Endangered Funeral Rites and the Changing Traditions of Iworoko Music among the Nembe People of Nigeria

Abstract

In today's reality and most cultural systems, efforts are made to preserve endangered traditions or local cultural differences within a continuously changing society. Traditional music in the Nigerian context, or in most ethnic cultures, is one that belongs to the past but can be preserved while still alive. This paper examines the changing tradition of funeral rites, which has endangered Iworoko Music among the Nembe people of Nigeria. It employs ethnographic methods and provides a cursory examination of the role of music in the funeral rites of the Nembe people, exploring the contemporary relevance of the past in relation to modernity. This study engages with Tansley’s theory of the music ecosystem that promotes the life cycle of music as a holistic process toward sustainability. Findings and conclusions show that the original cultural identity is lost as traditional music cultures are abandoned under cultural evolution and transformation within the ecosystem.