Please see below another interesting link from Engnr Latunde Addey on the idea of maybe re-doing the Yoruba language since the advent of computers has revealed
some problems with the language as it's now written
when you have to type things down on a computer.
Please see below an entry sent By Engineer Latunde Addey about the use of Yoruba Animal Metaphors.
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some problems with the language as it's now written
when you have to type things down on a computer.
http://www.abeokuta.org/yoruba/?p=6105
Please see below an entry sent By Engineer Latunde Addey about the use of Yoruba Animal Metaphors.
Thank you so much for this interesting article.
************
Who are the Yoruba?
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As published by National Association of Yoruba Descendants in North America
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The first obvious answer to this question is
that the Yoruba are a nationality, numbering
over 25 million, the majority of whom live
in the South Western part of Nigeria in West
Africa. Obvious as this answer is, it is not
wholly explanatory, and certainly, it is not
without its own controversy.
The Yoruba are a black people, of Negro
stock and
they speak
a common language, Yoruba, which belongs to the Kwa
group of the
Niger-Congo language family. Yoruba is a dialect continuum,
i.e. it has many dialects, and the dialect at one end of the continuum
is not intelligible
to speakers at another end of the continuum, which is why
the Ondo
dialect is not immediately understandable by someone from say, Lagos
or Oyo. If you travel from one part of Yoruba land to another,
you will
notice slight differences in accent, word for items, etc. The Yoruba are a well urbanized group with genius in arts as symbolized in the
famous “Ife
Bronzes”. The Yoruba people are also found in neighboring Togo, Benin
Republic. Because of the slave trade, the Yoruba can also be found in other
parts of the world, including Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, and the United States.
What makes the Yoruba a nationality, or a nation, not a tribe or clan, and
how does one then mark a distinction between Yorubaland and Nigeria?
To this last question, there is no better answer than the one provided by
Obafemi Awolowo in 1947, to which a later section of this presentation will return. For now, it is necessary to answer the question: “Who are the Yoruba?”
by focussing on some critical moments in Yoruba history and thought.
Let us address these and other issues by focussing on some critical
moments in Yoruba history.
The Oduduwa Dynasty and the Founding of the Nation.
Oduduwa is the legendary progenitor of the Yoruba. There are two variants of the story of how he achieved this feat. The first is cosmogonic, the second, political. The cosmogonic version also has two variants. According to the first variant of the cosmogonic myth, Orisanla (Obatala) was the arch-divinity who was chosen by Olodumare, the supreme deity to create a solid land out of the primordial waters that constituted the earth and of populating the land with human beings. He descended from heaven on a chain, carrying a small snail shell full of earth, palm kernels and a five-toed chicken. He was to empty the content of the snail shell on the water after placing some pieces of iron on it, and then to place the chicken on the earth to spread it over the primordial water. According to the first version of the story, Obatala completed this task to the satisfaction of Olodumare. After creating land, he planted the palm kernels, growing a palm tree with sixteen branches - the original sixteen kings of Yoruba land. Obatala was then given the task of making the physical body of human beings after which Olodumare would give them the breath of life. He also completed this task and this is why he has the title of “obarisa” the king of the orisa. When he completed the task of creating land, he called it “Ile Ife” “This wide / large land”. In this version of the story, Ile Ife is claimed as the ancestral home of the Yoruba.
The other variant of the cosmogonic myth does not credit Obatala with the completion of the task. While it concedes that Obatala was given the task, it avers that Obatala got drunk even before he got to the earth and he was unable to do the job. Olodumare got worried when he did not return on time, and he had to send Oduduwa to find out what was going on. When Oduduwa found Obatala drunk, he simply took over the task and completed it. He created land. The spot on which he landed from heaven and which he redeemed from water to become land is called Ile-Ife and is now considered the sacred and spiritual home of the Yoruba. Obatala was embarrassed when he woke up and, due to this experience, he made it a taboo for any of his devotees to drink palm wine. Olodumare forgave him and gave him the responsibility of molding the physical bodies of human beings. The making of land is a symbolic reference to the founding of the Yoruba kingdoms, and this is why Oduduwa is credited with that achievement (Idowu, 1962).
According to the second version of the myth, there was a pre-existing civilization at Ile-Ife prior to its invasion by a group led by Oduduwa. This group came from the east, where Oduduwa and his group had been persecuted on the basis of religious differences. They came to Ile-Ife and fought and conquered the pre-existing Igbo (unrelated to the present Igbo) inhabitants led by Oreluere (Obatala). Obviously, there is a connection between the two versions of the story. The political one may be the authentic story of the founding of Ife kingdom through conquest. However, the myth of creation lends it a legitimacy that is denied by the conquest story; just as it appears that it is lent some credence by the fact that, as a result of the embarrassment it caused their deity, the followers of Obatala are forbidden from taking palm wine. Indeed the second version of the cosmogonic myth also appears to foreshadow the political variant. The claim that Obatala got drunk and the task of creation had to be performed by Oduduwa already has some political coloration which is now explicit in the political version of the tradition.
What is crucial in both variants of the story is the role of Oduduwa as the founder of the Yoruba nation which is why the name cannot be forgotten. Oduduwa is the symbol of the nation, the rallying point for all those who subscribe to the Yoruba identity. The name Yoruba itself, according to historians Smith, Atanda and others, was fixed on us by our northern neighbors and later popularized by colonial publications. Before then, “Anago”, was used to refer to most of the people called Yoruba today. “Anago” also the name by which some Yoruba in the present Benin Republic and others in the new world still use to refer to themselves, A common origin and language, as well as common political and religious cultures made the Yoruba a nation long before any contact with Europeans and the advent of colonialism.
Moremi ‘s Patriotism and the Survival of the Nation
Upon the death of Oduduwa, there was a dispersal of his children from Ife to found other kingdoms. These original founders of the Yoruba nation included Olowu of Owu (son of Oduduwa’s daughter), Alaketu of Ketu (son of a princess), Oba of Benin, Oragun of Ila, Onisabe of Sabe, Olupopo of Popo, and Oranyan of Oyo. Each of them made a mark in the subsequent urbanization and consolidation of Yoruba confederacy of kingdoms, with each kingdom tracing its origin to Ile-Ife.
After the dispersal, the aborigines, the Igbo, became difficult, and constituted a serious threat to the survival of Ife. Thought to be survivors of the old occupants of the land before the arrival of Oduduwa, these people now turned themselves into marauders. They would come to town in costumes made of raffia with terrible and fearsome appearances, and the Ife people would flee. Then the Igbo would burn down houses and loot the markets. Then came Moremi on the scene - like Deborah of the Old Testament. When no man could dare the Igbos, Moremi asked the Esinminrin river for help and promised to give offerings if she could save her people. The orisa told her to allow herself to be captured and to understudy the Igbo people. She did, and discovered that these were not spirits; only people with raffia for dress. She escaped, and taught her people the trick. The next time that Igbo people came to sack the town, the townspeople set fire on their raffia costumes, and they were roundly defeated. Moremi then had to go back to Esinminrin to thank the gods. Every offering she offered was refused. On divination, she was told that she had to give Oluorogbo, her only son. She did. The lesson of Moremi is the lesson of patriotism and selflessness. The reward may not be reaped in one’s life time. Moremi passed on and became a member of the Yoruba pantheon . The Edi festival celebrates the defeat of the Igbo and the sacrifice of Oluorogbo till today.
The Oranmiyan Adventures, Afonja Treachery, Internal Division, Enslavement and the Fall of the Nation.
Oranmiyan was the last of the Oduduwa offspring. But he was the most adventurous and the founder of Oyo Kingdom. On some accounts, he was the third ruler of Ife as successor to Oduduwa. But he later decided to avenge the expulsion of his father from the East, and so, he led an expedition. After many years on the road, and as a result of disagreement between him and his people, he could not go further. Feeling too ashamed to go back, he appealed to the King of Nupe for a land to found his kingdom. He was obliged, and that land became the nucleus of Old Oyo Kingdom. Oranmiyan, taking the title of Alafin, succeeded in raising a very strong military and effectively expanded his kingdom. His successors, including Sango, the mythical god of thunder, Aganju and Oluaso were also as strong. Peace and tranquility prevailed during the reign of Abiodun, though it also experienced the decline of the army. Awole Arogangan was Abiodun’ s successor and it was during his reign that trouble started for the kingdom. He was forced to commit suicide; but before his death he was said to have pronounced a curse on all Yoruba, that they will not unite and that they will be taken captives.
Afonja was the Kakanfo, the generalisimo of the Army, in the northern Yoruba town of Ilorin, during the reign of Awole and his successor. Afonja refused to recognize the new king, and invited the Fulani who were then leading a jihad to the south, to assist him against the king. They did, but he did not survive himself, because the Fulani, after helping him defeat the Alafin also turned against him. They fired numerous arrows at him and his dead body was stood erect on those arrows as they stuck into his body. The treachery of Afonja marked the beginning of the end of the Oyo empire and with it the decline of the Yoruba nation. Civil war erupted among the various Yoruba kingdoms: Oyo, Ijesa, Ekiti Parapo, Ijaiye, Abeokuta and Ibadan. As this was going on, Dahomey on the west and the Borgu on the north were also posing trouble for the Yoruba kingdoms until the intervention of the British and the imposition of colonial rule.
Those who argue that there was no consciousness of a common Yoruba identity until the 19th century may be referring to these civil war episodes in the life of the nation. But they forget that the Yoruba people, in spite of the civil war, share a sense of common origin and common language. And it is to be noted that the so-called peace that was imposed by the British could not have lasted had there not been a sense of consciousness of coming from a common origin.
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The Culture of Aso Ebi
This is a yoruba fashion - centric post that only the ladies of yodaai may find interesting. Our men, unless you follow the vagaries of fashion, can stop reading the post now if y'all want.
We can have a vigorous debate one way or the other on the virtues of the culture of aso ebi amongst us yoruba folks, why do we do it, is it necessary, etc, etc. This is not an essay on that subject.
Rather, this is a celebration of talent, creativity and bonding amongst the yorubas, focusing on the use of Aso ebi. Indeed that yoruba talent and creativity was on display this last labor day weekend at a 70th birthday celebration I attended in Houston, Texas. Yes, I know. A long way from Nigeria and here we are with our custom of aso ebi..
The family of the celebrant sent out this aso ebi to each of us.
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| Aso ebi, Ankara. |
Not anything unusual amongst us Nigerians. The question is what do you do with it? What do you turn it into creatively?
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| Aso ebi with hot pink fabric added to top of blouse |
I was struck by the many different and fantabulous styles and combination people came up with, given the same ankara fabric, both men and women. None of the women went to Macy's or Sacks 5th Avenue to pick out a design. We each found our individual tailors and created our individual designs and came out with about a hundred different complete designs, no two dresses alike, same fabric.
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| Aso ebi on top, different skirt altogether |
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| Aso ebi, maxi dress |
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| Aso ebi maxi dress with swingy bottom |
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| Aso ebi, traditional iro & buba |
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| Aso ebi, different blouse on top, with the aso ebi as gele and wrapper on the left, Skirt & blouse on the right. |
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| Aso ebi combined with denim fabric to make a wrap dress! Ingenious! |
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| Aso ebi, Cute Top with black ric rac in the waist |
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| Aso ebi with turquoise gele (Headtie and )insert in bustier |
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| Aso ebi skirt & blouse with turquoise inserts in top & skirt, (r) maxi dress with gold sequins on top, pink insert below |
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| Aso ebi with golden yellow sequins on maxi dress |
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| Aso ebi, with holes cut out of fabric to make it into lace with a bronze lining underneath showing |
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| Aso ebi, traditional buba & sokoto |
Don't tell me we are not a creatively minded people, very right brained and ingenious in what we can do given the little we have by way of resources. Here is my premise really for this story: Any group of minds that can come up with this many ideas can surely come up with creative solutions for some of the challenges facing our country. I know that this is a long extrapolation, but why not?
What are we doing with our God given talents?
I am reminded of the old Ebenezer Obey song - that song that spoke about the parable of the 3 men with talents, one of whom ended up burying his. "Ma se ri talenti ri mo le arakunrin, Oluwa yio bere l'owo re, ohun t'o fi se!
Yes, we are a talented group. Yes, we can be very creative. Yes, we can, as President Obama would say, if we put our minds to it, create a better, more secure society for our selves in Nigeria. Yes, we can harness the talent and creative minds of many Yoruba/Nigerians to take the society to a different level, reflect our culture from a different perspective, make the world sit up and notice us once again, and not just for what we are wearing.
Funke Abolade,
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Ise ni Ogun Ise.
Do you remember this poem? Growing up it was almost required reading for all young ones in primary school. Mrs Folake Sodeke brought some of it to my attention recently and I found the full version on line in a yoruba discussion forum. May be we can get some of our children to learn it for our ikore. For now, please enjoy! This version has been around since 1951, original author unknown.
Ise ni Ogun Ise
Ise ni ogun ise
Mura s'ise ore mi
Ise l' a fi ndeni giga
Bi a ko ba r'eni fehinti
Bi ole l' a a ri
Bi a ko ba r'eni gbekele
A tera mo 'se eni
Iya re le l'owo l'owo
Ki baba l'esin l'eekan
Bi o ba gboju le won
O te tan ni mo so fun o
Ohun ti a ko ba jiya fun
Se ki i le t'ojo
Ohun ti a ba f'ara sise fun
Ni i pe l'owo eni
Apa lara, igunpa n'iyekan
Bi aiye ba nfe o l'oni
Ti o ba l'owo l'owo
Ni won ma a fe o l'ola
Tabi o wa n'ipo atata
Aiye a ye o si t'erint'erin
Jeki o d'eni ti nrago
Ki o ri b'aiye ti nsimu si o
Eko si tun ni nso ni d'oga
Mura ki o ko o daradara
Bi o ba si ri opo enia
Ti won nfi eko s'erin rin
Sora, ma f'ara we won
Iya mbo f'omo ti ko gbon
Ekun mbe f'omo ti nsa kiri
Ma f'owuro s'ere ore mi
Mura sise, ojo nlo
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August 21, 2011
You have to watch these clips to believe it. Two caucasian Americans speaking near perfect yoruba, complete with appropriately used proverbs and conducting an interview fully in Yoruba. Awon omo wa gbodo ko ede wa. O di dan dan.
*****
Please check out this link from Wikipedia curtsey of Mr Latunde - Addey. It is an interesting "blob" on a little known authentic Yoruba village " Oyotunji" in the middle of North Carolina
(I know! Who knew...)
*****
Below are some links to some articles that give an insight into the history of the Yoruba people, their mythology and religion, their exodus from Ghana in 1969 and some demographic information and maps. The article on the yoruba speaking peoples is particularly interesting including a chapter on proverbs, "Owe' and on stories and tales "Alo". Read on and you may be surprised what you'd find or remember from childhood... I know I was!
Thanks again to Mr Simons Latunde - Addey for the links.
***
Yoruba National Anthem
Yoruba National Anthem
Ise wa fun ‘le wa
Fun ile ibi wa
K’a gbe ga (2ce) K’a gbe ga f’aiye ri!
Igbagbo wa ni pe
B’a ti bi eru l’a bi omo
K’a sise (2ce)
K’a sise k’a j’ola!
Isokan at’ominira
Ni e je ki a ma lepa
Te siwaju f’opo ire
At’ohun t’o dara!
Omo Oodua dide
Bo s’ipo eto re
Iwo ni Imole
Gbogbo Adulawo!
Numbers in Yoruba:
1. Eni
2. Eji
3. Eta
4. Erin
5. Arun
6. Efa
7. Eje
8. Ejo
9. Esan
10. Ewa
Yoruba Days and Months (comments and additional information are welcomed).
By Oluyinka Adediji, M.D
Olojo n kajo, Ile n su, Ile n mo, Ojo n gori ojo (As the sun rises and falls, the days are piling up).
These names can be recited as a song and thereby easily committed to memory.
Months in Yoruba calendar:
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Months in Gregorian calendar:
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Sere
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January
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Erele
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February
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Erena
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March
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Igbe
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April
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Ebibi
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May
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Okudu
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June
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Agemo
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July
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Ogun
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August
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Owere (Owewe)
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September
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Owara (Owawa)
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October
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Belu
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November
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Ope
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December
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Days in Yoruba calendar
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Aiku Sunday
Aje Monday
Isegun Tuesday
Ojoru Wednesday
Ojobo Thursday
Eti Friday
Abameta Saturday
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**The Yoruba calendar year reportedly begins 3 June to 2 June of the following year. According to this calendar, the Gregorian year 2008 A. D. is the 10050th year of Yoruba culture.
To reconcile with the Gregorian calendar, Yoruba people also often measure time in seven days a week and four weeks a month** .
Yoruba people have a unique ability to borrow from other languages and culture in a progressive manner.eg Sunday is also called “Ojo Ose or Ojo Isinmi”
