{"id":588,"date":"2013-12-12T08:22:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T07:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buzznigeria.com\/?p=588"},"modified":"2023-10-21T12:31:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T11:31:06","slug":"yoruba-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buzznigeria.com\/yoruba-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoruba People, Culture and Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yoruba people are a West African ethnic group and one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. They also inhabit parts of Benin and Togo, and constitute more than 46 million people in Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yoruba culture is made up of cultural philosophy, religion and folktales, embodied in Ifa divination<\/strong><\/p>\n

Often considered as one of Nigeria’s most educated, the Yoruba people are unique with rich cultural heritage, language, and religion. They are native to one of the three major languages in Nigeria and are also found in West African countries such as Togo, Ghana, and the Republic of Benin. Currently, they have a rising number in America, Brazil, Canada, and Ivory Coast, among other countries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The people, who are also famous as Iran Yoruba, Omo Oduduwa,<\/em> and Omo Kaaaro-oojiire,<\/em> have vast cultures, languages, and dialects. Here is explicit information about the history, language, food, attires, marriage custom, and different rites of the Yorubas.<\/p>\n

Quick Facts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Key Facts<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Location<\/td>\nPrimarily in southwestern Nigeria, but also in parts of Benin and Togo.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Language<\/td>\nYoruba language, which is a Niger-Congo language, and a member of the Kwa family of languages. The language is spoken by 44 million people mainly in south-west Nigeria, where it has official status, with some further speakers in Benin and Togo. There is another 2 million people that speak Yoruba as a second language.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Religion<\/td>\nTraditional Yoruba religion revolves around the worship of deities called ‘Orishas’. However, many Yoruba people are also Christians or Muslims.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Orishas<\/td>\nDeities in Yoruba cosmology. Examples include Sango (god of thunder), Ogun (god of iron and war), Osun (goddess of fertility and rivers), and Orunmila (deity of wisdom).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Festivals<\/td>\nVarious festivals celebrate Orishas, ancestral spirits, and significant life events. Examples include the Osun-Osogbo festival and Ojude Oba festival.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Art<\/td>\nYoruba art often has a functional purpose and is closely tied to religion. It includes masks, statues, beadwork, and more.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Music and Dance<\/td>\nDrumming is a significant aspect of Yoruba culture. Dances and songs often accompany religious ceremonies and festivals.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ayo Olopon<\/td>\nA popular traditional game played on a carved wooden board with seeds or pebbles. It has both recreational and ritual significance.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Naming Ceremony<\/td>\nAn important rite of passage, typically held on the eighth day after a child’s birth, where the child receives their names in a festive gathering.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The History of the Yoru<\/strong>ba People Links to Ile-Ife and Oduduwa<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The birth of the Yoruba kingdom is believed to come through Oduduwa<\/em> in 2 different tales. In one of the stories, it is believed that the people’s birth started in Ile-Ife,<\/em> a town in present-day Oyo State, which was initially known as where humans were created.\u00a0In this story, it is believed that Oduduwa,<\/em> who is a divinity, had children who spread across places outside Ile-Ife.<\/em><\/p>\n

When they succeeded in conquering towns, they gained leadership, and those towns became other Yoruba towns in Southern Nigeria and Western Africa.\u00a0The other story of the history of the Yoruba people is tied to the earliest religion of the people. This account claims that the Olodumare<\/em> (the creator) sent Oduduwa<\/em> to earth, which at that time, was covered in water.<\/p>\n

He would then form humankind with the clay of Ile-Ife<\/em> after he was given a chicken and sand. The sand, which is one of the significant parts of this myth, is believed to have fallen off the hand of Oduduwa<\/em> to later create a hill in the waters that would give birth to the extension of the Yoruba land.<\/p>\n

According to this account, Oduduwa<\/em> was also given a palm kernel that grew into a tree with sixteen limbs that represent the foremost 16 kingdoms of the Yoruba people. The Kingdoms will rise to become a crucial part of the history of the growth of the Yorubaland that add to its current population of more than 50 million people within and outside Africa.<\/p>\n

The Yoruba People are Believed to Have Migrated From Egypt<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Yoruba
Yoruba king and status of Egypt’s King Tut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several documentations lead to a conclusion that the ancient Yoruba people may have moved from Egypt to Yorubaland. This claim is laid in the story that the earliest Egyptians in the BC were Nubians and black. Furthermore, the Awujale of Ijebuland has given proof to this claim putting side by side the similarity of the Nubians<\/a> and Yorubas in terms of language, body, coronation rituals, arts, and burial customs.<\/p>\n

It has further been recorded that many cultures of the Yoruba people have their roots in Egypt. Based on this tale, the Yorubas migrated from Egypt due to war and settled mainly in Ode Itsekiri<\/em> and Ile-Ife.\u00a0<\/em>According to another account, the Yoruba people were visitors in Nigeria around the 2000BC and 500BC due to the Nok culture. Later, they were peacefully led by king Oduduwa<\/em> to settle in Ile-Ife.<\/em><\/p>\n

How People From Other Ethnicities Added to The Extensive Growth of Yoruba<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although there are different accounts of how the Yoruba people started to exist, there is a similarity that other people settled in the land. It has been proven through documentation that the Yorubaland had one of the highest populations in Nigeria before colonization. This population has continued to the present time, with Yorubaland such as Lagos (Eko) having the second-highest population in Africa.<\/p>\n

Based on accounts, many settlers in the Yorubaland included people from Arabia. However, their number would later decline in the 16th century due to conflict with the Fulani, who succeeded in pushing them to the south.\u00a0At present, the Yoruba people are found in different countries as indigenes and as settlers, with a larger number being native to southern Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Here are the places Yoruba people are found and their population<\/strong><\/p>\n

Major areas<\/strong><\/p>\n