I was thinking today, after seeing an igbo family of 10 and there was no single black person among them. Are Igbos really Africans? Why are more than 50% of them yellow? What is the cause of this anomally in the igbos? It is very strange that a part of Nigeria are not always black. I am not trying to abuse them but I just need to understand more about thier origin?

Our fore fathers were white men before they came to africa then sunlight tanned their skins.

Laffta wan tear my head....lol@d 1st poster. I have always wondered aswell, why are most of them lightskinned.

Possibly they are linked with white ancestors.

Enviromental (sunlight) and chemical (creams) factors could be another reason.

D igboz re part of isrealites dat got missing in d wilderness.
Igboz re descendants of moses.

Only winches frm egyptian 9ja will quote mii wrong.

aproko

Im thinking Igbos and akwa ibom descended from the the yellow and red races, probably why they have the same "chi" concept as the chinese

Most Igbos are dark skinned. Igbos come in different hues, from very light skinned to very dark skinned, it's a spectrum, with many Igbos falling in the center of the spectrum ie light brown, and few at the extreme ends of the spectrum ie very Light skinned and very dark skinned.

Actually most Igbos are dark skinned but yes I get ur point....there are many light skinned Igbos but it could be from a particular type of food consumed and traditional make up of those days...
I heard the Akans had a make up system that made them shine but darker..no wonder they look so black today

hunter21:
Im thinking Igbos and akwa ibom descended from the the yellow and red races, probably why they have the same "chi" concept as the chinese

All Africans have the chi concept

macof:

All Africans have the chi concept

the idea of what chi refers to is present in all cultures as prana, reiki, emi etc but using the word "chi" is unique to both Chinese and igbo

I think in all the forested and riverine areas(SE Nigeria) they don't have as much sunlight as say Sudan, so that could be a reason.

hunter21:

the idea of what chi refers to is present in all cultures as prana, reiki, emi etc but using the word "chi" is unique to both Chinese and igbo

I think Chinese actually call it Ki..it's the translation issues that usually render it "chi"
But true the concepts are similar...btw is the bold Yoruba? If yes I think the concept best fits Ori nt emi

I think is cus of d food they eat like white akpu white soup called nsala white tapioca called abacha while d yorubas love amala and ewedu so they re more darker hausas don't ve soup only suya

aim5:
I think in all the forested and riverine areas(SE Nigeria) they don't have as much sunlight as say Sudan, so that could be a reason.

This is most probably the most important single reason.

A second reason could be selective breeding.

hunter21:
Im thinking Igbos and akwa ibom descended from the the yellow and red races, probably why they have the same "chi" concept as the chinese

Forget the similarity in sound. The Igbo 'chi' has more in common with (and probably shares a common theological/philosophical origin with) the Edo 'ehi' and the Yoruba 'ori' than with anything Chinese.

Radoillo:


This is most probably the most important single reason.

A second reason could be selective breeding.

Yup. I see little to no evidence of European admixture in Igbos. Most lightskin Igbos I see have full lips, tightly coiled hair,etc. And could you elaborate more on the selective breeding theory.

Radoillo:


Forget the similarity in sound. The Igbo 'chi' has more in common with (and probably shares a common theological/philosophical origin with) the Edo 'ehi' and the Yoruba 'ori' than with anything Chinese.

Ehi means angel or spirit so maybe there is a connection.

aim5:


Yup. I see little to no evidence of European admixture in Igbos. Most lightskin Igbos I see have full lips, tightly coiled hair,etc. And could you elaborate more on the selective breeding theory.

What I mean is: perhaps light-skinned girls were viewed as more desirable, and thus were more successful than darker-skinned girls in securing sex partners (husbands). The general effect on the population would be more proliferation of light-skinned people/offspring.

This is just a theory, however. I have no idea whether Africans or Igbos preferred light-skinned women in the past before contact with European ideas of what constitutes beauty.

Radoillo:


What I mean is: perhaps light-skinned girls were viewed as more desirable, and thus were more successful than darker-skinned girls in securing sex partners (husbands). The general effect on the population would be more proliferation of light-skinned people/offspring.

This is just a theory, however. I have no idea whether Africans or Igbos preferred light-skinned women in the past before contact with European ideas of what constitutes beauty.

Hmm that could be true. But part of me still wonders whether or not the Europeans had a role to play in this.

aim5:


Hmm that could be true. But part of me still wonders whether or not the Europeans had a role to play in this.

I do not see Europeans playing any role in it. With the exception of a few towns along the Niger, and the southern fringes of Igboland, the Europeans did not penetrate the Igbo interior before the 20th century. If the mixing with Europeans happened in that century (20th century) many Igbos living today will have 'half-caste' grandparents. How many Igbos living today have half-caste grandparents?

Radoillo:


I do not see Europeans playing any role in it. With the exception of a few towns along the Niger, and the southern fringes of Igboland, the Europeans did not penetrate the Igbo interior before the 20th century. If the mixing with Europeans happened in that century (20th century) many Igbos living today will have 'half-caste' grandparents. How many Igbos living today have half-caste grandparents?

You have a point, plus like I stated earlier, Igbos as whole don't have Caucasian features.

macof:
Actually most Igbos are dark skinned but yes I get ur point....there are many light skinned Igbos but it could be from a particular type of food consumed and traditional make up of those days...
I heard the Akans had a make up system that made them shine but darker..no wonder they look so black today

Interesting. I am not aware of a special food or traditional cosmetics that will give one a lighter complexion?

aim5:
I think in all the forested and riverine areas(SE Nigeria) they don't have as much sunlight as say Sudan, so that could be a reason.

Maybe we could blame it on the ecosystem. But South east Nigeria is not the only forested/tropical region in West Africa. I would say Igbos were just designed to be like that. Am light skinned,but i have very lightskinned relatives with light blue/honey coloured eyes. Sometimes i just want to ask them if they are truly Nigerians,lol.
I guess we have been conditioned to believe that light skin is a product of racial admixture. The truth is that Africans/Nigerians/Igbos come in different skin tones.
The most native igbo word for a light skin is 'Ocha'. It does not seem like a recently formed word to me. In the absence of any DNA discrepancies,i would say the Ocha/Light skin has always been part of the Igbo people.

In terms of facial phetotypes,i noticed that Yorubas have Higher cheek bones and Mongoliod eyes. Is it just me or....?

Ihuomadinihu:

Maybe we could blame it on the ecosystem. But South east Nigeria is not the only forested/tropical region in West Africa. I would say Igbos were just designed to be like that. Am very light skinned,but i have very lightskinned relatives with light blue/honey coloured eyes. Sometimes i just want to ask them if they are truly Nigerians,lol.
I guess we have been conditioned to believe that light skin is a product of racial admixture. The truth is that Africans/Nigerians/Igbos come in different skin tones.
The most native word for a light skin is 'Ocha'. It does not seem like a recently formed

I know. That's why I'm 75% sure that Igbos aren't mixed as whole. I also know that SE Nigeria isn't the only forested area in Africa, but one thing I've noticed is that in those forested places, the people are a little lighter than most Senegalese.

Ihuomadinihu:
In terms of facial phetotypes,i noticed that Yorubas have Higher cheek bones and Mongoliod eyes. Is it just me or....?

Those Asian cat eyes... you're not the only one who sees it hehe.

Ihuomadinihu:
In terms of facial phetotypes,i noticed that Yorubas have Higher cheek bones and Mongoliod eyes. Is it just me or....?

Yoruba and epicantic folds? or even the sexier almond eyes? I don't really see that often and I have lived in the south west all my life, however, this is far more common, I.e the almond eye phenomenon, among the Northerners, especially the females and very few males.
The Yoruba have the typical 'Sudanese' look.

For the light skinned Igbo, chemical or creams must be out of it because colour is skin deep (no puns intended) even if one bleaches one's skin, it can never be transfered to one's offspring. A more likely explanation would be environment, adaptation, ancestry or even the kind of work our ancestors did, whether it exposed them to the hot weather conditions of Africa.
For the Jewish origin talks, I believe its downright ridiculous and for an educated person to remotely believe in such theory with no evidence whatsoever whether in Language (no single plausible trace), culture, religion or communal existence is completely marvelling . Our ancestors never even talked about it neither is there any trace in our folklore or in the archaic terms in our language or etymology.

And yes we have a larger spectrum of skin and even eye colour than most groups in Nigeria. However, its tilted more towards the chocolatey, caramel to the very light skinned, with corresponding eye colours.

I have made a long comment, I just hope I made sense.

Eke40seven:

Yoruba and epicantic folds? or even the sexier almond eyes? I don't really see that often and I have lived in the south west all my life, however, this is far more common, I.e the almond eye phenomenon, among the Northerners, especially the females and very few males.
The Yoruba have the typical 'Sudanese' look.

For the light skinned Igbo, chemical or creams must be out of it because colour is skin deep (no puns intended) even if one bleaches ones skin, it can never be transfered to ones offspring. A more likely explanation would be environmental, adaptation, ancestry or even the kind of work our ancestors did, whether it exposed them to the hot weather conditions of Africa.
For the Jewish origin talks, I believe its downright ridiculous and for an educated person to remotely believe in such theory with no evidence whatsoever whether in Language (no single plausible trace), culture, religion or communal existence is completely marvelling . Our ancestors never even talked about it neither is there any trace in our folklore or in the archaic terms in our language or etymology.

And yes we have a larger spectrum of skin and even eye colour than most groups in Nigeria. However, its tilted more towards the chocolatey, caramel to the very light skinned, with corresponding eye colours.

I have made a long comment, I just hope I made sense.

Yes,you made sense. I never mentioned any external influence(Jewish). My stand is that South Eastern ecosystem is not unique to Western Africa and there is n't any Dna result pointing to muiltiracial/Caucausoid origins. So we can say that the Yellow skin thing is just part of the igbo makeup. You probably did not go through my post properly.

Marsatto:
I was thinking today, after seeing an igbo family of 10 and there was no single black person among them. Are Igbos really Africans? Why are more than 50% of them yellow? What is the cause of this anomally in the igbos? It is very strange that a part of Nigeria are not always black. I am not trying to abuse them but I just need to understand more about thier origin?

Really?

Ihuomadinihu:

Yes,you made sense. I never mentioned any external influence(Jewish). My stand is that South Eastern ecosystem is not unique to Western Africa and there is n't any Dna result pointing to muiltiracial/Caucausoid origins. So we can say that the Yellow skin thing is just part of the igbo makeup. You probably did not go through my post properly.

Don't mind the other replies in the subsequent paragraphs, they were not directed to your post but other comments. I only targeted to reply your quote with the first paragraph and address other issued raised in the subsequent paragraph.

I couldn't just keep my mouth shut, or will I say put my fingers to rest in this case.


Good points you raised and I admire your deep knowledge of these issues and the intelligent way you deal with them.

I still maintain a type of food tho, maybe some vitamins... I remember one Imo girl, her parent were totally dark skinned but she was light - like Monalisa Chinda light skinned
And it happens often like this with Igbos

plus the OP's narration of a full family of light skins