CONGRATULATIONS TO ONE OF OUR YOUNGER MEMBER

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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