Christian Missionaries' Influences on í–hna Traditional Institution in Ikwerre: Negotiating the Insider/Outsider Perspectives

Abstract

There is an increased awareness to retain some traditionalinstitutions of Africa. This is because substantially Africa has been maimed and dehumanized by the Christian missionaries andtheir protégés as one whose footmarks are not in the sands of time. This narrative fostered the illusionary views that Africa has no history, culture, no religion, and of course, no ethics. However, there arevital institutions and structures which sustained the African before the arrival of Europeans and literacy skills, among which is the Ohna traditional institution among the people of Ikwerre of the Northeastern Niger Delta.  With the transformation of Christianity by the militant pneumatological type in Africa in the 21st Century, there seems to be a completeeffacement of traditional beliefs and practices. This work examines the story of í–hafrom the perspectives of the insider against the resurgence of Christianity today.  Making use of historical research, and supplemented with ethnographic data, the paper avers that í–hna is alive and well despite the outside factors which tendto occlude it into obscurity. The paper is sanguine that what is needed is dialogue and mutual enrichment of both the í–hna and Christianity so that Christianity will find resonances with Ikwerre forms and metaphors and Ikwerre people will not suffer identity crisis or belongingness