The popular saying "Things are not the way it used to be" is quite true!. These times are very different from the olden days.We may think that people of those times had less things to worry about but not so true. Life was not so easy for them but still they lived their lives in such that culture was a big part of it,it was everything to them.
The 18th century began from January 1st 1701 to December 31 1800,a time that culture thrived among the people it was imbibed in them in such a way thatl it became their lifestyle.In this era Nigerians thrived on her cultural heritage even though there was still the issue of slave trade and wars among the tribes and villages they still went about there lives regardless.
A lifestyle can be defined as one's mode of living, his means of getting by his daily activities . Each family were tightly knitted in their ways of life. A Family of these modern times may range from a family of three to one of a five at most.The eighteenth century Nigerian family regardless was much bigger than this with each members of nothing less than ten.
The lives they led were ones they grew such that it defined who they were.
Here is a peak of what they 18th Century Nigerian Family Lifestyle consisted of
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Entertainment's /Escapism:
The only way to escape the monotonous pattern of our life is to engage in recreational activities in order to relieve stress and lighten our mood ,that brings the need for entertainment. Nigeria was more or less living in the stone age in the 18th century and so there was no access at all to televisions,radios and other modern medium of entertainment but they still kept themselves entertained from time to time. From making Music to Tournaments/Games or Wrestling Matches between villages to Festivals and Celebrating sacred days and so many other things that has been lost to time. These activities involved roles for all gender but as usual the men were powerhouse of the arrangements and the women were assigned tasks like or making music and even decorations.
2.Social Status
In every age and time,social status determines the degree of respect that is accorded to a person. The conventional way of things indicates that riches comes with respect in the society which was true during those times too but it wasn't just riches that determines respect. Family size also determines respect,the number of children and wives a man has determines his social status too. If he has more male children the better!. And as expected most of them found it had to cater for the large family size they so desired but they most didn't careless as long as it made them important in the community.
3.Wealth
A man's wealth may be inherited or worked for. In those times,the number of thriving farms and/or plantations you possess indicates wealth. Men prided themselves whenever the harvest was in surplus,most when their livestock numbers increased. Wealth also and will always bring respect and so the wealthy automatically became high ranking in the social circle.
4.Information Dissemination: information is a vital means of survival in the world and even in those times it kept the people aware of situations. According to popular knowledge they made use of gong,town criers,smokes,palm fronds,colours and various means. Each of which represented different information. The Gong could indicate a gathering at the palace or something different depending on the rhythm being played, Palm fronds indicated restrictions, Smokes could indicate danger or a signal to gather at a spot depending on what it was said to signal,Gunshots indicated a death of an important person and colours such as red indicated danger to mention the least of ways information were disseminated.
4.Consumption: Like it is well known people had to farm to obtain food. The people both men and women alike engaged in various forms of farming but majorly Crop farming and Livestock farming. The men however farmed crops such as tuber or Root crops such as Yam which is popular in the Igbo kingdom and reared animals such as cows,sheeps and goats. The women planted vegetables and other crops like beans,pepper,etc and sometimes reared animals like Fowls(Chickens) to ensure their survival.
5.Living Conditions : A family may contain about 16 individuals including wives and children and they lived in huts or thatched houses. The average man in the 18th century could have at least two wives each having their own huts and sharing their duties to their husband. The woman whose turn it is to take care of her husband serves him food at the right time and warms his bed if need be. It was the woman's job to take care of the children,cook and go to the market while it was the duty of the man to farm and provide for the family. There was no form of education at those times so children helped their mothers in their daily duty. Family was important so there were lesser cases of divorce even when the woman leaves as a result of any mishaps the family tries to make amends and if fruitless the bride price is returned. In some cases where the wife is no longer in the man's home may be as a result of death and in this case according to some cultures she is given to the man's brother otherwise she is regarded as a widow. In cases where a man marries more wives it is the duty of the first wife to take the other wives under her wing but in some cases a polygamous home lead to quarrels but they mostly lived peacefully.
5.Stress management practices.: As you can guess,having large families wasn't so pleasing mentally other than it having advantages of upping your social status it came with enormous responsibilities.But most of them were accustomed to their lives so it was easy to cope with these burdens otherwise
Men would often spend the evening at a joint for palm wine and the women most times would opt to go to their family homes for sometime.
6.Inheritance: This could be in the form of farm land, cattle and even the throne. In all cases,as is widely known the men were more regarded than the women and so they were the only ones entitled to these "hand me down's".
Apart from all these named they still lived an interesting lifestyles. The people wore stylish cultural attires and some of them even represented social status In the community. They were inter tribal wars that went on for sometimes too long and various other things that made up their lifestyles.
Please leave a comment stating a part of the Nigerian Lifestyle left out.
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