dockworkers, boatwrights, fishermen and -women,
sailors, swimmers, and others who work, live, or
travel around water. She is the patron of the Gèlèdè
Society (“Society of Mothers”), and her road of
Àkútè is the Mother of theOgbo. .’ni Society of
elders. She is associated with the fish gill facial
markings worn by the Iyáwo (initiate into the
priesthood) and is said to have assisted Sango in
ending the practice of twin infanticide in Nigeria.
Her animal totems are duck, vulture, snake, and
small snail; her sacrificial animals are ram, lamb,
duck, rooster, goat, fish, and pigeons. She is repre-
sented in her various shrines in Africa by sacred
stones (o.ta) placed in river water in a calabash.
The statures of Yemo. .nja and Olóòkun increased
in prominence in the Americas and the Caribbean
as the enslaved survivors of the Middle Passage
propitiated Olóòkun to bless their lost kinsmen
and petitioned Yemo. .nja for an alleviation of their
suffering. Yemo. .nja’s omnipresence surrounding
the islands and coastal areas of Cuba, Trinidad,
and Brazil served as a continuous reminder of her
ability to comfort and nurture hope. Attempts to
annihilate African traditional cultural practices
were resisted through the establishment of ethnic
social organizations in Brazil and Cuba, as well as
through the masquerading of the Òrisá with the
saints of Catholicism.
In Cuba, Yemo. .nja was creolized as Yemayà.
Enslaved and free Africans who spoke Yorùbá
became identified as Lucumi, and their religious
practice became known as Regla Lucumí.
In Brazilian Candomblé, Xêmanjá has been
celebrated since the 1930s on New Year’s Eve, as
followers of Candomblé and the Amerindian
Umbanda systems construct miniature altars on
the beaches and send small paper boats into the
sea with inscribed prayers.
In New York City, Yemo. .nja is venerated annu-
ally by a beachfront celebration (bembe), held on
or close to her feast day of September 7. At this
event, hundreds of olúwo, olórisà (priests), and
álejòs (guests) pay homage to her. Yemo. .nja’s
dance mimics the roll of the ocean; initially soft
and measured, it increases in intensity to tumul-
tuous waves, as the circles become more expansive
and devotees are touched and mounted by spirit.
In Cuban, Brazilian, Trinidadian, Puerto Rican,
and U.S. homes, Yemo. .nja’s altars are often deco-
rated with fountains and other symbols of the sea,
such as fish nets, miniature boats, shells, live fish,
peacock feathers, fans, and a blue or blue and
white crockery vessel that houses her sacred
stones in ocean or river water. The number 7
belongs to her, representing the seven seas; her
devotees wear 7 silver bracelets, and she is often
seen wearing full skirts with 7 blue and white
layers. Her necklace (ìlèkè) is made of crystal or
crystal and blue beads, sometimes with red coral.
She is summoned with a gourd rattle.Patricia E. CansonSeealsoShangoFurther Readings
Edwards, G., & Mason, J. (1985).Black Gods:Orisa
Studies in the New World. Brooklyn, NY: Yoruba
Theological Archministry.
Mason, J. (1996).Olookun:Owner of Rivers and Seas.
Brooklyn, NY: Yoruba Theological Archministry.
Mason, J. (2002).Adura Orisa Prayers for Selected
Heads. Brooklyn, NY: Yoruba Theological
Archministry.
Matibag, E. (1996).Afro-Cuban Religious Experience:
Cultural Reflections in Narrative. Gainsville:
University Press of Florida.
Thompson, R. (1993).Face of the Gods:Art and Alters
of Africa and the African Americas. New York:
Museum for African Art.
Weaver, L., & Egbelade, O. (1999).Yem. .onja:Tranquil
Sea Turbulent Tides. Brooklyn, NY: Athelia Henrietta
Press.YORKA
Yorkaappears to be derived from a combination
of Native American words, possibly from
Surinen, Arawak, or Carib, and it is used by
Africans who were brought to Suriname as
enslaved people to refer to ancestors. The word
may have come from an old Native American
word,Yoroka, meaning “ghosts.”
The Dutch traders imported many Africans into
the area to work on the plantations; however,
because the Africans were unaccustomed to slavery,
many of them ran away to the forest and became
maroons. Others had to succumb to the violent andYorka 737