CONTEMPORARY ETCHE PRE-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Abstract

The disruptive forces of missionary proselytization and European Colonialism undoubtedly created internal frictions that ruptured the ontological world of Etche Land. Therefore, the archaeology of indigenous knowledge embedded in the belief and cultural system of Etche people are now fast becoming relics of history. The advent of Christianity in the mid nineteenth century ruptured the social fabric and helped to undermine Etche people’s religiosity. This paper interrogates the Contemporary Etche Pre-Christian Religious beliefs in deity and the constituting and grafting realities of Etche people’s ontology and how this has been problematized in the age of Christianity. We shall further argue that cultural belief systems, though facing severe strains, remain a potent force in contemporary Etche society. The paper concludes by pointing out the essential features that constitute the core of Etche Pre-christian belief in deity and the dynamics of its practices and its implications to collective and individual consciousness in Etche Land.