This is a freaking statement a supposed "African history teacher" said to the students. I take an African history class in my school. There are more white people in my school than black. So in my class there are alot of white kids, few AA's and alot of African student. We're talking about the origin of African tribes like a week ago and my "supposed educated" teacher claimed the Igbo tribe of Nigeria were from some Sudanese tribe and Igala of Nigeria. According to him, we left these people and created our tribe and then somehow, someway he mixed up with Isreal people. How the Bleep did we mix up with Isrealian? How many of us, have actually stepped foot in that country. When i asked him where is his prove seeing that his incorrect. He gave me book written by Europeans and a freaking article written by some Isreal man. Not one of his prove is from a Nigerian, an Igbo or even an African. Seriously why do white folks give out the wrong information and try to act like their statement is the truth. Today's, he was teaching was about African features (i thought it was stupid seeing that many people in Africa have different, not one single tribe in Africa have one feature). He used old pictures of slaves that claimed they from some specific tribe. When he came to Ethiopia, he used a picture of some Ethiopian tribe to explain how they supposedly mixed up with Indians. My friend from Ethiopia told him that they mixed up with Arabs, not Indians and one girl infront us from that Ethiopia got up and screamed at my friend and the teacher. She said "we didn't mix up with indians, neither did we mix up with Arabs you slowpoke. We East Africans, we have east africans features or better yet Horn of Africans features" and then she just walked off. I was weak as hell. To me East Africans do not look mixed except (Ethiopians, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalian). The rest look like black people. Hell even the Horn of African's i've met, look ordinary to me, nothing about them stands out. Anyway, when he came to Nigeria, he used picture of some freaking slave lady (Who looks nothing like igbo people) and Olaudah Equiano (Who i still doubt is Igbo, his freaking name doesn't even look Igbo). Anyway, he used celebrities to prove that recent Igbo people do not look like our ancestors. What the hell, Are we suppose to look like our ancestors from 400 years ago? Are we suppose to have the same features. He used oluchi, Chinua achebe and phillip Eweagwali to claim how some igbos still resemble our ancestors but not completely. Then he used genevive Nnaji (a freaking movie star), Ndidi, Ikenna (a freaking model) and some extremely lightskin i don't know to claim how some don't resemble our ancestors anymore. He even used begin lightskin in his freaking stupid claim and he had the audacity to argue with me (ME an Igbo girl from Nigeria, raised and born in Nigeria). When i told him, mixing up with other tribes in Nigeria can be a factor for us "supposedly" not looking like our ancestors. He claimed that if i read the book he recommended to me, then i would have known mixing up with tribes can change features but not completely. So according to him and the freaking book he recommended "If i bring my father next to a 100% igbo man, my father is suppose to look alot like him, even though he has another tribe in him. If i bring Desmond Elliot, Omotola Jalade,Yomi or my close friend, they are suppose to look like 100% Igbos or 100% yoruba or 100% hausa, even though they have other tribes in their blood. So a black and white mix changes features but tribe and tribe mix doesn't? What the hell is that.
When i told him, his statement are false, this stupid white girl told me "It's not all that serious" and a freaking Ugandian boy (that i bet you have never steeped foot in Nigeria) claimed the teacher is right. Abi ooh, his not even Nigerian. I was the only Nigerian girl there and i wished there were more Nigerian students there so we can prove his incorrect.
I actually thought the Ghanaian in my class can stand with me but the girl said "didn't Igbos claim they are descendant of Jews, maybe I should listen".
It pissed me off. I thought the guy is cool as hell, i mean he still is. The guy watch African movies from every region in Africa and some days we watch African movies in his class, so i thought he was cool. I didn't know he was biased.
I'm actually starting to doubt the claim that Hausa and Fulani are from Sudan. Abi, seeing the statement they gave about us.
I actually went the the 2nd african history teacher in our school (We only have 4 African history teacher and all of them are white). Anyway i went to her and asked her where are Igbos from? Again she gave a biased answer, she claimed that Igbos are mixture of tribes (hence the reason our ancestry can't be traced). She also said some have Jewish ancestry.
I hate when people give the wrong information about people, i seriously hate that.

u coulda done better by getting a more appropriate and less deceptive title for ur thread.

igbos are egalitarian. they came from many places. . . mainly from east africa. they came to a geographical location . . in present day eastern nigeria. . . and formed a culture and a language. we came from different places. that is why, amongst the igbos u find various sub-races . . . .the bantu (most common) and the sudan-like groups. . . tall dark, also we have light skinned (like fulanis) etc . . . . .

also in our history we have independent villages each with their leader(not a king) and the eze-in-council (the ndi-ichies and the ozos (kind of like parliament) etc this looks like the present day US where people came from different places to form a culture and have a way of life with no king but a king-like president and legislature


note: nobody truely knows the details of igbo ancestry

Igbos are Bantu's mixed with Oru people of Sudan/Egypt, mixed with Igala.

note: nobody truely knows the details of igbo ancestry

May be they were aborigenes.

@ibime.oru is igbo.thats my tribe and its not lost like some people believe.we say oru and igbo are brothers.igbo has high benin and igala blood.in my area,a lot of people claim to have originated from benin.i believe we actually have minute jewish blood too.

@Ifygurl
I am sorry but your teacher may be very correct. The fact that you and I are Igbo does not mean that we know where we originated. I have heard your teachers theory before and it is not just speculations but a theory born out of exhaustive investigation.
The fact that it was written by a white man should not be a problem. Lets face the Truth, we are not into investigating the origin of peoples as much white people. The white people are more intrested in archielogy and genealogy than we black people.
Also it is a very weak argument on your part to suggest that Igbos do not have Israeli blood in them because they have never been to Israel. It is a well known and documented fact that the Jews were in Egypt during the Egyptian empire. It is possible that some of them travelled as far down as to the rigion of Africa called Nigeria. Egyptians enslaved people from all over the world, it is possible that they even enslaved some Nigerian tribes. Even the roman empire which was in Europe, travelled as far south as to Nigeria. This is documented, they mistakenly called the Niger and extension of the Nile. Don't be supprised that a European tribe(White) may have Igbo, Hausa, or Yoruba blood in them. Recent DNA testing has shown that all tribes of the world(America, Europe, Australia, and etc) is related to an African tribe. This is why scientists say that all humans are biologically Africans.

She is also very correct in terms of mixture from black tribes. Actually there is no significant difference in the features of Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba. We only perceive differences due to cultural orientation. You can tell a Yoruba, by the way he talks, acts, and etc. But culture apart, there is no significant difference. If you raise an Hausa child in the Igbo environment, he will grow up to be Igbo. I know a guy who is very Igbo, People used to call him "igbotic", he loved everything Igbo and he is an epitome of Igbo. But the secret that nobody knows is that this boy's biological father was Hausa. Not even this boy who detests Hausas know. I was told by my grandmother who was very close to the boys mother.

I think you should apologize to your teacher. Take that book and read it. You will learn a lot from it. When you understand DNA and genealogy, you will see how stupid(I don't mean you) it is to be racist or tribalistic,because everybody on earth is related some how. We are all Africans.

er, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Djiboutians and Somalians are the whole of east Africa. Are you really opposing this theory of your teachers, or are you looking for approval?,  hmmmm  , anyway, can you give me the name of the book your teacher recommended you please.

How do you know his claims are not true, because he isn't Igbo? BTW Olaudah Equiano was stolen from his hometown when he was eleven, he probably mispronounced his name plus he stated a whole lot about the Igb culture (and very positively too for him not to be anything other than Igbo). You've got to understand that just because your Igbo it doesn't mean anyone else can't no more than you about Igbo issues.

Peace, oh, nwannem!

is it the sudanese in your history you dont like , the Igalas or the jews?


Seems like you dont like the sudan and Igala bit, what if he said you were mixed with the crafty Chinese and Jews

I hate when people give the wrong information about people, i seriously hate that.

whats the correct information anyway, I've heard the Jew story so many times

Dis Guy:

is it the sudanese in your history you dont like , the Igalas or the jews?


Seems like you dont like the sudan and Igala bit, what if he said you were mixed with the crafty Chinese and Jews

whats the correct information anyway, I've heard the Jew story so many times

Haahahahha , but seriously, Sudanese people are beautiful.

.

Other Sudanese tend to look like Nigerians both facially and structurally.

tufiakwa, we look much more better than the luol deng or manute bol's of the world  .

East Africa has a very heavy Arab presence, which tends to be ignored due to the effects of European colonization and the Congo crisis. Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, etc are all located around the Congo.

congo is actually a central african country but you are right about the Muslim presence in places like Uganda and Somalia.

There's Arab presence in ancient west African kingdoms ( tuaregs, Berbers, other Araboid peoples,etc)

doesn't this relate more to Northern Nigerians than Igbo's?

seeklove:

@Ifygurl
I am sorry but your teacher may be very correct. The fact that you and I are Igbo does not mean that we know where we originated. I have heard your teachers theory before and it is not just speculations but a theory born out of exhaustive investigation.
The fact that it was written by a white man should not be a problem. Lets face the Truth, we are not into investigating the origin of peoples as much white people. The white people are more intrested in archielogy and genealogy than we black people.
Also it is a very weak argument on your part to suggest that Igbos do not have Israeli blood in them because they have never been to Israel. It is a well known and documented fact that the Jews were in Egypt during the Egyptian empire. It is possible that some of them travelled as far down as to the rigion of Africa called Nigeria. Egyptians enslaved people from all over the world, it is possible that they even enslaved some Nigerian tribes. Even the roman empire which was in Europe, travelled as far south as to Nigeria. This is documented, they mistakenly called the Niger and extension of the Nile. Don't be supprised that a European tribe(White) may have Igbo, Hausa, or Yoruba blood in them. Recent DNA testing has shown that all tribes of the world(America, Europe, Australia, and etc) is related to an African tribe. This is why scientists say that all humans are biologically Africans.

She is also very correct in terms of mixture from black tribes. Actually there is no significant difference in the features of Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba. We only perceive differences due to cultural orientation. You can tell a Yoruba, by the way he talks, acts, and etc. But culture apart, there is no significant difference. If you raise an Hausa child in the Igbo environment, he will grow up to be Igbo. I know a guy who is very Igbo, People used to call him "igbotic", he loved everything Igbo and he is an epitome of Igbo. But the secret that nobody knows is that this boy's biological father was Hausa. Not even this boy who detests Hausas know. I was told by my grandmother who was very close to the boys mother.

I think you should apologize to your teacher. Take that book and read it. You will learn a lot from it. When you understand DNA and genealogy, you will see how stupid(I don't mean you) it is to be racist or tribalistic,because everybody on earth is related some how. We are all Africans.

Okay 1.)  There wasn't any DNA structure given during that lecture.  So far I’m reading the first book he recommended.  According to him, His supposed prove is based on culture similarities, The Sudanese word "gboo" and the Igala "Onigbo or something like that".  That's there so called proof.  I wasn't provided a freaking DNA.  That's the reason why I never believed.  The Igala part maybe true but the others I doubt.  I never believed the Jewish ancestry so many people are claiming we have.  Again, during the lecture, No DNA similarities were provided.  Culture and language similarities was provided, DNA wasn't.
The only way I’ll believe that statement is if DNA similarities were provided. I didn't trust them because they didn't provide a DNA proof, not because they are white (so don't accuse stuff). Moreover, I don't trust anything about African history written by European, so far many Afrocentric books have destroyed what I used to think was true. I don't trust history book written by people that aren't from that region of the world. Simple as that.  Like Fela once said "Teacher don't teach me nonsense".  Would you believe a Chinese philosopher about European history or would you believe a European philosopher about European history? That's my question to you.  Weren't this the same philosophers that claimed African ancestors didn't do anything but just sat their black asses down and watch as generations passed?  Weren't they the ones who claimed one tribe is better than the other tribe causing a lot of wars in Africa?  Deceiving people to believe they are different from other tribes in their country is one of the problems in Africa.  Ever wondered why the Tutsis and Hutsis got into a war.  Using culture and language similarities is their supposed prove.  For all ya'll saying they right, they are right.  NO DNA SIMILARITIES WAS PROVIDED.  It's like saying the Yoruba, Igbo and every freaking country/ethnic groups are related just because their culture have some similarities.  I can actually state Igbo’s mixed up with Europeans and started providing some stupid culture similarities like "oh they had a king and we had a king.  They used a democratic-republic type of government and so did we". If I gave you that statement without providing any DNA fact would any of ya'll believe that true.  According to book, they claimed we have linguistic ties with Yoruba, Ewe, Bini, Igwala and Idoma.  How come only igwala were used as our ancestors?  How come Yoruba, Bini, Iduoma or Ewe tribe of Ghana weren't used?  So far, my teacher's lecture and the first book I read, talked about culture similarities and language similarities.  Using that argument shouldn't that mean we also descended from Yoruba, Bini, Iduoma or Ewe tribe of Ghana.  I believed the Igala part but the Sudanese and Jewish part I don't believe at, all until someone provides a DNA prove. 
Oh and before you assume something, Ask first.
Like I told you before, NO DNA PROVE WAS PROVIDED so I’m suppose to believe their statement just because of language similarities and culture similarities.  If that's it then we also descended from every tribe in Nigeria seeing that there is one culture we all share "bride price" culture.  They also claimed we have language similarities with the tribes provided above which also means we came from too. (Shouldn’t it?)

2.) Take a look at Omotola Jalade, Yomi Abiola and Desmond Elliot, do either three look 100% Igbo or 100% Yoruba?
Omotola is half Yoruba, half Delta Igbo.
Desmond is half Yoruba, half Igbo.
Yomi is half Yoruba, half Igbo.

Take a look at all three; they look like a mixture of 2 tribes.

So you're telling me if I missed up an Igbo women with a Fulani man, their offspring is suppose to come out look like one or the other?  Or is the offspring going to come out looking like half of both?
If I mixed a Sudanese with a Nigerian, would their offspring come out looking like a Nigerian or a Sudanese? Or will the offspring come out looking like a mixture of both.
Since you love DNA, let me teach something seeing that I’m biology major.  Every tribe in Africa has a similar DNA structure, but we all have distinctive features.
Let’s take a look at the so called "Igbotic feature" (example: Nkem Owoh) with the so called yorubatic feature (example: Yemi Blaq).  Does any of that features look alike? No it doesn't.  If you mix those two features together, do you think their offsring will come out have a "supposed" igbotic feature or "supposed" yorubatic features or will the child come have a mixture of both.  That's my question to you.
There was a girl in this website that claims she's half Nigerian and half Kenyan.  When you look at her picture, you could easily see her Kenyan features and her Nigerian features.  If every tribe looks alike, how come we can tell each other apart?  That's another question.

3.) my third question is if we supposedly mixed up with Jews and we are descendant of Igala(which I believe a little bit) and some Sudanese tribe, shouldn't everyone of us have at least a tiny bit of similar features with Ramsey Noah.
Ramsey Noah is a mixture of Yoruba and Israelis.   According to my professor Yoruba's also descended from Igala people, if that's so many Igbo people should have at least a tiny bit of similar features with Ramsey Noah, seeing that his a poster child of that mixture.

4.) Igbo’s never encountered Israelis until recently.  Our ancestors encountered Portuguese and Britons.  The past 2 generations encountered Israelis and I don't think all of us started mixing up with them in past the 2 generations.  If we supposedly have admixture somewhere then it's most likely from Portuguese or Britons, not Israelis.
Before you tell me to read up on our people, I’ll suggest that same statement to you.  Read up on Igbo people cause if you have then you would have know we never encountered them until recently.

5.) I actually asked about the Egyptian statement.  According to my teacher and the 2nd teacher, Igbo’s didn't migrate to Egypt, neither did we descended from them.  So don't you think it's biased believing one supposed belief of origin and not the other belief of origin? 
Also don't you think its biased using culture and language similarities to defend you're argument but not using DNA similarities?  That's my question to you

6.) You claimed we are not interested in genealogy but whites are.  That's statement is correct.  Take a look around Africa and African tribes, how many African tribes are claiming their ancestors deprived from some foreign country rather than Africa.  How many have fought over that. Answer: A lot.  Guess where they get those statements from? Genealogies. That's one of the reasons Africa is bleeped up. 
A friend of mine from Rwanda told me a history about their war that I never even knew.  She said that a genealogy from Germany claimed that the Tutsis were mixture of whites and black Africans. He also told them that their features and culture are more like Europeans than the tribes in Rwanda and they also more evolved and educated than the other tribes in Rwanda (which we all know is a biased statement).  That created a tension.  According to her, the Tutsis thought they were better than other tribes in Rwanda, they also believed their ancestors mixed up with whites.  That belief and tension kept on increasing until something ignited for a fight against both main tribes.

7.) I read a little bit of the article from the Israelis guy (Shamir (no last name was provided)), so far all he talked about was how some Igbo words and Hebrew have similarities and some of the patterns we supposedly share with them but one thing that stood out was a statement where he claimed, Igbo’s and Jews are related because we both went through a starving genocide (The Biafra and we all know Holocaust).  Seriously, does have similar tragedy a proof that we mixed up with them?  It's like me writing a book saying that the Darfur Sudanese descended from African-Americans. Using his point of argument, I could state AA's went through slavery and the Darfur’s are going through slavery as we speak.
I haven't read the whole article, my mother wanted to read it so I gave it to her.  But the parts I read, so far isn't prove.
I might as well say Igbo people are descendant of Yoruba people because we share culture similarities.  That was what they used in the so called "truthful argument".  Like you said, they need to provide DNA proof before I believe that statement.  Since no one have provided any DNA proof, why should I believe them?  Please explain that to me.
Until they start providing DNA proof that's the only way i'll believe their statement. Thank you very much

taureg no be volkswagen?

Dis Guy:

is it the sudanese in your history you dont like , the Igalas or the jews?


Seems like you dont like the sudan and Igala bit, what if he said you were mixed with the crafty Chinese and Jews

whats the correct information anyway, I've heard the Jew story so many times

Abeg, keep   when you don't know what to say.
DID I IN ANY WAY OR FORM SAY I DISLIKE THE SUDANESE OR IGALA STATEMENT.

I actually don't believe the Sudanese and Jewish statement so keep shush next time and don't assume stuff.

taureg no be volkswagen?

Ifygurl,

You actually have some good points.

The origin of Igbos is one of the things that we will have to wait and find out at the end of time unfortunately. Same with most cultures in the world because only a few cultures kept written trace to the culture.

The oldest cultures cannot be traced beyond 10 to 15000 years and that does not mean that those cultures were non existent beyond those years.

Archeological evidence can begin to reveal how those that occupied the present day Igboland lived their lives many years ago but cannot prove their origin.

The weather of the present day Igboland means that archeological investigations will most certainly start from the scratch. Why ? In the days of mud houses, they were most certainly rebuilt every few years because of heavy rains. I do not think that you can find any mud house in Igbo land that goes beyond 100 years and you are most likely to find it in Enugu, Nsukka axis because of their semi arid weather.

Now, our fore fathers made markings on the walls of their homes to remind them of important days and other things. (My grandma told me so and her dad from the 1800s wrote on the wall too) All the writings were most certainly destroyed when heavy rains destroyed the mud houses.

Unfortunately, the Igbos did not write on papers and had to rely on oral tradition which was lost or diluted with time. Aros have somehow managed to maintain a historical account that goes some distance.

Contrast that to the Housas, who can trace their history to more than a thousand years and also have written documentation as well (Yes, there have been Hausa/Fulani scholars from long ago). The arid condition of places like Kano has ensured that evidence of their culture are not hard to find, because they still have structures that are more than 1000 years old.

As per DNA, it can always go as far as you want it to go starting from; you are related to your parents and all the way to the whole world is related . At what point do you cut it off and say "ok, here starts the Igbo DNA"?

As per Olaudah Equiano, he wrote his stuff when there was no Igbo way of writing and he spelt his names and other stuff as best as they sounded to him. He was Igbo to the core.

Ifygurl,

Since you are a biology major, I think it might be worthwhile if you try to piece up the DNA evidence. You don't have to wait for the whites. let me know if you wanna do it.

OLAUDAH EQUIANO

Ola is an Igbo name
Uda is an igbo word

Equiano could be Ikwuano as in four kindreds.

as the last poster said, it is possible they spelt her name the way it sounded to them.
peace!

Ifygurl, maybe if you stopped thinking "Israelites" and started thinking "Hebrews" it would make more sense. I doubt that Igbo people are mixed with Israelites, but us having some "Hebrew" in us does not sound far-fetched.

.

taureg no be volkswagen?

Just like Bora is volkswagen too. Bora is a swahili word that means exotic.

Ooooooh, oh my goodness, I have some very radical information here.
[size=18pt]

Maybe, Igbos are[/size] just plain old Igbos.

Is that too hard to frikkin accept?

Thank you for all you concern, but we are a distinct people

Just like all the other tribes are distinct people

we didn't come from anywhere

How come noone ever runs around trying to find out where the yorubas are from?

All this Igbos are Jews rubbish is romantic bullshit

We don't want to be Jews and they don't want to be Igbo, so let it f ucking die,

By the way your teacher is a douchebag

Other Sudanese tend to look like Nigerians both facially and structurally.

One of the authorities in Igbo history-Isichei. E (1976) an Anioman, used the interview granted to one Mbaise elder to summarise the history of ndiigbo. In that book, the elder said that we (ndiigbo) do not come from anywhere, any one who says we come from anywhere is a lier.
This idea of some Igbo groups using moonlight tales to deny Igbo and claim Bini or what ever is baseless. Also, the Hebrew argument, the Igala to Igbo or Igbo to Igala like water in a basket.
What matters today is that, as you have found your yourself from Eke in Arochukwu to Orie in Igbanke and from afo in Obollo to nkwo in Diobu, you are Igbo. No ifs and no buts just Igbo.

igalas?the people that eat rats ( let the biting begin)

but seriously, what if igbo is older than igala, then igala may have been frozen in embryo and is still the elder bros, NOT!

igbo is igbo, kpomkwem.

what nonsense does it mean that we mixed with sudan, do we have sugar cane legs, and look like miniature giraffes?

why is it hard for folks to agree that igbo is an original people, maybe they are trying to get credit for the fabulousity that is igbo.

your prof is spouting what i call "intellectual racism"- racism that is backed by silly theories to prove that africans are a big-nosed, homogenous group of nomads. these white pple truly believe we're all the same. they can't believe that Horn of Africans r  truly african.        shoot, most africans don't even think horners are african.   


but the thing is: AFRICANS are not all "BLACK"! why? becuz African is not a race!
there's no such thing as black anyway.

quote from ifygurl:

« on: January 30, 2009, 03:41 PM »
he used picture of some freaking slave lady (Who looks nothing like igbo people) and  Olaudah Equiano (Who i still doubt is Igbo, his freaking  name doesn't even look Igbo). 

olaudah equiano, yeah they say he's probably igbo. i wouldn't be surprised if he WAS igbo. you said his name doesn't LOOK igbo. that's becuz white pple spelled it they way they thought it should be spelled. but it sure sounds igbo, esp. equiano. "Ekweanu"   i don't know. just my guess.

How could over 40 million Igbos come from a small group like the Igala? Yes we have certain cultural similarities and I'm from an area like that. Maybe Igala came from Igbo but the other way round.

Igbo is Igbo. WE came from nobody.

udezue:

How could over 40 million Igbos come from a small group like the Igala? Yes we have certain cultural similarities and I'm from an area like that. Maybe Igala came from Igbo but the other way round.

Igbo is Igbo. WE came from nobody.

Ask them! Then ask the people who say Igbo people are mixed to tell us how no more than 400 white men could change the appearance of 40 million people today.

tamme:

Quote
Other Sudanese tend to look like Nigerians both facially and structurally.

do you have a problem with this statement?

agaba123:



Ola is an Igbo name

tpia.:

'Ola' means 'Gold'.

Olanma
Olanna
Olanne. Ola is a very popular name in Igboland. Mind you, it is different in pronounciation and meaning with the Yoruba's Ola.