Igbo

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A group of Igbo people in traditional attire, including beaded crowns and necklaces, stand outdoors holding flowers and a ceremonial fan, paying respects in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Four Igbo women in patterned skirts and headwraps perform a traditional dance outdoors, wearing ankle rattles and holding percussive instruments, with a crowd in the background.

An Igbo woman wearing a patterned headwrap sits at a table holding notebooks while a man writes on papers during compulsory registration in Lagos, Nigeria. Other people are visible in the background.

Map of Africa highlighting the location of Biafra, the former secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, shown in orange within Nigeria and bordered by Cameroon to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Surrounding countries and the continent's outline provide geographic context.

Rows of young Igbo volunteer soldiers, many shirtless, stand in formation during the Nigerian Civil War in Biafra, 1968, with more people gathered in the background.

maiden spirit mask

Ornate leaded bronze staff head from Igbo Ukwu, Nigeria, featuring intricate openwork patterns and loops adorned with colored glass and stone beads, displayed on a stand.

Igbo: Media

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Images

A group of Igbo people in traditional attire, including beaded crowns and necklaces, stand outdoors holding flowers and a ceremonial fan, paying respects in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Igbo people pay their respects after the death of Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa.

© Ian Langsdon—EPA/Shutterstock.com

Four Igbo women in patterned skirts and headwraps perform a traditional dance outdoors, wearing ankle rattles and holding percussive instruments, with a crowd in the background.

Traditional dance

Igbo women dancing with ankle rattels and other traditional instruments, depicted...

© Historia/Shutterstock.com

An Igbo woman wearing a patterned headwrap sits at a table holding notebooks while a man writes on papers during compulsory registration in Lagos, Nigeria. Other people are visible in the background.

An Igbo woman attending compulsory registration in Lagos, Nigeria, on August 29, 1967.

© Central Photo News, Lagos, Nigeria—Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Map of Africa highlighting the location of Biafra, the former secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, shown in orange within Nigeria and bordered by Cameroon to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Surrounding countries and the continent's outline provide geographic context.

Biafra (1967–70)

Map showing the Republic of Biafra, which existed from 1967 to 1970.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Rows of young Igbo volunteer soldiers, many shirtless, stand in formation during the Nigerian Civil War in Biafra, 1968, with more people gathered in the background.

Volunteer soldiers in Biafra.

© Romano Cagnoni—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

maiden spirit mask

maiden spirit mask

Maiden spirit mask, southern Igbo Ekpe society, Nigeria.

Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul B. Taylor (78.118.6), www.brooklynmuseum.org.

Ornate leaded bronze staff head from Igbo Ukwu, Nigeria, featuring intricate openwork patterns and loops adorned with colored glass and stone beads, displayed on a stand.

Leaded bronze ceremonial object, thought to have been the head of a staff, decorated with colored beads of glass and stone, 9th century, from Igbo Ukwu, Nigeria

© Werner Forman—Universal Images Group/Getty Images

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