Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture by A. E. Afigbo (1981)

Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture by A. E. Afigbo (1981)

Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture by A. E. Afigbo (1981)
Speculations on Igbo Origins, Dispersal and Culture History
” After Benin probably the next most important external factor to make an appreciable impact on the Igbo was the Igala Kingdom of Idah. It is the view of the present writer that the extent and nature of Igala impact on Igbo society is still to be satisfactorily researched and objectively assessed. So far the issue has provided a very tempting ground for easy assumptions to which many have fallen victims. The matter is investigated at some length in a subsequent essay in this collection. Only the main arguments will be summarized here to maintain the broad perspective of the present essay.
The north-western fringe of the Nsukka plateau was an area of intensive Igala activity. A critical analysis of Nsukka traditions, social institutions and level of social integration would seem to reveal that these activities at some period took the form of devastating slave raids which. broke up certain communities and left an indelible impression on the minds of the people as seen in the traditions woven around the legendary character called Qnojo Ogboni (or Oboni). But even before and after these raids the northern portions of the Nsukka plateau had been in economic and other contacts with Igala land.
This multi-dimensional contact between the two peoples left its mark on the culture of the northern fringe of Nsukka — on their material culture, and on their dialect which incorporates Igala words used at times to describe familiar Igbo institutions. Whether the Nsukka actually borrowed any institutions from the Igala, is still to be firmly established. “

• Ikenga made by Igala © The Trustees of the British Museum Af1949,46.192 ; William Fagg, ‘Tribes and forms in African art’, London 1965, p.40: The Igala share with the Igbo, the Ijo, the Urhobo, the Bini and the Kukuruku – all in the Lower Niger area – the cult of Ikenga, the power or life-force of a man’s own right hand, and the carvings used in this cult by the south-western Igala and north-western Igbo are remarkable similar in style. … This example is the largest known and was formerly regarded as Igbo until it was recognised by Mr John Boston, a leading authority on the Igala, as coming from the southernmost Igala villages, of which these muti-tiered Ikenga are characteristic.
  Credit Kehinde Thompson