Book

Among the Ibos of Nigeria: an account of the curious and interesting habits, customs and beliefs of a little known African people by one who has for many years lived amongst them on close and intimate terms

CassLondonPublished In 1966 • Pages:

By: Basden, George Thomas.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a record of the author's observations and experiences among the Igbo people during his initial visit to Nigeria in the period of 1900-1920. Although Basden was a keen observer of native customs, especially in regard to material culture, the extent of his actual observations of such things as warfare, human sacrifices, and cannibalism is not clear. It seems likely that much of these data came from native informants. The source touches on all aspects of Igbo ethnography, but is especially detailed on sex status, slavery, funeral rites, yam and palm cultivation, arts and crafts, warfare, religion (including human sacrifice), status achievement, the oracles, and the effects of missionization (last two chapters). (For a more detailed listing of contents, see Category 128, pp. 13-14.) As a whole, the source provides a good general background for more intensive studies on the Igbo.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Gender status
Burial practices and funerals
Mourning
Vegetable production
Arboriculture
Prayers and sacrifices
Slavery
Instigation of war
Warfare
Inter-community relations
Magicians and diviners
Judicial authority
Missions
Status, role, and prestige
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Igbo
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2003
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Western Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Missionary
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1980
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1900-1920
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1900-1920
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Nigeria
NotesAdditional notes
George T. Basden
Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-312) and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
66070427
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Igbo (African people)