Archaeology & Anthropology
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Item Cultural reconstruction of iwa ji festival in Igbo-ukwu and fractured Igbo identity(2018) Ukpokolo, C.; Okoye, O.; Lawuyi, T.Indigenous festivals in many African societies are under the threats of extinction as a result of modernisation and the impact of the Christian religion on the life of the people. In southeast Nigeria, Iwa Ji Festival, which is an annual yam festival celebrated to thank the Supreme Being and the gods for the provision of subsistence, has faced with the challenge of abandonment in recent decades. Scholars have noted the cultural meanings associated with the festival and its potentials in the sustenance of the people’s cultural identity, as well as the promotion of tourism, and have consequently suggested the need for its reconstruction for general acceptability. This reconstruction has been carried out. This paper examined constructed Iwa Ji Festival as a fusion of the indigenous Iwa Ji Festival and modern practices and argued that the reconstructed festival is a reflection of Igbo fractured identity. Using Turner-Schechner Model of performance as social dramas for an explanatory model for this study, the authors argued that the advent of modernity and Christian religion created a breach in the people’s cultural experience. The redressed stage is represented in the reconstruction and repackaging of the festival for more acceptability. Re-integration stage set in as the festival gained more acceptability following its reconstruction, and subsequently, participants experience transformation. An ethnographic approach was employed for data generation. Data were analysed descriptively.Item Exploring the tourism potentials of cistercian monastery, awhum, Southeastern Nigeria(2013) Ukpokolo, C.; Okoye, O.This paper is a product of a study on the tourism potentials of Awhum Monastery in Enugu State, south-eastern Nigeria. The paper presents a 'thick description ' (cf. Geertz, 1973) and interpretation of occurrences within the space and, employing life history technique, explores the meanings and significances which the site holds for the tourists. Other tourist attractions around (he centre and the nature of the pilgrims' interactions with these sites are also identified. The study discovers that Cistercian Monastery holds a great promise for religious tourism development. Both local and foreign tourists visit the monastery for the purpose of an encounter with the supernatural, an experience of inner transformation, thanksgiving and quest for solution to individual problems. Invariably, the Awhum Monastery-provides the context for Spirituality and Nature to intermingle: establishing divine encounter for the ultimate goal of spiritual reinvigoration for the religious tourists and refreshment for the eco-tourists.