With the coming of Western civilization, the present-day Ijaw seems to have changed from traditional worshipers to Christianity. However, there are some among them who still have faith in their traditional religious practices.
In the traditional religion of the Ijaws, veneration of ancestors plays a central. While water spirits, known as Owuamapu, figure prominently in the Ijaw pantheon.
In addition, the Ijaw practice a form of divination called Igbadai, in which recently deceased individuals are interrogated on the causes of their death.
They also believe that water spirits are like humans in having personal strengths and shortcomings and that humans dwell among the water spirits before being born.
Traditionally, the Ijaws hold celebrations to honour the spirits, lasting for several days. And the highlight the festival is the role of masquerades.
Here, men wearing elaborate outfits and carved masks dance to the beat of drums and manifest the influence of the water spirits through the quality and intensity of their dancing.
Particularly spectacular masqueraders are taken to actually be in the possession of the particular spirits on whose behalf they are dancing.
Interestingly, the Ijaws are one of the few peoples in the world known to practice ritual acculturation (enculturation).
In this practice, it is possible for an individual, who hails from an entirely different tribe or group, to become an Ijaw after undergoing some certain rites.
It is said that King Jaja of Opobo, the Igbo slave who rose to become a powerful Ibani (Bonny) chief in the 19th century, is an example.
It is important to note here that the term Ijaw is the anglicised version of Ijo or Ejo, a variation of Ujo or Ojo, the ancestor who gave the Ijo people their name.
Unlike most tribes, the Ijaws have two forms of marriage. The first which is a small-dowry marriage, the groom is traditionally obliged to offer a payment to the wife’s family, which is typically cash.
Here (this type of marriage) the children trace their line of inheritance through their mother to her family: Meaning that when the children grow up, they have more choices as to where they can live.
They can either decide to live with their father’s people or mother’s people. In contrast to the first type, the second type of marriage is a large-dowry marriage. And here the children belong to the father’s family.
