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Interesting Description Of The Penal System(slavery) In Igbo-land by RandomAfricanAm: 2:54pm On Nov 06, 2014 |
Slavery. — Although the distinction between house slaves and ordinary slaves was hardly known, the status and prospects of slaves varied considerably in various parts of the Awka district. In addition to the ordinary slaves, sacred slaves were also known, who were given to an alose and lived upon charity ; unless a female slave were also given they were forbidden to marry. Broadly speaking, we may distinguish three types of slavery. In the first the con- dition is perpetual, unless the master chooses to change it. In the second, children regain their free status after a certain number of generations. Intermediate between these stages may be classed that in which a slave is at liberty to purchase his own redemption. The third, a very special class of slaves, were those known as nwalo. They were people, male or female, sent to Aguku to the ifzQuri because they had broken an ns^ ani. Once a slave, always a slave, was the rule here, and if a man was sent to the king, his wife and property went to the king also. The king could break down his house, and if an Nri man was not sent to perform a sacrifice, the family of the man would touch none of his property, even with the king's consent. The only information that I received was that they were not allowed to take part in any sacrifices to mw^ or alose; such ceremonies as they did perform had to be their hereditary ones, and not those of the family with which they were associated. On the whole, the lot of slaves appears to have been by no 104 means a bad one, and there are many people now who are still technically slaves, though lliey do no work for their old masters, for after he has attained a certain age a slave was exempt from work and rendered only tribute to his master. His master supplied him with a wife and land, for work on which he had one and sometimes two days in the week. Slaves were acquired sometimes by purchase, sometimes in war, sometimes, apparently, by a debtor voluntarily giving himself up in order to rid himself of his debts and get a fresh start. Native opinion seems to be divided as to the merits of slavery, for it is held, not without justice, that a man over- burdened with debt, if he can, should sell himself for the benefit of his creditors and free himself from his load. It is, in fact, a kind of voluntary petition in bankruptcy. As regards the status of the children of a slave, I was told at Awka that they were treated like children of the house, but I was also informed that they did not buy slaves, hence, if both pieces of information are correct, it is clear that slavery proper did not exist. In Agolo the distinction between slaves and bought slaves did not exist. The third generation was free, and this even if the second generation had been sold, although it would, of course, be difficult for such children to prove their rights. At Adaji the children of slaves were free, and this was also the case in Umueuku. At Nise the children of slaves were slaves, and the only way of freeing them was to perform a ceremony on their father. If the master wished to marry the child of a slave he would take a fowl and cook for the ancestors, then he would call the girl, put chalk and water in a pot and wash her face. By treating the man in a similar way his children became free. At UgwQba I got a somewhat vague account of the status of the children of slaves which I was unable to verify. I was told that if a slave married the daughter of another slave, the children were divided between the father and 105 the father-in-law, with the exception of the eldest son, who appears to belong to the master. At Mbwaku the children of slaves were slaves, but if the master had few children of his own, he might take a goat and sacrifice to the ancestors and declare them free. At Agolo a slave could redeem himself. A slave legally sold lost civil rights in his own land, he could not go back and claim his wife and children ; such a slave would, therefore, usually remain the client of his former master. War slaves, on the other hand, might get leave to go home, and if they were redeemed their civil rights were recovered. If the wife had been given to another husband, the price would be repaid, all children would belong to the original husband. At Adaji, on the other hand, no class of slave appeared to lose civil rights, and if he redeemed himself might claim his property and his wife. At Nimo when a man was sold, his wife and property went to his brother. If she had sons, she was free to go away when they grew up ; otherwise, she passed to his brother as his wife. She might not follow her original husband, though he could take her with him when he went originally. With regard to the work done by the slave for his master there were two rules in the Awka district. In Agolo, Adaji, Nri, UgwQba, and Mbwaku he contributed two days* labour, and in Nise and N(}fia three days' labour in a four-day week. It was, however, possible for him to pay a contribution in lieu of all, or part, of this work. At Qbu no contribution was payable if the slave worked for the master. At N^fia, if he had many yams to plant, he would get two extra days from his master, in order to allow him to plant them. When he grew to be a rich man, however, he did no more work for his master, but sent him good yams. At UgwQba, where only two days a week were exacted, a hunter would give the legs and chest of any game that he 106 killed to his master. If he sacrificed a goat in any of his own private ceremonies, the chest and two legs would also go to his master. When a slave dug his yams, the master chose one stick of big yams and one of small yams. At Nise slaves were inherited by the eldest son, but the property of a dead slave, although in theory belonging to the master, was treated as the inheritance of the eldest son of the slave. The same rule prevailed at Ugwc^ba. As regards the ownership of slaves. At Agolo a somewhat different rule prevailed to what was found elsewhere. When slaves were bought they were given to one or other wife of the husband, and passed on the death of the mother to her own children by that marriage. In addition to his mother's share, the eldest son inherited also those slaves who were retained by the father. At Adaji, on the other hand, in the immediate neighbour- hood, the slaves were shared out by the children at the conclusion of the burial ceremonies, to pay the expenses of which some might be sold. Adult slaves were never given to wives, though child slaves might be, and the rule of inheritance in this latter case was the same as that at Agolo. At Nise, on the other hand, a few miles in the other direction, all the slaves were inherited by the eldest son. At Adaji there is a feeling against selling slaves unless it were absolutely necessary. This was comparatively common, especially where the relationship of clientship, and more especially that of sonship, was set up between master and slave. At Nqfia, for example, where the children of slaves became free, slaves themselves could not be sold. In the places where a sale was permitted, it appears to have been forbidden to separate husband and wife. At Agolo, slaves in the same family were allowed to marry. Their children or grandchildren, however, might not marry, for they belonged to the master's family ; nor, on the other hand, could they marry in their own original family. 107 At Ugwgba, if a slave had an adult daughter, another slave of the same master might bring a goat, a fowl, and palm wine and offer sacrifice in her father's house. He could then take her as his wife at a price of £5. This the father was permitted to keep if he informed his master, otherwise he was liable to be sold. If a master took a female slave as his wife, a ceremony of some sort was necessary to change her status. At Aguku a master bought a she goat and a hen and called the qzo members together, telling them that the goat and the fowl were to shave the head of the slave ; kola was offered to the ndicie and then the goat and the fowl. After that no one was permitted to call her a slave. At Nise the master took a fowl and cooked it for the ancestors. He was permitted to marry the daughter of a slave, and to free her he put chalk and water in a pot and washed her face. At Acala the rules with regard to marrying slave wives were somewhat peculiar. An Acala man could not marry an Acala female slave. When he bought the female slave there was no way of freeing her. At the death of her husband the widow did not lose her slave status, and, apparently, could not get another husband. At Mbwaku a master could set his wife free in the same way as at Nise. As regards responsibility for the acts of a slave, the master was not held responsible at Agolo. On the other hand, a slave who stole could be sold or killed and no compensation could be claimed by the master. If a free man killed a slave it was not treated as murder, but he was compelled to pay the value ; if one slave killed another he was sold ; if the master killed a slave he was regarded as within his rights. If a slave stole from his master he could not be sold at N^fia, but the master would quarrel with him and threaten to kill him and commit suicide ; no food would be supplied to the slave. Such a slave would probably go to work for some other master, but, in that case, he would apparently pay no contribution to his master. 108 At Ngfia if a slave caught a thief he was permitted to sell him and keep the money, paying the contrihution of one she- goat to his master. At Aeala, on the other hand, it appears that a slave could own no property whatever, anything that he owned was his master's. |
Re: Interesting Description Of The Penal System(slavery) In Igbo-land by RandomAfricanAm: 3:24pm On Nov 06, 2014 |
The more I read about the everyday lives of so called "African slaves" the more I feel like it was simply a communal jailing system for societies who don't have formal jails or European style dungeons. [img]http://www.burgenstrasse.de/upmedia/Nuernberg_Lochgefaengnis_800.jpg[/img] which are the precursor to todays prisons... [img]http://vialogue.files./2008/06/jailcell2.jpg[/img] Personaly my main issue with the African penal system was the perpetual nature of some of them. If it was like... 1. five weeks/months/years and your free to go 2. Can't be moved from one society to another 3. overpopulation controls(never more then x% of the population) I think that would be a better system to start from then a prison cell where you separate families, lose jobs, etc It would be like house/community arrest where you do community service for some set of time for your crime. |
Re: Interesting Description Of The Penal System(slavery) In Igbo-land by ezeagu(m): 11:49pm On Nov 06, 2014 |
Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano) clarified this himself, and this was someone who was sold into chattel slavery. Slavery was a way of getting rid of people without punishment of death. Criminals were often given a choice between being a ritual slave (in places ritual slavery was recognised) being put to death, or outcast (which probably turned to selling people off to traders/raiders in the European era). It's important to note that the majority of Igbo people didn't end up on the other side of the ocean due to these systems, rather they were captured in raids, so the majority of Igbo people were enslaved not because they were criminals, but because they were captured. 2 Likes |
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