen for office.The Igbo people, also known as Ibo, are an ethnic group that inhabits south-central and south-eastern Nigeria and some parts of Equatorial Guinea. In some cases, the first type of messenger appears in an initial dream, and in a following dream the message is strengthened by the appearance of the other type. ![]() Usually, the messenger who appears in the dream is either the previous tenant of the office or a manifestation of the spirit to the service of whom the office is devoted. When the Igbo determine succession to religious office, dreams and the use of dream narratives are sometimes thought to be a manifestation both of the agency of the spiritual entity behind the office and of the candidate’s chi.ĭreams are perceived as a means for divine messages, and the role of divination in the succession process is regarded as a means of both interpreting and validating the message of a dream. In addition to being a consequence of achievement motivation, dreams, omens, and prophecy are seen in Igbo society as the principal demonstration of extra-human powers in the candidacy for religious office. LeVine analyzed private dreams of personal success as a means of identifying underlying cultural values of achievement motivation. In Igbo thought each person’s life is predestined through the agency of the chi, although this destiny can be modified by the ikenga, the personification of each individual’s right hand, representing the power to achieve.Ī study by Robert LeVine published in 1966 examined achievement motivation among the Igbo. Chiukwu keeps in touch with humans and their affairs through the chi, the spiritual entity embodied in a person’s identity from before birth, which journeys with him or her through life. The universe of the Igbo, a southeastern Nigerian people, is conceptualized into three broad categories through certain metaphors and myths: Elu lgwe, the sky, which is inhabited by the supreme deity Chiukwu Ala Mmuo, the land where reside numerous spirit beings which are either back from their sojourn on the earth or awaiting their turn to begin a new travel in the world of living men-and where are also found the revered ancestors, and Ala Mmadu, land of the living, where spirits are invisible to man.Ĭonsiderable and continuous contact exists between humans and spirits. ![]() The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. Ottenberg, Boyhood Rituals in an African Society (1988). Basden, Among the Igbos of Nigeria (1921, repr. Civil war followed, and, by 1970, Biafra was defeated. Many Igbo fled to their eastern homeland, which seceded from Nigeria in 1967, calling itself the Republic of Biafra. During the political conflict in 1966, thousands of Igbo immigrants were killed in the northern region, home of the Muslim Hausa and Fulani. They played a major role in securing Nigerian independence from Britain in 1960. ![]() The Igbo became heavily represented in professional, managerial, technical, and commercial occupations, and many migrated to other regions of Nigeria. They were receptive to Christianity and education under British colonialism and missionary influence. Originally settled in many autonomous villages, the Igbo nevertheless had a sense of cultural unity and the ability to unite for political action. Igbo (ĭgˈbō) or Ibo (ēˈbō), one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, deriving mainly from SE Nigeria, numbering around 15 million.
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