Marriage and Lineage Segmentation in Ibibioland

Authors

  • J.O. Charles University of Calabar

Abstract

This article discusses the dynamics of Ibibio lineage structure. It presents ethnographic evidence that fission of maximal lineages (ekpuk) into minor lineages (ufok) in Ibibioland was principally a function of marriages involving agnatic kin. Such a marriage caused initial disruption in the lineage because it led to the creation of a new minor lineage with a separate ancestral shrine (iso ekpo) from that hitherto worshiped by the inclusive unit. The paradox of Ibibio marriage involving agnatic kin, which this article demonstrates, is that the initial disruption is ameliorated by new but sacred kinship bonds arising from the marriage which reintegrate these lineages as exogamous units at different structural levels.

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Author Biography

J.O. Charles, University of Calabar

J.O. Charles is Lecturer I in the Department of Sociology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. His doctoral research was conducted among Ibibio immigrants in Efikland, Cross River State, Nigeria. He has also done field work with the central Ibibio of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. His research interests "span social and medical issues with a bias towards culture change." He received his Ph.D. in 1995.

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Published

2022-06-02

How to Cite

Charles, J. (2022). Marriage and Lineage Segmentation in Ibibioland. Anthropologica, 38(1), 81–92. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/2024

Issue

Vol. 38 No. 1 (1996)

Section

Articles

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