Clan System in Igboland: The Traditional Imperatives
Table of Contents
In the article, Nigeria's
Diversity and the South-East/South-South Peripheral Inclusions: Biafra's raison
d'etre, Igbo people, and territory were briefly discussed as embodied
in the notional term, Biafra. I will refer readers to that article if they want
to find out more about Igboland and its territories. In this article, my main
concern is to discuss the clan system in Igboland as a long-established and
commanding phenomenon.
What is a Clan?
Before moving any further, it will be relevant to give
a few understandings of what clan means. What is a clan? According to R.N
Sharma,
“clan is a collection of ‘unilateral’ families whose
members believe themselves to be the common descendants of a real or mythical
ancestor.”
Then Majumdar and Madan defined clan as:
a combination of a few lineages and descents that may be ultimately traced to a mythical ancestor, who may be a human or human-like animal, plant, or even animate.
These two definitions do not entirely summarize the clan
system in Igboland. I believe Sharma, Majumdar and Madan's views on clan might be
based on India’s worldviews and theogony. Hence, the idea of clanship being
mythical and totemic is not Igbo-like.
If mythical is understood in the sense of a
traditional or legendary story about the people's ancestral origins and the
facts explaining the ancestors' existence, roles, influences, authorities, and
power they wielded, then the Igbo clan system is mythical. However, it is not
mythical in the sense that it is a tradition or custom that is false, to which
the people spuriously cling onto it.
Clan System in Igboland
For the Igbo, the clan can be considered as a gathering of
families who claim to have a common ancestry. These families are constitutive of
what is known as ‘Umunna’.
‘Umu’ means ‘children’ and ‘nna’ means ‘father’. On the
opposite spectrum is ‘umunne’. The term ‘nne’ means ‘mother’. It could be said
that several 'umunne' make up an 'umunna'. Literally, ‘umunna’ means ‘children
of the father’, and ‘umunne’ means ‘children of the mother’.
Igbo clanship is based on real not imaginary people or totems. It
constitutes a whole lot of groups, such as ‘umuada’ (literally means ‘children
of daughters’ but it is a group reserved for the first daughters of the families
that have been married out of the clan into another clan or community). By
extension, the Igbo clan system includes other family ties, such as ‘ndiogo’ (the
in-laws), ‘ndi-ikwu na ibe’ (extended family relatives both from one's mother
and father's side), mates, friends, and well-wishers.
As such, Igbo clanship may not be restricted to the immediate and
extended families that see themselves as Umunna, it leaves its door open to
in-laws, friends, and well-wishers. The families co-jointly form a whole with a
common and/or associated ancestry. For example, when a woman is married from
another clan into the clan, she becomes part of the clan (umunna) by marriage
and raises children with her husband who is a member of the clan. Igbo clan is
formed by people from many sides.
The female children of the clan are married out to
other clans or communities. Even a daughter who is married out to another clan or
community still refers to herself as a member of the clan, especially in these
words: ‘Ndi be nna m’ that is, people from
my father’s place or point of origin. Assuredly, a woman who has
issues with her husband can go back or return to her father’s home until the
issue is resolved or until she thinks it is safe to go back to her husband. The
point here is that even when a woman is married out of the clan, she still
considers herself a member of her father’s clan.
Umunna-Umuada Structure
In Igbo, clan often refers to the father side of the
family, especially in the term ‘umunna’. This denotes the patriarchal nature of
Igbo society. It could not be called umunne but umunna. Hence, the oldest male
in the clan becomes the head of families, and he in turn represents the clan in
meetings of elders, in kindred gatherings, and in decision-making in the village
and town. He is regarded as a sage or perhaps a source of wisdom for the clan. He
must be someone worthy of respect, and a person of integrity and truth
otherwise, no member of the clan will listen to him when he speaks. He
symbolizes the people’s attachment to their ancestral lineage.
The Umunna or clan play a vital role in the communities
and village. The College of Umunna shapes and structures the society in terms of
conventions, justice, lore, feasts, and the governing of the people. They help
in the administration of the town, the counting of the year, the fixing of Yam
festivals, marriage regulations, and customs.
The Umuada is not
left out in the Igbo clan system. They are the government themselves. Though they have
been married out to other clans or communities, they still wield power and
influence in their places of origin. Among many of their influences, they act
like peacemakers or mediators when there are cases involving the wives married
into their clan (their father’s clan). They guide them to the norms of the
family and any wife who misbehaves is either helped or punished.
In essence, every Igbo person belongs to a clan.
He/she is from a clan. This idea is often traced to the name of their first
father who married two or three or even four wives or more. And these wives in
turn have children (male and female).
Marriage in the clan is exogamous. The female child is
married out to other clans, but the male remains and marries from other clans.
However, not all female children might be fortunate to have husbands. Those
who did not marry stayed at their different fathers’ homes and raised children if
they wished. The clan membership grows in number as a result of reproductive
propagation through generations. The younger generation replaces the older as
they become weak and perhaps die.
In the Igbo clan system, there is continuity. The younger generation picks up the baton handed over by the elders of the clans. This baton is the mores, lore, customs, traditions, and genealogy.
