THE YORUBA
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| The Yoruba 'Talking Drum' (Gangan) |
The Yoruba are one of the largest African
ethnic groups south of the Sahara Desert. They are, in fact, not a single
group, but rather a collection of diverse people bound together by a common
language, history, and culture.
Within Nigeria, the Yoruba dominate
the western part of the country. Yoruba mythology holds that all Yoruba people
descended from a hero called Oodua or Oduduwa. Today there are over fifty
individuals who claim kingship as descendants of Oodua.
During the four centuries of the
slave trade, Yoruba territory was known as the Slave Coast. Uncounted numbers
of Yoruba were carried to the Americas. Their descendants preserved Yoruba
traditions.
In several parts of the Caribbean
and South America, Yoruba religion has been combined with Christianity.
In 1893, the Yoruba kingdoms in
Nigeria became part of the Protectorate of Great Britain. Until 1960 Nigeria
was a British colony and the Yoruba were British subjects.
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria became
an independent nation structured as a federation of states.
The Yoruba homeland is located in West
Africa. It stretches from a savanna (grassland) region in the north to a region
of tropical rain forests in the south.
Most Yoruba live in Nigeria. However
there are also some scattered groups in Benin and Togo, small countries to the
west of Nigeria. The occupations and living conditions of the Yoruba in the
north and south differ sharply.
According to a Yoruba creation myth,
the deities (gods) originally lived in the sky with only water below them.
Olorun, the Sky God, gave to Orisala,
the God of Whiteness, a chain, a bit of earth in a snail shell, and a five-toed
chicken. He told Orisala to go down and create the earth. Orisala approached
the gate of heaven. He saw some deities having a party and he stopped to greet
them. They offered him palm wine and he drank too much and fell asleep.
Oodua, his younger brother, saw Orisala
sleeping. He took the materials and went to the edge of heaven, accompanied by
Chameleon. He let down the chain and they climbed down it. Oodua threw the piece
of earth on the water and placed the five-toed chicken upon it. The chicken
began to scratch the earth, spreading it in all directions. After Chameleon had
tested the firmness of the earth, Oodua stepped down.
A sacred grove is there, in Ile-Ife,
today... TO
BE CONTINUED.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hetfield, Jamie. The Yoruba of West Africa. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 1996.
Bascom, William. The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1984.
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