Changing Patterns of the Burial Custom among the Igbo: The Case for Married Women

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Periodical article

Title:	Changing Patterns of the Burial Custom among the Igbo: The Case for Married Women
Author:	Anigbo, Osmund A.C.
Year:	1991
Periodical:	Africana Marburgensia
Volume:	24
Issue:	1
Pages:	16-27
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Igbo death rites Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Women's Issues Cultural Roles Marital Relations and Nuptiality
Abstract:	Amongst the Igbo (Nigeria) there are two patterns of a married woman's burial rites. One prescribes the burial of a wife's remains at her husband's home or on his lineage land, the other imposes the return of the remains of a married woman to her natal home. The death of a married woman dramatizes the two-sided identity which is the consequence of marriage: she enjoys the protection of her husband and of her natal group. For by marrying out a woman embarks on a specific journey, which is completed by returning her remains to the place from where she set out. In this way the death of a married woman activates the corporate nature of the lineage and dramatizes the identity of the respective affinal groups. The article is based on information from a brief ethnographic survey conducted by the author in Orisaeze, a village community in the Ngo Okpalla Local Government Area of Imo State, and a four-year study in Ibagwa Aka, a village community just north of Nsukka in Anambra State. Note, ref.