Greetings great people.
Hope you're doing great?
Every tribe has that belief that has been past from generation to generation, and how that has affected the mind of people, their views on things, the perspective of which they think. Beliefs shapes the mind of people on certain areas in life.
The ijaw people also known as the izon people, the ijaw are native to the niger delta region, they are believed to be a part of the earliest settlers in what is known today as the southern Nigeria.
In each culture, there are beliefs that have been passed down through generations, in this era you probably find it difficult to relate to them but they still practiced. Tell us about it and if you feel it should be abolished.
Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/BA1VTsSH53TxUsjW8
With the coming of western civilisation the present day ijaw seems to have changed from traditional worshippers to Christianity.
However there are still some among them who still believes in their traditional religious practice. In the traditional religion of the ijaw veneration of ancestors play a central role, in the ijaw culture it is related to our belief that the dead have a continued existence and may posses the ability to influence the fortune of the living. While water spirits known as "owuamapu" figure prominently in the ijaw pantheon.
And also the ijaws practice a form of divination called " igbadai" it is a medium of interrogating the recently dead people to discover the cause of their death.
I can remember when my mum dead, some of the elders in my family came and said, my mum didn't die a natural death that they are going to find out the cause of her death, medically it was showing low blood pressure, but the elders in my family keeps Insisting there was something behind it, I think some persons still practice such.
They also believe that water spirit are like humans in having personal strength and shortcoming and that they dwell among the water spirit before being born.
Traditionally the ijaws hold celebration to honour the spirits, lasting for several days and the highlight the festival is the role of masquerade. Here men wearing elaborate outfits and carved masks dance to the beat of the drums and manifest the influence of the water spirits through the quality and intensity of their dancing.
Particularly spectacular masqueradars are taken to actually be in the possession of the particular spirit on whose behalf they are dancing.
Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/ELBayDFQ1DEXfFdJ9
The ijaw people also practice ritual acculturation, where a non-native from a different tribe goes through specific rites to become ijaws.
Unlike others cultures where it is believed that the gods are flawless and all powerful, the ijaws believes their idols are like human, they believe their deities flaws as well as a good side.
Why I feel such beliefs should be abolished.
I feel these beliefs should be abolished cause I don't see any reason why people should be feeling that humans are birthed out of water spirits, it doesn't make any sense.
Am happy that Christianity has gotten it's way to capture most persons, so such beliefs are rare now but few persons still practice it. If these beliefs are being abolished, I think the ijaw tribe as a whole will be better and it will create a warm atmosphere for the next generation and they don't have to suffer for anything.
I don't like spiritual stuffs cause being too spiritual can be make you think of the opposite always, you'll always feel something is wrong even when they seem right. We are what we believe.
Thank you for reading..