Ala, the Eagle and the Kite: Advocates of environmental sustainability in Igbo songs

Abstract:

Many religious and cultural tenets which have for centuries sustained ecological equilibrium in Igbo society, southeastern Nigeria reside in indigenous Igbo knowledge system and are exhibited in musical philosophy and practices. Unfortunately, environmental norms preserved in indigenous Igbo sacred music is yet to receive deserved scholarly attention despite acute land degradation in the area, and global interest in environmental sustainability. Sadly, the worldwide community is deprived of the perspectives of ecological justice enshrined in Igbo music. I therefore aim to access how indigenous Igbo sacred music advocates a sustainable environment. I intend to have and informed understanding of how it creates meaning and gives expression to Ala, the mother-earth goddess, in mediating the ecology on which the society depends, in the face of rapid land degradation. I employ ethnomusicological research methods – fieldwork and analysis of concepts, musical structures, social and cultural contents of chosen Igbo sacred songs. The feminist motherism theory and the ecomusicological approach which intersect at concern for environmental sustainability and social process are used to critically examine and interpret sacred songs as it pertains to land degradation in Igbo society. I argue that lyrics of Igbo sacred songs promote cooperation, reciprocity and justice which are embedded in the interaction of the proverbial Kite (Milvus migrans) with the Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer), and supervised by Ala. These constitute the bedrock upon which conceptualizations of land and wellbeing of Igbo society are situated. Through its transdisciplinary conversations between environmentalism, music and ecology, it is hoped that insights gained in this paper may motivate increased actions for ecological restoration and sustainability in the face of current environmental crisis. It may also help to bridge the divide between different sacred arts, and allow the quest for a flourishing, equitable social future and sustainable global ecology to materialize.

Bio:

Ijeoma Iruka Forchu, Ph. D. (Ethnomusicology); Senior Research Fellow/Senior Lecturer. Institute for Development Studies/Department of Music, University of Nigeria, Nsukka I have over the years worked intensively in Igbo music and developmental concerns including Igbo music and gender, Igbo music and environmental sustainability, and Nigerian music and other social and economic issues. I am actively involved in creating new knowledge and insights, and disseminating them within and outside the academic world through international and local conferences, and local and international journals, book chapters and book publications. For more than thirteen years, I have been imparting musical knowledge and developmental studies’ knowledge and skills to music and developmental studies’ students, respectively. I supervise and help students develop research skills, enabling them to successfully undertake research projects. I have also been participating in organizing workshops, seminars and conferences, thereby helping to bring scholars together, and enhancing collaborations and dissemination of research output.