Wedding

Super Stylish Urhobo Traditional Wedding Attire

The Urhobo tribe is densely populated in the Southern part of Nigeria. They form part of the major ethnic groups in the Niger Delta. There are lots of interesting points about the marriage ceremonies of the Urhobo people and the Urhobo traditional wedding attire, which we would discuss in detail in the coming paragraphs.

Some of the annual festivals that the Urhobo tribe is known for are their fishing, swimming, and dancing contests. The Urhobo King and Queen known as the Ovie Ovieya respectively preside over these contests. Within the Urhobo tribe, you are sure to find many cultural divisions headed by appointed village chiefs and religious diversities including Islamic, Christian, and African traditional religions.

Urhobo Traditional Wedding Attire

The Urhobo Traditional attire for men includes white, blue, yellow, green, or orange shirts with a long sleeve; trousers or wrappers in a complementary color to that of the bride; a traditional hat which can either be a fedora hat, cowboy hat, or Panama straw hat; and a walking stick. Urhobo women wear long skirts made with George or cotton fabrics; blouses made with similar fabrics and or lace; and gele – a traditional headgear. The women may choose to wear long dresses or lace blouses and wrappers.

Of the many colors that the Urhobo traditional attires can be fashioned with, blue and yellow colors are the most predominant. Since the Urhobo people reside majorly in the riverine areas of Nigeria, their water-related cultures are firmly connected to their traditional outfits.

Given this, the blue color represents the buoyancy of the tribe’s waters and also the color of the skies. Both Light and dark green colors are also found in this Nigerian tribe’s traditional wear and are associated with the life and fecundity of the people. Yellow shows richness, while some other colors found in their attire are merely for decorative purposes. Such as the colors of the beaded head crowns and coral beads that the women wear.

How Traditional Marriage Is Contracted In The Urhobo Tribe

Urhobo traditional marriage proposals and marriage as a whole among the Urhobo people can take any of these forms:

1. Esavwijotor:

Esavwijotor occurs when the parents of the bride and groom propose marriage intentions between their families at an early age. As the children grow, the families try to bring them closer to each other, so they can relate better before they are officially married. Sometimes, the children may grow apart from each other, then later in adulthood, the parents remind them of their pledge of commitment in marriage between the families.

2. Ose

Ose is more of a competition for the bride, whoever offers the biggest or best dowry as the family deems it, gets to marry her.

3. Arranged In Absentia

his form of Urhobo traditional marriage is done for a man who lives far away from home but cannot return immediately for the marriage ceremony. Here, the parents of the groom find a suitable wife for him, marries the lady, then the groom’s brother or friend performs the role of a husband on the day of the marriage. After the ceremony, the wife would be sent to her new husband or she may remain in his home till he returns.

4. The Modern Wedding

The modern traditional ceremony takes the form of a wedding in recent times. The bride and groom are allowed to know themselves and date each other before they are married.