Passing down our culture

KWENU! Our culture, our future

Passing down our culture

ACHO ORABUCHI

Dallas, Texas

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Most African immigrants to America generally agree that their children need to have a functional knowledge or a modicum of African culture. Parents of African origin indulge in all effort to provide their children with at least a smattering of African culture. It’s believed that African culture, especially the Nigerian culture among those resident abroad is fast fading away and to salvage the situation, it becomes imperative that our children must have some degree of our culture. For our Nigerian culture, especially the Igbo culture, to stay alive long after we’re gone, our children must have a functional knowledge of the culture.

However, imparting the Igbo culture to our children has been a daunting task for Africans, especially Nigerian parents in the Diaspora due to the enormous influence of the dominant culture. The poser then becomes, what is culture and how best do we impart Igbo culture to our children?

Culture

There is no standard definition of culture. In the same token, theories of culture as they relate to various realms of life abound. Simply, culture is a system of shared mores, values, symbols, beliefs, customs, etc. that have been transmitted from generation to generation, which a group uses to operate within and sometimes outside its environment. It is simply a way of life of a people.

Culture is learned; it is best learned in its original environment. Also, culture could be exported. However, it is the relic of culture that is exported for the most part. In some cases the mainstream culture could be borrowed. The origins of some foods we eat in this country are typical examples of borrowed culture. Culture also gives us an insight about people in a specific group. While individual behavior provides a framework in which a culture could be observed, people’s actions provide the context in which culture could be abstracted.

Scientifically, while DNA or one’s genetic makeup controls one’s physical characteristics called traits; culture and ecological factors are the determinants for behavioral tendencies of individuals within a group. This is why what is good or bad is culturally relative. Nevertheless, there are certain variables that are culturally universal. The acquisition of knowledge is culturally universal. Every culture values success.

Interestingly, culture of a place is most appreciated with the knowledge of the gamut of elements associated with it. Culture of a society could not be fully understood without its elements, which have their individual roles and communicative meaning. Some of the elements of culture are symbol, language, cultural traits, religion, music, dance, food, fashion (clothing), and a host of others.

One of the elements of culture has to do with fashion. The clothing people wear in various societies has a communicative symbol. What one wears in some societies is a reflection of one’s activity and status in that society. There are different types of attires for different occasions. Our children are most exposed to our attires without understanding their communicative meanings.

Undoubtedly, fashion is derived from culture. In other words, culture, including environmental factors, dictates what people in a specific group wear. In the past, we rarely know how people dress except through pictures or when we could afford to visit the culture. Much of the information we acquire about other cultures came from cultural anthropologists who invested resources studying various cultures. However, due to globalization and advances in cutting edge technology, we are much more exposed to other cultures, including the attires of various cultures. No other industry could one find more mosaic culture than in the food and fashion industries. The fashion industry seems to capture the tapestry of global culture.

One could fairly say that the fashion industry is the medley of culture epitomized. What is contemporary fashion cannot be without the elegant looks of the models and the electronic media? Besides the looks, cultural diversity seems to be reflected in the fashion world. Obviously, other cultures have influenced the fashion industry today. Gaining cultural traction at a rapid pace, the fashion world is replete with faces of models from around the world. The primacy of culture is very much evident in every fashion.

Teaching Igbo Culture

In any case, in teaching Igbo culture to our children, we must utilize a holistic approach to capture all the elements of Igbo culture. We must teach the communicative meanings of elements of Igbo culture, especially the significance of our traditional attire. Also, in teaching the culture we must avoid misinterpreting or ignoring cultural signals that may create an environment for a cultural clash.

In various parts of the United States, Igbo communities have found a variety of ways to impart Igbo culture to their American children.

Recently Umuahia National Association held its National Convention in Dallas where members across the nation brought their children with them to Dallas. Among the activities the association organized for the children was the essay competition. It organized two categories of essay competition that required prior research in Igbo culture.

The first category was for ages 12-15 who wrote on “The challenges of growing up as a Nigerian-American youth in America.” The children that fell under ages 16-25 wrote on “Traditional Marriage in Igboland.” I was privileged to score the essays and it gave me an insight on the extent of our children’s knowledge of the culture and the implications of living two cultures. One of the effective ways to teach our culture is interest-driven research. We have to lay the foundation for our children to independently learn about the culture.

A chieftain of Umuahia National Association in America, Geoffrey Nzeadibe stated the objectives of their convention. He said, “The other objective is to reel in our youths here in the US to get acquainted with our culture and with each other. We think that the essays we have given them to write will cause them to do some research on them and there by get them exposed to some aspects of our culture, especially to the older ones. For the early teens we want to find out what they are thinking. We also plan to institute the youth organizations so that they too will be engaged whenever we convene in any city.”

Chief Kingsley Megwara, a candidate for the Abia State House of Assembly, echoed and stressed the importance of gathering together with our children in a situation like this. Chief Megwara stated that the environment provided the children the opportunity to mingle and socialize with other children from similar culture. It’s a good atmosphere that provided them with the opportunity to learn from each other.

On the same day, Igbo Community Association of Nigeria (ICAN) in Dallas, Texas celebrated Igbo Day with a showcase of repertoire of Igbo culture. The aims of Igbo Day celebration this year were two-fold: On one hand, the Igbo community wanted to share our rich culture with the community at large. Secondly, it was a means of continuous exposure of our culture to our children through various activities, including cultural performances.

Speaking about Igbo Day, Steve A. Nwaogwugwu said, “Igbo Day Celebration is a day of remembrance in the lives of all Igbos both living and dead. This is a day we must appreciate and be thankful to our forefathers and fathers who made it possible and passed the burning candle to us. They left a legacy for us and that we must pass to generations behind us. We must thank God for letting us appreciate the hard work of our fathers and fore fathers.”

Some of the performances were thrilling to the extent to garner awards. The following groups performed wonders: Mkpokiti Dance Group led by Lady C.O.C. Maduagwu, Ikwuano Development Union War Dance led by Maazi Philip Ndukwe, and Ogene Children Dance led by Loolo Enuma Ginigame.

Atty. Edwin Nwokocha said, “We are profoundly very proud on how Ndi-Igbo turned out enmasse to celebrate our cultural heritage. The ICAN cultural exhibition saw great display of our cultural dances. Our Children, women and men performed and entertained our guests to the thrill of old days Igbo Day Celebrations in all parts of Nigeria. Please note that all groups that performed are winners because the goal is not about winning but to continue to pass our culture to our children from generation to the next generation. Thank you to all the performers. You indeed made Ndi-Igbo proud.”

Also for over five years Igbo Community Association of Nigeria (ICAN-DFW) has been teaching Igbo children and Americans Igbo language and culture during the summer. Dan Ofoegbu has been running the program. The last time I spoke with him he said, “The methodology that I use in transmitting the Igbo culture and language to our children includes and not limited to use of books, videos, story telling, instruction, and folk songs. With some or all of these I am able to accomplish my specific objective at each meeting.”

Culture is truly a window through which we could see a people and vice versa. It’s also part of who we are and it deserves to be passed on from one generation to another. We cannot afford to drop the ball; it’s our individual responsibility to ensure that our culture lives on.

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