Why Ụrịọm (Baby chick) are hung on Igbo Altars.

An outsider may wonder why Uriom(baby chick) are hung on Igbo altars? Some may even go as far as branding such as animal cruelty. The question of animal cruelty is a debate I do not believe will ever have a winner or loser.

In the light of the above, I will face the first question. Why the Uriom? The answer is found in the Igbo Afa words, Ogeli Na Abo, which means Iku Ọta. When Afa says i na akụ ọta. It is saying you are frustrated and stranded. Consequently, you are crying.

When you see a stranded baby chick, probably missing or abandoned by the mother hen. The chick is in severe pain, crying non stop. The cry is to draw the mother hen’s attention to come to its rescue. That SOS cry of the baby chick is called Iku Ọta .

As human, when we become broken by the circumstances of life. We cry like the baby chick.

So, hanging of the baby chick is a symbolic prayer. An SOS call. We are drawing the attention of our ancestors and their primordial powerpoints. Reminding them that, like the baby chick, we their children are lost and in distress. They should quickly come to the rescue.

Once you are in distress, you are in a state of Iku Ọta. The Igbo traditional belief system uses a perfect symbol, Uriom, to enact and codify this state. Whether the ancestors or their power points will hear and come to the rescue, is up to them.

Written by Nze Tobe Osigwe (Ezeikolomuo)