Hannah Butler

Mrs.West
English II PAP/IB
April 4, 2018

Women In Pre-Colonial Nigeria

(1500-1800)
The role of women in pre-colonial Nigeria differed from many other ethnic groups in
Africa. A woman’s position reflected their role in the economic society and their family. Women
who married into the Igbo group were expected to give birth to boys, so that they could continue
the group. Women were allowed to participate in economic activities that were reserved for
them, like working in the fields or sewing clothes for stores. As the women grew older, they
weren’t needed in the economic field, and rather put into the arts field, which involved making
crafts and material resources needed to care for her family. Women would achieve power by
marriage into ruling or royal families. By achieving power, they obtained political influence. In
religious aspects, women were complementary to that of men, but the Nigerian society still saw
men superior, or in control, of women.