West Africa, 1700s

West Africa, 1700s. . , Igboland in the 18th Century , The buildings in this exhibit are similar to those found in 18th-century Igboland, a region located in modern-day Nigeria and the homeland of the Igbo people. The Igbo are one of many cultural groups in West Africa., Igbo households consisted of a husband, his wives, children, and sometimes other dependents. Families lived in walled compounds with clay buildings. Villages consisted of several compounds, with fields of yams, the principal food crop, outside the village., Igbo Material Culture , Many Igbo were skilled craftspeople and artists. The Igbo were known for bronze castings, carved masks, door with geometric designs, and pottery. They furnished their households with objects of wood, ivory, metal, clay, animal hide/bone, and textiles. Men and women both engaged in crafts. Women's participation was generally limited to pottery, textiles, and drawing, while metalworking and woodworking were almost exclusively male occupations., Influence on American Culture , Large numbers of West Africans were captured and transported to Colonial America. There they were forced into slavery. Their diverse African cultural traits were heavily suppressed by the people who enslaved them. Yet people of African heritage were able to hold on to some of these cultural practices and traditions. Many of these have been incorporated into the broader american culture. Africans influenced musical forms, such as bluegrass, jazz, and rock and roll. They also contributed musical instruments, such as the banjo, derived from West-African stringed instruments. African cooks contributed foods, such as okra and black-eyed peas, as well as recipes and techniques that have become staples of southern cuisine. Colonial planters in Virginia and South Carolina adopted African farming practices.