The Symbolis of the Nigerian Women's War of 1929: An Anthropological Study of an Anti-Colonial Struggle

Abstract

Women's roles in religious, economic and political affairs have become very topical today. This paper discusses the role of the 1929 Women's War in Annang-Ibibio in the decolonization process in Nigeria. An analysis of the war in the framework of Van Gennep's tripartite sequential stages is used identify the 1929 warring women as courageous, independent and successful anti-colonial warriors. Also, interpretative analyses of the symbolism of the components of the war, namely the war dress, the weapons of war and the acts of war, show that this war was gender-based. The feminine gender fought colonialism and many died in the process. But the reforms that followed the women's war were the beginning of colonial disengagement in Nigeria.