ABSTRACT
This study examines or
evaluates the Uzeh cultural festival, which is a cultural heritage of Isheagu
kingdom, located in Anioeha South Local Government Area of Delta State. ·Uzeh-
is an annual event celebrated every August of each year. By tradition, it is
normally celebrated a month before the village new yam festival. The festival
is celebrated in memory of one of the founding fathers and a great hunter.
The festival is nine days
long activity but the ninth day is the major day of the festival, which
features traditional dance from each of the six villages that make up the
community namely; Ogbeonishe, Umueze, Ogbetiti, Umuoma, Umuenelichi and
Isikiti. By cultural implication, the following chiefs namely the Obi (King)
Eze-Igbu society and the Owoto, who perform the final sacrifice at the Ishuani
shrine, play major role during the festival than every other chief in Isheagu.
The research work, adopts
primary and secondary sources, the primary sources include oral interview of
notable personalities in Isheagu, where the research on Uzeh festival was
conducted. Eight traditional chiefs were interviewed. Two online articles were
used including a newspaper/magazine.
The study examines the
origin of the festival, preparation and how it is celebrated. It also examines
the roles played by the traditional institution. The origin of the town
·Isheagu- and the political institution was equally looked into.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
Title
page
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE: General Introduction
Background of the Study
Statement of Problem
Research Questions
Significance of study
Objective of study
Scope of study
Research Methodology
Literature Review
Note and Reference
CHAPTBR TWO: The Evolution and Development of Isheagu Town
Introduction
Isheagu
Town Myths of Origin
Economic
Organization
Political
Organization
Social
Organization of Isheagu
Notes
and References
CHAPTER THREE
Introduction
The
advent of the Uzeh Festival
Preparation
of the Uzeh Festival
Celebration
of the Uzeh Festival
Notes
and References
CHAPTER FOUR: THE IMPACT
OF UZBH FESTIVAL ON ISHBAGU
Introduction
Political
Impact
Economic
Impact
Social
Impact
Notes
and References
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary
Conclusion
Recommendations
Bibliography
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Isheagu is one of the
towns that make up the Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. It
is also one of the many communities that make up the Aniocha region. Other
towns in the Local Government Area include Nsukwa, Umute, Ogwashi-Uku, Ewulu,
Adonte, Uku-Oba and Aba-Uno etc.
Isheagu is made up of six
villages namely, Ogbeonishe, Umueze, Isikiti, Ogbetiti, Umuoma and Umuenelichi.
Isheagu covers an area of 41.60 Square Kilometers with a population of about
680,000 peoples.
Like many traditional
societies, culture in Isheagu is knowledge -based and includes all that are
passed from the ancestors to the future generations. During the process of cultural transmission from one generation to another,
it is possible some aspects of the culture
are altered overtime thus paving the way for the addition of new traits.
Broadly speaking, the
Isheagu culture encompasses the totality of knowledge, values, beliefs, arts,
morals, laws and all tangible and intangible things acquired by men as a member
of the society and transmitted from generation to generation. Uzeh Festival is
carried with much fanfare, a reflection of the deep interest and respect the
people have in their tradition.
BACKGROURD TOTHE STUDY
A close observation of a
people's daily activities particularly those that deal with the culture of the
people show a wide range of different cultural traits around the people. This
is also true with the people of Isheagu. Indeed, the manifestation of culture
in any society like Isheagu includes the people's concrete accomplishment of
meeting daily needs through material and nonmaterial culture. The material
culture includes tools or physical objects such as axe, hoe etc. While
non-material culture revolves around knowledge about the nature and the rules
that guide personal or group interaction in the society," Additionally, the role of geography and history in
the development of culture of a society cannot be overemphasized. This is
because the environment where people live is a great influence on their life.
Similarly, the historical experiences of people also play a role in the
development of such people. Thus a combination of the environmental and
historical factors play important roles in determining the cultural development
of a people.
They are practically
survival strategies through group philosophies, oral traditions, aesthetic
norms and modes of organizations. A culture could also manifest in the form of
traditional festivals and their accompanying paraphernalia (music, dancing, dressing
or traditional industries which include different local manufacturing method
and their products).
The Uzeh Festival serves
to remind the Isheagu people of the heroic achievement of one of their hunters
who killed a monster that terrorized the entire community in the dateless past.
It is most popular traditional festival that the Sons and daughters of lsheagu
look forward to every year.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Culture is a worldwide
phenomenon. Culture is the identity of any nation, society, community or town.
The Uzeh Festival is one of the most important events in Isheagu and to remind
the people of the historic feat of one of their hunters. The festival is
celebrated with singing, dancing and merrymaking.
Like in many communities
in Nigeria, the Uzeh Festival is also facing strong criticisms from Christians
in Isheagu. Critics of the Uzeh Festival see celebrants of the Festival as
pagans whose salvation lie not in Uzeh but in God Almighty Although the
Christian adherents want the Uzeh and indeed all cultures in Isheagu abolished,
majority of the community's population argue that the retention of the people's
culture including the Uzeh Festival helps in preserving the people's cultural
heritage for the benefit of future generations of the community.
This work is justified by
the fact that even the Christians who want the festival banned are also part of
the huge population that grace the festival annually.
REASARCH QUESTION
This research would seek
for answers to the following questions:
1. How did the Uzeh Festival begin?
2.
What are the main
features of the Uzeh Festival
3.
What are the effects of
Uzeh festival on the life of the Isheagu people?
4.
To what extent has
Christianity affected the celebration of the Uzeh Festival?
5.
What is the status of Uzeh
Festival in contemporary time?
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This study represents an
attempt at documenting the Uzeh Festival as an aspect of the social history of
Isheagu Community in Aniocha Local Government Area of Delta State. This work
also serves as a reference material to readers and students of history
interested in the study of the Uzeh Festival.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The major objective of
this essay is to put the Uzeh Festival in a documented form. This will enable
the present and future generations of the Isheagu Community to understand the significance of the festival to
their community. At the present, there is little or no literature on the
festival. This essay thus seeks to fill the gap that exists in the social life
of the people of Isheagu. Secondly, this essay will show the role of Uzeh
Festival in the economic, socio-political, and spiritual development of the
Isheagu Community. The specific objective of the project include an examination
of the ways and means by which the festival is celebrated.
SCOPE OF STUDY
This work is limited to
the Uzeh Festival. Moreover, mention is made of the geographical location,
evolution, and the socio-economic political and social organizations of Isheagu
to gain a broad knowledge of the study.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is largely
based on primary data collection. Oral interviews are held with Isheagu
indigenes with deep knowledge of the Uzeh Festival. The interviews are
complemented with information sourced from some documented materials on the
festivals.
Data Analysis: The data analysis is both descriptive and analytical
given the nature of data involved.
LITBRATURE REVIEW
Culture as a concept is a
very contentious one. There is no single definition of culture. To some,
culture denotes accumulated resources of group of people which could be
non-material and material, For survival purpose it becomes necessary to
translate and transmit culture component.
However, Kroeber in his
work notes that culture is a mass of learned and transmitted motor reaction,
habits, techniques, ideas and values and the behavior that it may induce. In
his evolutionary approach, Whites argues that man's ability to be cultural is
the meaning he attaches to the mundane world and that explains why man is
different from other materials.
The Collins English
Dictionary defines culture as the total invented ideas, beliefs, values and
knowledge which constitutes the shared bases of social culture. In
other words, culture is the totality of activities and ideas of a group of
people with shared traditions which are transmitted and re informed by measures of a group. Culture depicts the
people and their way of life.
The above definition
suggests that culture cannot be defined in terms of one person but a group. It
is in fact inconceivable to have a human being with his own culture. In the
view of the social scientist, for example, culture refers to a totality of
people's way of life. It is indeed, the distinctive way of life of a people,
their complete design for living.
In a broad sense, culture
refers to the gamut of the knowledge, beliefs customs, traditions and skills
that are available to the mass of a society. According to him, culture is the
complex which includes knowledge, beliefs, acts, moral, customs, tools, and any
other capabilities acquired by man as a member of a society and which are
learned and passed from one generation to another Taylor in his book titled
"Primitive Culture" notes further that culture complexes are passed
from one generation to another and are also learned by all members in daily
interactions.
From the above
definitions, the following conclusions on culture could be made. First is the
reference culture as a material component which rudimentary tools like axe, cutlass, hoe etc., to sophisticated equipment’s
like computers, jet planes, telephones etc. and non- material aspect comprising
cognitive contents like knowledge about nature and its sustaining belief system
as well as the normative patterns or right and wrong behaviours.
The second is the
historical determination of culture accumulation. For the simple fact that
culture is passed from one generation to another, it is possible that certain
elements of it are altered overtime while new ones are added. Hence over a
time, it is possible for social structures to become more complex because of
human innovation and diffusion from other areas.
The third aspect hinges
on the effect of geography on the cultural development of a society. Important
in this perspective of culture is that the material components of culture which
are naturally influenced by the environment of a group of people. Despite the
contribution of the Uzeh Festival to the socio-economic and political development
of Isheagu, there is little or no written material on the festival. Information
relating to the festival is treated either as a footnote or part of the general
study of the Anioma Nation. Even at
that, some works on Anioma Nation hardly contain information on Isheagu not to
talk of the Uzeh Festival. For example, Enueme Joshua's work entitled the
Origin and making of Anioma, has little or no information on Isheagu Community.
In the work, the au thor looks at the origin and transformation of the Anioma
nation as well as clamour for the indigenes for a separate state. Similarly,
Nwabua Ben U.N's article entitled -The Making of Anioma, examines Isheagu as
part of the general study on Anioma, in the work, Nwabua examines the
evolutions and social history of Isheagu. Additionally the author examines the
various angle remarks on the origin of Isheagu and the emergence of its
villages. This work lacks details as only half a page is devoted by this author
to the study. Anioma: A social history of the western Igbo people-s is invaluable: under study the
social history of Igbos with specific reference to the Anioma nation, its
entire composition and dialects. He argues that the various sources of origins
of the communities that make up Anioma has made the classification of Anioma as
an Igbo tribe difficult. In this work, the author already lists Isheagu as one
of the communities in Anioma with Igbo ancestory.
There are some
controversies in this work. The most noticeable is that aspect that deals with
the categorization of the communities as belonging to either the Igbos or the
Edos based on this some of origin from the perceptive of Ndigbo, all the
communities in Anioma are of Igbo origin. Even the title of the work is also
deceptive. In nowhere in the book is the social history of the Anioma people
mentioned in the work not to talk of the Uzeh Festival of Isheagu.
The work Inculturation as
Dialogue: Igbo culture and the message of Christ by Udeani Chibueze look at the
impact of Christianity on the culture and traditions of the Igbos. The author
argues that the new wave of Pentecostal evangelism currently sweeping the
length and breadth of Igbo has tended to remove the people away from their
forbearers. This work, like others reviewed above pays little or no attention
to Isheagu nor the Uzeh Festival. Nevertheless, the aspect of the work that
deals with Igbo culture and tradition before the coming of Christianity is very
comprehensive and considerable.
Click “DOWNLOAD NOW” below to get the complete Projects
FOR QUICK HELP CHAT WITH US NOW!
+(234) 0814 780 1594
Login To Comment