By Roxanna Monshi
The Feast of the New Yams
One of the biggest festivals of the Ibo people is known as The Feast of the New Yams. It is an occasion for giving thanks to Ani, the earth goddess that is held every year before the new harvest begins. Many people look forward to it because it’s the beginning of a season of a new year and new yams. With the new coming of yams, the old year’s yams are disposed of the last night before the festival. A superfluous amount of the main dishes of celebration, yam foo-foo and vegetable soup, are made for the Feast of the New Yams. This festival is a very joyous occasion for Umuofia. Children are even decorated, mostly with their hair shaved in patterned designs. The second day of the New Year is when the annual wrestling match falls. (Chapter 5 pg 36-39)
Funerals
Ibo funerals are more of a celebration of the passing. The ekwe carries the news to all the villages and begins by naming the clan, then followed with the village, then finally man’s name. The funeral ceremony is filled with ancient drums of death beat, guns, and cannons fired. Men act wild and start cutting down every animal or tree in sight, jumping over walls, and dancing. People wore raffia skirts and painted their bodies with chalk and charcoal. Those with titles were buried after dark with a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony. (Chapter 13 pgs 120-124)
Egwugwu Ceremony
The egwugwu ceremony takes place in order to dispute the guilty side of a crime taken place, similar to our court trials. Large crowds meet at the egwugwu house. Titled men and elders sit in stools in the front rows while 2 groups stood facing the crowd. They waited until the gong rang and then faced the egwugwu house. Nine egwugwu represented a village of the clan, their leader known as Evil Forest; exit the huts with their masks on. Evil forest took the first stool and the following eight sat in order of seniority. Both sides present their case and then the nine evil spirits discuss separately in the huts then following to inform the crowd the decision and punishment. (Chapter 10 pgs 87-90)
Bride Price ritual
The bride price ritual is where the bride’s family makes a payment of money to the groom’s family for the bride. They do this by giving an amount of bundle sticks, which represent bags of cowries. They bargain and discuss until a final bride price is decided. (Chapter 8 pgs 71-74)
Isa-Ifa ceremony
Isa-Ifa was a ceremony held for a wife who had been separated from her husband for awhile and had to be re-united. The purpose was to determine if the wife had been unloyal to her husband while they were not together for that time. They would gather of umuada and sit in a big circle on the ground while the bride sat in the center with a hen in her right hand. The bride was then asked questions about her faithfulness to her husband and proceeded to answer them, swearing to the staff of the family. Then the hen’s throat would then be slit by the father and allow the blood to fall on his ancestral staff. The daughters of the family would then immediately return to home. (Chapter 14 pgs 132-133)
The Feast of the New Yams
One of the biggest festivals of the Ibo people is known as The Feast of the New Yams. It is an occasion for giving thanks to Ani, the earth goddess that is held every year before the new harvest begins. Many people look forward to it because it’s the beginning of a season of a new year and new yams. With the new coming of yams, the old year’s yams are disposed of the last night before the festival. A superfluous amount of the main dishes of celebration, yam foo-foo and vegetable soup, are made for the Feast of the New Yams. This festival is a very joyous occasion for Umuofia. Children are even decorated, mostly with their hair shaved in patterned designs. The second day of the New Year is when the annual wrestling match falls. (Chapter 5 pg 36-39)
Funerals
Ibo funerals are more of a celebration of the passing. The ekwe carries the news to all the villages and begins by naming the clan, then followed with the village, then finally man’s name. The funeral ceremony is filled with ancient drums of death beat, guns, and cannons fired. Men act wild and start cutting down every animal or tree in sight, jumping over walls, and dancing. People wore raffia skirts and painted their bodies with chalk and charcoal. Those with titles were buried after dark with a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony. (Chapter 13 pgs 120-124)
Egwugwu Ceremony
The egwugwu ceremony takes place in order to dispute the guilty side of a crime taken place, similar to our court trials. Large crowds meet at the egwugwu house. Titled men and elders sit in stools in the front rows while 2 groups stood facing the crowd. They waited until the gong rang and then faced the egwugwu house. Nine egwugwu represented a village of the clan, their leader known as Evil Forest; exit the huts with their masks on. Evil forest took the first stool and the following eight sat in order of seniority. Both sides present their case and then the nine evil spirits discuss separately in the huts then following to inform the crowd the decision and punishment. (Chapter 10 pgs 87-90)
Bride Price ritual
The bride price ritual is where the bride’s family makes a payment of money to the groom’s family for the bride. They do this by giving an amount of bundle sticks, which represent bags of cowries. They bargain and discuss until a final bride price is decided. (Chapter 8 pgs 71-74)
Isa-Ifa ceremony
Isa-Ifa was a ceremony held for a wife who had been separated from her husband for awhile and had to be re-united. The purpose was to determine if the wife had been unloyal to her husband while they were not together for that time. They would gather of umuada and sit in a big circle on the ground while the bride sat in the center with a hen in her right hand. The bride was then asked questions about her faithfulness to her husband and proceeded to answer them, swearing to the staff of the family. Then the hen’s throat would then be slit by the father and allow the blood to fall on his ancestral staff. The daughters of the family would then immediately return to home. (Chapter 14 pgs 132-133)