Yoruba kingdoms’ politics. Today, Brazil has the
largest number of Yoruba and Yoruba-descended
people outside of Africa (with an estimated popula-
tion of about 5 million), Cuba has about 1 million,
and Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and the rest of the
Caribbean have about half a million. In the United
States and Canada, there are an estimated 3 million
Yoruba, while there are equal numbers in the United
Kingdom and the rest of Europe. In Asia, it is esti-
mated that there are several hundreds of thousands
of Yoruba residing in various parts of the region.
The Yoruba are reputed travelers: There is virtually
no country in the world without a Yoruba commu-
nity, no matter how small.
The origins of the Yoruba people are shrouded in
mystery. However, three clear narratives are dis-
cernible from several contending versions. The first is
from the Yoruba oral tradition and creation myth.
God (Olorun, or Sky God) let down a chain at Ilé-
Ifè, by which Oduduwa the progenitor of the Yoruba
people, and indeed, of all men, descended, carrying a
rooster, some earth, and a palm kernel. Oduduwa
threw the earth into the waters and the rooster
scratched it to become land, out of which grew the
palm tree with 16 branches, representing the 16 orig-
inal kingdoms. There are several versions of this
myth. Also, every Yoruba town, lineage, and deity
has its own myth of origin. Yet in all of them, Ilé-Ifè
is regarded as the spiritual center from which all
Yoruba dispersed to their present abodes. The sec-
ond narrative of origin has it that the Yoruba are
descended from the offspring of Lamurudu, or
Nimrod of Biblical and Near Eastern legend, who
had been banished and finally settled in present-day
Yorubaland. Thus, some trace the origins of the
Yoruba all the way back to ancient Mesopotamian
Uruk or Babylon (modern-day Iraq). A final narra-
tive of origin has the Yoruba present in their modern
homeland from as early as 10,000 BC. According to
Robert S. Smith in his Kingdoms of the Yoruba,
archaeological digs have confirmed the existence of a
human population in the Idanre area of Yorubaland
since prehistoric times.
In the African diaspora, Yoruba culture seems
to have been better preserved than other African
traditions. Almost all the African Caribbean and
African Brazilian religions derive their essential
features, rituals, and practices from the Yoruba
religious tradition, which is centered on orisha
worship and ancestral veneration.
The Yoruba, like all Africans, are deeply religious
people. For them, everything is imbued with the
sacred. Their pantheon of deities rivals any of the
world’s great civilizations. Indeed, comparisons
have been made between Yoruba traditional religion
and that of pharaonic Egypt. Two parts are dis-
cernible in Yoruba traditional religion, both rooted
in Ifa sacred poetry—which is available in a tran-
scription of 256odus, or chapters. The first is right
action through ritual and sacrifice as sanctioned by
the Ifa oracular and divinatory corpus. The Yoruba
are encouraged to consult Ifa before any of life’s
major undertakings. Ifa, through thebabalawo, or
shaman, then prescribes the appropriate rituals and
sacrifices to the appropriate deities for the achieve-
ment of the right results.
The second part of Yoruba spirituality is also
guided by Ifa sacred poetry. It is ethical conduct
for a purposeful existence. For example, chapter
219 of the Ifa corpus stresses the power of Truth.
This odu counsels the necessity of living truthfully
and doing justice as the only way to live well
among the Yoruba people.
BioDun J. OgundayoSeealsoIlé-Ifè; OlorunFurther Readings
Adekunle, J. O. (2005).Politics and Society in Nigeria’s
Middle Belt. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Adeleke, A. A. (2007).Introduction to Yoruba:
Language,Culture,Literature and Religious Beliefs
Part I. Victoria, BC: Trafford.
Adeoye, C. L. (1979).Asa ati Ise Yoruba. Ibadan,
Nigeria: Oxford University Press.
Bamgbose, A. (1965).Yoruba Orthography. Ibadan,
Nigeria: Ibadan University Press.
Encyclopædia Britannica. (2007). Yoruba. Retrieved
May 14, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Fagborun, J. G. (1994).The Yoruba Koiné—Its History
and Linguistic Innovations(LINCOM Linguistic
Edition, vol. 6). Munich: LINCOM Europe.
Hair, P. E. H. (1967).The Early Study of Nigerian
Languages. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, S. (1997).The History of the Yorubas. Lagos,
Nigeria: CSS Ltd.
Ladele, T. A., et al. (1986).Akojopo Iwadii Ijinle Asa
Yoruba. Lagos: Macmillan Nigeria.
Smith, R. S. (1987).Kingdoms of the Yoruba(3rd ed.).
Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Yoruba 739