I've seen a lot of threads here pertaining to certain aspects of Igbo culture and it seems to me that a lot of it is misunderstood. I've created this thread to give a very basic analysis of Igbo culture in general and to show that I'm not being biased, I'll start with a bad aspect of Igbo culture before anything else. Feel free to add to the thread or correct me if any parts of my analysis are incorrect.
I'll start with the Osu Caste System.
1. Osu people (ndi osu), are the descendants of people who either sacrificed themselves to a deity (in order to escape punishment for a crime) or given up as a sacrifice to a deity i.e. by their village if they wanted to seek favour from the gods. This sacrifice resulted in them having to live near the deity's shrine and do menial tasks there.
2. I think that the reason why the osu status passed down to one's children is because the Igbos believe in reincarnation; so if you were one thing in life and you died, you would come back and become that same thing again. I think that it was to show us that not even death could sever an osu person's connection to the gods.
3. Osu people were not allowed to cut their hair so they had a rugged appearance that made their status visible to anyone that passed them by. They had to remain separate from freeborn Igbos (nwa diala) i.e. couldn't go to the market with them, couldn't invite them in their homes or visit them, couldn't take take chieftaincy titles, couldn't marry them etc.
4. All of these stipulations are not practiced anymore, as the osu and oru/ohu caste systems were officially abolished in 1956, with the exception of the marriage one (all over Igboland) and the chieftaincy title one (in a handful of villages).
5. I think that the marriage one still exists because of superstition. Many Igbos believe that if you marry an osu person then you become osu too or that your marriage will be cursed in some way or another.
6. There is no connection between the osu caste system and the Transatlantic Slave trade. It's highly unlikely that many Osu people were kidnapped and taken to the Americas as most Igbo slave traders would have been too afraid to even approach them, let alone kidnap them. It's possible but unlikely.
Can't remember all of the Igbo posters so someone please tag them or anyone interested in Igbo culture if you know them.
@Hiphoplives4eva @Golden @Ugo Ogugwa
I'll start with the Osu Caste System.
1. Osu people (ndi osu), are the descendants of people who either sacrificed themselves to a deity (in order to escape punishment for a crime) or given up as a sacrifice to a deity i.e. by their village if they wanted to seek favour from the gods. This sacrifice resulted in them having to live near the deity's shrine and do menial tasks there.
2. I think that the reason why the osu status passed down to one's children is because the Igbos believe in reincarnation; so if you were one thing in life and you died, you would come back and become that same thing again. I think that it was to show us that not even death could sever an osu person's connection to the gods.
3. Osu people were not allowed to cut their hair so they had a rugged appearance that made their status visible to anyone that passed them by. They had to remain separate from freeborn Igbos (nwa diala) i.e. couldn't go to the market with them, couldn't invite them in their homes or visit them, couldn't take take chieftaincy titles, couldn't marry them etc.
4. All of these stipulations are not practiced anymore, as the osu and oru/ohu caste systems were officially abolished in 1956, with the exception of the marriage one (all over Igboland) and the chieftaincy title one (in a handful of villages).
5. I think that the marriage one still exists because of superstition. Many Igbos believe that if you marry an osu person then you become osu too or that your marriage will be cursed in some way or another.
6. There is no connection between the osu caste system and the Transatlantic Slave trade. It's highly unlikely that many Osu people were kidnapped and taken to the Americas as most Igbo slave traders would have been too afraid to even approach them, let alone kidnap them. It's possible but unlikely.
Can't remember all of the Igbo posters so someone please tag them or anyone interested in Igbo culture if you know them.
@Hiphoplives4eva @Golden @Ugo Ogugwa