Yoruba people Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Mythology ==== {{Main|Oduduwa}} [[File:Divination tapper, Yoruba, Nigeria, 1800s, ivory - Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum - DSC00262.jpg|thumb|right|An Iroke or Irofa (''Ìròkè Ifá'') is the divination tapper of the Yoruba. It is long, slender and often slightly curved. Used in combination with the ''[[Opon Ifá|Opon Ifa]]'' or divination board. Traditionally made from ivory, but also brass and wood.<ref name="Imo Dara">{{cite book|last=Imo|first=Dara|title=Connecting African art collectors with dealers, based on a foundation of knowledge about the origin, use & distinguishing features of listed pieces|date=7 March 2015|url=http://www.imodara.com/discover/nigeria-yoruba-iroke-ifa-divination-tapper}}/</ref>|230x230px]] Oral history of the Oyo-Yoruba recounts [[Odùduwà]] to be the progenitor of the Yoruba and the reigning ancestor of their crowned kings. {{Cquote|He came from the east, understood in Ife traditions to be the settlement of [[Oke Ora]], a hilltop community situated to the east of Ife.}} {{cquote|After the death of Oduduwa, there was a dispersal of his children in a series of kingdom founding migrations from Ife to found other kingdoms. Each child made his or her mark in the subsequent urbanization and consolidation of the Yoruba confederacy of kingdoms, with each kingdom tracing its origin due to them to Ile-Ife.}} {{Cquote|After the dispersal, the aborigines became difficult, and constituted a serious threat to the survival of Ife. Thought to be survivors of the old occupants of the land before the arrival of Oduduwa, these people now turned themselves into marauders. They would come to town in costumes made of raffia with terrible and fearsome appearances, and burn down houses and loot the markets. Then came [[Moremi Ajasoro]] into the scene; she was said to have played a significant role in the quelling of the marauder advancements. But this was at a great price; having to give up her only son Oluorogbo. The reward for her patriotism and selflessness was not to be reaped in one lifetime as she later passed on and was thereafter [[deified]]. The Edi festival celebrates this feat amongst her Yoruba descendants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yorubaalliance.org/Newsletter/newsletter74.htm|title=Who are the Yoruba!|access-date=6 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702194235/http://www.yorubaalliance.org/Newsletter/newsletter74.htm|archive-date=2 July 2011}}</ref>}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page