Igbo Arts and Ethnicity: Problems and Issues

Abstract

Some months ago, when reading Elechi Amadi's affecting diary of the Nigerian Civil War, Sunset in Biafra, I was acutely reminded that not all peoples generally called Igbo are particularly comfortable being so labeled. Amadi is an Ikwere, which he explicitly calls a non-Igbo tribe, along with Etche, Ekpeye, Engenni, Ogba, and Egbema. All these peoples living south and west of Owerri and north of the Niger delta were placed by Forde and Jones (1950) and, following their lead, by Chike Aniakor and me (1984) within Igbo borders. Who are the Igbo? As Amadi implies, this is a perplexing question, in part because many think they have it answered. No one has problems with core regions where people have long regarded themselves as Igbo, but beyond these live dozens of small groups that have, or had, distinct linguistic and cultural identities. Expansion outward from the center has Igboized some of these peoples, but many resent this partial assimilation and insist, as Amadi does, their separate character. Outsiders and some Igbo have for political purposes wanted to include large numbers within their borders. This is justified by linguists, mostly foreigners, who are more concerned with scientific language families than with concepts of selfidentity on the ground. It is well known that the British had difficulty administering the hundreds of village groups and tribes in this area because of their local autonomy and the frequent absence of single leaders, chiefs. The cultural and linguistic diversity of eastern Nigeria is acknowledged fact, and there is no easy or agreed-upon solution to the artistic or ethnic mapping of the area. In Igbo Art: Community and Cosmos Chike Aniakor and I tried to use regional names and avoid many generalizations for all Igbo whoever they may be but we can be rightly criticized (and were) for including some people and excluding others. G.I. Jones may have come closest to the mark by identifying cross-cultural style regions in his Art of Southeastern Nigeria (1984), but this method is not without its own problems. In bringing the papers in this volume together under an Igbo heading, then, I risk perpetuating a wrong-headed inclusiveness, which is not my intention. I am very much aware of both Limitations of Labels and Open Borders situations that have been highlighted rec ntly in these pages for other areas (vol. 20, no. 4). The paper by John Picton Ekpeye masquerades here (p. 46) addresses these issues, and the original plan called for additional essays other regions. Henry Drewal's contribution Mami Wata shrines (p. 38) in a limited area of Imo State, near Owerri, calls attention to these ideas in a quite different way inasmuch as these cults have exceptionally wide distribution in so many parts of the continent. Drewal's paper, by illustrating Igbo versions that can then be compared with others within a d outside Igboland (however its borders are drawn), may aid with the old but fascinating question: What is Igbo about Igbo art? Afa, the name of one of the divination systems employed in the area, is a cognate of Yoruba ifa and other divination systems among nearby peoples utilizing two chains with eight se d pods each. Yet Igbo afa diviners have relatively little art in their kits, and what they have is sacrifice encrusted, while their Yoruba counterparts often have many finely sculptured pieces, usually clean. Among the Igbo, it is frequently the case that the most sacred and powerful objects are the least artistic. Mbari house figures of Ala and other local deities which I reexamine in this issue in their earlier and more