CULTURAGRAM IN FAMILY I am from Owerri, Imo State southern Nigeria, which population is 5.5 million, the language is Igbo, Igbos is subfamily of the Niger-Congo language, the family and our religion is tribal. We Igbos are the second largest group of people living in Southern Nigeria. We are socially and culturally diverse, consisting of many subgroups, however, we live in a scattered group of villages. I was married and I have a daughter, she was three years old and had only seen her father when she was two years, but before she was born and after giving birth to her he did not come to Nigeria, except when she was two years. So I thought it was time to go and live with him in the United State as a family, which did not work out …show more content…
Each community has different festivals celebrated in honor of ancient deities or to mark an important event in the history of the area. There are different festivals to usher in the harvest season of which the most culture. Part of the culture of the state is the traditional hospitality to visitors, which begins with the presentation of kola nuts to the visitor. The kola nut signifies that the visitor is heartily welcomed. The ritual of the presentation of the kola nut is consummated with the offering of prayers and thanksgiving or petition to the supreme God and other deities, for the protection of the visitor and the host. Masquerades and festivals. In the past the elders used masquerades as a means of maintaining peace and order, it is also used as law enforcement agents, this is how it works during the festivals or rites, or any social gathering. The masqueraders would walk up to certain individuals and loudly expose any bad habits, crimes or misbehavior of that person. The masquerades identity is a well-kept secret and performed exclusively by men, masquerades comes out on occasional events such as community native calendars, during festivals, annual festivals, burin rites and the Igbos beliefs, they represent some dead relatives. The calendars comprises of four market days (Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo) the beginning and ending of the year are marked in …show more content…
My future choices were guided by my past life experiences due to my upbringing in my matrimonial family set up, and had so many insults coupled with the fact that my friends with whom we grew up together had finished their college education and I am still struggling with my adult education. I had received insults about not being a college graduate and I had to decide that it is time for me to pursue my education. I have seen my extended family members whom are college graduates and in love with them each time they visit our home and they in turn always encourage me or offered me an assistance to further my education. I am a single mother, I work as a CNA, and have been separated for 10 years. After a careful thought and so much consideration, I had to summon courage to proceed and continue my college education.
I had a variety of fears in my heart in furthering my education. Firstly, I had my younger ones to take care of in Nigerian and other parts of the country. I was responsible for their high school education. I make sure that my younger siblings continued and completed their education. As the eldest daughter of my family, I had promised my late father before his death that I will make it humanly and financially possible to take care of my younger ones until they are of age to take care of themselves or until they get married and be
The mask’s purpose to teach young girls about proper womanhood. While worn in ceremony, the girls learn through observing the mask wearer dancing and taking in the stories, types of dances, proper way to care for their families, and providing for their family like
The day begins with the official announcement of Jonkonnu by the Town Crier, which is followed by revelers dancing for people on their doorstep to collect donations.(Mims). The Town Crier usually yells a chant such as “John Canoe is Coming John Canoe is coming!”(Mims). According to Mckown, Participants in the celebrations dress in their best clothing, or in a costume. Typical costumes include horse heads,horned masks, and tails which are usually made of cloth,wood,colorful rags and leather(Mckown). The most important figure known as the Rag Man, is covered head to toe in colorful rags and is often danced around once the celebration begins; however, the Rag Man’s importance pales in comparison to his significance during the era of slavery(Mims). The Rag Man essentially had the social hierarchy of a white man during the short period in which he was allowed to shake his slave master’s hand(Mims). This was unheard of the rest of the year and anything of this sort would be devastating to the owner’s reputation among other whites(Mims). The celebration begins with people dressed up in their costumes dancing to music and the beat of the drums. Children dance to the chant “Funga alafia, ashay ashay! Funga alafia, ashay ashay!” which roughly translates to “I welcome you into my heart”(Mims). The festivities spread throughout town and can be heard from any corner of Tryon Palace.
Leading up to the celebration the girls are taught a certain dance that must be performed at the ceremony. “the new initiates are brought into town for the first time since the initiation process began…” At the ceremony the Mende girls wear a Sowei mask and costume which is considered to be the embodiment of the river spirt Sowo. Once the mask and costume is on the person transforms and her actions are no longer hers but are the actions of the spirt Sowo. A sacred dance is performed and dance moves represent the strength and power of woman as members in the Mende community. “Sowo mask are divided into three structural components- the neck, face, and coiffure. Carved from a single block of lightweight wood, the masks weigh only two to four pounds. The mask displays a shiny black surface representative of the value assigned to smooth dark skin.” The rings around the masks neck demonstrates a trait that is considered beautiful in Mende cultures. Every mask has a different hairstyle, representing the style of the woman the mask is made for, you can see items such as shells, metal and claws on the coiffure.
This type of ethnicity is rooted in immigrants of European descent. It could be the Feast of Saint Anthony or Columbus Day for the Italians. The Kosciusko Day Parade for the Polish, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the St Patrick's Day celebrations for the Irish, the Greek festivals and carnivals held at the various Greek Orthodox churches and German festivals that abound during Oktoberfest in the five county area in the course of a year. These are parades and celebrations are attended by county commissioners, mayors and governors and are usually televised on the local network. They are functions that celebrate the ethnicity of the people. In many cases, the participants dress in traditional garb and eat traditional foods.
I was raised in an encouraging household where both of my parents greatly valued education. Although they were high school graduates, neither could afford to attend college; a combination of family and financial woes ultimately halted their path. As a result, my parents frequently reminded me that getting a good education meant better opportunities for my future. To my parents, that seemed to be the overarching goal: a better life for me than the one they had. My parents wanted me to excel and supported me financially and emotionally of which the former was something their parents were not able to provide. Their desire to facilitate a change in my destiny is one of many essential events that contributed to my world view.
I am Nursing major and with that degree to become a Nurse Practitioner who specializes in the Cardiovascular System to reduce the rate of heart diease in America. I am a hardworking individual and I take my academics very seriously. I understand that I am at school for a purpose and know my purpose is to further my education. I am just trying to make it. My parents always told me growing up “ In order to get something you never had that I will have to do things I have never done.” No one prepared me for college, because I am a first generation college student. In addition to being a first generation college student ; I am also a first generation high school graduate. I use my my parents trials and tribulations as my motivation, because I want
The only person in my family that went to college after high school was my grandmother. I do not want to be just another family member to not go to college; I do not want to give up my dreams, because I do not have the education for them. I want to be able to say I did it for me, for my dreams. In the paragraph above I explained a little about my life when I was little and what that taught me was that life doesn 't always go as you might want it to; with that in mind college would be my choice, it would be what I want. The reasons I want to go to college may not seem significant enough to you, but too me they mean so much more than what you will understand. There is this quote, I do not know who said it, but I think it means a lot; “ You were born to be real, not to be Perfect”, this quote works perfectly with what I am trying to tell you. I believe that everyone should live by that quote. I am not going to tell you what I think you want to hear, but what I believe you need to
When I was little, mother always told me, “Take on the chances that I never had and make me proud.” I want to start by attending college in order to show my mother that I will continue with the education she was not able to have. Because my mother is always my focus; I go to college to show her that I want to give back to her all these years and time she spent on me. She did not give up on me, nor did she give up on herself. I realized that my mother tried the best she could in order to give me the life I have right now. She is my role model and inspiration. I want to prove to her that raising me all these years was worth all her time and effort. As her first child, I want
Nigeria Nigeria had an eventful history. More than 2,000 years ago, the Nok culture in the present plateau state worked iron and produced experienced terracotta sculpture. The history of the northern cities of Kano and Katsina dates back to approximately 1000 A.D. In the following centuries, Hausa Kingdoms and the Bornu Empire became important terminals of north-south trade between North African Berbers and the forest people, exchanging slaves, ivory, and other products. The Yoruba Kingdom of Oyo was founded in 1400s.
I was taking my time with my decision and my parents were not happy that I was home instead of joining college. They then asked me to take A-Levels in law and business which I reluctantly agreed to in order to please them and get them off my back. Shortly after enrolling, I realized I found law really tough but I was determined to not waste my parents money so I persevered on. Fast-forward two years later, Im still trying to pass my Law papers. Finally I decided to tell my parents that I could not do this course anymore and they agreed. So for the next few months I was evaluating all my options on what to next. I decided to enroll myself in Help University Foundation in arts program because I felt it was a program that I could excel in could lead me to a degree in Accounting & Finance which is my goal. As an extra incentive for me achieve my goal, I paid for part of my fees when I enrolled in order to keep me motivated and
The question to be answered in this paper is to what extent has the resource curse affected the Nigerian economy and government? Resource curse is a term that states the observation that countries that have a plethora of natural resources (e.g. oil, coal, diamonds etc.) usually have unstable political and economic structures (Sachs, 827). Nigeria is categorized as a nation that has succumb to the resource curse as it has an abundance of, and an overdependence on, oil, and a decreasing gross domestic product (GDP) (Samuels, 321-322). Nigeria is known for its specialization and overdependence on oil and according to Ross, nations of such nature tend to have high levels of poverty, large class gaps, weak educational systems, more corruption within the government, and are less likely to become democracies (Ross, 356). The political instability and regime change in Nigeria will be observed in this paper. The resource curse has greatly weakened Nigeria as it has led to the numerous regime changes, the hindering of the nation’s democratization, corruption in the government, as well as, civil conflict.
The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe displays a strong significance based solely on Nigerian culture and how it slowly evolved due to European immigrants. Both culture and gender play a huge role in the way of life in the Ibo village. As it was a common custom in the past, the male was dominant in the family. Achebe tells of an Igbo tribesman, Okonkwo, and his prosperous life in the village of Umuofia. Being prized of personal achievements such as defeating Amalinze the Cat, Okonkwo is expected to accomplish much more in his lifetime, but will his actions turn out to ruin his reputation and furthermore? Throughout the novel, Okonkwo displays various actions in response to the European invasion of his culture
All masks have bizarre characteristics that make all of them the all the more fascinating. Most masks characteristic yawning, distorted mouths; vile, swelling eyes; and brilliant, vivid colors. The local masks could be isolated into a few classes relying upon their employments. A few masks are utilized throughout precursor love, certain profound ceremonies and recuperating functions. There are masks that are identified with chasing, richness and even expulsion. The expulsion masks are utilized throughout funerals and a custom known as the tovil. Such functions are still held in specific parts of the island and might be very fascinating to watch. The expulsion is performed by the edura, or shaman, who turns into the exemplification of the demon once he wears his mask. The custom is performed around evening time by torchlight to the musical thumping of drums. An alternate custom that is usually seen in the southern coast is the yakka natima, or fallen angel move customs. Here conceal people perform conventional Sri Lankan dances. The masks are made of wood and are normally cut by a nearby shaman. At that point they are painted utilizing regular ...
Many years ago I remember my parents telling me that in order for me to become successful a college education was a must. They always told me that if I wasn’t in school I could no longer live at home. Both of my parents attended college but neither of them finished. They did not want me to go down that same road because they really regret not getting their degrees.
What is culture? Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving