Efik Traditional Concepts of Death and the Hereafter

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Periodical article

Title:	Efik Traditional Concepts of Death and the Hereafter
Author:	Offiong, Essien A.
Year:	1987
Periodical:	Africana Marburgensia
Volume:	Special issue
Issue:	12
Pages:	45-54
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Efik death rites Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft
Abstract:	The traditional religion of the Efik people of Calabar in the southeastern part of Nigeria has undergone considerable change as a result of contact with Western civilization and Christianity. The author highlights Efik traditional concepts of death and the hereafter as one aspect of the traditional religious system and examines the extent to which some elements of these concepts and the funeral and burial rites with which they are associated have so far responded to change. Twentieth-century Efik funeral and burial rites are a synthesis of the various Western cultural strands with which they have come into contact. However, elements of continuity have been maintained with the traditional rites and although a great number of Efik people prefer to be buried according to Christian rites, many of them still believe in the traditional concepts of death and the hereafter. Ref., sum. in French.