Irigwe people (Rigwe: Nneirigwe; Tyap: Á̱nietza̱fan; Hausa: Miyango[2]) are found mainly in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, Middle Belt (central) Nigeria.
[3][1] The Irigwe have been in the news in recent years on account of frequent attacks by Fulani militants (see for instance, https://www.persecution.org/2024/12/24/14-irigwe-christians-killed-days-before-christmas/).
Other occupational guilds and professional organizations of experts, like blacksmiths, hunters, or wood-carvers, also possess their own expressive dances.
Hunters may also possibly mime the movements of animals as a ritual means of controlling wild beasts and allaying their own fears.
[4] Walter H. Sangree wrote: "The Irigwe marriage system in effect demands that men and women be married to several spouses in differing tribal sections during the course of their adult lives and precludes all divorce.