Abiriba 101: The meaning of “mang” in Igwamang

The Abiriba tradition of Igwamang may soon go the way of the dodo. Some Christians, without the basic knowledge of the essence of this ancient tradition, think it is a ceremony for heathens since the Abiriba word Igwamang literally translates: “To fulfill a promise to the spirits.” Using the back-formation Mang (spirit/gods) from Ɔku-ali-mang (which should translate to: “Fire of the land of the spirits,” but is now “Hell”), the word has assumed an ominous connotation. And so, any expression with the -mang morpheme invariably comes across as ill-omened.

Really, the Abiriba language has so many short cuts for brevity of language. For example: Ife me m’ɔkpa “Something (happened) injured my——” (where Ɔkpa could mean: toe, instep, sole, ankle, heel, calf, shin, knee, thigh, and even the whole leg). This can be daunting for a non-native speaker of the language.

We could explore the concept of mang by using its various Mmuɔ general Igbo usage. Consider: mmuɔ ɔjɔɔ “evil spirit”; mmuɔ ozi “angels/messenger spirits” Chineke bu mmuɔ“God is a spirit.” Analogously, Mang has many nuances of meaning in Abiriba language:Mang fe ri m’ “The gods had pity for me;” Ɔ mang ogbeyi kpu ghu “You are created by a god (spirit?) of poverty;” Ihwu mang “Shrine;” I ŋu mang “to swear (an oath)” etc.

Recall that when the European colonialists came to our shores in search of things to steal, and their missionaries tagged along in search of souls to win for Christ, they gave the proverbial dog a bad name in order to hang it. Africans and their cultures were variously described as fetish and primitive—all, names made up to justify their forceful enslavement of a tribe of people. Anything that did not match the European world view was abominable. The missionaries and their non-Abiriba native followers and interpreters translated Abiriba words based on their rudimentary knowledge of the morphology of Abiriba language. Even the name of the community “Abiriba,” probably spelled by a non-native speaker is pronounced, Ɛbiriba. Others include: Aso (Ɛsɔ), Agwu (Ɛgwu) etc.

And for Igwamang in Abiriba; it used to be that age grades (usually between the ages of thirty five and forty five (now fifty five) served a four-year compulsory community youth and military service protecting the homeland from aggressors. A lot of the men would die in wars. And so, it is a given that members would usually go to the Ihwu mang “Shrine” to make promises of the kind of sacrifices they would perform if they came back from the wars unscathed. The Igwamang is that attempt “to fulfill the promise to the spirits,” each usually in a festive mood eloquent of that understanding that Mang fe ri m’ “The gods had pity for me.”

Before the arrival of Bible-based religion, the Abiriba people knew God. They hadCh’ukwu “Big God”(differentiated from lesser gods like Mang Nd’okoronta); Ch’ukwu-okike  “God the creator,” Ɔbasi d’elu “God who is on high/heaven,” and of courseCh’ukwu-mbibi  “God of destruction (Devil?)” They recognized that God could not possibly be confined in a place, hence their initial aversion for the church building being “the house of God.” They also believed it was insulting to approach God frontally, making demands, and even calling him by his name.

Now that we know better, we need a group rethink, especially those of us wrapped up in Christ. Igwamang for people half-a-century old deserves going to the ‘shrine of God’ for a fulfillment of a vow we made to almighty God for keeping us that long. Since Chineke bu mmuɔ “God is a spirit,” we can still call it Igwamang. If you still feel uncomfortable with that, call it Thanksgiving. Whatever, you do; when it is your turn, perform Thanksgiving.