Book

Ritual roles of women in Onitsha Ibo society

University MicrofilmsAnn Arbor, Mich.Published In 1980 • Pages:

By: Henderson, Helen Kreider.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study focuses on the roles of women in traditional (i.e., pre-Westernized) Onitsha Igbo society. Data for the account are drawn from early accounts by travellers and missionaries and from informants' recall of past events. While the stress is on women's roles in rituals such as shrine worship, funeral ceremonies, and witchcraft, there is a good deal of information on women's roles in the domestic, political, and economic spheres as well. It should be noted that, although the author uses the present tense, she is generally referring to the latter half of the 19th century. Some caution should be exercised in using the materials presented in this source since the author presents an ideal model of women's roles based on materials that may come from different time periods.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Comparative evidence
Purification and atonement
Sacred objects and places
Regulation of marriage
Basis of marriage
Prayers and sacrifices
Gender status
Cultural participation
Lineages
Age stratification
Sodalities
Sorcery
Status, role, and prestige
Burial practices and funerals
Mourning
Cult of the dead
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 TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
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
Eleanor C. Swanson ; 1981
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1960-1962
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
ca. 1850-1900
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Onitsha town and vicinity, southeastern Nigeria
NotesAdditional notes
Helen Kreider Henderson
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of California, Berkeley, 1970
UM70-13,066
Includes bibliographical references (p. 515-526)
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Igbo (African people)