Yoruba: History and Culture

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Yoruba History and Culture

• By M. Anderson 5/2006

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The Yoruba Monarchy

• Yoruba is very different from many other
  Monarchies
• There are multiple kings which ruled Yoruba land
  at the same time
• There are about 700 modern-day Yoruba kings

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Political and Town Leadership

• The political and social systems vary greatly in
  different regions
• Title Associations play an important role in
  assigning and balancing power within the cities

• Each town has a leader called an Oba who can
  achieve his position by
• Inheritance
• Title associations
• Being selected by Oba already in power
• Each Oba is considered descendant of the
  founding Oba in each city

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Ancient Yoruba Lore

• The Yoruba Claim to have 401 deities
• The high god Olorun
• The trickster Eshu
• The thunder god Shango
• The god of Iron and Modern Technology, Ogun
• Etc

• They believe when they die they go to the realm
  of the ancestors where they still have influence
  on earth.
• Homage is paid to the grave sites of ones
  ancestors.
• Lineage heads are responsible for honoring all
  deceased members of lineage through a yearly
  sacrifice.
• Maskers appear at funerals and are believed to
  embody the spirit of the deceased person.

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Story of Creation

• The Yoruba believe that life began at Ife.
• The oral history of the Yoruba describes an
  origin myth
• God lowers a chain to Ile-Ife
• Which let down Oduduwa
• Bringing with him a
• Chicken
• Some earth
• A palm kernel
• The Earth was thrown into the water
• The chicken scratched it to become land
• The kernel grew into a tree with sixteen limbs
• The limbs representing the original sixteen
  kingdoms

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Early Yoruba History

• The earliest known date of Yoruba is at least
  5000 years ago.
• The Yoruba language separated from the Igala
  about 2000 years ago.

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Agriculture

• The Yoruba were using tools as yearly as 2000
  years ago
• They were primarily farmers
• They grew coco and yams as cash crops
• The crops were planted in a three-year rotational
  system
• Alternating with cassava and a year of diverse
  crops including
• Maize
• Peanuts
• Cotton
• Beans
• At the end of this cycle the land was left fallow
• Sometimes up to seven years

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Political Power

• The oldest political communities were villages
• They eventually consolidated together to form
  states
• Yoruba kingship diffused throughout Yoruba
  country and into neighboring states
• Yoruba lore states that it was the sons of
  Oduduwa who dispersed and created kingdoms

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Ife

• Artifacts from Ife have shown that it has been
  occupied since at least the 6th century
• From the 9th to 12th centuries it was a
  settlement of substantial size
• Ife terracotta pottery dates from the 12th to the
  14th centuries
• Bronze casting from the 14th to 15th centuries
  mark the culmination of an artistic tradition at
  Ife
• These bronze castings were composed of either
  brass or copper.

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Trade

• Among the many things traded between the Yoruba
  and their neighbors were
• Copper
• Cloth
• Kola Nuts
• Palm Oil
• Fish
• Horses

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Oyo

• Oyo was founded by either Oranyan or Sango
• Trade was a crucial factor in the rise of Oyo
• Oyo already existed by 1100 A.D.
• It developed into a small kingdom by the late
  14th century
• The empire of Oyo arose at the end of the 15th
  century aided by Portuguese guns
• Oyo emerged as the dominant political power in
  Yoruba by the 17th century

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Oyo (continued)

• Oyo traded various goods in return for horses and
  salt
• Oyo conquered much of Yoruba land by the 17th
  century
• The Oyo empire enjoyed three centuries of
  military dominance
• The Oyo expanded their empire to its greatest
  extent between 1730 and 1748

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The Development of Slavery

• Oyo expanded their trade to Europeans by taking
  control of the coast between Whydah and Badagry
• Oyo merchants sold slaves to the Europeans via
  the ocean
• As slave exports from Oyo reached about 20,000
  per year between 1680 and 1730 this portion
  became known as the slave coast

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Slave Revolt

• Afonja started a slave revolt in 1823
• A 19th-century history of the Yoruba described
  the rebellion in this way
• All the Hausa slaves in the adjacent towns
  hitherto employed as barbers, rope-makers and
  cowherds, now deserted their masters and flocked
  to Ilorin under the standard of Afonja and were
  protected against their masters

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The Fall of Oyo

• The empire of Oyo collapsed during the first two
  decades of the 19th-century
• With the collapse of Oyo, Yoruba land plunged
  into warfare
• Approximately 500,000 people migrated from the
  savannahs of the north to the forests and coastal
  areas of the south

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The End of Slavery and the beginning of
Christianity

• Commodity trade replace slave trade by the
  19th-century
• Missionary schools and churches promoted
  Christianity
• The settlement of Abeokuta became the center of
  Yoruba Christianity

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The British Incursion

• The British establishes a protectorate over the
  port of Lagos in 1861
• They then forced Ibadan to accept a resident
  administrator in 1893
• Yoruba land was officially colonized by the
  British in 1901
• A system of indirect rule was established that
  mimicked the structure of Yoruba governance
• Nigeria gained independence from the British in
  1960

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Biafra War

• 1966 - Nigeria came under military control
• The war began in Yorubaland in Western Nigeria
  with warring among political factions, so savage
  as to be called the Wild, Wild, West of
  Nigeria, in mid 1960s, climaxing in 1965.
• The mainly Christian Igbo people tried to
  separate from Nigeria, after suffering a massacre
  at the hands of the Islamic Hausa and Fulani
  people who dominated the government.
• The Igbo formed the Republic of Biafra
  (1967-1970). This sparked off a civil war, and an
  estimated million people died in Biafra from
  starvation caused by food shortages.

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Crimes Against Humanity

• Igbo-Biafrans have been systematically murdered
  in Northern Nigeria by Hausa-Fulani in
  well-organized, State-sponsored genocidal pogroms
  since mid-1940s. 
• As of the time of this writing, this has
  continued, the most notorious being right after
  the September 11 2001 terrorist attack against
  the US.
• The Muslim Hausa-Fulani in Northern Nigeria
  vented their anger over US retaliatory strike
  (against Al Qaeda and bin Laden in Afghanistan)
  on Igbo-Biafrans and other Christians living in
  Northern Nigeria.

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Crimes Continue

• Today, (2002) Obasanjo, the Military officer who
  then received the instrument of surrender from
  Biafra in 1970, and who is now the bumbling
  President of Nigeria, treats Biafra as his war
  booty. 
• It was the combined forces of Britain, Russia,
  Egypt, Czechoslovakiaand we are not speaking of
  just mercenariesthat defeated Biafra. The US, by
  claiming neutrality, and not even raising a moral
  voice against this ganging-up against a nation
  struggling for its survival, played an enabling
  role.  
• Meanwhile, even though the Federal Government of
  Nigeria steals all the oil money which by all
  accounts should make Nigeria a rich country, none
  of that trickles down to the people, with the
  result that Nigeria is listed as one of the
  poorest countries in the world.

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History of Lagos

• Lagos was once a Yoruba settlement called Ekor.
• Also ruled by the Kingdom of Benin. The original
  settlers of Lagos, or Eko were of Benin and Awori
  Eko heritage.
• Portuguese traders visited the area in 1472
  naming the area around the city Lagos, meaning
  lakes.
• The city of Lagos began in the fifteenth century
  as a Portuguese trading post exporting ivory,
  peppers, and slaves.

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Lagos

• It served as a major center of the slave trade
  until 1861, when the UK captured the city.
• The capital of Nigeria from 1914 - 1976
• After the Biafran war, migration by refugees and
  other African countries, produced a population
  boom that continues today.

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Lagos

• Lagos is one of the fastest-growing cities in the
  world.
• More than half of Nigeria's industrial capacity
  is located in Lagos's mainland suburbs.
• A wide range of manufactured goods are produced
  in the city, including machinery, motor vehicles,
  electronic equipment, chemicals, beer, processed
  food, textiles and petroleum.
• Oil and petroleum products provide 20 of GDP and
  95 of foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria.

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Lagos Island

• The Economic Nerve Center of Nigeria
• Connected to the mainland by three large bridges.
• Ikoyi and Victoria islands are closely connected
• The main docks are in Apapa directly opposite
  Lagos Island.
• The Port of Lagos, Nigeria's leading port, is
  operated by the Nigerian Port Authority. It is
  split into 3 sections all located on the Gulf of
  Guinea.
• The Lagos Mainland is home to most of the people
  that work on Lagos I.
• Famous for its music and night life.
• The National Stadium Complex and two Universities
  in Lagos.
• The city also has two airports.

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Yoruba Music

• Yoruba is famous throughout West Africa for its
  music scene
• Yoruba has given birth to a variety of music
  styles such as
• Highlife
• Juju
• Fuji
• Afrobeat

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The Bata Drums

• The Bata Drums were developed in Yorubaland
  between 500 and 800 years ago
• It is the central instrument used in Yoruba music
• It was introduced by Shango
• The Bata Drums probably have roots in
  northeastern Africa or the Middle East or even
  India

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The End!!!