I am Nigerian-American and I am on a journey to find my roots. My father is Nigerian and my mother is African American.  I was born and raised in America without having a clear understanding of my culture and heritage. I have always wanted to know about my heritage, but never had an opportunity to do so. The one person who could tell me anything about myself has passed on.  I have been on long journey to find out who I am outside of a western context.  My journey will take me to Nigeria to visit my father's family for the first time in my life next year.  In the meantime, I wanted to find out as much as I could about Nigeria, more specifically the Ibibio, and some of the customs and traditional religious beliefs.  If there is anyone out there who could help me out, I would love to hear from you.

Very good move.  Good luck!

I would suggest you edit the title in the opening post, to add "(Ibibio)."

That way it will immediately attract those who can tell you about that culture.  Since you already know your father's tribe/ethnic group, I think being more speific would help a lot to get pertinent questions answered right away.

@isale_gan2 - thanks for the suggestion. :-)

Sure, bro.  Not sure it worked though.  Sorry.  Maybe too limiting.  Hang in there.

hmm.  Where are the NL Igbos/Ibibio to help a brother out nau? Where is that Ezeuche that's always running around here flexing his Ibibio/Aro chest? (You might not want his advice though.  He's probably more American than you are.) lol.

You'll get some feedback soon.

Feliz Navidad!

[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRuxIvnAwde9OVIuxE-U_UwRdllE1OBpODTYuhBwegKxrbwh6gqoA[/img]

star1284:

 I have been on long journey to find out who I am outside of a western context. 

when did your journey start and what inspired you to it? what do you hope to accomplish/gain from it?

you can start @ your local library and also try to meet more nigerians in your locality.
also recommend reading Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father. He describes his own journey and the outcome of his quest is very interesting.

wish u d best on your trip!

@Isiale
Lol. When it comes to being Igbo, I'm as close to Ibibio as you can get.

@OP
The Ibibios are a great and culturally-rich people. They are also talented mask carvers and are famous for their masquerades. I'll let the Ibibios of Nairaland give you a detailed analysis of Ibibio culture.

i think this thread will help u understand a bit but the language they speak is ibibio
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-69425.0.html

when do u plan on comin, pls be careful wit ibibio ppl oh, dont want to be a pessimist but that side of 9ja is known for producing extremely jealous people so just be careful

and here is another thread showing a nice holiday resort to visit in nigeria
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-816993.64.html
its called obudu cattle ranch

try and visit www.skyscrapercity.com and go to the africa/nigeria,urban nigeria, akwa ibom pics, that will give u an idea of what that area looks like