Guide to the Wilderness - Igboland

7 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN VISITING IGBOLAND

A guide by colonist Damien Delaney

As I boarded the S.S. Anne with my duffel bag and hegemonic mindset as one of the many European explorers of West Africa, I prepared myself to face a herd of savages which I had been informed humbly of, but instead found a rich culture full of community and people not so unlike ourselves. I assume that others like me have been brainwashed to view these people so inferiorly – I saw it among some of my insistent comrades – so I have constructed this list of 7 things to consider when visiting Igboland:

1.     Intelligence – These people are much more intelligent than pioneers before me came to believe from their short-lived relationships with them. In this culture, wisdom is valued above most else. It is vital to consider that although the Igbo people don’t speak the Queen’s tongue, they possess a vast knowledge within their own language which is beyond our own understanding.

2.     Politics – The Igbo people have used such intelligence to formulate a sensible political hierarchy without the assistance of the British Empire. Although they may not act under a federal political system like the British, each village possesses an intricate system headed by a group of Ozo title holders, achieved through action and not inheritance, and subordinate groups below them (such as elders and age groups). They are not savages who kill mercilessly. Criminals are dealt with judiciously by the Ala and given appropriate punishment, hence showing their value of ethics and separating them from the animals they have been made out to be.

3.     Religion – Although the Igbo religion may consist of numerous false deities, it is primarily centered upon the same God that we Christians believe in, only they call theirs Chuckwu. The thing is, it is primarily grounded in the same beliefs, where if they please their god with their actions, they are rewarded with success and happiness (complete fulfillment). These people clearly think like us, with strong beliefs in a higher power, therefore it is important to consider where they gain their knowledge from and the motivations behind a vast majority of their actions, hence allowing us to understand their culture more extensively.

4.     Art – Not only are the people smart, separating them from animals, but I have seen them further distance themselves with their exquisite art, in forms of masks, body art and more. But the greatest spectacle is that of the performing arts. I was fortunate enough to witness several village dances, often dedicated to their religion. Such creativity demonstrates an enhanced humanity like ourselves, not just doing what it takes to survive but mastering the power of expression.

5.     Openness – The Igbo people possess what many of us lack: openness. I was able to sit down with an Igbo elder for hours and, despite our linguistic disparity, learn about their life and he was inclined to reciprocate by learning about us. Because I was willing to learn about their culture rather than treat them like animals, I feel like I was accepted within the village, however there has always been a sense of separation and mistrust due to the actions of those before me.

Such mistrust can only be recovered by taking a new perspective on the Igbo people and the land they live on. The land that we as an empire are attempting to colonize has deep religious significance and connection to the people that inhabit it; they even pay worship to the earth goddess known as Ala. And these people that inhabit it – they are not only people but a culture. Igboland possesses a cultural communital ambience which was foreign to me, and to continue colonizing in the way it is being done now will eventually strip the people of this community and themselves, and hence not only is the Igbo culture lost but part of the world is lost to British greed and ignorance. You have been taught to believe that we provide those victims to our colonization with a better standard of living and a sense of civilization, but what exemplifies civilization and a valuable lifestyle more than the behaviors and interactions of the Igbo people discussed above. As was translated to me from the elder that I spoke to exhaustively, “Never kill a man who says nothing.” Learn about the Igbo people and their culture from their perspective before acting instinctively, or else we are reducing us as great British to less than you make the Igbo out to be.