Monthly Archives: September 2010

Sep22

Back in Time: Igbo Farm Village in America

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by Omenka Egwuatu Nwa-Ikenga

This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the official dedication of the Igbo farm village at the Frontier Cultural Museum in Staunton, Virginia. This museum is the first of its kind, and it includes live recreations of the living conditions of some of the various immigrants who helped in the creation of America. These exhibits include English, Irish, German as well as West African, with a special emphasis on Igbo.

By all accounts, the Igbo represented a large number of Africans transported to the Americas, especially to the state of Virginia. At one point in time, Ndi Igbo (Igbo people) constituted 70% of the enslaved Africans in the state (source). If you are an African American with family ties to Virgina (including West Virginia), its almost guaranteed that you have some Igbo ancestry. In fact, according to Dr. Douglass Chambers, 60% of ALL African Americans probably have at least one Igbo ancestor (source). Below are some of the pictures that I took from the dedication weekend. In the future, there will be ALOT more posts about Igbo culture in the Americas, as well as photos from the village as it evolves.


Sep8

Revisiting Igbo Ukwu: A Lost Ancient Civilization

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Knowledge of history and the context in which things happened is essential in order to have a more balanced view of the world. One important site to the history of Ndi Igbo (Igbo people) is Igbo Ukwu (literally, the Great Igbo), where a number of original artifacts were found beginning in 1938.

“Igbo Ukwu is an archaeological site in Igboland, in Anambra State to be exact. These artifacts are dated to approximately 900 AD, but they may be much older(in fact I’m sure of it), and indicative of a lost ancient civilization in Igboland.

Strangely there isn’t much known about these artifacts beyond what you will find in standard Google searches. What you will generally find are brief descriptions of what was uncovered at Igbo Ukwu with some picures. Mind you there are hundreds of pieces, and you will not find them all online. Also, sadly, many of the Igbo Uwku artifiacts, our artifiacts, because these are indeed ours, are locked away in the British Museum.

Igbo Ukwu artifact

These pieces, which I believe to be indigenous productions, are vital in helping to reconstruct some of the ancient history of not only Igbos, but of the human existence within ancient Africa.”

To read more about Igbo Ukwu, visit this blog that deals with Igbo migrations, which is also listed in our related links page.

Sep1

The Call

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Royal Woman in the making 

Ezenwanyi reawaken

Royal woman

Open your veil and let your eyes behold your beauty

Light of Chukwu sacred gateway

Sing the:

Divine Mother tune

For …

She longs to bathe you with her sunlight

Wash your sorrows with rain

Adorn your crown with flowers

Delight your taste buds with her fruits

Dazzle you with her colors

Caress you with her winds

Make you walk on lushes of green

Lighten your steps to the tune of silence

Sing you lullabies in the coos of a bird

Reawaken your existence as the universe at play

Dance you daughters of God

Move your hips to the rhythm of the cosmos

Dance

Dance

Dance

Away

The subjugations, the denials

The definitions, the sorrows

The incisions, the invasions, the blame

The censorship, the forced responsibilities, the lies

And

Many

Many

Other fixations

For your Queendom is finally at hand.

By Ebele Chizea