The Changing Nature and Patterns of Traditional Marriage Practices among the Owerre‐Igbo, a Subgroup of the Igbo of Southeast Nigeria

Abstract This research investigates the changing nature and patterns as well as the social construct of traditional marriage and practices among the Owerre‐Igbo of Southeast Nigeria. In particular, it investigates the practice of heterosexual marriage, woman‐to‐woman marriage, child marriage, and the dynamics of bride price. It also analyses the eclectics that has come to characterise Igbo traditional marriages especially the plethora of cultural borrowings that have become features of Igbo traditional marriage practices in recent times. The research investigates how this acculturation has shaped the contemporary social construct of marriage as well as how it articulates with continuities and changes in Owerre‐Igbo social organization. The research found out that these changes were brought about by three major factors; (1) the extensive contacts which the Owerre‐Igbo have had with other ethnic groups, (2) the influence of Christianity and Western education, and (3) occupational influence.