The Importance Of Festivals And Holidays On Pre Colonial And Pre-Colonial Igbo Culture

The treatment of women and children has changed over time all across the world. In the Ibo tribe of Nigeria, the changes have been drastic. Although women and children were mistreated in the traditional Igbo culture, they have gained many rights and better treatment with the spread western cultures and advancement of technology.

Chinua Achebe uses the story of Okonkwo to let the world know more about Igbo culture. In an interview,Achebe says, ¨I began going to school and learned to read¨(Brooks). Food is also important in the Igbo culture and use it in very traditional and ceremonial events. For example some foods that are important are palm wine and kola nuts and these foods are very important to the Igbo culture and they use it to show respect for their clansmen and the honor the gods.

Many people see others fairly balanced than others. In the Novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, states that their Igbo culture is important to them. Men focus on taking titles to show supremacy and admiration, their culture runs on tradition, respect, and reputation. The novel takes place in a small village called Umuofia, Nigeria in the twentieth century. Therefore, social groups in the novel are represented by their successfulness, power, and credibility towards their role in the Igbo culture.

“The Feast of the New Yam… was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani, the earth goddess and the source of all fertility” (36). The importance of this goddess demonstrates that women have a place of power in Ibo religion as well.

Achebe uses the tribe’s spirituality as a beacon of relation to the western reader. Often times, westerners believe that African culture and spirituality is riddled with mysticism and voodoo, however, Achebe describes it differently through the use of imagery. In this quote, Achebe explains The Feast of the New Yam, and its importance to the Umuofia people. “It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani, the earth goddess and the source of all fertility. Ani played a greater part in the life of people than any other deity.” (Achebe 36). To the Umuofia, Ani was their explanation of where their vibrant crops and healthy lives arose

-After Nwoye is lured into the Christian religion and abandons his culture and family, Okonkwo is ashamed and states, "you have all see the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people" (172). Nwoye's father disowns him only because he chooses a path untraditional to his culture. The serious, frustrated, and unhappy mood that is created in Okonkwo's statement gives the reader an idea of how much the Ibo culture values tradition, choice, and family.

Polygyny sets social role in the culture of the igbo people, which ranks are first inherited from father to son along with a farm. The festival in which the tribe celebrates the new coming of their primary food source and to praise the earth goddess which proves their peaceful bond with nature. Although others may include that the igbo tribe may be disruptive towards nature because of the sacrifices that are made as offerings to the earth goddess, Ani. And the fame for their unique and interesting culture around

Not only do the Igbo worship gods such as Chukwu with the morning prayer (Arinze and Kaulu 4366), but they also worship their ancestors. Because of their belief in life after death, they create special shrines for their ancestors (Okeke et al. 3) and create statues to represent them (Arinze and Kaulu 4366). One other key form of worship is through sacraments such as the kola nut and palm wine, which “reveal Igbo thoughts about the universe, creation, and the divine” (Njoku and Uzukwu 3-4). For example, as a form of worship, the Igbo pour out drops of palm wine as a way of honoring one’s ancestors (Arinze and Kaulu

True Identity “We know what we are, but not what we may be” is a quote by William Shakespeare that distinctively describes Nwoye’s change in sense of identity from the beginning to the end of the novel Things Fall Apart. There are countless events that happened in the novel that changed Nwoye for the positive. Nwoye was once timid and unsure, but he changed into a courageous boy that wasn’t afraid to follow his own path. In the beginning Nwoye wanted to please his father, Okonkwo, but he turned out to surpass his father in capability. Nwoye knew who he was, but what he didn’t know is what he could be.

Before the arrival of the missionaries, the Ibo religion was highly significant to the government and its people. “While many countries have adopted a system of the separation of church and state, the Ibo people base their governance on the gods,” (Vees). With their religion having

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.

A long time ago, before humans, the earth was covered entirely with water. Then, the God, Chukwu, created the first human family which included Eze Nri, his wife, and his children. Eze Nri and his family stood upon a small anthill feeling extremely hungry and without a place to live. Chukwu, who felt bad for them, gave them a yam and they found it to be very good. The next morning, the family was hungry again and begged for more yams from Chukwu. The God then gave them some yam seeds but there was no place to plant them. Chukwu told Eze Nri to call for the Akwa blacksmiths to blow away the water. Eze Nri was then told to sacrifice his eldest son and daughter to plant the seeds in their graves. Some time later, the yams were ready to be harvested and Eze Nri gave them to all the Igbo people (Ohadike). Today, the Igbo people are the third largest ethnic group in Nigeria and they make up 18 percent of the population which is over 32 million (The World Factbook - Nigeria) and about the size of Afghanistan (The

In this paper I will discuss Nigeria, a country that was created by European imperialism. Nigeria is located on the Atlantic Coast in West Africa and is border by Benin, Chad, and Cameroon. It is the largest country in Africa. Nigeria has three main tribes which are the Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo and other tribes as well. The official language of Nigeria is English although, the Yoruba, Ibo, and Hausa tribes represent the principal native language. Dance and music are a focal point in the Nigerian livelihood. The traditional Nigerian uses dance at births and deaths, on happy and sad occasions, and in worship. Nigerian music consists of many instruments. They are the trumpets, brass, vocals, percussion frame drums, kettle drums, double bass, flutes, and the electric guitar. Drums are considered very important to the Nigerian music and dances. In the Nigerian culture, art serves as a social or religious purpose. Nigeria is a celebratory country. Many holidays and festivities are observed by the Nigerian community to preserve their cultural heritage. Two of the most common are the National Day and The New Yam Festival. Traditional Nigerians have

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.

In an agrarian society such as the one found in Things Fall Apart, life centers around the planting and harvesting of food, as that will dictate the level of comfort the society can expect in the next year. To the present day, the Igbo people of Nigeria hold a yam festival every year at the end of the rainy season, “a