The Igbo
       
        The Igbo people are best known for their segmentary or acephalous way of life. This is because from the ancient times, they had no centralized states. Consequently, they operated a kind of government without kings. (We all know the exceptions)

        The Igbo are grouped into five sub-cultures:
      · The Igbo of the eastern Nigeria
      · The Igbo of the South-eastern Nigeria
      · The Igbo of the North-eastern Nigeria
      · The Western Igbo and
      · The Northern Igbo
     
     Generally, the Igbo are predominantly farmers and traders. Despite some cultural diversity among them, they do share a common basic culture in their language with a cluster of dialects that are mutually intelligible. They also share a common political system based on decentralization of power and delegation of authority exercised by the holders of the staff of authority, the Ofo.

      The origin of the Igbo people is as controversial as that of the Yoruba and the Bini. There are so many versions and it is very difficult to say which is the most acceptable.

· The Middle East Version
       Some believe that the Igbo peoples migrated to their present location from either the North or the Middle-east.
   
· The Igboland Centred Version
       Others believe that the Igbo people had been in their present abode from the beginning. Therefore, Igboland is the original homeland.
     
· The Nri Version
       Professor M.A. Onwuejeogwu (2000) regards the Nri version as the only authentic version of origin in existence in the oral tradition of the Igbo. According to Nri version, the ancestor of the Igbo, Eri, descended from the sky and sailed down the River Anambra. When he arrived at Aguleri, he met some autochthonous group of people who had no living memory oftheir own and settled with them. As their population increased, some groups migrated to other parts of Igboland to establish theirown settlements.


· The Awka or Orlu Version
       Another tradition considered Awka or Orlu towns as the center of origin of the Igbo from where they dispersed to other areas.

· The Idah Version
        Some groups such as the Umunri claim to have migrated to their present location from Idah.


· The Benin Version
        The Onitsha and the Igbo on the other side of the River Niger [Delta Igbo], claim Benin origin.


· The Israeli Version
        One of the most popular versions of the migratory stories of origin of the Igbo people is the one that points to Israel. This assumption is based on the so-called similarities between the cultures of the Igbo and the ancient Hebrew. Some Igbo scholars consider themselves as off-shoots of the lost tribes of the Hebrews who migrated southward.

I tend to believe the Orlu version and maybe inclined to the Nri version even though Nri's influence did not reach Arochukwu.

Why don't you put this sort of thing in the culture section?

Beaf:

Why don't you put this sort of thing in the culture section?

Does it not deal with politics in a way?

The Nri one seems like a rather large stretch, in my opinion. I'm also not sure I really like the Awka-Orlu one that much, either. . . I certainly don't buy the Israeli claim, though, and also, I agree with Beaf. This is best placed in the culture section.

the origin of the yorubas people is not controversial , yorubas are children of oduduwa. we know our fathers name. And Oduduwa father names was lamurudu.

The people you call western igbo are not igbo, their root is benin. They were just influence by igbos during slavery. The igbos use to attack the place and made them slave.

becomrich3:

The people you call western igbo are not igbo, their root is benin. They were just influence by igbos during slavery. The igbos use to attack the place and made them slave.

hmmm. . . .

The igbo have been in the area known as nigeria longer then any ethnic group and ethnologist have proven this

however, my personal theory is that all non delta southern ethnic groups originated from the upper middle belt, then migrated downwards towards the coast either pushed that way by the influx of the hausa or some natural event.


i think prior to this we were located in the sahara (south nigerians) when it was a desert and as desertification came a large ethnic group in that area travelled south following the Benue and Niger rivers, most likely the Benue.

i also believe that prior to desertification the niger and/or benue stretched into the sahara.

anyways this group founded nok, which fell, then founded the yoruba, benin and others of a similar ethnic disposition. (explaining the Eri theory and the 'middle east' theory)

in the case of the igbo, i think this group or a patron entered igbo land and found there were people already there that were probably more like the delta peoples, where as the new settling group was more like the yoruba/benin. I think the cultures mixed in the case of the igbo and that's how we have the igbo we have today.

here's my reasoning.

- igbos have been proven as the oldest ethnic group in nigeria,.the yoruba and benin have art that's almost identical to each other and to that of Nok showing a cultural link and common origin but both groups still share many words and traditions in common with the igbo. i don't think the igbo were one with this common group but i think this common group infiltrated into igbo land and mixed in with the locals. this explains linguistic ties with the yoruba and benin as well as the linguistic difference.


- The sahara as actually one of the most populated parts of the world in its time before desertification. Where did all those people go? If you look at the Benue and Niger they both point to a southern focal point when followed and into the delta. anyone avoiding desertification is going to do 1 thing, follow the water, and i think this is what these people did. If you follow the water it will lead you to nigeria, and more specifically southern nigeria in igbo/benin territory.


- There was never an 'igbo' ethnic group prior to colonialism. The igbo ppl were there but didn't see each other as 1 united people. If you were to ask and igbo in the ancient world if they were igbo they would tell you no, im (INSERT VILLAGE NAME) but those guys are igbo and point to the next closest village. igbo was a term igbos used for others around them but not themselves. Till this day the Ikwerre maintain this mentality.


Higher degrees of fragmentation and diversity are signs of a longer presences in an area. ex. africa has the most ethnic divisions in the world because humans have been there the longest of all continents. The igbo were simply held 'together' loosely by a similar language trade and faith.
The igbo ethnic group was essentially formed by trading patterns and the spread of a common religion and not a common origin. so my theory is true for SOME igbo but not all so were delta natives, some may have came from benin and so forth but the market day culture and spread of ideas turns a people 'igbo'.

best example is Onitsha. Did you know that Onitsha is a Bini city? It's the eastern most outpost of the Bini empire and the central point of trade for benin and the igbo easterners. till this day the cities cultural leader has a bini title.

but what happened? if you trade with igbos, you become igbo, because it's a culture created for trade. The people that speak the igbo language flooded the city, overwhelmed it and its institutions, to conduct trade, became igbo
this is how igbo culture spread.

as the slave trade intensified trade in the area the igbo culture spread even further. SO yeah, the 'igbo' are not a common people. they're a diverse group of nations that developed a means to conduct trade with each other and that system is known now as igbo culture.


as a result
[b]the group from the sahara that met with locals that were already there probably established hundreds of settlements, non igbo ones that spoke their own language and had their own customs more similar to the benin and yoruba, but with time they eventually became igbo [/b]and the locals borrowed ideas from them heavily because igbo culture is one of heavy borrowing from neighbors (again, because it's more of a trade system then most cultures)

the origin of the yorubas people is not controversial , yorubas are children of oduduwa. we know our fathers name. And Oduduwa father names was lamurudu.

The people you call western igbo are not igbo, their root is benin. They were just influence by igbos during slavery. The igbos use to attack the place and made them slave.

he's right. it's like i said with onitsha, it's not an 'igbo' city, but really who is igbo?
like i said the ethnic group is so fragmentary and shows so many signs of multiple sets of origins that i believe people don't start out as igbo, they start as whatever they start as and eventually become igbo due to trade.
the intensification of trade in the area when europeans were met further killed the distinctions between these peoples and further created a common 'igbo' identity.




also, another hint of evidence to my theory is the fact that there is no word for the Igbo language in Igbo.

Igbo is not even and Igbo word, it's most likely a Bini/Yoruba word which meant 'bush'

Igbos inhabit a densely tropical area of nigeria so Igbo probably meant any non Yoruba or Benin in the densely forested east. Meanwhile in the delta Igbo meant slave and to Igbos themselves Igbo came to mean all 'igbos' that aren't from your specific village.


Ibibios, Efiks, Igalas, Waffi, Ijaw and other easterners developed a system of dealing with each other and this is what we know as igbo culture today, a culture soup for the purpose of trade not unity.

another thing i want to bring to attention is somethings about igbo people we are constantly laughing about but are no joke in explain igbo culture.



Igbo people are constant borrowers. An igbo has no problem wearing the clothes of other groups, speaking the language of other groups, and traveling/living in, the lands of other groups. this is infact a celebrated thing to do in igbo land.

if you look at the modern igbo language speaker and ask him to speak a paragraph in igbo, it's highly likely that an astonishing amount of his sentences will only be partially igbo where as the other portion igboized english or 'englibo'


I always laugh at a part in one of my Sunny Bobo cds where he says "Emma Duru, Yem the Egwu da" (emma duru, give me the music jor)
because it's englibo at it's highest. The words are igbo but the structure is english.

This is the nature of igbo culture, it's constantly changing, it's almost like a culture soup. We wear yoruba/hausa clothes, turn english words into our own, and so forth.

[b]
the 'constants' of igbo culture are Odidani (the religion), Kola nut, and Market day[/b]s. Everything else varies with region and changes with contact with outsiders and time.


that, i think, supports my multiple origin theory because we are highly adaptive people and igbo culture seems to be an adaptation mechanism to trade in fragmentary ethnic diversity.

What about the oru origin?there are several sayings that indicate that igbo had people who migrated from south but already spoke igbo language.ayi wu oru ma ayi a wudi igbo(we are oru and never igbo),oru na igbo wu nwanne(oru and igbo are siblings),ihe di n'oru di n'igbo(what obtains in oru also obtains in igbo).these indicate that oru and igbo have everything in common.who are the orus?many of the people you find today in southern orlu district,parts of river niger area around aboh and ukwuani up to some ijaw settlements in parts of delta and rivers state,ahoada district were once known as oru.oru was neither ijaw nor igbo but have been assimilated into the two ethnic groups.the oru might actually have settled in nigeria before igbos,bini,ijaw and yoruba.

becomrich3:

the origin of the yorubas people is not controversial , yorubas are children of oduduwa. we know our fathers name. And Oduduwa father names was lamurudu.

The people you call western igbo are not igbo, their root is benin. They were just influence by igbos during slavery. The igbos use to attack the place and made them slave.

Ur wrong, igbos never enslaved them and u know that.how would the conqueror be influenced by the conquered? Use your brain how many times must i debate you on this.If what you said was true the western Igbos be speaking the same kind of Igbo that igbos speak in Nnewi or somewhere like that.

And as for your Oduduwa. The yorubas were there before oduduwa came so check your history.u are not children from oduduwa.He was in exile from Benin Kingdom.Get ur facts straight and learn about your own history before you job into thinking u know igbo history!

the oru would be another one of these cluster groups that were eventually labelled 'igbo'.

they are no different for any of the other igbos. the way they seperate themselves from the other igbos is the exact same way that once upon a time all villages seperated themselves from all igbos.

igbo in essence meant 'others' and in direct reference to the 'others' that spoke the common language now known as igbo.

ikwerre still see themselves as seperate from igbos.
during the slave trade one thing the traders noticed is igbos would actually get offended being called igbo and would say im not igbo im oru or awo or ikeduru. then they would reference another igbo tribe as 'igbo', never themselves though until the modern era.

Moved to culture

The original homeland of the Igbo is probably around the whole area that stretches from Nsukka to Okigwe and then Afikpo.

People should ignore obviously mad people calling the warriors of Agbor and the rest slaves of the Igbo, when they don't even agree they were part of the Benin Kingdom.

Ikengawo:

in the case of the igbo, i think this group or a patron entered igbo land and found there were people already there that were probably more like the delta peoples, where as the new settling group was more like the yoruba/benin. I think the cultures mixed in the case of the igbo and that's how we have the igbo we have today.

A lot of what you said makes sense, but I think the Delta people's came out of the Igbo, like the Ijaw, or maybe they are a mix of Benin, etc peoples. I say this because they have an 'Oru' origin theory as well. Or maybe both the Igbo and the rest come from people called 'Oru'.

Ikengawo:

- igbos have been proven as the oldest ethnic group in nigeria,.the yoruba and benin have art that's almost identical to each other and to that of Nok showing a cultural link and common origin but both groups still share many words and traditions in common with the igbo. i don't think the igbo were one with this common group but i think this common group infiltrated into igbo land and mixed in with the locals. this explains linguistic ties with the yoruba and benin as well as the linguistic difference.

I think that the Igbo, or whoever were their ancestors, originally stretched further into what is now Yoruba lands, these people may have come and mixed with them a little until maybe a conflict. The 'Moremi' story gives hints to this.

Ikengawo:

- There was never an 'igbo' ethnic group prior to colonialism. The igbo ppl were there but didn't see each other as 1 united people. If you were to ask and igbo in the ancient world if they were igbo they would tell you no, im (INSERT VILLAGE NAME) but those guys are igbo and point to the next closest village. igbo was a term igbos used for others around them but not themselves. Till this day the Ikwerre maintain this mentality.

Some of the oldest Igbo artefacts were found in a town called Igbo-Ukwu. There is an Akwukwu Igbo on the western side of the Niger along with Igbuzor. There's an Oyigbo near Port Harcourt, which, for some reason some people are calling 'Obigbo' and these are just some of the popular towns with the name 'Igbo'. The interesting thing about Akwukwu Igbo is that it means, or at least sounds like it means, 'At the side of Igbo' or 'Beside Igbo', that's in the Igbo language and Igbuzor has been described as 'Igbo bi na uzor' which means 'the Igbo living on the road,' or some say it means 'I bu uzor?' a question about who were the original inhabitants of Igbuzor, known as 'Ibusa', a name which means nothing. All this tells me that there were people identifying with 'Igbo' before even the 1600s, and that the Igbo west of the Niger not only identified as Igbo, but saw themselves as pioneers, e.g Akwukwu Igbo is the equivalent of calling somewhere 'Londinium'.

Ikengawo:

The igbo ethnic group was essentially formed by trading patterns and the spread of a common religion and not a common origin. so my theory is true for SOME igbo but not all so were delta natives, some may have came from benin and so forth but the market day culture and spread of ideas turns a people 'igbo'.

None of them came from Benin as a whole, no one even in Agbor will tell you the whole town came from Benin. There are a lot of families, though, that came from Benin, but the majority are Igbo. I don't believe that the Igbo were created by trade, if so, Igbo land would have quickly absorbed the Kalabari, Ijaw and maybe even some people that are in Benue State. They may have mixed from different arrivals, but I think they expanded from Nsukka-Okigwe-Afikpo.

Ikengawo:

but what happened? if you trade with igbos, you become igbo, because it's a culture created for trade. The people that speak the igbo language flooded the city, overwhelmed it and its institutions, to conduct trade, became igbo
this is how igbo culture spread.

The Obi of Onicha dresses like the Eze Nri. The people of Onicha, if originally Bini, would have a half Bini half Igbo dialect like that of Agbor.

Ikengawo:

as the slave trade intensified trade in the area the igbo culture spread even further. SO yeah, the 'igbo' are not a common people. they're a diverse group of nations that developed a means to conduct trade with each other and that system is known now as igbo culture.

The Igbo expanded like many nations did, and with the expansion diversity was created. There are few Igbo towns that do not have origins that point them towards another Igbo town, the Ikwerre included.

I don't think that Oyigbo/Obigbo counts toward this topic, unless that name is indeed pre-colonial (which I highly doubt).

@Ezeagu: what an interesting post from you. However, the Ikwerre history is linked to Igbo communities of Arochukwu and Ngwa. Though 5% link their ancestry to Ijoo and another 5% to Bini. Elechi Amadi is one of the proponents of Bini ancestry.
There is also a community in Ikwerreland called RumuIgbo.

I think it is more likely that the Igbo migrated along the Niger river but not from the Sahara like Hausas. The Igbo and Yoruba are from a language family known as Niger-Congo. This family stretches from Ivory Coast to the Congo and all members of this family eat fufu. The Hausas are a mix of Saharan berbers and Arab herders who lived in the fertile Sahara. The Hausas are part of the Afro Asiatic language family which stretches from Niger to modern day Iraq.

I wonder why people will make this kind of statement. Ignorance is a disease.

Ikengawo:

- There was never an 'igbo' ethnic group prior to colonialism. The igbo ppl were there but didn't see each other as 1 united people. If you were to ask and igbo in the ancient world if they were igbo they would tell you no, im (INSERT VILLAGE NAME) but those guys are igbo and point to the next closest village. igbo was a term igbos used for others around them but not themselves. Till this day the Ikwerre maintain this mentality.

Here is an excerpt from "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African"

This kingdom is divided into many provinces or districts: in one of the most remote and fertile of which, called Eboe, I was born, in the year 1745

Obiagu1, Olaudah's legitimacy is in question. Aside from that though, what Ikengawo is speaking of is the contemporary idea of "Igbo" ethnic group that we have now. So, he's very much correct in making that statement.

ChinenyeN:

Obiagu1, Olaudah's legitimacy is in question. Aside from that though, what Ikengawo is speaking of is the contemporary idea of "Igbo" ethnic group that we have now. So, he's very much correct in making that statement.

and you that was born in 1630 know that Igbos were not called Igbos then, right?
and you forced it on the Europeans to call Igboland "Eboe country", right?
and you discredit some of the written accounts of Igbos in the Americas, right?

I have some drugs for you if you care to recover from your sickness 

I won't even waste my time with you, Obiagu1. It is common and correct knowledge that we were not "Igbo" until colonization, and that is what Ikengawo is speaking of. If you have a problem with that, then take it up with your ancestors.

The kingdom you are speaking of might be the Arochukwu kingdom wich was at its climax from 1610?-1902. They fell in 1602 after their war with the british but they are still there now not just the regional superpower they were before.And the Europenas never really reached the deep end of Igbo land before the 1800s only the Portuguese visited Lagos in the 1500s.

ChinenyeN:

Obiagu1, Olaudah's legitimacy is in question. Aside from that though, what Ikengawo is speaking of is the contemporary idea of "Igbo" ethnic group that we have now. So, he's very much correct in making that statement.

Olaudah Equiano lived, but whether he was from Africa is in question. If any Igbo person reads the book they'll know that there is no question that the man came from Africa.

ChinenyeN:

I won't even waste my time with you, Obiagu1. It is common and correct knowledge that we were not "Igbo" until colonization, and that is what Ikengawo is speaking of. If you have a problem with that, then take it up with your ancestors.

There were Igbo organisations in Sierra Leone as far back as the 1850's, I can't believe that Igbo as an identity sprang out of nowhere and was imposed on whoever identifies as Igbo now.

ezeagu:

There were Igbo organisations in Sierra Leone as far back as the 1850's, I can't believe that Igbo as an identity sprang out of nowhere and was imposed on whoever identifies as Igbo now.

No one is saying anything about imposition, and of course, I agree, that ethnonym couldn't have just sprung out of nowhere, BUT, that's not the point I'm making. Instead, what I'm saying is that, in the very 'Igbo' heartland itself, the people there did not really share a consciousness. That's all I'm saying.

Also, I'm not that surprised to hear about Igbo organisations in the 1850's, especially considering that most of the 'Igbo' taken as slaves came from the north (Aro incursions and raids are said to have easily taken place in northern Igboland, as opposed to the south), and that's where one would find a more shared 'Igbo' consciousness, as compared to non-northern parts of Igboland.

ChinenyeN:

Instead, what I'm saying is that, in the very 'Igbo' heartland itself, the people there did not really share a consciousness. That's all I'm saying.

I agree, but I don't agree that they did not acknowledge a secondary identity known as Igbo, especially when in contact with outside groups.

ezeagu:

I agree, but I don't agree that they did not acknowledge a secondary identity known as Igbo, especially when in contact with outside groups.

I agree with this, but not necessarily with the way you put it. I agree with them acknowledging similarities (and in some instances, kinship), but not necessarily in the sense of a 'secondary identity known as Igbo'. All in all though, I am in agreement. Don't worry.

EzeUche22 (m) na wao, So na so u sabi pirate pples idea? keep it up ok,

and you that was born in 1630 know that Igbos were not called Igbos then, right?
and you forced it on the Europeans to call Igboland "Eboe country", right?
and you discredit some of the written accounts of Igbos in the Americas, right?

I have some drugs for you if you care to recover from your sickness

its like with native americans
a lot of tribes 'names' are not what they call themselves, it's what their NEIGHBORS who INTRODUCED them to whites called them and often insulting.

It's like if some aliens landed in nigeria and asked us what those 'dark skinned people in the United States' are and we answer Akata.


then the new name, according to the aliens, for black americans is Akata even though Akata don't call themselves Akata.

Igbo is not an Igbo word. If it is then what does it mean?

Are Igbos and the Kom people of Cameroon related?

Just wondering because I can see similar features not to mention the location (northern cameroon).

check out this video to see what I am saying. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXmT4RQuRA&feature=related

also my boyfriend is from the Bamoun tribe in cameroon and he is always mistaken for Igbo. i too wonder if
his ethnic group is related to the Igbos.

The group I've seen that look most alike with the Igbo is Tikar. I think they are all related because of the 'Bantu' migration from the same region.

Tikar?
wow.
ok i can see how that would be possible too. 

(below) an AA woman who after using the African Ancestry dna kit, found out her ancestry is with the Tikar tribe.
if i could guess i would have thought she was of Igbo descent.


http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/168409_303165484943_16832619943_1179694_8095215_a.jpg