Factors Shaping Religious and Cultural Identities in the Ihievbe Community

Abstract

There is an essential continuity in the understanding of how a people view themselves, but it is not shaped by static factors that defy time. Instead, social interactions hinged on constantly evolving values, which are also shaped by the worldview of each epoch, help to define how a people collectively embrace a hermeneutic of identity. Ihievbe people face this same reality. Historical interactions with foreigners on the economic, social, political, and religious areas of life have led Ihievbe people to construct a broader approach to identity. With the introduction of Islam and Christianity to the town, the previous mono-religious identity embraced within the framework of Ihievbe Traditional Religion has given way to multiple religious identities. It should be noted that although Ihievbe, historically, had multiple shrines for worship within the context of Ihievbe Traditional Religion, Ihievbe people refer collectively to them as forming the religion of their land. Though the shrines have different rituals and rites, they are within the community’s collective religious worldview. Each of the deities venerated by the different villages and quarters is part of the total spiritual domain. Finally, this chapter sheds light on the history of interreligious encounters in the town.