Oral tradition and historical reconstruction in Igbo land, South east Nigeria

Abstract

History is a body of knowledge derived from the past lives of a society. The reconstruction of these past lives relied on the objective use of various  sources which include among others, oral or verbal evidence, written  evidence and material remains. Unfortunately, most scholars of  euro-centric culture as they are often referred to, are propagating a  mistaken belief that objective historical reconstruction is only possible  through the use of written documents, thereby relegating the use of other sources of historical information such as oral traditions to the background. This misconception about the sources of historical information is certainly proving dysfunctional in the reconstruction of history particularly in areas  like Igbo land that suffered from lack of conventional or written records.  This paper sees oral tradition as a veritable tool which must be harnessed and objectively used for a sustained historical reconstruction, both in  literate and non-literate societies of the world. It therefore showed that oral traditions like other sources of History are invaluable in historical  reconstructions especially in the reconstruction of the History of non-literate societies.

Key Words: History, Historical reconstruction, Oral tradition, Objectivity and Material remains.