So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi, and he told them stories of the land-masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell, and which she no doubt told to her younger children--stories of the tortoise and his wily ways, and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat. What traditions could be later challenged by imperialism?

The Igbo tradition.

Explanation:

This excerpt was from the book "Things fall apart" by Chinua Achebe.

It is a book that talks about the Igbo tradition in the South Eastern Nigeria. The author writes about a great warrior and hunter Okonkwo and his wrestling and farming prowess.

Okonkwo does not believe in weakness of any kind and it was a thing of shame to him that he had a son, Nwoye who was a coward and weak. Nwoye was not a warrior like his father and refused to participate in violence of any sort.

From the excerpt above, Okonkwo is seen telling his children stories of war and violent blood-letting but Nwoye is uncomfortable by all such stories and prefers to listen to stories told by his mother about the tortoise and his many adventures.

This wonderful Igbo tradition was later challenged by imperialism as the English men came to the twon and started recruiting young men into their schools and teaching them their religion. The introduction of the English men to the Igbo tradition changed a lot of things. It changed the people's religion, education and mode of dressing.