The Odum of Ala Igbo
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Igbo Ideograms On Grave Stones In Virginia, US - Culture - Nigeria
Igbo (Nsibidi) Pictograms in the United States!
A cemetery in George Washington National Forest in Amherst County, Va., is a good example. For decades, observers have commented that the gravestones had “strange marks.” Recently, these marks have been identified by this writer as African ideograms originating in Nigeria. The gravestones are inscribed with what appears to be Nsibidi, an Igbo writing system, confirming the survival of Igbo traditions during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Made of high-quality blue slate indigenous to the area and mined from a local quarry, the stones show little damage from weather or time. Subsequently, the place was named the “Seventeen Stones Cemetery.”
The stones were probably engraved between 1770 to 1830, when the Igbo Diaspora was at its height in Virginia. At that time, the Igbo people comprised approximately 70 percent of the blacks in Virginia, a larger percentage than in any other Southern state.
A star symbol at the top of one stone, signifying “congress” or “unity” has similarities to the Kongo cosmogram that depicts the life cycle of birth, life, death and the afterlife. The cosmogram symbol has equal perpendicular crossbars or lines, sometimes contained in a diamond shape or a circle. Here, the linear symbol in the lower register appears to be a combination of the sign for “individual” and “this land is mine.” Together the signs mean the deceased has joined the realm of the ancestors. Both symbols are enclosed in a rectangle, denoting their association. A line separating the symbols emphasizes they are separate but one.
Igbo ideograms were important elements of religious practice and served as mnemonic devices associated with religion and with moral and historical narratives. In Igbo death and burial traditions, Nsibidi symbols honoring the ancestors were thought to protect the deceased. The most appropriate place to honor one’s forefathers was the cemetery. At times, the deceased were consulted for help with day-to-day problems. Items such as chickens, rum and schnapps were offered as gifts for the deceased during a grave-side ceremony.
In the Seventeen Stones Cemetery, an iron pot was found set into the ground, suggesting the possibility of ancestral worship at this site. Historical sources describe how slaves worshiped in the forest by talking to a pot — the retainer for words and thoughts that could not be made public. African inscriptions and accompanying religious practices were outlawed during the period of enslavement. Creating such symbols was punishable by death because of its association with witchcraft. Hence, few examples of African ideograms still exist in the United States.
When I was growing up it was hard to fish information from my parents...I think it was because they did not know answers to certain questions and were to prideful to say so. I actually got some insight from one of my dad's friends at my sisters wedding. He told me that my parents generation which included himself were the first generation of our people that were heavily influenced by the white man's education and were basically made to forget or not care about things prior to colonialism. That is this the reason why I am glad I talked to the old heads before they died. I needed a translator and they spoke an older dialect than my parents did not grow up on which was odd.
