Please join me in congratulating one of our younger member in the person of Miss. Bisola Adediji. She wrote this excellent piece titled " YORUBA RONU". It was such a pleasure to see one of our younger member writing about "We" the Yoruba people. As we all know the main reason behind the creation of Yodaai is to promote our culture and educate our young lads the importance and contributions of the Yoruba people in development of Nigeria, Africa and of course the rest of the world. I want to congratulate the parents too for a job well done.
Below see Miss. Bisola Adediji and her work.
Yoruba Ronu
(Yoruba Reflect)
by
Bisola Adediji
A population of 28 million Yorubas lives in today's world. Yorubas live mainly in Nigeria
and belong to the Benue- Congo family. As one of the largest groups in Africa, they
influence many. Yoruba people appear one of the most urbanized groups in Africa.
Yorubas very rarely let go of their history, despite living in today's world. The Yoruba
culture of Nigeria existed and continues to exist as one of power and unity.
The origin of Yorubas appears debatable by many scholars (Andah and Ikechukwu
225). Some believe that the Yorubas moved from Northeastern Africa down to West
Africa. Specifically, some scholars assume Yorubas came from Egypt because of
similarities between Egyptians and Yoruba people. Samuel Johnson, writer of T
he History of the Yorubas
, believes that Yoruba people came from Nubia. He made his
decision based on what he had heard orally. Most people can agree that Ile-Ife appears
the place where the Yorubas ended up.
Yoruba people have two ideas about their origin. The first one claims that they
originally came from Ile-Ife ,and that they did not travel there. Yorubas say that
Olodumare, or the Almighty God, asked Oduduwa to make the earth and humans when
the world seemed full of water. Oduduwa descended from above, carrying a piece of
earth, a snail's shell, and a hen with five toes. Oduduwa created the world by pouring
sand on top of the water and letting go of the hen to spread it out. When the earth
appeared made, Oduduwa and sixteen elders came from heaven with a chain at Ile-Ife.
Some versions of this tradition say that Obatala seemed appointed by Olodumare to
make the world. Apparently, when Obatala went on his mission, he consumed palm
wine and became intoxicated. As a result of that, Olodumare sent Oduduwa to complete
the mission instead. Olodumare gave Oduduwa the privilege to rule and own the world;
Oduduwa would rule over Ile-Ife. Obatala would appear the maker of mankind; he
molded human bodies.To the Yorubas, Ile-Ife seems the beginning of Yorubaland and its
people, and it also seems the beginning of the world (226).
The second theory claims that Odudwa took the Yoruba people to Ile-Ife. Oduduwa,
the son of Lamurudu, who became the king of Mecca, took the Yorubas to Ile-Ife after a
religious incident that happened between Muslims and people who followed traditional
religion. Apparently, Oduduwa and the Yorubas journeyed for 90 days and also passed
through Gobir in Hausaland. Eventually, they would reach Ile-Ife (227). Historians
believe that Yoruba people settled in Ile-Ife prior to oral stories about Oduduwa (228).
Yorubas occupy the southwestern part of Nigeria. They mainly live in Ogun, Oyo,
Ondo, Lagos, and other parts and states in Nigeria. They have made themselves into
several kingdoms all throughout history. The most significant kingdoms became Ekiti,
Oyo, Ondo, Ijebu, Ife, Egba, Awori kingdoms, and Igbomina (225). Ife, the oldest Yoruba
town, must have become an independent kingdom. Not much seems known or recorded
of Ife's early history. Historians do know that in the early eleventh century, Ife appeared
the capital of a kingdom, although the city may have existed before that. Ife seemed
named after Ifa, the Yoruba god of divination. Yoruba mythology states that Ife appeared
the place where all of humankind started. Ife thrived during the fourteenth century. The
city produced great works of art, and it appeared famous during this time. Ife had
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significant influence over Benin and held off the Jihads or Holy Wars during the
nineteenth century Fulani empire. Ife became hurt by the troubles for control of the
area's slaves around 1820.
In 1914 C.E., the Protectorate of Nigeria became created. It included Ife and other
Yoruba kingdoms. Ife today continues to hold its place as the spiritual home for the
Yorubas and also houses the palace of the current Oni or king. The Oni has no political
power but appears an important symbol to Yorubas (Lye, Keith, and Haywood 208).
The Oyo kingdom started welcoming many other Yoruba kingdoms. It also embraced
non-Yoruba kingdoms (Andah and Ikechukwu 240). War came upon Yorubaland, and
the war brought chaos, especially political chaos (241). Later, Yoruba towns became
modernized and had a mixture of many different Yorubas from different places. For
example, Oyo refugees settled into other Yoruba towns, like Osogbo, an Ijesa-Yoruba
town. Parts of Oyo-Yoruba culture, including the Gangan, or the talking drum, and the
masquerade became introduced into Ife, Ekiti, and other non-Yoruba towns.
Refugee towns lost some traditions compared to traditional Yoruba cities and towns.
In Ibadan, the best warrior or war chief had war boys (242). The war boys respected the
leading warrior and asked him for advice and rewards for their services. They seemed
more loyal to war chiefs than to lineage heads. Patronage systems appeared more
prevalent in refugee towns. Refugees could become distant from their homes and seem
more drawn to their patrons.They looked up to the patrons for political gains and rights,
as well as security (243).
Ibadan has become the capital of the Oyo state and the second largest city in Nigeria,
following Lagos. The Yorubas used Ibadan as a kingdom to control an empire. No one
3
knows for sure how Ibadan came into existence. Historians do know that it began as
an independent kingdom from what became left of the Oyo empire in the earlier part of
the nineteenth century. War refugees most likely created it from war going on in Oyo.
After Oyo fell around 1830, Ilorin and Abeokuta became the strongest and most
successful Yoruba towns.
Ibadan became ruled by a group of military leaders led by the most capable chief. The
rulers of Ibadan and Ijaye took over the Oyo empire. Around 1840, Ibadan's army
defeated the intruders from Ilorin, who had tried to take over Oyo and turn it into a
Muslim land. Around 1860 C.E., Ibadan took over central Nigeria. The Oba, or king of
Oyo, stayed in his normal position as the leader, but Ibadan took power and control.
Problems with different Yoruba states during the end of the nineteenth century ended
after the British took control of the city in 1893 (Lye, Keith, and Haywood 208).
The Oyo kingdom existed in southwestern Nigeria around the fourteenth century. Not
much seems known about its early history. Oyo, Benin, and Ife seem all myths in
Yoruba religion about where humanity started. Oranmiyan, who appeared the son or
grandson of Oduduwa, supposedly left Ife and went to start Benin and Oyo. The Yoruba
god of thunder, or Sango, used to rule and became king over Oyo. He became
recognized for serving as a good warrior and magician; he could contol thunder and
lightening. Giving praise and worship to Sango became the state religion in Oyo (300).
Oyo expanded during the seventeenth century. It moved southward because of
European trading on the coast. Oyo became strong enough to leave Nupe and
controlled its ex-overlords. In the early 18th century, Oyo might have become the
4
strongest state in West Africa. Oyo fought mainly with Dahomey and eventually
controlled Dahomey. Oyo reached its greatest dominance by 1789.
The kingdom started failing in the 1700s. Nupe beat Oyo in a battle and took its
independence from Oyo. The Oyo kingdom lost Ilorin to Fulani jihadists, too. Later, it no
longer controlled Dahomey. The kingdom fell in 1836, destroyed because of civil wars,
but still ruled by a king, Alafin Oluewa.
The king's replacement, Atabi, made a new capital, "New Oyo". He tried to start an
Oyo kingdom again. The chief of Oyo's armies controlled Ibadan, and Atabi himself
appeared the head counselor or Basorun. Although Atabi seemed the overlord of
Ibadan, power lay with the army's commander, Kurunmi. Eventually, the Protectorate of
Nigeria became established, and Oyo became part of it around 1914 (301).
Today, fifty percent of Yorubas includes Muslims, and fifty percent of Yorubas include
Christians. A small percentage of Yorubas still practice the traditional Yoruba religion.
Before the gods and goddesses whom the Yorubas worshipped, the Yorubas believed in
Olodumare. Olodumare had various names; some called him Eledumare. He appeared
the god above all gods. He ruled the universe and also seemed known as Orisa
Agbaye. The Yoruba people believed that the various gods and goddesses whom they
worshipped would deliver their prayers to Olodumare. Esu or Elegbara seemed thought
of as the divine messenger, delivering offerings made by humans to Olodumare (Andah
and Ikechukwu 237).
Yorubas believed that worshipping the gods and goddesses adequately would result
in goodness like a good, strong society. They also believed that not serving the gods
and goddesses adequately would result in disaster. Every god or goddess whom the
5
Yorubas followed had priests, or devotees, assigned to him or her. In most Yoruba
towns, the chief priest became the oba. He arranged and ran activities of the other
priests. The oba also put together religious festivals. The oba's palace seemed a place
for political and religious exercises. Inside the palace sat shrines to the town's most
respected deities (238).
The most anticipated festival in Yoruba culture became the Odun Egungun Festival. It
became held for the patrilineal ancestors. Massive, intricate masqueraders, dressed as
egungun, contained layers of fabrics and cloths. They appeared usually in darker toned
colors along with white serrated borders.
The dancer wore the costume. He would walk around the compound, village, or town
in a slow-moving pace. The dancer would twirl while walking. The cloths would spread
out, and the patterns would change. The masquerader's movements and look
represented the phantom and power, or ase, of ancestors. Ancestors seemed
considered the people who made the house, or the ile. They also made the family and
remained standing for its unity and existence against witchcraft and sickness, as long as
the people knew and remembered that the ancestors existed in their lives.
Masquerades for ancestors and the dead became a part of the lives of all different
Yorubas. Some of them seemed typical to certain areas, showing the history of each
region that has molded the Yoruba experience.
Yorubas in the Southwest, Awori for example, put on the Gelede Festival during the
rain in the spring. The festival appeared for awon iya wa, or the mothers. That phrase
supposedly represented the female power or ase, that all women had. That power
manifested itself in older women, female ancestors, and female deities. The magnificent
6
power of women that seemed both creative and destructive appeared celebrated and
acknowledged.
The Yorubas believed that 401 orisas, or gods, existed. All of them used to have
human lives. They became orisas when they died because they had led worthy lives
before their passing. The god of thunder became called Sango. An orisa showed the
variations in regions in worship. Sango appeared king of Oyo, so his shrines appeared
sacred and well respected in towns and villages that used to belong to the old Oyo
empire. In Ile-Ife, Sango's role and how much he seemed worshipped decreased
significantly. Many names for Yoruba gods and goddesses appear. Sango became
known as Balgogunmile Ado and also Oba Koso.
The god of iron became known as Ogun. His worship seemed spread around
Yorubaland the most. According to some, seven different Oguns existed as follows:
Ogun for the blacksmiths, Ogun for the hunters, Ogun for the warriors, and Ogun Onire.
Ogun appeared as the leader of the warriors in a town called Ire. Ire's locations appears
in northeastern Yorubaland. Ogun disappeared into the floor after he had killed a large
number of people. He did not understand that their promise of ritual quietness appeared
not an insult directed a him. Ogun exhibited people's life experiences by showcasing
aspects of it. Ogun showcased violence and culture. His stories and rituals show the
Yorubas the incongruity that goes hand in hand with death and destruction. A person
must kill in order to survive and live. This situation creates a peril, the danger that the
destruction will go farther than necessary, wrecking what it should serve. If someone
called for Ogun's power, he must have understood that the helpful god could become an
angry one who might shoot himself in the foot.
7
Every god, regardless of their differences in various cultures, became a way of
dealing with human suffering. Hardly did one god lay hold to only one person. Osun
could control someone's life and mold someone's idea of himself and the world. Orisas
would have their items on a shrine and also have their ideas and influence on
someone's life.
A Yoruba dancer had to react to several rhythms made from the drum, as the soul that
paid attention to the powers of the god and reacted to the various requests. The
difficulty and intricacy of the response could flood a person. However, the capability of a
dancer became his reaction to every instrument of the ensemble, and he sacrificed
everything to all the gods who shouted. The olusin, or worshipper, could acquire the
admirable dignity, the tranquility of one who has ase throughout the inconsistency of life.
When one takes into account the structure of orisa insignia on a believer's shrine and
events for the god in a specific town as a system, someone recognizes that the whole
congregation of the orisas showed in its whole a worldview. It appeared in the actuality
of the worldview that the Yorubas practiced.
A person had his own intimate orisa called ori inun, or inner head. Ori inun mentioned
the fate that one's ancestral angel chose whole prostrating in front of Olorun before
coming into the world. Personal destiny could not change. Birth ended in loss of
memory of someone's fate. One's ekejimi, or spiritual other, represented assurance for
the potentiality and the border of the destiny that one had. A person must go through
life, knowing his ori as an orisa who could help him in learning the promises that
became his fate. A person could own an ori buruku, or dumb. In this situation, one had
8
to calmly look and work with a dumb choice and look for how he could benefit from
other orisa.
In orisa worship, the sagacity of Orunmila, who appeared the orisa of Ifa horoscopy,
and the art of Esu, who appeared the agent of sacrifices, seemed distinguished for the
goodness of experience and the odds of effective action. Ifa poetry arranged 266
collections named Odu. Odu seemed an archive of Yoruba cultural principles. The
babalawo, father of old knowledge or Ifa priest, had knowledge of Ifa and showcased
the customs of horoscopy. He used 16 holy palm nuts, or the opele shackle, to bless the
Odu. Next, he chanted the Odu verses. He chanted them and addressed problems of
the complainer and figured out the sacrifices that had to occur.
In Yoruba culture, all rituals encompassed a sacrifice. A sacrifice could become a
prayer, giving of a kola nut, or the killing of an animal. According to Ifa writing, ebo, or
sacrifice, seemed involved with death and trying to avoid poverty, loss, or famine.
Sacrifice became shown as reversing death back into life. Sacrifice appeared the fuel of
the gods and spirits, when someone sacrificed something that appropriately showed the
iwa, or character, of a certain spirit of his worry. For this reason, Ogun got a dog, the
flesh-eating animal that could become tamed to help the hunter and warrior. Offering
appeared, recognizing the existence of strong agents in the world, and the act brought
creative strength from the orisa, the ancestors, or the mothers to the worshipper.
Sacrifice could also temporarily stay the hand of death and ward off other male violent
spirits or ajogun. That seemed the power of Esu, who appeared the holder of offerings,
the arbitrator, protector of the ritual routine, and the savior of ase.
9
People who had studied the ritual way and reached the status of elders in the town
could become members of the Osugbo or Ogboni society. Osugbo associated with
people who came from different lineage families, and the exalted Onile, or the holder of
the home. The Edanin in the Osugbo society appeared as tiny, brass, connected poles
that seemed like female and male figures. They appeared symbols of membership, and
the indignation of the Osugbo appeared the understanding of reality. The undisclosed of
the Osugbo showed that its associates knew and seemed in reach with an early unity
that passed the conflict, characterizing human knowledge. Signifying the unity of man
and woman, the edan and their holders had the power of deciding clashes among
people or groups. When murder occurred, Osugbo members had to pay for violating the
home.
The Yoruba people's view on the world appeared monistic. Everything of their
knowledge filled by ase appeared a separate energy in the routine of making a new
generation. Ase did not have any specific signification, but authorized all imaginative
activity. They hated chaos and losing value in human reality. The Yorubas believed that
the universe appeared all together, and it seemed receptive to enunciation, based on magnificent cosmology, to crucial revising, and to new viewing (Pemberton.
World
History in Context
).
The government of the Yoruba people showcased their simple cultural congregation.
Governments became created in towns. Every town and village became created
originally from settlement of the first lineages in the area. The leader of the lineage took
political and spiritual responsibility of the settlement. The leaders of the other lineages
got titles. Those titles became given based on hereditary into their lineages. Leaders
10
became ranked by the oldest to the founder in the order of settlement of the lineages.
The governing head of the settlement became a hereditary position, as well. Eventually,
a system of government, where a ruler appeared around lineage chiefs with whom he
talked regularly on subjects about several issues, became created (Andah and
Ikechukwu 229).
Most Yorubas lived in compounds. Oba served as the head of everything. The king did
not really participate in the town's council. He became observant and did not stand out.
Senior chiefs listened to what became discussed, and then they would report it back to
the oba (232).
Yorubas respected the oba, and some considered him a friend of the gods. Every
Yoruba town required an oba (230). The oba appeared as a father of all the citizens. He
became expected to take care of the people, and not appear a dictator. The oba
achieved wealth from many different places. He created a farm and received servants to
work on it. He also received free labor from villagers. The oba would feed them for their
work. The king made money from his farm, and he used most of that money for the
good of his people (233).
Compounds appeared in the shape of a rectangle. Each had a free space in the
center. The baale, the oldest man, became the head of the compound. The baale
stopped problems, held funerals, and looked out for the members of the compound. If a
compound started to get overcrowded, a new compound became constructed; many
people could reside in one compound or more. In compounds, Yorubas got an early
education and also developed their personalities (238). Children learned to honor and
respect elders. They also learned good behavior. Yorubas valued seniority and
11
respecting authorities. Children listened to their parents and obeyed and respected
all the men and women who appeared older than they. The baale became the most
respected. Compound dwellers seemed close and helped each other. All of the linage
members came together during special events and funerals. They supported each other
in many ways during births, funerals, and weddings. The linage became the center of
the extended family routine among the Yorubas. Its people may have come from various
areas, but they never forgot that they should appear as one (239).
In Yoruba culture, a newborn became sprinkled with water to make the child cry during
christening. The Yorubas could not speak until the baby had shed a tear. Yorubas
believed that quietness would stop the baby from becoming powerless or unproductive.
A person younger than the baby's mother could not attend the christening. The baby's
umbilical cord would become cut in the backyard of the house. Someone would hold it
tightly with thread, then cut with a knife, or the middle rib of a leaf from bamboo palm, or
sometimes a piece of glass. The umbilical cord became buried with the placenta in the
backyard. The baby became washed with a loofah and then covered with palm oil on
the burial site. Next, someone would hold the baby by his feet and shake him three
times to make him strong and courageous.
After some days, the naming ceremony occurred for the child, and relatives came and
brought money as a gift. Male infants received circumcision in the first month. Girls
received clitoridectomies. In the third month, the baby received tribal marks on his or
her face. Christians and Muslims do not perform scarification anymore.
Yoruba children usually become named for the circumstances of their births. The first
born twin became thought of as younger since he appeared sent ahead of his twin. He
12
received the name Taiwo, meaning he had come to inspect the world. The second born
twin appeared older. He had the name Kehinde, meaning he arrived afterwards (Gall
466). The Yoruba people became famous for twin births. Forty-five births out of one
thousand appeared as twins. Twins became known as thunder children because
apparently the first twins seemed Shango's children. Twins became thought of as a
burden and a blessing, twice as much trouble and work to raise, but they brought twice
as many blessings to parents who took good care of them (Hart. National Geographic
Virtual Library). There also appeared names for the order of children born after twins,
babies born with their umbilical cord wrapped around their necks, and babies with six
fingers.
Previously, men older than adolescence became divided into a system of agegrouped
associations. These associations consisted of three year periods of
membership and went on until all the members died. Membership seemed mandatory
for every man. The age groups determined a young boy's or man's duties in the town.
Boys from birth to nine did not work at all. The next grade of boys weeded roads, and
the two next grades helped the warriors. When a man became forty five, he became an
elder and did not have to do manual public work. This system does not occur anymore
because all children go to school now.
Girls became engaged by age five. This does not occur anymore, but a man still has
to negotiate through a go-between with the girl's father to prepare the marriage. The
man could not go to the girl nor her parents directly to ask for her hand in marriage. If
the parents liked the boy, they went to a diviner. If the diviner approved of the boy, the
boy would meet the girl's family and take the first dowry, or payment, to the bride's
13
family. That act confirmed the engagement. Money, or "love money", could become
shared at any moment before the girl had three years in puberty, or when the girl
became able to marry. "Wife money" became paid right before marriage. When the girl
became of age to marry, her family told the groom that it had become time for the girl to
have her body decorated with tribal marks or scars. The suitor then sent six calabashes
filled with water and six groups of wood, oils, leaves, and other items.
Weddings occurred usually in the season after the heavy rains. It started at the bride's
house after the sun had gone down. There occurred a feast, and the groom brought
yams. The bride went to the groom's house; women from his house took the bride there.
The bride went, after her parents had blessed her. In her fiancé's house, the bride went
to the main chamber. There, she became washed from feet to knee with leaves. The
leaves represented her birthing many children. For eighty four days, beginning with the
wedding night, the bride made ritual trips to her parents' house and went back to her
husband's compound after dark. For eight days, she spent two nights and two days in
her husband's compound and then her parents' compound, alternately. On the ninth
day, she went back to her husband's house to sacrifice something to the god of
divination.
Funerals had rituals, as well. Grown men, from the clan of the person who died,
directed funerals. People who had a relationship to the deceased became excluded
from performing the burial. The men put themselves into two groups. One group dug the
grave, and one bathed the dead body. They laid the corpse in the house on nice cloths
put on a bed and then covered the body with even nicer cloth. People who seemed
close to the deceased became aware of the death as soon as possible, and they
14
consoled the immediate family and gave respects to the dead. They placed the grave in
the floor of the room where the dead person stayed. The burial could become
postponed for eight days; feasting took place during this time. Now, burial occurs right
after the men dig the grave.
Following the burial, guests celebrated for eight to ten days, if the children of the
deceased could pay for it. Funeral ceremonies could become put on hold for up to a
year, if the children could not afford to do it at that time. Most burial routines became
purposefully done to make sure that the dead would become born again.
Blood relationship became the most important interaction to Yoruba people. Through
blood relationships, a Yoruba received his purpose and made his important contracts.
Certain connections did not get their basis from kinship. Friendship could cross kinship
boundaries, and sometimes it could not. Best friends became thought of as "friend notsee-
not-sleep". That meant that a person did not go to sleep without seeing his best
friend. With experience, a person learned upon whose advice he could depend and with
whom he could trust to share his secrets. In troubled times, Yorubas turned to their best
friends before going to their mothers. Yorubas told their last wishes to their best friend:
funeral arrangements and division of land. The best friend gave this information to his
family when the other friend died.
Kinship did not affect the club, or association. It could grow from childhood
associations, when a person's clan put on a religious festival, or when he made a
sacrifice to his ancestral guardian soul. A child could invite his friends and their friends
to eat with him; he could also become invited by them. If this kept going, the children
picked a name for the club and called an elder man and lady to serve as their advisors.
15
The members of the club seemed around the same age. A man could ask the members
of the association to a feast when he put on a festival, and to go with him as he went
around the town, along with a drummer that day. Men's social positions became based
on the number of his followers, on days with special occasions. Clubs met monthly, and
members took turns hosting.
All members of the "father of the house's" clan became blood relatives, although he
may not have known how they became related. Members of the clan became "children
of the house". Males became the center of the compound and were born, married, and
buried in it. Wives of the men in the clan became "the wives of the house". They did not
become blood relatives to the rest of the compounds members, but their children
appeared as blood relatives. Clans and sub-clans became more important than the
immediate family. A man, his wives, and their offspring became referred to as "house
that of mine", to set it apart from the compound.
The sub-family had a wife and her children, within the polygamous family. Each wife
had a room in her husband's house for herself. They shared items in common. Each
mother cooked for her children alone, and a close affection tied a mother and her sons
and daughters. Husbands became required to treat each wife in the same way and not
based on the number of sons whom she had. Each mother competed to get more favors
for her own children. The father appeared a distant authoritarian and hardly saw his
sons and daughters.
Young sons and daughters of co-wives interacted and seemed on good terms. When
they got older, property became divided into equal shares, based on the number of
children each wife had. The sons and daughters inherited, and the first born son of each
16
wife took a share on behalf of all the children of his mother. The son could hold the
inheritance and do what appeared the best with it, but became responsible for the bank
of his siblings and mother (Gall 467).
In the past, Yoruba economy depended on hoe farming, craft, specialization, and
trade. Seventy-five percent of Yoruba men became farmers. They produced food crops
for their own needs. Farming became men's work, only. Wives could help by planting
crops and harvesting them, but clearing fields became men's work. Wives could also
help sell farm produce in the market. Many men had labor trades; they would work with
each other for a fair number of days or hoe the same number of crops on each person's
field. A man could also invite people close to him to work during busy times. Rich
families hired workers.
Since 1920, cocoa has become an available crop for Yoruba economy. This has
caused a change in attention to wage labor, stopping many of the traditional ways of
exchange labor. Yorubas liked trading, and Yoruba markets have become large and
have thousands of sellers. Yoruba traders travel to Accra, Ghana, and Bannako, Mali.
Women dealt with the trading of food and cloth. Men bought produce and sold meat. A
father could become successful if he worked hard, had good health, and had few sins.
Now, few men have enough means to start large cocoa farms and hire workers. With
trading, a poor or average man could become extremely rich. Before, there appeared
famous traders. Now, buyers, contractors, and truck holders become the richest men in
the town. Wealth like this becomes spent on houses, clothing, and wives. In the present,
people buy modern houses and cars, but most men use the money to send their
17
children to college. This educated generation has left farming in the past and have
started sophisticated jobs.
The cultural heritage of the Yorubas became the verbal arts, such as praise names,
plays, poems, and more. The main characters could appear as humans or animals, but
either way, each folktale had a lesson. Myths and legends have information that
became thought of as valid, concerning Yoruba heritage. Before an evening of telling
folktales, the children had a riddling contest. Riddles helped children become witty and
helped them with memory. Parents recited proverbs that became an insight to the
"moral, ethics, and social approval and disapproval" of the Yorubas. The people sang
songs that contained praise, ridicule, lullabies, religious songs, war songs, and work
songs. The songs usually had a "call and response" pattern. The leader became the
"caller", and the chorus had the response. Drums, iron gongs, rattles, and more
instruments provided rhythm. The most interesting instrument of the Yorubas became
the talking drum (469).
Facial and body scarification had ties with clan affiliation and beautification. Tribal
marks, or scarification, involved making tiny, superficial cuts and punctures in the skin.
Hairstyles became important to the decoration of women and young girls. A common
hairstyle became known as shuku. To do this style, hairdressers made tightly braided
stripes that seemed parallel in the hair. The braids started from the forehead to the back
of the head; sometimes they started in the middle of the head. The braids became
bundled up into a row of small queues, from the back of the head to the forehead, and
from the top of the head going downwards. The style ended in a circle of queues on the
top of the head, forming a tiny topknot (468).
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The essential foods of the Yorubas became starchy plants, plantains, grains,
vegetables, meats, and fruits. Yams became the main food, but they seemed pricey and
there appeared a respectful connection with them when served. People served them for
special and social occasions.
The average family's daily diet depended on cassava, taro, corn, beans, and
plantains. A popular food became fufu. It appears as really thick mashed potatoes or
dumplings made out of cassava. Rice became popular and grown all over Nigeria, and
the Yoruba people used it for ceremonial and special meals. In the past, meat seemed
saved for ceremonies and important occasions. Historians have figured out why starch
became so dominant in Yoruba food; of fifty-six recipes found in Ife, forty-seven showed
various means of cooking yams, plantains, taro, and more starches. Six appeared as
stews that could or could not have fish or meat in them. They became made with
vegetable oil and became seasoned heavily with salt and chili pepper. Of the three
stews left, two became made of melon seeds and one just roasted peanuts. Pounded
yam with chicken okra, or okoro, soup became a very popular Yoruba dish (469).
American influenced dress has become the type of clothing that people wear in the
city today. Traditional clothing appeared very colorful and elaborate. It appears still worn
on special occasions and in the countryside. Women wore a gele, or head tie, made of
a rectangular piece of cloth. They tied it around their heads in many different ways and
styles. A woman also carried her baby on her back by using another piece of cloth tied
around her waist. Yoruba women became known for wearing an iro and buba. A Buba
appeared a loose top with three-quarter length sleeves. A rectangular cloth called an iro
became tied around to make a skirt. A woman could wear a third piece of cloth around
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her shoulders, like a shawl. Men wore structured cloth hats, gowns called agbada, and
pants made of many different patterns. Most agbadas appeared as ponchos. They went
all the way down to the fingertips, but appeared folded and laid on the shoulders. Pants
appeared loose, straight, and baggy. The cloth used to make traditional clothing seemed
woven by hand and decorated elaborately (468).
New technology used for entertainment has consisted of televisions, movies, and
visiting clubs. Yoruba houses in cities have television sets. More religious homes stop
members of the family, mainly women, from going to the movies. Yoruba teenagers who
live in cities enjoy American youth culture. Most Nigerian teenagers, whether Yoruba or
not, listen to modern Nigerian music and modern American music (470).
When Nigeria got its independence from Great Britain in 1960, the new parliamentary
government made education a priority. Elementary school education became normal in
southwestern Nigeria, where Yoruba people generally lived. High school education
became popular, too. Yorubas became very involved in education efforts because it
appeared a tradition. The first university in Nigeria appeared in 1947 to 1948. It became
called University College, Ibadan. After Nigeria got its independence, the university
became renamed University of Ibadan. Most of the students there consisted of the
Yoruba (469).
Yorubas have always taken part in visual and verbal arts. Visual arts consist of
weaving, embroidering, pottery making, and more. Both men and women weave, but
use different looms. Women once used a vertical "mat loom" for weaving. Using this
loom produced cloth about two feet wide and seven feet long. Men used a "horizontal
narrow-band treadle loom" to weave. Using this loom created a strip of cloth three to
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four inches wide, but the cloth could become as long as the weaver would like. The
strips became cut to the length and could become sewn together to make clothes.
Patterns became named after the clubs that ordered them. Silk and cotton, grown by
the Yorubas, became generally what they used to weave cloth. Men did embroidery on
clothing items worn by men. Men also sewed clothes and made dresses. They
produced floor mats, bags, and baskets.
Women made pots, palm oil lamps, and various pots and dishes for cooking, eating,
and storing items. Everyday pottery appeared in a neutral color with no decorations.
Pottery for rituals had designs usually in red, white, or blue. Gourds, or calabashes,
became used for drinking, serving food, carrying palm wine, sacrifices, and holding
goods to sell in markets. They also became used for holding ingredients for medicines.
Calabashes could appear decorated.
Woodcarving had the most variety of decorated and sculptural pieces. Men became
the woodcarvers. They carved sculptures and geometrical designs and figures. Men
who carved masks and statues became set apart from men who carved mortars and
pestles. Yoruba woodcarvers could also carve into bone, ivory, and stone. Blacksmiths
functioned with brass and iron to make utilities and objects for decoration. Ife heads
made of brass prior to contact with foreigners became thought of as among the best
works of art in the world (470.)
Yorubas have become a strong people with values, self-respect, and intelligence. This
tribe represents power and unity and has become inspiring to many other groups in
Africa. Yoruba people appear some of Africa's finest, and their character and culture
continue to open many doors and opportunities for them.
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WORKS CITED
Andah, Bassey W., and Alex Ikechukwu, et.al., eds.
Some Nigerian Peoples.
Nigeria: Editorial Board, WAJA,
U of Ibadan, 1988. Print.
Gall, Timothy L., ed.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life.
Detroit: Gale, 1998. Print.
Hart, Robert E., et al. Wade Davis and Catherine Herbert Howell, eds.
Book of Peoples of the World: A Guide to Cultures.
Washington, DC: National
Geographic Society, 2007. National Geographic Virtual Library. Web. 1 Feb.
2015.
Lye, Keith, and John Haywood, et.al.eds.
Encyclopedia of African Nations and
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Civilizations.
New York: Facts on File, 2002. Print.
Pemberton, John, III. "Yoruba Religion."
Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd.ed. Vol. 14.
Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 9909-9912. World
History in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.
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