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palmtop & sea breeze

on November 22, 2007

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Some Sacred Trees in Igbo Culture: Squirreling One’s Way through their Mysterious Branches

by Obododimma Oha Igbo culture extends signification to trees. Dating back to ancient times, the idea of some things representing or standing for other things has reigned in public life. Along this line, something representing another thing is based on the hope that communication obstacles would be surmounted and that the other person would finally understand what we mean. Lucky enough, we have bodies and organs saddled with the task of articulating representations of the representation. Maybe if we were from another lifeworld and do not need the so-called speech organs, we would order our representations of representation differently. Maybe we would just see other entities and use other means to figure out their intentions and respond appropriately, as shown in some science fiction movies and writings. So, that some trees in Igbo culture are assigned representation roles is not strange at all. It only reveals our limitation in our world and an attempt to deal with such l...

Obere Nwa Na-amụ Iri Elu

by Obododimma Oha The ability to climb trees is one of the cultural expectations of male children in the Igbo culture. And climbing certain trees, like the oil-palm, are completely the assignment to male children. Women, daughters or wives, are not supposed to climb oil-palm trees and harvest their nuts. If climbing trees involves risks, as it truly does, male children should get prepared for such risks. And so, one is not surprised the the late Igbo highlife musician, Oliver de Coque, proverbially sang in one of his albums as follows: Obere nwa na-amụ iri elu Obi ga-esi ya ike! (A child learning to climb Needs to be courageous!) Yes. One needs courage and not easily be scared of heights. It is about courage and risk-taking. Humans cannot get anywhere or make any breakthrough unless they take risks. Life itself is a risk, not just that it involves risks. A person learning and hoping to scale and go up has to have the heart. Life is not for the faint-hearted. It is for ...

Igbo, Ndiigbo, and Ndi Gboo: Lost Identities and Speculative Loss

By Obododimma Oha. Chris Aniedobe, an analyst, in his exposition at World Igbo Forum on 28 February 2017, on the issue of the naming and re-naming of the Igbo, made the startling claim that Igbo people originally identified themselves as Gboo people or Ndi Gboo (which means “Ancient people) but that this name was distorted by the White explorers who found it difficult to articulate the Igbo consonant, “gb” and so articulated the name as “Ibo.” This corruption of the name has been consolidated by Igbo people by simply referring to themselves as “Igbo” or “Ndi Igbo,” instead of “Ndi Gboo.” Indeed, the Europeans who encountered the Igbo simplified the name “Igbo” to “Ibo.” But it is an interesting argument to say that “Ibo” and “Igbo” are both corruptions of “Gboo,” or that Igbo people are “Gboo” people, that the current reference, “Ndiigbo” or “Ndi Igbo” should actually be “Ndi Gboo.” This argument is interesting especially given all the speculations about Igbo Jewish origin and ...

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