Meta tags:
description=This compilation deals primarily with studies related to the Nigerian city of Onitsha, from the perspective of Richard and Helen Henderson from 1960-62.;

Headings (most frequently used words):

-

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (55), and (36), onitsha (25), this (10), helen (9), from (9), 1960 (9), for (8), 1961 (8), our (8), chapter (7), some (7), who (7), here (6), mighty (6), tree (6), contents (6), nigerian (6), igbo (6), onicha (5), not (5), nigeria (5), its (5), see (5), about (5), that (5), any (5), has (5), people (5), website (4), henderson (4), one (4), burial (4), umu (4), obi (4), cultural (4), visit (4), civil (4), war (4), history (4), you (4), top (3), with (3), chapters (3), religion (3), volume (3), odoje (3), new (3), emerges (3), ijele (3), uec (3), king (3), may (3), 1962 (3), ancient (3), main (3), page (3), right (3), publication (3), more (3), can (3), long (3), after (3), biafra (3), when (3), javascript (2), learn (2), design (2), bibliography (2), ritual (2), roles (2), women (2), african (2), contexts (2), table (2), 1992 (2), very (2), spokesman (2), aftermaths (2), ozu (2), death (2), ndi (2), style (2), crowns (2), report (2), ofo (2), ije (2), udo (2), enwezor (2), major (2), igwe (2), sought (2), but (2), seen (2), part (2), final (2), aniweta (2), okosi (2), kings (2), nation (2), visiting (2), awkuzu (2), pre (2), briefly (2), wider (2), inland (2), town (2), waterside (2), independence (2), arrive (2), early (2), colonial (2), language (2), introduction (2), deep (2), glance (2), market (2), are (2), should (2), version (2), tomorrow (2), today (2), came (2), ife (2), community (2), into (2), times (2), time (2), nor (2), current (2), enter (2), available (2), these (2), accounts (2), first (2), was (2), years (2), continue (2), died (2), much (2), have (2), were (2), 1970 (2), primarily (2), just (2), scroll, appears, disabled, your, browser, please, turn, order, fully, enjoy, how, development, raven, eye, copyright, 2026, log, admin, rhenders, email, arizona, edu, search, learning, feminisms, seven, conclusions, five, six, three, four, two, west, anthropology, dissertation, preface, american, racism, planet, pocket, scatterings, truth, memory, odu, mbanefo, brief, encounters, different, place, collapse, transformation, 1966, 1964, samuel, crowther, missionary, ethnographer, oziziani, ogboli, eke, ikwa, agusiobo, lamentation, akukalia, obiozo, june, agbu, family, ini, umuase, agbogho, nwanyi, unmarried, female, funeral, anyo, consecrating, ikenga, personal, strength, exemplars, leadership, symbolism, chronicles, harding, commission, mobilizing, support, bestowing, egwu, ota, onyejekwe, crowning, onowu, presents, elections, intervene, bestows, ezechima, selects, manifesto, competition, petitions, ani, conference, special, committee, work, matters, sin, alu, crises, resolutions, newspapers, brokers, obiekwe, protean, man, polarization, barrister, emejulu, ichi, ozo, peter, achukwu, ochanja, parties, proliferate, eze, aroli, other, royals, states, killings, iron, broken, falls, feb, umuerum, opobo, december, post, nsugbe, nne, mmanwu, viewing, black, juju, iyi, oji, nkwelle, nnobi, visits, abroad, witnessing, aguleri, ofala, festival, ancestral, house, iba, power, paradox, newcomers, experiences, realities, byron, maduegbuna, native, anthropologist, enu, otu, day, hendersons, find, shelter, approaching, ogo, ibeziako, onoli, politics, oiu, era, ethnicities, european, organized, intrusions, village, internal, frontiers, slave, trade, stereotypes, divine, umundri, land, niger, benue, worlds, nok, metallurgy, dispersion, ukwu, nri, historic, roots, precis, searching, histories, preliminary, pastward, look, robert, mcwhirter, 1905, geographical, grounding, contrasts, instabilities, modern, menu, skip, content, riverboaters, staircase, ezearoli, elders, site, hunters, their, prey, march, daughters, purify, men, funerary, paths, johnson, street, july, details, regarding, authors, also, corner, mention, pages, remain, rough, incomplete, form, decision, delay, revised, expanded, longer, preferring, present, come, them, minimally, complete, masters, put, uncertain, soon, enough, gboo, literally, remains, pregnant, carries, questions, chinua, achebe, 1998, echi, ime, taa, few, guidelines, include, which, covers, lot, ground, provide, corrective, reader, ideas, like, egypt, think, situates, accurately, ages, than, anyone, cares, know, end, central, focus, periods, plus, fragmentary, materials, afterward, try, cover, slide, detail, emergence, failed, state, tables, bar, route, far, detailed, analytical, under, heading, consult, entire, subject, outline, every, book, results, edition, earlier, will, evolve, able, illness, 2017, plug, along, 2020s, considerable, degree, built, careers, social, anthropologists, base, research, environments, owe, nexus, humanity, permanent, debt, good, subsequent, courses, lives, offering, pay, homage, all, care, cared, communities, considered, nru, during, placed, federal, government, list, beginning, around, following, defeat, rebellious, ban, due, apparently, publicly, voiced, calls, requesting, justice, former, eastern, region, creation, children, relief, fund, located, haven, connecticut, run, anne, scheffler, barbara, tapper, 1968, deals, studies, variously, related, city, perspective, richard, lived, there, returned, 1967, again, became, feasible, eight, left, seclusion, october, title, derives, enigmatic, statement, presented, above, bold, italics, words, traditionally, spoken, members, call, themselves, they, reigning, event, magnitude, occurred, meanings, must, conveyed, parable, only, later, full, facts, become, public, knowledge, understand, immediatrely, since, prime, symbolic, identifications, note, click, image, want, enlarge, now, abode, birds, sheltered, branches, fallen, contact, kingship, changing, cultures, recent, changes,

Text of the page (random words):
a mighty tree onitsha history recent accounts and changes a mighty tree onitsha history kingship and changing cultures contents about contact a mighty tree has fallen and the birds who sheltered in its branches now have no abode note click on any image you may want to enlarge the title of our website publication derives from the enigmatic statement just presented here above in bold italics these words were traditionally spoken by members of the ancient community of onitsha who call themselves ndi onicha onitsha people when they learn that a reigning king obi of onitsha nigeria has just died when an event of this magnitude has occurred its meanings must at first be conveyed in parable only much later may the full facts become public knowledge onitsha people understand this immediatrely since one of the prime symbolic identifications of the onitsha king is with a mighty tree at left obi okosi ii emerges from seclusion october 1960 this volume deals primarily with studies in about and variously related to the nigerian city of onitsha primarily from the perspective of richard and helen henderson who lived there from 1960 62 we briefly returned in 1992 long after the biafra civil war of 1967 70 when it again became feasible for us to enter nigeria see chapter eight during and for some time after the civil war we were placed on the nigerian federal government s no visit list for some years beginning around 1970 following the defeat of the rebellious nation of biafra this ban was due apparently to our publicly voiced calls requesting justice for the people of the former eastern region of nigeria and our creation of the biafra children s relief fund located in new haven connecticut and run by helen henderson anne scheffler and barbara tapper from 1968 1970 to a considerable degree helen and i built our careers as social and cultural anthropologists on the base of our research in and about onitsha and its wider environments and we owe this nexus of humanity a permanent debt for much of the good that came to us in the subsequent courses of our lives this volume is an offering in igbo ife nru to pay homage to all people who care or have cared about the communities considered here these accounts of onitsha and its contexts are not final results nor is this a first edition an earlier version of our onitsha website was available for some years and this current one will continue to evolve as long as i am able to do so helen died after a long illness in 2017 i continue to plug along in the early 2020s you can see the major tables of contents on the bar to the right here and can enter any page by that route a far more detailed analytical table of contents is available at the very top right of the page under the heading contents if you consult that you can see the entire subject outline of every chapter of the book here a few guidelines to the contents i include a deep history chapter which covers a lot of ground it should provide a corrective to any reader who has ideas like onitsha people came from egypt or ife and i think it situates the community accurately from more ancient ages than anyone cares to know into the end of colonial times the central focus is helen s and my time periods from 1960 62 plus some fragmentary materials afterward in the aftermaths chapter i do not try here to cover nigeria s slide into civil war in any detail nor the emergence of the failed state of more current times i should mention that some of the pages remain in rough and or incomplete form my decision is not to delay publication of this revised and expanded version any longer preferring to present chapters as i come to see them as minimally complete as one of our masters of language has put it tomorrow is uncertain today is soon enough echi di ime taa bu gboo literally tomorrow remains pregnant today carries questions chinua achebe 1998 for details regarding who we t he authors are see the about page also at the top right corner of the publication onitsha main market johnson street july 1962 odoje daughters purify men s funerary paths 1961 awkuzu ijele emerges 1961 ritual hunters and their prey march 1961 umu ezearoli elders arrive at burial site 1961 riverboaters staircase main market 1962 main menu skip to content 1 onitsha an introduction instabilities ancient modern the geographical grounding of cultural contrasts a pastward look robert mcwhirter s onitsha 1905 11 a glance at onitsha waterside a preliminary glance at the inland town 2 deep searching histories introduction a precis of onitsha history pre historic roots of the igbo language niger benue worlds nok metallurgy igbo dispersion igbo ukwu nri the divine umundri kings of igbo land slave trade and its stereotypes odoje village and african internal frontiers european organized intrusions early colonial era ethnicities cultural politics and the oiu m ogo ibeziako the onoli of onicha approaching independence 3 the new nigeria 1960 62 hendersons arrive and find shelter nigerian independence day onitsha 1960 otu onitsha waterside 1960 62 enu onicha inland town 1960 62 byron maduegbuna a native anthropologist newcomers experiences wider realities power and paradox in onitsha the ancestral house iba in onitsha 1960 61 visits abroad witnessing an aguleri ofala festival 1960 visiting nnobi briefly viewing the black juju iyi oji at nkwelle visit to nsugbe igwe nne mmanwu and ijele visiting awkuzu pre post civil war visit to opobo december 1961 visit to umuerum may 1962 4 a mighty tree falls feb 1961 the iron is broken kings nation states killings obi okosi ii death and burial 5 sought but not seen part 1 umu eze aroli and other royals parties proliferate on peter aniweta achukwu ochanja barrister emejulu s ichi ozo polarization obiekwe aniweta protean man newspapers and cultural brokers uec crises resolutions religion matters from sin to alu the uec special committee at work the conference final report 6 sought but not seen part 2 igwe enwezor petitions ani onicha the manifesto competition umu ezechima selects who bestows ofo major elections intervene 1961 uec presents a king ije udo enwezor onowu crowns an obi onyejekwe ije udo crowning bestowing ofo egwu ota mobilizing support harding commission report et al 7 chronicles of style leadership symbolism in onitsha igbo crowns and ijele some ndi onicha exemplars of style consecrating a new ikenga personal strength emerges agbogho nwanyi unmarried female funeral umu anyo agbu family burial ini ozu umuase death and burial of akukalia obiozo june 1961 agusiobo lamentation odoje oziziani ogboli eke ikwa ozu samuel crowther missionary ethnographer 8 some aftermaths nigerian spokesman 1964 65 nigerian spokesman 1966 nigerian collapse transformation onitsha 1992 brief encounters in a very different place scatterings of truth in memory of odu mbanefo ii 9 helen henderson s volume american racism planet in my pocket helen s dissertation preface table of contents chapter one the anthropology of religion chapter two religion in west african contexts onitsha chapters three and four women s roles chapters five and six ritual roles of onitsha women chapter seven conclusions helen s bibliography learning feminisms with helen henderson 10 bibliography et al search for rhenders email arizona edu log in admin copyright 2026 by a mighty tree website design and development by raven s eye design javascript appears to be disabled in your browser please turn on javascript in order to fully enjoy this website learn how here scroll to top