Igbo Tribe

Origins / Location : Nigeria Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.

Names : Also spelled Ibo and historically also Iboe, Ebo, Eboe, Eboans, Heebo, natively Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò

Languages : Igbo, Igboid, Nigerian Pidgin, Nigerian English

Religion : Christianity, Omenala/Odinala

Young Igbo maskers, initiation ceremony, Ifogu Nkporo masquerade, Obohia, Nkporo-Igbo. Photo by G. I. Jones, 1930s.

Young Igbo maskers, initiation ceremony, Ifogu Nkporo masquerade, Obohia, Nkporo-Igbo. Photo by G. I. Jones, 1930s.

An Igbo man from Agukwu Nri decorated with what appears to be ùlì, a semi-permanent dye from a plant and a system of symbols of the same name. Photographed by Northcote Thomas, c. 1910-11. MAA Cambridge.

An Igbo man from Agukwu Nri decorated with what appears to be ùlì, a semi-permanent dye from a plant and a system of symbols of the same name. Photographed by Northcote Thomas, c. 1910-11. MAA Cambridge.

1930s. Jones’s book The Art of Southeastern Nigeria from 1984. A group of arusi figures from the Nri-Awka Igbo.

1930s. Jones’s book The Art of Southeastern Nigeria from 1984. A group of arusi figures from the Nri-Awka Igbo.

Left Body painting Fugar, presentday Edo State Nigeria. Photographed by Northcote W. Thomas in 1909 Right Two women making uli’ Achalla Anambra State Nigeria

Left Body painting Fugar, presentday Edo State Nigeria. Photographed by Northcote W. Thomas in 1909 Right Two women making uli’ Achalla Anambra State Nigeria

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Boy standing beside two lifesized wooden Igbo figures

Boy standing beside two lifesized wooden Igbo figures

An mgburuichi, an Igbo person with ichi marks associated with Nri. Photographed by the British colonial government anthropologist Northcote Thomas, c. 1910-1911. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.

An mgburuichi, an Igbo person with ichi marks associated with Nri. Photographed by the British colonial government anthropologist Northcote Thomas, c. 1910-1911. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.

An Igbo man from Achala, p.d. Anambra State, photographed by British colonial government anthropologist Northcote Thomas, 1910-1911. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.

An Igbo man from Achala, p.d. Anambra State, photographed by British colonial government anthropologist Northcote Thomas, 1910-1911. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.

An Igbo girl photographed in Nibo and noted as ‘Nwauko’ in Northcote Thomas’ photographic register, c. 1910-11.

An Igbo girl photographed in Nibo and noted as ‘Nwauko’ in Northcote Thomas’ photographic register, c. 1910-11.

Igbo girl with uli body art, photo by Liz Willis 1983

Igbo girl with uli body art, photo by Liz Willis 1983

Young woman being painted with Uri, photograph by Liz Willis

Young woman being painted with Uri, photograph by Liz Willis

[Igbo] Dancers at Awka in the Onitsha Hinterland Between Niger and the Cross River Albert F Calvert (1910) Nigeria and Its Tin Fields.

[Igbo] Dancers at Awka in the Onitsha Hinterland Between Niger and the Cross River Albert F Calvert (1910) Nigeria and Its Tin Fields.

Young Igbo Mask Dancers Wearing Net Masks and Raffia Costumes. Eastern Region, Nigeria. — Lorenzo Dow Turner (Black American), 1951. Smithsonian.

Young Igbo Mask Dancers Wearing Net Masks and Raffia Costumes. Eastern Region, Nigeria. — Lorenzo Dow Turner (Black American), 1951. Smithsonian.

An Igbo girl from Nibo, present-day Anambra State, with ùlì designs on her skin. Photographed by Northcote Thomas c. 1911. MAA Cambridge

An Igbo girl from Nibo, present-day Anambra State, with ùlì designs on her skin. Photographed by Northcote Thomas c. 1911. MAA Cambridge

An Igbo woman from Nibo, present-day Anambra State. Photographed by Northcote Thomas c. 1911. MAA Cambridge.

An Igbo woman from Nibo, present-day Anambra State. Photographed by Northcote Thomas c. 1911. MAA Cambridge.