The Headstrong Historian

Superstition is a recurring motif that comes to depict the changing cultural beliefs of Nwamgba’s clan. Initially, superstition plays an integral part in the clan’s daily life, be it in explaining away Obierika’s difficulty in producing children through the earth god’s curse of misfortune, the essential role of the oracle who communicates with ancestors and can promote fertility, or, as is the case with Obierika’s death, as a means to find truth and justice through the mmili ozu. Superstition is the bedrock of the clan’s rules and cultural practices, but as colonial forces like missionaries and traders settle in, superstitious practices are no longer used or change under foreign influence. When Nwamgba and Obierika visit the oracle for assistance in conceiving a child, for instance, they sacrifice a cow and do “the ritual cleansings and sacrifices” (202). When Nwamgba returns to the oracle many years later for Mgbeke, however, she finds the required offerings have changed: “Nwamgba […] went to the oracle herself, and afterward thought it ludicrous how even the gods had changed and no longer asked for palm wine but for gin. Had they converted, too?” (214). As more people adopt Christian and foreign ways over their local ones, the cultural identity of Nwamgba’s clan begins to erode.