Traditional Family Ceremonies
Birth, marriage and burial are considered the three most important family events in most cultures, and Igboland is not an exception to that.It is common to get invited to a traditional marriage (Igbankwu) and certainly worth witnessing one. Marriage in Igboland is not just an affair between the future husband and wife but also involves the parents, the extended family and villages. First the groom asks his potential partner to marry him. Assuming that this is affirmative, the groom will visit the bride’s residence accompanied by his father. The groom’s father will introduce himself and his son and explain the purpose of his visit.
The bride’s father welcomes the guests, invites his daughter to come and asks her if she knows the groom. Her confirmation shows that she agrees with the proposal. Then the bride’s price settlement (Ika-Akalika) starts with the groom accompanied by his father and elders visiting the bride’s compound on another evening.
Traditional Igbo Wedding
Bride with Iko looking for husband |
Another evening is spent for the payment
of the bride’s price at the bride’s compound when the groom’s family
hands over the money and other agreed prerequisites. The money and goods
are counted, while relatives and friends are served drinks and food in
the bride’s compound. After all is settled, the traditional wedding day
is planned. The wedding day is again at the bride’s compound, where the
guests welcome the couple and invite them in front of the families.
First the bride goes around selling boilt eggs to the guests, showing to
both families that she has the capability to open a shop and make
money. Then, the bride’s father fills a wooden cup (Iko) with palm wine
and passes it on to the girl while the groom finds a place between the
guests. It is the custom for her to look for her husband while being
distracted by the invitees. Only after she has found the groom, she
offered the cup to him and he sipped the wine, the couple is married
traditionally. During this ceremony, there is also the nuptial dance
where the couple dances, while guests wish the newly weds prosperity by
throwing money around them or putting bills on their forehead.
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Igbo Church Wedding
Death in Igboland is regarded as the passing away of the person from the world existence to the spirit world. However, only after the second burial rites, it is believed that the person can reach the spirit world, as otherwise, the departed relative would still wander between earth and the spirit world. The honour of the death varies dependent on the background, title, gender, relationship with family and circumstances around the death. The corpse is normally buried at the village in the person’s compound after it has been preceded by the wake keeping. During the funeral ceremonies, relatives and friends of the deceased pay their last respect to the dead and mourn with the bereaved in colourful ceremonies marked with singing and traditional dances. In the olden days, the wake keeping was accompanied by masquerades, traditional music and animal sacrifices. A high-ranking chief or traditional ruler would be buried with two human heads alongside his body and would go along with the release of canon gun shots to notify the general public on the loss. Many more customs surrounded the burial rites, but the church nowadays has overtaken most of these traditions. To go in more details would go beyond the scope of this book, and I would suggest to read the books mentioned before for further research.
Conversation: Where is the Hotel?
♬ Click here to listen to this conversation.| - Biko, olee ebe ülö oriri dï? | Please, where is the hotel? |
| - Ülö oriri dï na ndïda na aka ekpe. | The hotel is down (this road) on the left hand. |
| N’ülö oriri: | In the hotel: |
| - Ehihie öma, | Good-afternoon, |
| i nwere mgbe? | do you have a room? |
| - E-e. | Yes. |
| - Ö dï igwe ntuonyi? | Is it air-conditioned? |
| - Mba, ö dïghï, ihe o nwere bü nkucha oyibo. | No, it is not, it has a fan. |
| - Ï chörö otu akwa ka ö bü abüö? | Do you want one or two beds? |
| - Achörö m abüö. Nwunye m ga-anonyere m. | I want two. My wife is joining me. |
| - Ego ole ka ö bü? | How much is that? |
| - Ö bü otu puku naira na narï naira atö otu abalï. | That is one thousand and three hundred naira per night. |
| - Ö dï oke ölü. | That is expensive. |
| - I nwere ndörö mmiri? | Do you have a swimming-pool? |
| - E-e, i nwere ike igwu mmiri ebe ahu. | Yes, you can swim there. |
| - I nwere ebe ana agba bölü ebea? | Do you have a football field here? |
| - E-e, ï ma ka esi agba bolu öfüma? | Yes, do you know how to play football well? |
| - E-e, ama m. | Yes, I know. |
| - Ka anyï gba bölü echi. | Let us play tomorrow. |
| - I riela nrï ütütü? | Do you have breakfast? |
| - E-e, anyï eriela nrï ütütü. | Yes, we have breakfast. |
| Ügwö abalï ole ka ï ga-akwü? | How many nights are you paying? |
| - M ga-akwü ügwö abalï atö. | I will pay for three nights. |
| - Imela. | Thank you. |
| - Kodi. | Bye. |
Vocabulary
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Grammar: Conjunctions
Words that can connect two words or sentences are called conjunctions. Most of the conjunctions start with an initial consonant:
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| achörö m anü kama ökükü | I want meat instead of chicken |
| i risie nrï mgbe ahü gaba | you eat, then you go |
| eri kwala nrï, tupu na mü agaba | do not eat until I go |
| maka na ihea dï mma, ka m jïrï goro ya | as this is good, I buy it |
| ö dï mma otu osighi wee dï önü | it is good, as it is cheap |
| ïhea mara mma mana ödï önü | this is good, but expensive |
| mü na gï nö ebea | me and you are here |
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