For Edo people, identity is religion. It is core to their beliefs and defines everything about them. It is why people say we are arrogant. It is because they don't feel other cultures have similar beliefs and taboos.
Incest is one of those taboos. As much as we love identify, close relatives are strongly discouraged from getting married to each other. Definitely there is a sensible scientific explanation for that but I am sure that discovering the side effects was seen as ancestral punishment
A lot of the other taboos are linked to hygiene and healthcare. The important taboos relating to specific families are linked to allergies. I don't eat cocoyam for instance because I am allergic. I later learned it was also a family taboo to eat it. Quite interesting.
The belief that the gods and ancestors are responsible for punishment if one breaks taboos also meant that a careful record of each family lineage had to be kept in a family shrine or Ukhure. A custodian of the lineage also had to know all the family stories and pass them on too.
The family shrine was really a 3D record of family history and it is core to the identity of the Edo person. Each person also had a personal deity or Ehi. Sometimes it is seen as the soul in modern times. The Ehi also needed to be served every year at the Igue festival.
There is a lot of resemblance between the Edos and Igbos in this regard. The Igbo have a personal Chi. Edo people also traditionally are also egalitarian and republican. The monarchy is an interesting institution because it was formed to unite many warring families.
The monarchy in Edo is the ultimate political institution. It marries into other families and also ensures that the history of families it has overrun will keep being repeated to make them remain in their place. During the initiation of an Oba, he must buy seniority from Udo
The cermonial act of buying seniority is also religious to appease the ancestors. The hierarchy in the family is seen as sacred. Arhuan of Udo was actually born before Esigie and should have become the Oba as he was born first but didn't cry on time. He is still recognized.
The Oba goes to Use to take his name and replays the same game that Eweka the first played before he spoke his name. Those rites are not only sacred but the place of Use in the history of Edo is reinforced. He typically also takes a bride from there too.
As a crown prince, the Oba lives in Uselu. Uselu was once ruled by Chief Iken. The Prince is called Edaiken or ”Edayi n’Iken” or the custodian of the title for Iken. Uselu is respected that way too and the lineage of Iken is respected.
The custodian of the Ukhrue of the royal family is Chief Isekhure. He is also the religious Chief Priest of the Kingdom as the Oba is seen as a deity. Once he is enthroned, he becomes ”ErhivbinIdu” or the Spirit of Idu. Edo is also Idu. The old name only the royal family says.
The Oba is seen as having the power of life and death. The royal colors reflect that. White and Red. He is the core of the identity of the kingdom and the family keeps their history sacrosanct. You can now imagine how painful the massacre of 1897 was.
A lot of the artefacts from the royal family shrine and others are now in British museums and elsewhere. When you watch Black Panther, that is what they tried to illustrate at the beginning.
For an Edo person, your Ehi transcends to join the ancestors when you die. You have to live a life worthy of being recognized in the Ukhure. When I watched the place where all the old Kings appeared in Black Panther, I nodded that they did their research well.
Each family also has a unique greeting in the morning or salutation. The younger people in the family say it to elders and the elders in the family respond by reaffirming the family identity and part of their history. This is very serious stuff.

http://www.afropedea.org/benin-family-salutation
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