Igbo Society and Culture

Who are the Igbo people? Where do they live? What is their life like? 

The Igbo people are a tribe or community that are located in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. Their native tongue is Igbo, hence the label “Igbo people,” however as time has gone by, the vast majority have also learned Nigerian English which is the national language of Nigeria. The village they inhabit consist of several huts, some connected, which form compounds. The three main jobs within the Igbo community are craftsmen, farmers and traders, yet every person in the community has a specific role to fulfill, whether it is a wife, a son, a daughter or a husband. Furthermore, the Igbo people abide by their customs, religion and beliefs quite strictly yet modern times have forced them to evolve their more violent traditions into ones that are more “socially acceptable.”

Before the British attempted to colonize the Igbo, they were separates cultures among the larger community and were politically fragmented into several groups. Throughout the attack of the British, the Igbo people were forced into uniting and becoming one as a whole in order to survive and continue their legacy. This new unity meant that no family was socially superior than any other, that they were all equals regardless of their social status, the new status quo was that elders were ranked higher than others. Another factor that influenced social status was how large the family was, which is closely related to polygamy. If a man had more wives, it meant that the number of children he had increased and therefore had more hands for labor. As a family increased in size, it meant that the man had enough resources to support them.

Finally, family structure is of great importance within the culture. First of all, the man is the leader in a relationship and he is allowed to marry as many women as he wants. The first wife is the most important as she is in the relationship out of love rather than need. In addition, she gets the hut closest to the main hut, where the husband lives. As more wives come, the next is of less importance as the previous and their individual huts are further away and lower than the main one. The men and women have contrasting roles in the family, the man is the leading one, he has the final call in everything and does all the heavy labor while the woman is expected to maintain the household clean and orderly, as well as raising the children and preparing meals.