Social+&+Political+Structures


 * lack of centralized political structures
 * lived in autonomous villages and towns
 * organized themselves in lineage groups -- bloodline
 * Relationships were based on:
 * Age status
 * Elders > Opara (first son) -- head of the family > Ada (first daughter) > younger
 * Bloodline: Umunne (mother's lineage)
 * Three social units:
 * //uno//--house: consisting of a man, his wife or wives, and their children
 * //umunna//--lineage: composed of number of related houses
 * //obodo//--compact village or town: a group of lineages, highest territoriallly defined authority of the Igbo