Reinterpreting Masculine Cultural Traditions: The Hidden Influence of Women in Igbo Festivals

This picture shows a woman who is one of the women maskers of Nkaliki, shot by Herbert Cole in 1983, dancing an Ogbodo Enyi mask amidst her female supporters. Africa is a continent with many cultures. In places like Southern Nigeria, where the Igbo people live, one culture that almost everybody knows is the masquerade (or…

ByChukwunwike OssaiMay 31, 20250Comments

Cultural Heritage Ethnohistory

Cultural Resistance in Umulumgbe’s Odo Ritual: The Spirit Still Dances

In Igbo, they always say, “One who doesn’t know when the rain started will not know when it stopped.” This wise statement accurately describes what the Umulumgbe Odo masquerade has been facing since the colonial people came to shake the land with their Christianity and Western lifestyle. The Odo masquerade ritual, a sacred tradition in…

ByChukwunwike OssaiMay 30, 20250Comments

Cultural Heritage Ethnohistory

Traditional Rites and Modern Relevance: The Ogbanigbe Festival of Ukwu-Nzu Community

"Olukumi" means "my friend." Some people say Olukumi is a Yoruba dialect, but the people in Ukwu-Nzu and Ugbodu do not agree that they are Yoruba. They believe they migrated from Yoruba land, passing through Benin, before settling in the Delta State. But even with that, they do not identify as Yoruba. That is why…

ByChukwunwike OssaiMay 17, 20250Comments

Cultural Heritage Ethnohistory

The Okpensi Festival as a Pillar of Ancestral Worship and Cultural Identity in Igbo-Ukwu

Okpensi, a symbolic entity that represents an ancestor The Okpensi Festival, which happens at Igbo-Ukwu, a town in Anambra State, Nigeria, is a good spiritual festival that means a lot to Igbo culture. This festival is one of the ways used to honour the ancestors (people who are dead, called Ndi Ichie), and it shows how…

ByChukwunwike OssaiMay 9, 20250Comments

Anthropology and Ethnography Ethnohistory

The Ojebe Ogene Clan: Origins and History

The Ojebe Ogene clan is a historic group of communities in Enugu State, Nigeria, comprising seven towns: Ebe, Abor, Ukana, Awhum, Okpatu, Umulumgbe and Ukehe. The name derives from Ojebe Ogene, a matriarch who, according to oral tradition, was the wife of IgweOnyi and mother to the founders of these towns. Photo: Ojebe Ogene TV Origin and…

ByChuka OdikeDecember 11, 20240Comments

Tag: Odo

Reinterpreting Masculine Cultural Traditions: The Hidden Influence of Women in Igbo Festivals

Cultural Resistance in Umulumgbe’s Odo Ritual: The Spirit Still Dances

Traditional Rites and Modern Relevance: The Ogbanigbe Festival of Ukwu-Nzu Community

The Okpensi Festival as a Pillar of Ancestral Worship and Cultural Identity in Igbo-Ukwu

The Ojebe Ogene Clan: Origins and History

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