The Igbo People

In the village of Umuofia, the Igbo people worship a religion of many deities. Their polytheistic religion consists of gods related to nature such as rain, sun, etc. The most important deity is the goddess of the Earth; Igbo people frain from committing sins against the goddess of the Earth in fear of complete genocide. The European missionaries introduce Umuofia to a monotheistic religion, Christianity. The Igbo people fear what they can’t understand, such as medicine. Igbo people feared the “white man”, however, missionaries successfully convert some Igbo people into Christian, causing them to be shamed by the hierarchy of men in the village. The conversion caused changes in Igbo culture and influenced the Igbo people to behave in a way that was unheard of before the European missionaries arrived. Enoch, a recently converted Christian, committed one of the worst crimes in

Starting with the first effect of imperialism, the introduction of Christianity in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s fatherland. Four years into Okonkwo’s exile, his good friend Obierika payed him a visit, informing Okonkwo of the arrival of missionaries in Umuofia. The Christian followers had to come to Umuofia to build a church and to convert locals into their anomalous religion. Most importantly, “what moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter’s son, Nwoye, among the missionaries in Umuofia.” (Achebe 143) The introduction of Christianity was one of the many effects set upon the African villages. Locals were becoming

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

The most populous country in Africa with a population of more than 160 million people is Nigeria. Nigeria is home to more than 300 tribes, one of the largest tribes being the Igbo tribe. In the novel Things Fall Apart the igbo culture partly consists of the practice of Polygyny and father-son inheritance. The Igbo tribe are still considered to be harmonious to land through festivals and are famous for their culture around Yams.

Thousands of years ago there was a tribe filled with people known as the Ibo, now known as the Igbo. The Igbo were one of the first tribes to really be able to thrive and have order in their villages. Igboland is now one of the most populated countries in Nigeria. Though Igboland is now one of the most populated countries, it has managed to keep its historical charm. Igboland is now a very well thriving country, but it is still facing many hardships regarding their political system.

The novel also shows the European’s disregard for Igbo culture by revealing the District Commissioner’s book title to be “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.” Because the Europeans couldn’t imagine that the Igbo people would be civilized, they ended up destroying their rich culture. This theme is fairly consistent with my knowledge of European colonialism and missionaries. I imagine that the European’s interactions with the Igbo people would not be too different from what we know to have been done to Native Americans by Europeans. I thought the novel was organized well in that it introduced you to Igbo culture thoroughly before showing how it was affected by the Europeans. The novel also did a good job portraying how destructive the Europeans

Throughout the reign of the Missionaries, the Igbo religion became lost. Clan members no longer worships their sacred gods and goddesses. “To abandon the gods of one’s father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination,” (153; pt.2, ch.17) Okonkwo says in regards to his fellow clansmen converting to Christianity. At first, many members of the clan did not notice the changes around them. They became oblivious to the missionaries and what they had brought with them, “the white men has not only brought a religion, but also a government.” (155; pt.2, ch. 8) The changes brought by the white men, occur slowly and cautiously, until it becomes too late for the clan members to react. Members of

Missionaries have had a profound and resounding effect on southeastern Nigeria that remains today, missionaries still playing a significant role in the culture of the Igbo. Although missionaries were initially synonymous with colonization, European coloniasts enforcing Christian ideals on the ‘save’ natives in an effort to civilize them, missionaries remained in Nigeria even after it gained its independence on October 1, 1960 through a series of constitutions legislated by the British government. Despite the abolition of British colonial forces, missionaries remained, exerting extensive influence on local culture. Missionaries promoted western education, which was widely popular among the Igbo and viewed as a method to move up the social ladder.

The Igbo people are a tribe that basis much of their beliefs around folklore. This folklore is a key part of their daily lives and their religion. These stories passed from generation to generation teach valuable lessons to the children of the tribe and prepare them for adult life. The following examples are some of the most important beliefs and the stories that accompany them.

Up until recently the Igbo have been seen as people without history. Historians thought this because they have very little archeological data to pull from. Now, “...historians have proposed two interrelated hypotheses of Igbo origin: one, that there exists a core area which may be called the ‘nuclear’ Igboland, and two, that waves of immigrant communities from the north and the west planted themselves on the border of this nucleus as early as the fourteenth and fifteenth century.” (Gall 215) It is speculated that the tribe first lived 100 miles north of their current location, which is called Igboland. Igboland is

In the Encyclopedia of World Culture it says, “In the late nineteenth century, mission Christianity and colonialism interest worked together for the colonization of Igboland,” (Amadiume). When the missionaries arrive it has a long lasting effect on their culture. This is when their culture first began to change, when they started to convert and stray away from their traditional beliefs. In the novel Things Fall Apart, the book reads, “And so nobody gave serious thought to the stories about the white man’s government or the consequences of killing the Christians. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan,” (Achebe 94).

The fact that these missionaries have started to really make an impact was unprecedented by the Ibo people; their continuous misunderstandings of one another contribute to make this situation frustrating to both the Ibo clansmen and the Christians that view their religion as superior. Okonkwo returns back to his home village of Umuofia after his exile to Mbanta, and he arrives to see missionaries have overtaken the village, created a government, and many Umuofians have joined the church. As Okonkwo and his friend Obierika are talking, Obierika says of the missionaries and their impact, “He says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us?...He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). The white men and missionaries have been successful in coming in and gaining power. They believe the customs to be “bad”, showing their disregard of Ibo culture, and how their motives for infiltrating Ibo life is based off of selfish ideas- only to gain more followers to their religion. Furthermore, by actually being successful in drawing Umuofians into their religion, they have turned

When the Christian missionaries came, they shook the foundation of the Igbo culture. The Igbo religion is rooted in their culture, it becomes part of who the Igbo people are (Okeke, et al). Through Chinua Achebe’s book, “he even seems to show that a culture or religion which cannot change itself with time would obviously fall apart” (Mahanta). Some people were able to adapt their culture with the new ideas, but others, such as Achebe’s character Okonkwo, was unable to accept the changes. “Furthermore, within the traditional life, the individual is immersed in a religious participation, which starts before birth and continues after death, for the life of an Igbo man is like a religious drama, which vitally links the living with the ancestors and those yet to be born in a mystic continuum” (Okeke, et al). The Igbo people were so closely intertwined with their religion that it was difficult for them to deal with the wave of a different

Europeans wanted them to separate from these traditional views of worshipping to multiple gods and other indigenous values. Religion was huge to the people of Igbo society. Gods were always connected to the nature like the goddess of earth. Things connected to the nature were sacred to them like kola nut, alligator pepper or goatskin. They also believed highly in magic. To the Europeans, that seemed ludicrous. Family is also another factor connected to indigenous religious beliefs. Families stayed together in Igbo culture. They farmed together and carried out traditional duties of the society together like respecting the leader and what he wants. Okonkwo was the leader of the Umuofia clan. He was well known for his fierceness and strong will to be a leader. To him, being a leader was everything because of the household he grew up in. His father was weak and Okonkwo never looked up to him. He rejected the Europeans trying to convert the societies. He feared that he might lose his reputation of being strong willed. People of Igbo lived a peaceful life, as assumed by the reader, before the Europeans and started to drift away the people of their traditions and religious beliefs.

The study started with general introductions of concepts, the Igbo people and Nigeria; and the significance of the study and study area. Furthermore, the discussion move from the trade relations between the Europeans and Africans along the Bight of Biafra which at about the 15th century to the arrival of the missionaries and the British colonial army/administration; colonialism started in full scale. The next sections focused on the outcome of the colonial experience of the Igbos, thus, the outcomes of the colonial policies were used as yardsticks to evaluate its consequences on the socio-political system of the Igbos. Thereafter, a discussion on the prolonged consequences of colonialism on democracy in Igbo land was