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Tribe Snapshots Ijo |
| Location: |
Southern Nigeria |
| Population: |
200,000 |
| Language: |
Ijo (Kwa) |
| Neighboring
Peoples: |
Ibgo, Yoruba,
Ewe |
| Types
of Art: |
Ijo are best known for their extensive production
and alteration of cloth. Dress is used to signify
status throughout society. They also produce wooden
sculpture and memorial screens to commemorate
their ancestors. |
| History: |
The geographic conditions of the Niger Delta
region have resulted in the Ijo being located
astride trade routes throughout the region. Routes
connecting them to other west African groups were
established at least as early as the 15th century.
In the 1600s the Ijo served as intermediary slave
traders between Europeans and African groups to
the north of them. Due to their central location,
the Ijo have appropriated many outside ideas into
their own expressive culture. This is most significantly
expressed in Ijo fashion choices. In recent years
many Ijo have moved to Port Harcourt in search
of employment, but many of the wealthy still maintain
residences in their homelands. |
| Economy: |
The Ijo rely largely upon their relationship
with the rivers and ocean for their survival.
They depend on trading goods and fishing to supplement
farming and hunting. Yams and processed palm oil
are produced in large quantities for outside trade.
Women normally participate in large market systems
where people trade and sell wares for pleasure,
as well as survival. Wealth is often redistributed
through the institution of dowries. Usually bride
prices paid to people outside the immediate community
are larger, to compensate the bride's community
for the loss of her children who will remain in
the village of the husband. Those who live in
Port Harcourt, the capital of the region, often
work as professionals, traders, and civil service
workers. |
| Political
Systems: |
Peoples from eastern Ijo territory traditionally
lived in compact villages and towns that were
politically integrated through a system of chiefs
who were family or clan heads. High status is
normally awarded in accordance with elaborate
hierarchical systems and often results only after
payments have been made to those already holding
titles. Peoples from western and central Ijo territory
acknowledged no central political authorities
until the British arrived. |
| Religion: |
Ijo traditional religion centers around water
spirits who inhabit the numerous rivers and swamps
of the area. Tribute is also paid to ancestors
who are often represented in wooden shrine figures
or memorial screens known as Nduen Fobara by Kalibari
Ijo. Funeral ceremonies among the Ijo are often
quite dramatic, with greater attention afforded
to members of the community who have reached a
combination of advanced age and high prestige.
Extensive funerals are held for both women and
men in preparation for sending them on their final
journey away from the village to the spirit world
across the river. |
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