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Yoruba People An Overview: History, Geography, Ecology, Subsistence, Technology The Yoruba People, of whom there are more than twenty-five million, occupy the southwestern corner of Nigeria along the border with Benin Republic and extends into Benin Republic itself. To the east and north the Yoruba culture reaches its approximate limits in the region of the Niger River. However ancestral cultures directly related to the Yoruba once flourished well north of the Niger. Portuguese explorers "discovered" (for the Europeans) the Yoruba cities and kingdoms in the fifteenth century, but cities such as Ife and Benin, among others, had been standing at their present sites for at least five hundred years before the European arrival. Archeological evidence indicates that a technologically and artistically advanced, proto-Yoruba (Nok) were living somewhat north of the Niger in the first millennium B. ... Ife was the first of all Yoruba cities. ... The world, say traditions of the Yoruba people, began at Ife, a city of great historical and religious significance in the heart of Yoruba country. ... (Source 2) Until relatively recent times the Yorubas did not consider themselves a single people, but rather as citizens of Oyo, Benin, Yagba and other cities, regions or kingdoms. These cities regarded Lagos and Owo, for example, as foreign neighbors, and the Yoruba kingdoms warred not only against the Dahomeans but also against each other. The name Yoruba was applied to all these linguistically and culturally related peoples by their northern neighbors, the Hausas. (Source 1) The old Yoruba cities typically were urban centers with surrounding farmlands that extended outward as much as a dozen miles or more. ... Benin derived its knowledge of brass casting directly from Ife, and the religious system of divining called Ifa spread from Ife not only throughout the Yoruba country but to other West African cultures as well. A common Yoruba belief system dominated the region from the Niger, where it flows in an easterly direction, all the way to the Gulf of Guinea in the south. It is no accident that the Yoruba cultural influence spread across the Atlantic to the Americas. ... Slave wars launched by the kingdom of Dahomey against some of the Yoruba kingdoms, and slave wars between the Yorubas themselves made war casualty Africans available for transportation to the Americas. Yoruba slaves were sent to British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the New World, and in a number of these places Yoruba traditions survived strongly. (Source 1) In Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and Trinidad, Yoruba religious rites, beliefs, music and myths is evident these days. ... Afro-Haitian religious activities give Yoruba rites and beliefs an honored place, and the pantheon includes numerous deities of Yoruba origin. In Brazil, Yoruba religious activities are called Anago or Shango, and in Cuba they are designated Lucumi. ... Santeria, the adaptation of Yoruba and Ifa with Catholicism, came to the states first with Puerto Ricans in the forties and fifties and then with the flood of Cuban refugees in the sixties. In all of these places mentioned above, the pantheon of major Yoruba deities has survived virtually intact, along with a complex of rites, beliefs, music, dances and myths of Yoruba origin. ... Places like Oyotunji village in Beaufort South Carolina, DOYA (Descendants of the Yoruba in America) foundation in Cleveland OH, Ile Ori Ifa Temple in Atlanta GA, and African Paridise in Grffin GA where Yoruba culture and religion is still practiced, are just a few of many locations that offer a place to reclaim the religion of self awareness, inner strength, inner peace and unlimited power for our evolution. (Source 1) The Yoruba make up one of the major ethnic groups in modern Nigeria where they occupy the whole of Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Lagos states and a substantial part of Kwara and Edo states. ... The Yoruba are found in other parts of Nigeria. (Source 1) The Yoruba speak a common language called Yoruba (Yooba) but with a lot of variations. These variations correspond with the many Yoruba subgroups ( the Egba, the Ijebu, the Oyo, the Ekiti , Owo, Akoko, Ondo, Anago to mention a few).The language of the Yoruba separated from that of some of their nearest neighbors at least 5000 years ago; from their linguistically most closely-related neighbors, the Igala, they separated 2000 years ago. (The relatively close linguistic relationship between Yoruba and Igala has led some scholars to suggest that Yoruba country may have been settled by migrants who came from the region where the Igala now live, near the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers.) (Source 2) Surely the great achievement of early Yoruba-speaking communities was carving open spaces for farming out of the forests which dominate most of Yoruba country. Probably as long as 2000 years ago, Yoruba agriculturists were already using iron tools. ... (Source 2) Technology- The Yoruba is the most urbanized and possibly the most industrialized ethnic group in sub-Saharan Africa. ... (Source 3) CULTURE While the precise date of initial human settlement in Yoruba country remains unknown, many historians find in these traditions important aspects of early Yoruba history. First, Yoruba tradition can be forgiven for having seen the beginning of Yoruba culture as the creation of the world, for Yoruba culture is indeed old. The first notable observation of first-time visitors to Yorubaland is the richness and variety of the culture, which is even made more visible by the urbanized social structure of Yoruba settlement. (Source 1) The Yoruba are fond of ceremonies—naming, wedding, chieftaincy titles, celebration of life in death, etc. ... Traditional musicians are always on hand to grace the occasions with heavy rhythm of talking drum and percussion; praise singers and griots are there to add their historical insight to the meaning of the ceremony, and of course the varieties of colorful dresses attest to the aesthetic sense of the average Yoruba. ... The Yoruba take names seriously, for names have meaning and are believed to live out their meaning. ... The basis on which names are given are much more varied as can be seen from the following examples taken from Samuel Johnson’s The History of the Yoruba’s. (Source 3) Oruko Amutorunwa (Name a child is born with) The Yoruba believe that a baby may come with pre-destined names. ... (Source 3) Abiku Names The Yoruba believe that some children are born to die. ... Banjoko (stay with me) Orukotan (all names have been exhausted) Yemiitan (stop deceiving me) Kokumo (this will not die) Pet Names The Yoruba also have pet names or oriki. ... For females, Aduke (one who everyone like to bless), Ayoke (one who people are happy to bless), Arike (one who is blessed on sight), Atinuke or Abike (one that is born to be pampered). ... Each of these has a special meaning in the world- view of the Yoruba. ... The Yoruba culture provides for the upbringing of the child by the extended family. ... Marriage is not considered to be only a union of the husband and wife, it is also seen among the Yoruba as the union of the families on both sides. (Source 3) Funeral In Yoruba thought, death is not the end of life; it is rather a transition from one form of existence into another form. ... ) (Source 3) The Yoruba also pray for many blessings, but the most important three are wealth, children and immortality: ire owo; ire omo; ire aiku pari iwa. ... As people say: Keni huwa gbedegbede; keni lee ku pelepele; K’omo eni lee n’owo gbogboro L’eni sin. ... Second, the Yoruba are realistic and pragmatic about their attitude to death. ... (if we die young, and a horse is killed in celebration of one’s life; it is better than dying old without people killing even chicken to celebrate our life. ... Therefore, people make effort to remember their ancestors on a regular basis. ... (Source 3) Religion The Yoruba are a deeply religious people, but they are also pragmatic and tolerant about their religious differences. Thus, it is to the credit of traditional Yoruba tolerance that there has been no religious persecution or war among them since the coming of Christianity and Islam, the two proselytizing religions. (Source 3) Traditional Yoruba religious practice focuses on the worship of Orisa- a pantheon of gods which include Ifa, Ogun, Obatala, Oya, Oshun, Shango. ... Since he is responsible for the physical part of human beings, which is believed to be made out of clay, Orisa nla is also credited with the making of special people as his devotees. ... (Source 3) The status of women Yoruba women are both autonomous and subordinate to men. ... (Source 7) An aspect of the division of labour that is often ignored but which puts women at some economic advantage in Yorubaland is that, except in the case of cash crops, Yoruba social expectation and conjugal etiquette forbids the farmer to carry his own farm products to the market to sell. ... The Western concept of the full-time housewife, who earns no income, is alien to Yoruba tradition, although women in urban areas who cannot find employment do become housewives, and the concept itself has been introduced by Christianity and Islam. |
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